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Regional Farm & Food Project August 2006 News If you are looking for uplifting farm and food news, these 10 stories should interest you! 10 news stories...
* * * CALENDAR * * * 1. Capital Region 100-Mile Diet Challenge When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically traveled thousands, of miles. On the first day of spring 2005, a couple from Vancouver, British Columbia chose to confront this unsettling statistic with a simple experiment. For one year, they would buy or gather their food and drink from within 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver. See how they did it at http://www.100milediet.org This September, a growing movement of local citizens, concerned about eating healthier, supporting local farmers, creating a secure food supply, and saving energy, will be doing the same. The short term goal of this project is to build people’s awareness of where their food comes from and how much energy it takes to grow, process, and ship food to your local grocery store. The long-term goal is to build support for local farmers and merchants, in an effort to build a stable and secure food supply. Find your 100 mile radius. Go to http://www.100milediet.org/map/ and draw a circle showing the 100 mile radiius from your home. Plan your meals using only food grown locally. Try it for one day or one meal if you’re not ready for a whole month! Sponsors: Capital District Energy Action, Regional Farm & Food Project, Capital Region Energy Forum, Roots & Wisdom, Sustainable Saratoga Springs, Honest Weight Food Coop, and Hudson-Mohawk Socio-Economic Collaborative. Why should we be interested in the 100 Mile Diet? From an energy perspective, fossil fuels are intimately involved in our food supply. Modern agriculture uses fossil fuels for making fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides. Oil is used in working the farm and shipping the food to processors and supermarkets. By eating local food, we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and help protect ourselves from disruptions in our food supply. We also support local farmers and their role in our economy, we preserve open space and, of course, we will eat healthier and fresher food. We're keeping a blog about our experiences with the 100 Mile Diet. The blog is currently on the Capital District Energy Action website (http://www.capdistrictenergyaction.org/). We encourage participants to post to the blog. With 35 volunteers posting, there will be plenty of material for the public to read. Join us and Honest Weight Food Coop in an event celebrating local foods on Sept. 7 at the Madison Theater in Albany. We'll have a reception featuring local foods, followed by a screening of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John", a documentary about one of the largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the country and then a panel discussion with several local CSA farmers and Co-op suppliers. The reception starts at 6:30 PM and the movie at 7:15 PM, with the panel discussion immediately following the movie. Tickets are $6 and are available at Honest Weight and the Madison Theater. http://www.capdistrictenergyaction.org/ 2. Launch of BerkShares Local Currency The E. F. Schumacher Society in Great Barrington, Massachusetts is launching a new local currency in southern Berkshire County. BerkShares Launch Weekend is September 29th, 30th, and October 1st. That weekend there will be festivities celebrating the local economy, ecology, community, and sustainability. The E. F. Schumacher Society programs demonstrate that both social and environmental sustainability can be achieved by applying the values of human-scale communities and respect for the natural environment to economic issues. Building on a rich tradition often known as decentralism, the Society initiates practical measures that lead to community revitalization and further the transition toward an economically and ecologically sustainable society. BerkShares are a local currency designed for use in the Southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts with issue by BerkShares, Inc., a non-profit organization working in collaboration with the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, participating local banks, local businesses, and local non-profit organizations. The purpose of a local currency is to function on a local scale the same way that national currencies have functioned on a national scale—building the local economy by maximizing circulation of trade within a defined region. Widely used in the early 1900s, local currencies are again being recognized as a tool for sustainable economic development. The currency distinguishes the local businesses that accept the currency from those that do not, building stronger relationships and a greater affinity between the business community and the citizens of a particular place. The people who choose to use the currency make a conscious commitment to buy local first. They are taking personal responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their community by laying the foundation of a truly vibrant, thriving local economy. BerkShares will not, and are not intended to, replace federal currency. Their use will help strengthen the regional economy, favoring locally owned enterprises, local manufacturing, and local jobs, and reducing the region's dependence on an unpredictable global economy. Citizens may exchange federal dollars for BerkShares at any of the BerkShare Exchange Banks during normal bank hours. Banks Accepting Berkshares –
