Local, Sustainable Agriculture
Many of our listeners were disappointed when we had to cancel this show last week in favor of a DiMasi reax hour. You’ll be happy to know, we’re on track to do it this week, and we have a super-special, super-secret guest who we’re hoping will be in town from Washington long enough to appear. Hint: kinda rhymes with “peregrine.”
In the meantime, y’all can amuse yourselves with this picture of David, getting the straight scoop from the hog on the street…
Click here to view photographs of David Boeri’s farm visits.
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This will be my third year doing a CSA.
I grew up in a family with farming roots, and we had big vegetable gardens. Eating locally connects you to the seasons, and I find that I appreciate strawberries or asparagus more when they’re only available one time of year. The other half of this is that preserving food has to become part of the equation in order to eat “locally” through the New England winter.
Canning, drying, salting and freezing allow summer’s bounty to last all year.
It’s not that hard, but it requires planning and more effort than just going to the store and grabbing whatever just arrived from South America.
I agree fully with Carice. There’s a big difference between a “trend”, as you characterize it, and a cultural shift, which is what’s happening now. I can also personally attest that many New England family farmers who were going under because they had no access to markets, are now surviving due to our demand for local food in supermarkets and elsewhere. Red Tomato is proud to play a part in connecting our local farms to consumers.
I have not been to a supermarket in 4 years, I shop in our little local stores and Copley Square farmers market, we cook and eat mostly what is locally in season. I can appreciate the hard work of farmers and I am glad to see many of them thrive (not just survive) and grow. I am not so glad to see the prices grow. I am willing to pay fair price for quality food, but sometimes I get a bit annoyed with the prices that seem to be hiked up way too high, both in the stores and the market. Quality food should be accessible to any working person, but it is often unaffordable luxury. Sometimes I think that some people are just taking advantage of this “trend” or “cultural shift” too much.
Our farmers in and around Newburyport are maxing out their CSA shares and therefore are adding to their planting schedule. Also new peach orchard is being planted at Arrowhead Farm. Also the New Eden Collaborative at the First Parish Church in Newbury has opened community garden plots which were gobbled up.
I am interested in joining a CSA but was wondering how farmers handle a poor crop yield (due to weather, Acts of God, etc) since members have to pay in advance of the growing season? Is there any guarantee by the farmer for a predetermined amount of food for each paying member?
@Peggy – It’s part of the risk, but you know that your money is going to help keep a farmer’s income more steady and thus keep them in business for you year after year.
I belong to a co-op which does spread the risk of low yields a little bit, but last year we had a month and a half of the same crops because heavy rain wiped out other types of plants. Knowing that our main farmers weathered that time better because of our willingness to take what was available does ease the “pain”.
I’m 100% happy with my co-op and I wouldn’t let the low yield risk prevent you from jumping in. This really has to be about a long term relationship where we take the good and the bad.
New England Dairy Farmers Deserve a Fair Price!
Dairy farmers across the U.S. are currently receiving less than half the cost of production for their milk, in other words they’re paying $20 to get paid $10! Because of this pricing crisis, we’re at risk of losing our local, family dairy farmers, which have always been an important part of the New England economy, food system, and culture. Instead, we’ll end up relying on foreign imports and factory farms.
Farm Aid is meeting with the Secretary of Agriculture on Thursday, June 18, to present a petition to urge him to step in, as he is required to do by the 1937 Agricultural Marketing Agreement, to adjust the price of milk to reflect the cost of production.
Please act now to guarantee safe, local milk at http://www.farmaid.org/dairyfarmers
Hi Peggy,
Regarding your question about CSA guarantees, that’s the beauty of the CSA for the farmer: they get money up front to plant their crop, rather than taking a risk that they spend all their money (or take a loan) to plant crops that may not grow and produce a profit. That risk is taken up in pieces by each member of the CSA.
This year is my fifth year as a CSA member and I’ve never had a bad year — every year I have gotten much more than my investment’s worth!
Many farmers with direct markets – CSA’s, farm stands, farmer’s markets – are doing better this year, which is a big step forward! However, the “farmers in the middle” that is, the mid-sized family farms who bring us most of our local food, continue to suffer and disappear. Helping them stay alive is a big part of creating a sustainable local agriculture. (1) Focusing on any one issue will not do it. Getting their products to market – distribution – is a big challenge. (2) Producing ecologically-good and healthy foods, which in the Northeast means thinking more than only organic, is important. (3) Prices to farmers and to their workers and to consumers all need to be considered, and (4) we need a whole region working together, not just a mile by mile or county by county approach, to produce all of the food we need in the Northeast. Only by looking at all of these factors will we be able to have a region that can feed itself, a truly “sustainable agriculture”. We are glad to see so many voices clamoring for this now. Betty MacKenzie, Co-director, Red Tomato, Canton, Massachusetts
I am participating in CSF soon and we are very excited. It is offered by Gloucester Fishermen. The benefits as they list it are as follows.
“In traditional markets fishermen are forced to chase whatever species is fetching the highest price that week. By taking a mix of these species at the same price week-to-week (about $3/lb), fishermen are able to fish area that are not stressed by the rest of the fleet, and give species and ecosystems time to recover and replenish.
