Your Response to BC Local Foods Campaign
MARCH 27 - Recently, the government of British Columbia asked us to prepare a report suggesting how they could promote local foods. But we knew we couldn’t do it without your help — so we sent out an email asking what you thought was needed, and what works already. Five hundred of you sent us your ideas, and it was no mere form letter. You all spent a lot of thought on your responses, and many expressed gratitude to finally be asked an opinion! Let’s hope this becomes an open-door process for governments across North America. Already, we’ve heard that Washington State is making big strides, requiring local-foods be purchased by schools. We look forward to seeing more solid policies being enacted.
We learned that you all love farmers markets, so support is needed in that quarter. We also heard a lot of you talk about the 24/7 convenience of the supermarket system, and the hope that you’d find a local-food section there. And so many of you said you wanted to know just where your food came from - better labelling, in other words. There were many more ideas, and inspiring stories too. We’ll start by sharing the reply from Vonnie in New Hampshire.
First, let’s give a big HURRAY to BC for looking into this! I truly wish the American government wasn’t so owned by huge conglomerates (ie. Monsanto, Mobil, Pfiser, the list goes on…) and that locally owned agriculture could be easier to get (as well as alternative energy sources, but that’s a whole other topic, isn’t it?). The thing that would make it so much easier to find local food sources is if there is a central place that’s widely known about where farmers could list (perhaps free or for a small fee) what they sell, where they are and when they are open or attending a farmer’s market. I am lucky to live within 10 miles of 5 wonderful farm stands, but not ONE of them has any organic produce. That’s a bummer. But, it would be nice to be able to have the info of whether a farm IS organic, do they sell free range meats, things like this all in one resource. Perhaps even printed for the masses, like an addition to the newspapers or something like that.
Of course, there’s the mythical wish that perhaps organic local producers could get tax-cut incentives to actually farm organic, and in turn make the state we live in healthier, and in turn the country, and in turn the planet, but until the big conglomerates can make a buck off it, it “ain’t gonna happen”. We’re two months into being a 100-miler family and I’ve had to do a lot of research online to find some of the stuff we needed locally, it’s been quite time consuming.
The things that do work for me…I have the wonderful farm stands locally, like I said. I also have been emailing some local producers to see where their product comes from (I emailed King Arthur flour, which is located 92 miles from my home to see where the wheat is grown…still waiting on an answer, but just got that one in under the wire!). I have had a hard time finding free range meats here, but did locate this good website, Eat Wild, to help me out…
Also found this wonderful place, Yankee Farmers Market, which has an organic produce farm next to it, once that’s in season. These are located about 45 miles from my home.
Here in NH, we’ve not had any real cohesive attempt to make the local eating, governmentally anyway, a viable reality. Right now, you have to really want to make this a priority for your family, it’s not something most people care about or talk about here. I would love to have that change, but am not seeing any kind of push for that. Right now, with our economy, people seem to be more caring about keeping their houses and jobs then worrying about what they can do to eat more sustainably. Sad, but quite true.
I applaud all that you do. Your book “Plenty” jumpstarted this for me (sorry, I got to read it free from our local library, which is AWESOME), and that lead to Barbara Kingsolver’s book and then to Michael Pollan’s book, and it’s all inspirational. You’re making a real difference one family at a time. So, thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work!