The exchange rate is ninety cents per BerkShare. Ninety federal dollars will yield one hundred BerkShares. BerkShares are printed in 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 denominations of BerkShares. In the spirit of community pride, each BerkShare note features prominent local figures from the region’s dynamic and rich history; the Mohicans of Stockbridge, Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, Robyn Van En, Herman Melville and Norman Rockwell. By accepting BerkShares merchants are helping to establish markets for locally made products, providing an incentive for the growth of home-based industries and creating opportunities for those underemployed and unemployed to turn latent skills into business ventures. It will take citizens working in their own communities, region by region, to create the kind of systemic change that will lead to sustainable economic practices—practices that foster ecologically responsible production of goods and a more equitable distribution of wealth. Local currencies are a tool to bring about such change. BerkShares are about building community while building the local economy. 3. Food for Thought Videos I want to share a 3 minute video I created which is meant to offer food for thought about our food system, the one we have, and the one we’d like to build for our children. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOQkBP5nioY While it is no work of art, I think it breaks some new ground in terms of how youtube and some of the other popular streaming video sites might be used for getting some of our messages out about food and agriculture. I see internet video as the next frontier for our communications efforts. It’s where my kids’ generation is going for its information and entertainment. A quick search on youtube yields over 7000 hits for “McDonalds” and 6 for “sustainable agriculture”…lots of work ahead! 4. Food Entrepreneur Talks About Food as Medicine Once upon a time, in 1943, a New York family doctor visited a farmhouse where a two year old girl was near death. She had diarrhea and had not been able to keep any solid food down for a long time. There was nothing the doctor could do. Mother and doctor were resigned to the inevitable. However, that was not to be the end of the story. I am alive today writing this article. I remember lying on the living room couch when this strange man with a mustache came into the house. After he left, I began to think about the cellar and the sauerkraut that my mother had made “with my help”. I called to my mother in the kitchen, “Mommie! Sauerkraut!” My mother called the doctor and asked if she should give it to me. He didn’t think it would do any harm. That lacto-fermented sauerkraut restored me to digestive health. If we are old enough or lucky enough, we would all have a whole food history, but will our children? In an article in the Summer 2006 newsletter, “The Councilor” published by the NYS Nutrition Council, Amie Hamlin shared some insights about modern diets from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book DISEASE-PROOF YOUR CHILD: FEEDING KIDS RIGHT. She prepared a pie chart to represent 1998 U.S. Food Consumption Patterns by Calories. Her chart showed that 42% of calories are sourced from animal products; and 52% of calories come from refined and processed foods; while only 6% of calories come from whole vegetables, fruits, legumes, unprocessed nuts and seeds and whole grains. How many two year old children today would have ever had homemade sauerkraut? You might find sauerkraut in a can on the grocery store shelf--digestion benefits destroyed by exposure to high temperature processing. You might find sauerkraut in a plastic bag in the refrigerator section, with vinegar used in the processing instead of lacto-fermentation. Or, if you are lucky, you might keep a jar of sauerkraut in your refrigerator that was made by a local entrepreneur the way my mother made it. Minimal preservation processing of whole foods provides convenient access to a healthful plant based diet filled with naturally occurring nutrients, fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals. Whether you buy lacto-fermented vegetables or frozen and vacuum packaged local foods or locally produced shelf stable products, you know you can trust that whole foods on the label. You will find minimally processed whole foods offered at farmers markets, farm stores and food coops supporting local food based businesses. - Anna Dawson of Hometown Foods, LLC, has a commercial kitchen in Columbia County where she does research and development in preserving the harvest and creating farm fresh convenience food products. Contact her to learn more about the nutritional potential of frozen and vacuum packaged locally grown foods. http://www.ourhometownfoods.com 5. ATTRA Interview with RFFP Founder, Tracy Frisch Conversations from the Field: ATTRA talks to movers and shakers in the sustainable ag movement The Regional Farm & Food Project: A discussion about local food and agriculture with founder Tracy Frisch Interview by Tammy Hinman, NCAT Program Specialist, tammyh@ncat.org The Regional Farm & Food Project (RFFP) is a member supported, farmer focused, non-profit organization serving New York's greater Hudson-Mohawk Valley foodshed. The Regional Farm and Food Project was founded in 1996 in Albany, NY. Growing out of an annual sustainable community dinner featuring local foods and an inspirational speaker, its initial effort was to create a directory and map of farmers using organic and non-chemical production practices. Over the years the organization developed a comprehensive array of activities to promote local foods and help farmers succeed. The project promoted farmer-to-farmer learning through farm tours and workshops and later started a mentoring program and farmer networks. While these “real world” peer learning models are quite common today, the group's initiatives were very innovative at the time. As Tracy describes the movement, “The organic farm and grazing movements offer good early examples of farmer-to-farmer education. Ten or twenty years ago, university research in these areas was generally slim to non-existent. In most