This cooperative system also keeps fishermen safer because they don’t have to fight the weather to go offshore for a certain species; if the weather is dangerous, they can stay close to shore and catch only what the CSF needs that week. At the same time, shareholders are guaranteed the freshest, highest quality fish caught. The fish caught for the CSF will never be old or frozen, and it will always come from fishermen who believe in working with the ocean and the community.”
This will be my first year with a CSA (the first pick is in an hour!) We chose to join not only for the better tasting food, but we view it as a safety issue. There has been such a problem in the last few years of food contamination, knowing where our food comes from and how its grown seems like a great way to lessen the risks.
We are vegetarian and find that purchasing from the farmers markets are MUCH less expensive than Whole Foods.
I think what’s missing from the conversation that’s happening on the radio right now is that the problem with non-local, conventional food is not simply that it’s not grown nearby and doesn’t taste quite as fresh.
Most of it is grown in highly unnatural conditions with very, very toxic chemicals. Also, industrial meat production is inhumane by any standards, and dangerous by most. And on and on and on.
I think it’s great that folks like their CSAs. I like mine. But I hope that what will be more compelling to listeners is the reality of the alternative to local, seasonal, ethical, conscious eating.
Hi,Great topic.How do you deal with contaminants in the soil from past industrial time>
I am very involved in preserving dairy farms in MA. What I am not hearing much about is sustaining the few that remain that continue to struggle despite a major grass-roots effort in recent years. I am glad that there is a surge of farmers happening in the state, but dairy farms should not be neglected in this new wave. They are still only getting just over 10.00 per hundred weight at the moment, and with a paltry Fed. subsidy, that brings the amt. to just over 13.00. That is not sustainable!!! Farmers need at least 18 to even stay above water. Even though dairy farmers now get a tax write-off due to the aforementioned effort, their cost of production still far outweighs profits. Those that do not process their own milk are especially hard hit. They get only a fraction of the sale price at the supermarket. “Middlemen” and the markets get the bulk of it.
By the way, I just read the Farm Aid comment. I commend Farm Aid for taking some action, and I hope this is a continuing trend on their part, but from what I understand, Farm Aid up till now gets performers to sing to make people aware about farm problems. Profits go to Farm Aid staff. A few years back, I was shocked to learn this. Yes, it’s nice to do, and was kind of a revolutionary step when it started, but having talked to farmers every day out here in Central MA, I can tell you that they don’t face east and thank Farm Aid every day. It’s a far cry from Farm Aid to the daiy struggles of our farmers, who don’t get a penny from Farm Aid. (perhaps the name should be changed to something less misleading) If I’m wrong, I ask Farm Aid here and now to explain how.
Several things not discussed but I find interesting:
- as a landscape architecture firm we work with non profit community groups develop urban community gardens – mostly grouped individual small plots for vegetable growing – which is different from urban agriculture spaces. We are also asked to help redesign urban spaces to assist in the community building capacity. Both gardens and farms are strong, positive community builders, which farmer’s markets are as well.
- However, we as a culture do not value (dollar wise) the land in urban context the same way – building dev & parking take precedence. In other cultures, the interstitial urban spaces are often used for food production. However, it is shown that the dollar value of buildings goes up when next to ‘green openspace’- why not value greater that food production opportunity?
- The State of MA has a great program that supports farming with business / marketing / ag practice guidance if the farm is 5 acres and 3 yrs in practice. This does not allow urban context to partake. Perspective and value need to change – this allows less travel costs for local food and as others noted on program – people begin to understand where their food comes from. (As we heard, there are a few urban farms and orchards)
- We also know that the psyche of people is uplifted when outside in diverse green spaces – farms are landscapes that always change in look, fragrance, bounty
- I am teaching a design practicum class through the Arnold Arboretum Landscape Institute fall 2009 on Urban Ag that includes the economic, social and environmental sustainability.
I called into the show on 6/12/09 to say that I had started to volunteer at a local farm – Green Meadows Farm, which is a certified organic farm in Hamilton, MA. I was hoping that there would have been more time to discuss my experience there to date. I started to volunteer because I had read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver over the winter. This book opened my eyes to the carbon footprint of imported fruits and vegetables. For so many reasons (nutrution, community support, local dollars, taste!) it makes sense to spend my hard earned money LOCALLY. And yes, I get to drive a tractor at the farm, which I find so very different from my corporate-cubicle experience, but I also know that I am giving back to my community AND I am learning about the inner workings of a farm.
What was the name of the cafe in Framingham? Big Crush Cafe?
What was the name of the local pig farm?
The Massachsuetts legislature is currently considering REAL aid to “small plot farmers–those who farm an acre or more and anticipate $1000 in annual sales. For those closed out of CSAs, these small local plots could eventually prove a godsend. The bill–Mass. H715, “An Act Relative to Small Plot Farming,”–would provide farming operations of 1 acre (as opposed to the current five-or-more) with tax relief and other support. (It’s a good bill–contact your legislators!). My testimony on the bil, suppplied to the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, is on my web site here:
http://nosuppertonight.com/2009/06/03/smalls-still-beautiful-in-support-of-mass-h715-an-act-relative-to-small-plot-farming/
By the way, it’s not a CSA, but Codman’s farm in Lincoln supplies hands down the best sausage and bacon I’ve ever tasted–and a downright idyllic stroll through a small, utopian animal farm. I drive out there regularly for my local-meats. Worth a visit, and bring the kids.
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Great show!
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