Is there anything more delectable than a eating a fresh peach or a ripe tomato?
With mouths watering, the Radio Boston team has been waiting to do this show for a couple of months.
The beginning of summer and farmer’s markets setting with up with the first locally grown produce of the season is surely something to look forward to. Farmer’s markets have proliferated in New England as they have across the country.
New Englanders are descendants of farmers after all. All the Founding Fathers had farms. At least one Founding Mother, Abigail Adams tended the family farm while her husband was away for years on end.
The writer Michael Pollan has preached eating local for years, for health reasons and to create a sustainable local economy that will support farmers of all kinds. Another persistent voice for local farms is the great restaurateur Alice Waters who has made it her mission to teach schoolchildren to grow and prepare fresh vegetables.
First Lady Michelle Obama took the Alice Waters challenge this spring and planted a garden on the White House grounds.
So we get that it’s trendy. We know for sure eating fresh fruits and vegetables is good for us and for our families.
But fresh and local can be expensive in time and money. And many Boston families struggle to put food of any kind on the table. Many neighborhoods don’t have a supermarket much less a farmer’s market or a patch of ground to grow their own.
And in our climate — how practical is fresh and how do you manage that part of the food puzzle…
We’re looking for answers and ideas – from you. Call, and thanks for listening – Jane
I am involved in food advocacy in Boston and have to say that the part of sustainable food that is most often missed is the importance of re-education for consumers. “Trendy” consumerism of local food — which now is as much a status symbol as a life choice in many cases — means nothing without a reorientation of consumer values towards seasonal, cyclical eating in a broad fashion.
On the one hand, organizations like Take Back the Kitchen!, which I am a part of, provides education for at-risk adults and youth about how to cook from scratch, how to understand the importance of fresh vegetables and fruits, and what processed food does to our bodies. Fundamental education like this needs to be widespread throughout the country, encouraging the idea that cooking with fresh vegetables isn’t a decision about making your kitchen more fashionable but actually about reclaiming our communities’ health and our ability to control what is entering our own bodies.
On the other hand, local agriculture advocates need to spend more time learning about their local food history. There is a resurgence of this idea right now, and in New England it is particularly important because of the seasonal demands of the climate. 19th century Americans were tremendously resourceful with the materials and vegetables they had, and grew enormous amounts of vegetables themselves. Cooking was part of the rhythm of their lives, and even fairly urban households had homemade bread in the kitchen as recently as the turn of the century. Without reorienting ourselves towards the pleasures, and rhythms of the kitchen, local food will only seem a luxury.
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.
Really an important topic. Here in Newburyport we’ve formed the Local Food Network…”connecting farmers, foodies, and fun” and in just a few months its taken off as a social network with~ 200 memebrs dedicated to more and better local food. We promo’d your program on our blog this morning http://www.gnlocalfoodnetwork.org Also Newburyport, which for 100’s of years had a regular outdoor market is re instituting it this weekend.See news story here:
http://www.newburyportnews.com/pulife/local_story_162232604.html?keyword=topstory
You don’t necessarily need a patch of land to start a farm – the Food Project is growing thousands of pounds of vegetables each year on a roof at the Boston Medical Center.
http://www.thefoodproject.org/agriculture/Internal1.asp?ID=559
… and bringing them to a local food pantry and the Dudley Farmer’s Market.
You also don’t have to choose between having local farms and feeding the hungry. Many community farms around Boston donate to local food pantries; the Gaining Ground farm in Concord gives away *all* its produce. The Boston Area Gleaners collect extra produce from farms all over the region for hunger relief.
One of my reasons for supporting local farming is to pay more attention to our food – where it comes from, how it’s raised, how it affects the environment and our bodies, what we do with it, and who gets it. Community farms with hunger relief programs like The Food Project, Waltham Fields, and Gaining Ground do just that.
Good to see The Food Project mentioned above–I cited their work last week in written testimony supplied to the Mass. Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture in support of a bill that’s just been introduced–Mass. H715, “An Act Relative to Small Plot Farming,” which 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 here:
http://nosuppertonight.com/2009/06/03/smalls-still-beautiful-in-support-of-mass-h715-an-act-relative-to-small-plot-farming/
Thanks for posting the pics of farms in western Mass. We have a few here in the eastern part of the state–I drive out regularly now to Codman Farm in Lincoln to get my burger and pork: I feel as though I’ve never actually tasted bacon before sampling their stuff. As for the animals–I don’t think farm animals come any happier. My pics of Codman:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gnashe/sets/72157619613794865/show/