states, farmers could find little help with organic growing or pasture management from university faculty or extension because they knew very little. Consequently, farmers had to learn from each other. "Farmer-to-farmer learning—at least the way we practiced it—tends to be more holistic. It involves the whole of a farm, rather than single techniques taken in isolation, so it is more grounded in the context. It respects the uniqueness of each farm but also tries to make explicit the inside and outside factors that make that farm what it is. It allows farmers to get past buzz words, and apply the concepts to their own systems.” RFFP also sought to create change beyond the farming sector with outreach efforts and initiatives to involve the general public. The group formed a dynamic, producers-only farmers' market with well over 50 vendors. Called the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market, it became the first to operate year round in the region. This market has introduced thousands of people to the broad variety of local foods available. Throughout its first decade, the organization continued its yearly local foods dinner. It also started a more upscale celebration to engage local chefs in using local foods while simultaneously raising money for the group. RFFP's quarterly newsletter and monthly radio show both addressed broader food and agriculture issues in-depth, without propaganda. What follows is a conversation with Tracy about her involvement with the Regional Farm and Food Project and her perspectives as a leader within the local food and agriculture systems movement in the Northeast. Q. As the former director of the Regional Farm and Food Project, how do you think this organization has impacted the local food and sustainable agriculture movement? A. When the group first started in 1996, institutions that are quite commonplace now were not in place. Concepts such as farmer-to-farmer learning, farmer mentoring, and grass-fed livestock production were absent in the region. While there were pockets of activity elsewhere, these approaches were almost completely absent in the Northeast. From the consumer side, the idea of eating locally and searching out grass-fed animal products were not yet in vogue. For example, we developed one of the first maps of local farms that used sustainable practices and direct marketed their products, then one of a kind in the region. The RFFP took these approaches to local food and farmer education and ran with them. The approaches had a ripple affect elsewhere throughout the region and U.S., where other organizations and agencies applied these concepts to their own efforts. Q. What does sustainable agriculture and local foods mean to you? A. Sustainable agriculture: Farming would be an attractive occupation for a significant sector of the population. The farmer and community would have an integral and reciprocal relationship. Farming should leave the land in better shape for future farmers, by building topsoil instead of losing it to erosion and degrading its quality. It would minimize impacts on the ecosystem and protect water sources. While agriculture will always have some impacts on wild lands, the farmer should make choices that benefit the health of people and the community. To this end, sustainable agriculture should provide healthy and nutritious food—a component too often left out. Local food systems: A local food system connects people more directly with farmers and farm products with multiple ways to gain access. Fruits and vegetables are not the only local foods—there are also meat and poultry, dairy, and even grains and beans. Value-added/processed foods made locally and under local control are also available, especially if the raw materials come from local farms. Farmers' markets and CSAs provide good exposure to local farms and meaningful experience to eaters, but a local food system has more components. When we try to include institutions like schools and hospitals in this mix, it often becomes somewhat problematic as these large entities can be quite complex to deal with and inaccessible to small-scale agriculture. For these relationships to work, buyers must be willing to be more flexible, offering a fair price and arrangements that are practical for small, local farmers. Q. What is one of the biggest issues or obstacles facing local foods and sustainable agriculture today? A. In terms of the need to expand market outlets for sustainable farmers, one of the biggest challenges is that fewer and fewer people cook or even eat together as a family. Another is that only a relatively finite amount of direct marketing opportunities exist in a given area at this point in time. A brilliant marketer or a well-funded campaign can ratchet up the demand for local foods, but we're often dealing with a near saturation point in many areas. So one extreme is high population areas where good markets often exist but the price of land is cost prohibitive for farming. The other extreme is rural areas with more farms, yet less access to markets, especially ones that pay a decent price. Here in the Northeast failed land use policies have caused development pressures to increase disproportionately to population growth. These situations force farmers to sell out due to high taxes and because it is not easy to farm when the services are gone. It is difficult for beginning farmers because land is unaffordable and many of them do not know how to farm. Also, the sustainable agriculture movement has only weakly addressed agricultural chemicals, soil conservation, and other impacts of high-yielding, chemical intensive production and factory farms. Nor have we found ways to really grapple with consolidation in agriculture, besides a bit of consciousness raising. In my experience in the Northeast, we have tended to steer clear of dealing with these issues, though attempts have been stronger