I have to start out this blog post by saying talking about healthy food systems is an incredibly complex topic. And I thought making clothes were hard. Selling an apple can be even more complicated.
I am interested in the word LOCAL. Customers want local, restaurants and markets advertise local, but do we really understand what local means?
I spent the day today at a conference hosted by the Gorge Grown Food Network. The day brought together producers and buyers of local food and others interested in building a local food economy.
For me local is also a philosophy of understanding. For instance if I buy local, I also have to buy seasonally, this changes my diet and also my expectations of what a sustainable food system may look like. You may have heard you don't eat fresh tomatoes in January because they are grown so far away that it take planes to get them too you.
So this means I have to prepare my food or buy from those who know how to can, dry, freeze my fruits and vegetables so I can live through the winter.
Local is also an opportunity to talk about sustainable. It is fine if that pear was grown locally, but if it was sprayed with pesticide I should be more concerned because that is my backyard where that run off is going into the water where I swim or fish.
Local brings this idea of knowing where your food comes from, having a relationship with the farm and farmer. But there is a need to go to the next step - to ask yourself what does local mean to you? What values are your going to support? Would you spend more for organic, for that CSA box - to make a difference in your local economy and for your local environment?
I've only been in the Gorge 9 months and it has taken a lot of questions to understand my food system and I am lucky because there is a passionate and engaged group of people who want to educate, to increase the availability and build the connections. It is the start of an investigation. But one that is so important to me and to the roots of sustainability - pun totally intended!
I am interested in the word LOCAL. Customers want local, restaurants and markets advertise local, but do we really understand what local means?
I spent the day today at a conference hosted by the Gorge Grown Food Network. The day brought together producers and buyers of local food and others interested in building a local food economy.
For me local is also a philosophy of understanding. For instance if I buy local, I also have to buy seasonally, this changes my diet and also my expectations of what a sustainable food system may look like. You may have heard you don't eat fresh tomatoes in January because they are grown so far away that it take planes to get them too you.
So this means I have to prepare my food or buy from those who know how to can, dry, freeze my fruits and vegetables so I can live through the winter.
Local is also an opportunity to talk about sustainable. It is fine if that pear was grown locally, but if it was sprayed with pesticide I should be more concerned because that is my backyard where that run off is going into the water where I swim or fish.
Local brings this idea of knowing where your food comes from, having a relationship with the farm and farmer. But there is a need to go to the next step - to ask yourself what does local mean to you? What values are your going to support? Would you spend more for organic, for that CSA box - to make a difference in your local economy and for your local environment?
I've only been in the Gorge 9 months and it has taken a lot of questions to understand my food system and I am lucky because there is a passionate and engaged group of people who want to educate, to increase the availability and build the connections. It is the start of an investigation. But one that is so important to me and to the roots of sustainability - pun totally intended!
