Building a local food system

It has been surprising to me how much local food is available, even at this time of year when food should be at it's most difficult to find.  That, all by it's self gives me hope.  BUT, it is not easy to find.  These micro-producers don't advertise.  Word of mouth is the only way to find them.  That's OK for me.  I'm finding what we need, and the information pool is growing. 

This morning I flipped on the news while the coffee was brewing (no, it's not local... it is fair trade, and I'm looking for a better local source, but I'll not give up my coffee).  The big news of the morning was Steve Jobs leaving Apple again.  Everyone thinks the company will tank again until he comes back.  My first thought was, "What a fragile company!"  Then, as my brain tends to do, my thoughts wandered into the fragility of the food system I was creating.  You see, the difference between a small (micro) farmer/food producer and a company like Apple is that even though Apple has been dependant on the inspiration and leadership of Mr. Jobs, the company will continue to exist, function, and possibly even thrive without him, while a small/micro food producer/farm usually will not survive the loss of the farmer/producer.  Often they wont even survive a year of bad weather, credit problems, sickness, etc.  Local food systems built on small producers need redundancy.  To keep all those redundant producers going requires more customers.  And then I stopped thinking...

Later in the morning (around 6:00 am) I turned on the computer to check out my virtual world.  One of the posts that popped up was about the "Transformative Power of Social Media Marketing in the Foodshed".  Eleanor made me think about my role as a producer, a consumer, and an activist in the local food movement.  It's the activist part that I shy away from.  Activist implies (in my mind at least) confronting institutions or regulations.  I have a more Akido like approach to life, bending, swaying, going around.  So, I may rant about regulations or corporations, but I rarely confront them head on.  I feel kind of guilty about that.  But, maybe this is the solution.  If I actively work on building and promoting a local food system, then I'm being and activist, and being nonconfrontational at the same time.  It is good for me and mine.  It is good for the community.  It doesn't attract too much attention from the regulators, and it makes a difference here. 

So, besides blogging (which is a very personal thing) I want to build a local producer e-network (like Local Harvest except MUCH smaller.)  ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW AN E- LUDDITE LIKE ME GOES ABOUT THAT KIND OF PROJECT?

I'm also going to get more involved in local food efforts in my community.  To start, I'll be attending a screening of FRESH tonight with a group of local producers, chefs, and concerned citizens.  More on that tomorrow.

How are you being active in building a local food system?

The Power of Community - A Post in two parts - Part 2

This past weekend we had our Harvest Celebration at Roberts Roost. It is a time when we gather our friends from the community to share food, fire, and talents, and to enjoy each others company. Most of all it is a time to talk about everything and nothing, to share stories, to laugh, to give and receive support without any agenda. Out of these conversations around the fire two ideas arose that I need to explore.

The first is the power and importance of community as we take the road less traveled. I’ll be posting those thoughts on NDiN.

The second is the power of community to act. I’ll be posting about that on Roberts Roost.


Part 2 The power of community to ACT.

There were a couple of stories told around the fire about how community came together to help someone or do something. The details are not important, but the mechanism is. The informal network of communication and the willingness of individual people to do a little something just because it needs doing is one of the things that makes communities so powerful. Someone sees a need, makes a few calls and those folks each make a few calls and before you know it a large group is mobilized to solve a problem or meet a need. It is one of the things that makes a community work, a kind of glue that makes a community more than a group of people living in close proximity and shopping at the same stores. The stories reminded me of the power and speed of such a system.

While the party was going on I was cornered by various people and asked my opinion on Ohio Issue 2, 2009. I haven’t talked much about this issue because voting NO was pretty much a no brainer. (I’m discovering that people are not as cynical or paranoid as I am, so they didn’t automatically jump to the same conclusion on this issue.)

Issue 2 is an attempt by the big agribusiness groups (mostly chicken, egg, and pork producers, with some additional support from the dairy and veal producers) to use peoples fear of PETA and their belief in the wholesome, local, family farm myth to scare the voters into amending the state constitution and creating board (appointed by the Governor and heavily weighted to favor the status quo) to “establish standards governing the care and well-being of livestock and poultry in this state.” The backers paint a picture of a board made up of family farmers ensuring the continued quality and availability of locally produced food. Of the 13 board members only 3 slots are designated for “family farmers”, one appointed by the Governor, and one each for the House and Senate. The remaining members are either directly or indirectly agribusiness representatives. The proposal has very little to do with improving animal care or ensuring the continued future of local food. It is a power grab by big business intended to give them the ability to continue with their current model. It gives local farmers and local residence no say in the future of food in this state.

I know that election day is only one week away but I’m putting out a community call to rally people to vote NO on Ohio Issue 2.

If you are an Ohio voter call all your friends and get them to vote NO. If you know any Ohio voters call them and talk to them about voting No on Issue 2. Lets use the power of community to keep the power to make good food choices in the hands of the people, not in the hands of politically appointed representatives of big Agribusiness.