in the upper Midwest. Part of the problem is that our constituency has been alternative farmers whose primary goal is to thrive in their small niche, not protect the planet or even their community. Moreover, we don't know strategically how to take on these enormous challenges. Q. As an organizer within the movement, what are your suggestions? A. * Don't feel you have to do what other people are doing. There is room for a wide range of tactics and projects and different types of organizations in our work toward a more sustainable food and agriculture system. Assess your situation and your personality and resources as an organization, and then identify the role and niche that empowers you to catalyze the most change. * Leave tried and true methods and ideas to institutions to replicate. Small organizations (such as the RFFP) are typically more flexible—and able to change course if something isn't successful—than big, established entities. We are also more comfortable experimenting with novel strategies and untested ideas. Without the burden of a bureaucracy and with less to lose, we need to be in the forefront. Besides the satisfaction of forging into new territory, we also reap the rewards by appealing to and engaging larger numbers of supporters when we are creative and take risks. * Build relationships with individuals and learn about their needs and strengths in order to develop your programs and organization. As an organizer I helped create the goals and direction of the Regional Farm and Food Project and build its membership out of thin air. One-on-one contact with people who had expressed an interest was essential to bringing this about. * One danger of becoming an entirely grant-driven organization is drifting from your mission. Being a “foundation darling” can be very comfortable, but the foundation can become more of the audience than the people you have a mission to serve, assist, and mobilize. * Be cautious about trying to work with too many "stakeholders" in situations where this could dilute your work. Sometimes involving a wide range of organizations, agencies, and/or businesses can compromise your impacts and hold you back. * Similarly, be wary about being bought off with crumbs. The organic movement as a whole has benefited from a large increase in funding from state and federal agencies, but meanwhile the overall direction of agriculture has continued on a trajectory that is antithetical to organic—with genetic engineering, a factory-structure, high chemical use, etc. Q. What do you see as the future of agriculture and the local foods movement? A. I see climate change, sprawl, and peak oil as potentially devastating forces on the future of farming. Rising oil prices may serve to localize more food production, though other pressures make this difficult in many areas. The very structure of agriculture, and the fact that both markets and key inputs (i.e. seed) are dominated by small handfuls of corporations, is squeezing farmers past their breaking point. How can they stay in business when prices are low and production costs keep rising, except with government subsidies, off-farm jobs, and an eye glued to the financial bottom line? One option has been conversion to sustainable or organic farming, but relatively few farmers have been able to make the cognitive leap and take the financial risk. The constant economic pressure and the winnowing out of more and more farmers don't bode well. With this shift in who farms and a narrowing of controls within the food system, we have lost tremendous vernacular knowledge and reduced our options as a society. On the up side, the local foods movement continues to grow and there is a constant need for farms to produce for local markets. If they are able to distinguish themselves from their big imitators, farmers have the possibility to obtain the majority of the food dollar from those who purchase their food. The hope lies in the kinds of innovations that have gone on and continue to go on in the sustainable agriculture movement. Q. What are you doing now and how do you see it relating to sustainable agriculture and the local food system? A. I have been building a passive solar house that will soon be off the grid with the use of only 400 watts of photovoltaic panels. I designed it to be energy efficient with super insulated walls. It is built with local materials such as a slate roof (I'm 20 miles from a slate quarry area) and lumber from small local sawmills. This year I have begun writing feature stories and investigative articles, primarily on agriculture and land-use topics. I write for regional newspapers and magazines, mainly ones with a progressive or alternative slant. These include Graze and Growing for Market and a Hudson Valley magazine called The Valley Table that focuses on food, farms, and cuisine. By writing, I am able to explore issues that I think are important and to educate myself and others in the process. It's something I always wanted to do. I have had the opportunity to learn from people who are immersed in land-use issues. In the four months that I have been doing this, I have discovered that these issues need to be addressed from several angles. For example, I am not sure that planners are aware of how strong and far-reaching land-use policies have to be to protect agriculture. I have been forced to question a lot of the land-use policies that I had superficial perceptions of. For example, cluster development is often considered to be good for farmland protection, but it displaces a farm in the process and makes it difficult for farmers in the vicinity of that development. Working on these issues really reveals the extent to which our democracy is functioning. It also shows how commonly held ideological beliefs—such as the sacredness of private property—are not serving us. I hope to get people to think about at what point another people’s land-use