Whenever I talk about the farming system, many people disempower themselves with disclaimers like “I can’t afford healthy food” or “It’s hard to find healthy food.” Talk about an external Locus of Control (see prior post – How people think about the future 1). This seems true of most situations, especially environmental ones, that people find themselves facing in their daily lives. Our world has become one of convenience. You want food in the MDCs and you go to a grocery store, and usually the one closest to you. Our way of thinking can become so entrenched that we do not think – we simply react. OK, a brief story of how they manifests. I was in a conference in Reno, Nevada, that was held at a big Casino hotel. I had no car but wanted to pick up some supplies. On the other side of the main road from the Casino was a large truck stop with a mini-mart. From the Casino’s entrance it was about 250 yards down the entranceway (it had a footpath) to the main road, then across the road at a crossing light and a few more yards to the mini-mart door. As I left the entrance an older couple obviously in need of a better exercise regime than just using their fingers on the slot machines, also left the building. I noticed they wobbled across the airfield sized parking lot for about 300 yards or more to their big Buick car. They then drove to the same mini-mart I was in. As I walked back, they drove past me going to the casino hotel and had to park some 300-350 yards away from the main door. I sat outside the entrance watching them walk with difficulty carrying their supplies all the way back to the hotel. No judgment about all of this, merely an observation that this couple walked perhaps 700 yards total across the parking area when distance I had walked was about 500 yards total. I will note here that even if I had a car, the logic of driving the short distance to the mini-mart would have seemed ridiculous. I wasn’t faulting the couple for their behavior, merely the observation that they never even looked at the route I took. For them it was simply, drive to the mini-mart. I also suspect that walking across a parking lot is not considered a walk, while walking to the mini-mart was considered too far to walk. Hopefully you see what I am getting at here. Our behaviors can become so ingrained that we never stop to consider them.
Ok, back to finding cheap, healthy food. The easiest way of course, provided you have time and a garden space, is to grow your own. So many Americans have large green lawns that they tend to lovingly. I didn’t have that much lawn to begin with but have taken much of it out to do my permaculture garden. Growing your own food is a great way to learn how to harmonize with the natural world. If you don’t have the option to grow your own garden, then many municipalities have garden lots areas where lots can be rented. Alternatives to finding healthy organic food are widespread wherever you live. Farmers’ markets have become common and can be found once or twice a week in farm stands either near the farm where the crops are grown, or in local civic parks. Get to know the farmers that are growing organic food and be sure to confirm that the crops are organically grown and preferably local (within 200 miles). Once farmers know they have a local market they are more likely to ‘risk’ growing crops that are outside the normal expectations of grocery store produce. Farmers are often working on the edge of viability and need direct support from the people who desire healthy organic crops. Some smaller communities have come together to support Community-Supported Farm Stands that work closely with local farmers to guarantee a supportive consumer base. A more direct support of farmers is through Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA’s). Here consumers invest up-front with farmers for a proportional share of their yield throughout the growing season. For people unable to invest up front, many of these CSAs have options to invest time and labor in return for a share of the yields. This way the ‘risk’ is spread across a whole community. In many large towns and cities, years ago Guerilla Gardening sprang up, and still does. Vacant lots and apparently abandoned areas had local people bring in soil and create gardens without permission from local authorities or the actual property owners. The quality of the property is usually improved and it has been found that property owners usually turn a blind eye to the improvements. In some areas, whole communities come together to coordinate their garden work such that one person may grown one or to crops while their neighbors grow another. At harvest time there is a wealth of bartering such that everyone get a range of food to eat and store. Yes, storage is a resurging art that once was at the heart of farming. We are so used to getting our food fresh off the shelf (through international food export-import) that we forget how until relatively recently all food had to be prepared for long term storage to keep us though the rest of the year from harvest to harvest. After all, all food used to be local with just a little, although expensive, coming through international shipping (literally on ships). So growing food locally was the norm as was storing food through various techniques.
Case Study: In 2007, Oxford University Press coined a new word – Locavore. This word has become synonymous with localized food and in-season dining experiences at local restaurants where it is found. Joshua T. Beck and Brandon Reich have researched this idea and found it to be a belief system of local food that cuts across all social strata. People subscribing to this belief follow it wherever they are at home or on holiday. It’s the ‘local’ that is important, although I would add that it would be great if they also supported organic with the same fervor. What is local, however, varies from area to area. In general it is usually within a 200 mile radius of where you are at, but can be a varied as 100-400 miles. That also applies to all the farmers market, and such; let you fingers do a little walking on the cell phone and check where some of the produce comes from. I did this one time at a local farmers market and the seller admitted to me that the market I attended near Denver had food shipped from over 1000 miles away from Chicago.
Research shows that locavorism has three core beliefs (italics my comments):
- Local foods are superior to non-local foods (no data to support this, but it is a belief, and valid if it is an organic local farmer)
- Non-local food systems are destructive and untrustworthy (assumes that local means organic and non-local are all industrial agriculture – again no data to support this belief, but up to the consumer to check where produce comes from).
- Local food consumption contributes to community (this is mostly valid – supporting local organic farmers does build community with multiple benefits all around. Community gardens and community food sharing do promote a better sense of community and resilience all around).
People who identify as locavores tend to carry this ideal with them when they travel and are always looking for locally grown food options when looking for restaurants for eating out or when self-catering. Overall, Beck & Reich revealed that being a locavore is more than a simple preference. Like many deeply held beliefs (e.g. politics or religion), this tag predicts what people eat, shop, or respond to food advertising.
Changing to sustainable agriculture (SA) is being driven by different, often unique groups of people, but the things that they share are a desire for more locally grown organic foods that have no chemicals other that those produced by nature. When you consider that in the U.S. most food is grown by industrialized agriculture, it does have serious consequences for health overall of not only ourselves but also the whole ecosystem we live within. When it comes to SA, farmers are working against juggernauts of industry. Let me emphasize again that it is WE, the sovereign consumer that makes the final choices of our food and how it is grown. Just wander through the local grocery stores and take note of the many organic and GMO-free foods now being offered by the supermarket giants, let alone the healthy markets. To close this blog-post consider the ‘farm to school’ programs now being offered in the last decade – kids are now learning about healthy food options and nutrition. No longer just the food pyramid, these kids are learning to take control of their own food choices. Something we must all start doing.
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