February/March 2004

Do Corporations or "We The People" Rule?
Democracy Unlimited Steering Committee

The Buying of the President 2004
Interview with Charles Lewis by Amy Goodman

America's Empire of Bases
Chalmers Johnson

Answer the &$%#* Question!
Trudy Liberman

Their Media War and Ours
Danny Schecter

Locally Grown Food
Wendy Siporen

The End of Fossil Fuel: Crisis and Opportunity
Roar Ramesh Bjonnes

The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies
Richard Heinberg
Reviewed by Jim Hight

New Energy … New Jobs
Michael Schellenberger

Can the Safety of Meat in the U.S. be Guaranteed?
Michael Greger, MD

The Sacred Enneagram
Eli Jaxon-Bear

Understanding Your Life Through Color
Nancy Anne Tappe
Reviewed by Ellae Elinwood

Primary Perception
Cleve Backster
Reviewed by Paul Von Ward

Cosmic Calendar
Salina Rain

BACK TO TOP

Locally Grown Food

Good for our health, and the health of our communities.

By Wendy Siporen

Think about your last meal. Do you know the people who raised the plants and animals that wound up on your plate? Do you know what country it came from? If you are an average American, the food on your plate traveled an anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500 miles (1.) and took one to two weeks just to get to your mouth from its start at a corporate farm where it was engineered for maximum profit and durability—not flavor, health or the environment.

We are lucky have a great climate and good, productive soil in the Northwest. We are also fortunate to have a rich farming tradition. So it is both a bitter and unnecessary truth that more Oregon families are hungry than in any other state in the nation while our family farmers struggle to survive. Mega-farms have brought efficiency, but with clearly identifiable costs to both the environment and to the ability of farming families to make a living. Since 1935, 4.7 million farms have folded and we haven’t solved the problem of hunger here in the US or worldwide.

Supporting Life

The Southern Oregon Economic Development Coalition has a vision of a different food system, a Locally Integrated Food Economy, or LIFE. Under this vision, much of the food we eat would be grown close to home. LIFE means both families and farmers prosper because we get to eat healthy tasty food and farmers make a living from their farms.

There are a myriad of benefits to LIFE. As the Portland chapter of the Chefs Collaborative proclaims, “Our food choices are much more than just an answer to hunger pangs. They impact the health of our bodies, our communities and our environment.”

Locally grown fruits and vegetables are usually sold within 24 hours of being harvested. Produce picked and eaten at the height of ripeness has exceptional flavor and is packed with nutrients. When you buy local produce from farm stands, farmers’ markets, pick-your-own farms and grocery stores, you pay for taste and hard work, not transportation and marketing.

When you buy locally, more of your food dollar stays within your community and strengthens the local economy. When you buy direct from local farmers, more than 90 cents goes to the farmer. When you buy from grocery chain stores, 79 cents goes to pay for marketing, distribution and other costs. Only 21 cents goes to the farmer.

Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised enables you to choose safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics or genetically modified seed in their operations. Farmer’s markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs allow you to get to know local growers and even visit the farms where your food is grown. Buying food from local farmers you trust means you can safeguard your family’s health.

Local food is kinder to our natural environment because it doesn’t have to travel as far. When food is transported long distances, it needs to heavily packaged and kept cool. The refrigeration needed to keep food fresh during its long journey uses energy, which manifests itself in the production of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and may require chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs) or other ozone-depleting gases.

Community

There are other, less tangible benefits to regional and seasonal eating. Nourished by fresh, local, and seasonal foods, our bodies are in rhythm with our climate—stronger, healthier and more resistant to disease. Eating foods that are grown in the region can help you become more aware of local agricultural cycles and of the seasons and weather. Eating in season leads to a heightened sense of awareness and excitement as the season for your favorite local produce arrives. Once you’ve tasted a juicy, local vine-ripened tomato at the peak of the season, you’ll never go back to the pink, hard tomato you’ll find in stores in the middle of winter.

The harvest of our local bounty brings us in contact with vendors and farmers. At the weekly farmer’s market, you can talk to the person who tilled the soil, planted the seeds and harvested the crop you will put on your table. Dialogue, faces and personalities build the heart of our community.

What You Can Do

By making a conscious choice to buy locally raised food whenever possible, you will support the health of your family, local economy and environment. Buying locally is easy:
• Shop at local farmer’s markets, food stands, co-ops or grocers.
• Buy a share of the upcoming harvest by joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
• Encourage your local grocery stores and area restaurants to purchase more of their produce and meats from local farms.

