South Plains Conference - part 2

Even though I hate statistics, I'm going to point out a few that both Gary Nabhan and Mark Winne discussed at the local foods conference last week:

• 46% of our carbon footprint is because of food (processing, shipping, etc.)
• Texas is 2nd in agricultural production
• Texas is 2nd to last in hunger ratings
• Subsidies are increasing every year, and so is the dependency upon them
• Farms are increasingly going out of business or merging to form megafarms
• The current average age of farmers is 62, an average that is only getting older
  

It's obvious our current food system is not working properly, but the most shocking revelation is that there actually are food system programs that work, and work well. The local farmer I buy from (PaiDom) announced that he was having to scale back his consumer network because he has reached max production for the amount of buyers he has. He is so profitable that he is now exporting his business model to other local farmers so they can relieve his exponentially growing consumer base. He said he can now afford to focus on further diversifying what he produces from his land simply because he enjoys providing more for his customers and wants to better understand his land. It's a beautiful relationship. So what is this profitable, effective business solution to our current failing food system?

CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture.

I was skeptical at first: how could a production model so old that it dates back to the agrarian days of our past undo a system deeply embedded in and dependent upon globalization and nationalized distribution? The answer comes from our economic models. As Nabhan pointed out, our mass consumption economic models are currently at or passing maximized profitability. We simply cannot continue to use current max consumption models because it is becoming increasingly costly to consume. In other words, and also very simplified, it's the law of diminishing returns. We've hit that maximum yield. How do we know CSAs are the answer? Let's look at the big food giant SYSCO, who initiated a corporation-wide overhaul of their production and distribution network. They've found that breaking their large distribution centers down into many smaller ones is much more cost effective, especially considering fuel. If relocalization sounds crazy and non-capitalist-friendly, then why is such a huge food corporation taking steps to do just that? Maybe there is merit to this new system. After all, if my farmer can go from working for an insurance company to starting a farm and turning almost too large of a profit in less than a few decades, then why can't this system work for everyone?

Through a network of local producers, farmers markets, urban agriculture, community kitchens, local food restaurants, and even grocery stores, it is possible to get cheap, healthy, organic, local food to the tables of everyone. With this system, farming returns to an honorable and profitable profession as the market for local food grows. With this system, the community can help and give back to the poor and the needy through food banks with on-sight agriculture (South Plains Food Bank GRUB program). CSAs breed a sense of community, promote health and agricultural education, preserve and support the knowledge and profits of farming, and dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the food we eat. Plus, what we eat comes from our land by our hands.

What a beautiful concept. The same air, sun, rain, and soil that graces my presence everyday is what grows my food, supports my community, and becomes a part of me.


I challenge you:
Find a producer in your area.
Find out how to buy from him.

http://www.localharvest.org/

Leia Mais…

South Plains Conference - part 1

At last week's local foods conference, I had the pleasure of meeting Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Where Our Food Comes From, Renewing America's Food Traditions, and Coming home to Eat. Gary has perhaps the best job, in my opinion. He is a true intellectual with a good purpose: a writer and poet, lecturer, food and farming advocate, rural lifeways folklorist, and conservationist. He is well versed in the politics of food, the importance of re-localizing foodsheds, and the pleasures of fresh and honest food.

I'll speak more on him and his work later, but I want to share a poem he read to us at the beginning of his lecture last Wednesday.

A Terroir-ist’s Manifesto for Eating in Place

Know where your food has come from
through knowing those who produced it for you,
from farmer to forager, rancher or fisher
to earthworms building a deeper, richer soil,
to the heirloom vegetable, the nitrogen-fixing legume,
the pollinator, the heritage breed of livestock,
& the sourdough culture rising in your flour.

Know where your food has come from
by the very way it tastes:
its freshness telling you
how far it may have traveled,
the hint of mint in the cheese
suggesting what the goat has eaten,
the terroir of the wine
reminding you of the lime
in the stone you stand upon,
so that you can stand up for the land
that has offered it to you.

Know where your food has come from
by ascertaining the health & wealth
of those who picked & processed it,
by the fertility of the soil that is left
in the patch where it once grew,
by the traces of pesticides
found in the birds & the bees there.
Know whether the bays & shoals
where your shrimp & fish once swam
were left richer or poorer than before
you & your kin ate from them.

Know where your food comes from
by the richness of stories told around the table
recalling all that was harvested nearby
during the years that came before you,
when your predecessors & ancestors,
roamed the same woods & neighborhoods
where you & yours now roam.
Know them by the songs sung to praise them,
by the handmade tools kept to harvest them,
by the rites & feasts held to celebrate them,
by the laughter let loose to show them our affection.

Know where your foods come from
by the patience displayed while putting them up ,
while peeling, skinning, coring or gutting them,
while pit-roasting, poaching or fermenting them,
while canning, salting or smoking them,
while arranging them on a plate for our eyes to behold.
Know where your food comes from
by the slow savoring of each and every morsel,
by letting their fragrances lodge in your memory
reminding you of just exactly where you were the very day
that you became blessed by each of their distinctive flavors.

When you know where your food comes from
you can give something back to those lands & waters,
that rural culture, that migrant harvester,
curer, smoker, poacher, roaster or vinyer.
You can give something back to that soil,
something fecund & fleeting like compost
or something lasting & legal like protection.
We, as humans, have not been given
roots as obvious as those of plants.
The surest way we have to lodge ourselves
within this blessed earth is by knowing
where our food comes from.

Leia Mais…

A blog about thinking globally, and acting locally.

Last week I attended the 20th annual South Plains Conference, and while I was sitting through some incredible and inspiring lectures, something revolutionary occurred to me: more than anything in my life, I own and have read more books on the food crisis, I have studied most about ethical consumerism, I have the biggest passion for local food, wine, music, art, and culture, and I have worked hardest to maintain a minimalist lifestyle. My true passions all have a common theme:

local ethics.


Now, I'll be fair. The idea of "thinking globally, acting locally" was first introduced to me via the Global Oneness project. It was through that organization that I discovered the importance of helping your neighbor, fighting for your city, and making a difference in your local community. Basically, if everyone fought to make their community as best as it can be, then so many of even our global issues would be solved. Acting at a local level, within the context of a global whole, is the most effective and sustainable way to make a substantial difference in this world. This paradigm shift in thinking made me realize that running off to "save the world" through the Peace Corps won't potentially make as big of a difference as the very steps I can take today, at home, in our city. With just a little bit of help, Lubbock can easily be as awesome as I know it wants and deserves to be.


My vision for this blog is to write about local consumerism, local environmentalism, and local social consciousness. I will cover topics that range from local issues that Lubbock faces and how we can help, to bigger issues like poverty and hunger in my state and my nation. I want to discuss what I've learned in my research on local agriculture, what I've studied in my conservation management classes, and the ways we can all support the local culture to help foster a sense of strong community identity. If we work together, talk about the important issues, commit to changing priorities and lifestyles, even in the smallest way, together we can save the world.

Leia Mais…