Local Flavor Comes From More Than Food

The Economic Development Coalition’s commitment to LIFE applies to more than just food. A healthy economy, just like a healthy body, requires effort. Corporate monopolies, cloned chain stores and restaurants efficiently deliver profits to executives and stockholders, but provide little benefit to local economies. In contrast, consider what happens to a dollar spent at a locally owned business. Not only does more of their profit stay in the community, but local retailers and producers contribute far more to the local economy by patronizing other local businesses. They bank with local banks, advertise in local newspapers and purchase local services such as accounting and printing. This multiplies the impact of your locally spent dollar.

The Coalition is actively working to help independent, locally owned businesses connect with each other and the community as a new form of “caring capitalism” that is socially, environmentally and financially sustainable. Rather than growing larger and larger, new business models remain human-scaled and locally owned, fostering direct, authentic and meaningful relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, neighbors, and local habitat, which add to the quality of life, promote living wages and protect our environment.

As an alternative to centralized control, sustainable economies promote the democratization of our economy through decentralized decision-making and wide-spread ownership. Community-based businesses can work in partnership with similar companies in other regions, expanding models, not brands, and sharing information and ideas, rather than competing to dominate the national marketplace. Economic control remains with local communities, where there is a short distance between business decision-makers and those people affected by their decisions.

Addressing the needs for increasing local self-reliance and sustainability, many new business opportunities can be found within the building blocks of sustainable economies. These building blocks include the local food system, sustainable energy, alternative transportation and fuels, locally designed and made clothing, recycling and reuse, green building, independent retailers, local arts and culture, neighborhood tourism, crafts production, holistic health care, eco-friendly cleaning products, and independent media.

By addressing the deeper needs of their employees and community, business owners can grow their companies in new ways, providing more fulfilling jobs, healthier communities and greater economic security for their bioregions.

Here in Southern Oregon, we are working in four areas to cultivate a healthier economy:
• Advocacy of sustainable development policies—thoughtful consideration of development subsidies, buy local preferences for local government, and living wage ordinances.
• Education—in the community, businesses and schools about sustainable economics.
• Business development—in the building blocks of a sustainable economy, beginning with the food we eat.
• Business networking—local sourcing, shared purchasing, shared marketing and buy local promotion.

On Monday, March 8 the Coalition will sponsor the first annual Food Connection Conference—a day-long gathering designed to foster collaboration between local farmers, chefs and retailers committed to expanding and strengthening local, seasonal and sustainable food networks. Our goal is to grow the supply and demand for locally produced food. Conference workshops focus on creating and sustaining relationships between growers and buyers (chefs, grocers and value-added producers). The gathering will offer participants an opportunity to taste the bounty of Southern Oregon, build relationships, share ideas and address current challenges. This conference is modeled after the successful Farmer-Chef Connection conference organized by Ecotrust and the Chef’s Collaborative in Portland. We are grateful for the support of Ecotrust in helping plan our Southern Oregon conference.

The work that we do is groundbreaking and visionary. Luckily, there are many ways we can collaborate and build on the best practices of others. The Coalition is part of a wider movement across the nation to redefine business as usual, including groups such as the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a nonprofit research and educational organization that provides technical assistance and information on environmentally sound economic development strategies. We are also proud to be a part of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies or BALLE, a nation-wide network of local business networks working together to equitably increase prosperity, strengthen community and ensure healthy local environments.

In the area of food, national organizations like FoodRoutes and LocalHarvest are working to support local agriculture. In Portland, Ecotrust coordinates the “Community Food Matters” program in addition to the Farmer-Chef Connection. Also, the Oregon Environmental Council encourages us to “Buy Local, Eat Local.” If you would like more information about our upcoming conference or about how to support local business and agriculture in your area, please contact me by phone, mail or email.

Wendy Siporen coordinates the Southern Oregon Economic Development Coalition, a not-for-profit organization supporting sustainable enterprises and communities. She can be reached at (541) 772-4029; 33 N. Central #303, Medford OR 97501; or email justsolutions@hotmail.com.

(1.) Originally from: U.S. Department of Defense. 1969. US Agriculture: Potential Vulnerabilities. Standford Research Institute, Menlo Park CA. Updated by “Home Grown: The Case For Local Food In A Global Market” by Brian Halweil. 2002. Worldwatch Institute. url: http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/paper/163/