affects their own quality of life and even their own property values. Within the current food system, with such an abundance of food, it is difficult to engage people. Most of the public does not perceive the plight of farmers and the global integration of the food system as affecting them. Farming as a land-use issue is more tangible here in the countryside where I live where we are beginning to be threatened by rapid, uncontrolled growth. Q. Why do you think people should be buying locally produced foods? A. When farmers are able to sell locally, it gives them a chance to survive as well as the personal satisfaction of seeing others enjoying what they are producing. On the consumer end, it is thrilling to know where your food is coming from and to see and try the variety of local foods available. It enriches our relationship with food to have an experience with the producer. And it is an experience that many people do not even know they are missing. 6. Highlights from The Nation's Food Issue Below are excerpts from each authors' contribution to The Nation's food issue, posted online August 24, 2006 (September 11, 2006 issue). One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum Eric Schlosser Marion Nestle Michael Pollan Wendell Berry Troy Duster and Elizabeth Ransom Winona LaDuke Peter Singer Vandana Shiva Carlo Petrini Eliot Coleman Jim Hightower http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060911/forum 7. Northeast Ag Works! Focuses on Benefits of Regionalism “Regionalism: A Commitment to Place” November 9-10, 2006 there will be a Farm Bill Summit meeting for the Northeast states in Baltimore, Maryland. The Summit, organized in the context of Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s “Northeast Ag Works!” project, will provide an opportunity to learn about emerging Farm Bill recommendations and priorities for the Northeast; explore areas of common cause and synergy; build our Northeast voice in upcoming policy deliberations; and discuss opportunities and strategies to work together. The Summit will take place in conjuction with NESAWG's annual meeting. The event will be held at the Marriott/BWI Hotel and Conference Center, located next to the Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport (10 minutes south of Baltimore). The conference will draw policy makers, advocates and educators from the Northeast region – Maine to West Virginia. Northeast Ag Works! is a W. K. Kellogg funded project hosted by the New England Small Farm Institute. The goal of the project is to develop a regional framework for farm and food policy. NAW! has defined regionalism as identifying and responding to regional characteristics and needs, and developed a "Regionalism Checklist" for policy makers to test policies for their responsiveness and appropriateness to regional needs. More information about regionalism and the "Regionalism Checklist" are available on the NAW! website: http://www.northeastagworks.org 8. Planning a Future for Farms in the Hudson Valley November 4, 2006 8:30 - 3:00 This one-day conference will focus on the role that towns can play in supporting local farm businesses and protecting farmland. The conference will seek to:
The conference will build on the growing momentum for change in the Hudson Valley. Many communities are recognizing that farms and farmers can no longer be taken for granted. Supportive local governments can help facilitate business opportunities for farmers, reduce the likelihood of farmer/neighbor conflicts, and take steps to retain the productive land upon which agriculture depends. This conference will provide communities with the education they need to take the necessary local action to support a future for the agricultural economy and the farm landscape. Who should attend: Town and county officials, planning board members, zoning board of appeals members, farmers, rural landowners, planners, and others from Hudson Valley communities. Registration begins on October 1, 2006 by calling 518-581-0078. Registration Fee: $25 Brought to you by a Steering Committee including: American Farmland Trust, Columbia Hudson Partnership, Columbia Land Conservancy, Dutchess County Planning Department, Dutchess County Cooperative Extension, Dutchess Land Conservancy, Greene County Cooperative Extension, The Glynwood Center, Hudson-Mohawk RC&D, New York Planning Federation, Scenic Hudson, Inc., and Ulster County Planning Department. 9. Local Farms Delivering Freshness http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzloca0814,0,7193764.story?coll=ny-business-leadheadlines Local farms delivering freshness, by Becky Aikman, Newsday Staff Writer At the Green Thumb Organic Farm in Water Mill, farmer Bill Halsey cracked open a rough green pod with his dusty fingers to expose a row of delicate fava beans inside. "People have to realize that they have to search for this," he said. "They can't just go to the supermarket." The next afternoon he delivered beans from that batch, along with snow peas, lettuce, beets and onions, to a drop-off point in Astoria, where some wound up in the hands of Eric Miller. Miller belongs to a Community Supported Agriculture program that provides him with produce from the Green Thumb for $14 a week. He traveled three stops each way on the N train to pick up those fava beans. Then he spent 65 minutes preparing them in a summery Mediterranean sauce with tomatoes, onion, lemon and parsley. These days, a typical fruit or vegetable often travels thousands of miles over several days between farm and supermarket -- and often winds up tasting like plastic foam. Given that, Miller said he was happy to get food that was not only "organic," but picked just the day before. "If you enjoy food that tastes good, you have to take the time for it," he said. "If you're enough of a foodie, you will." Miller and others who share a passion for food also share a new mantra: Eat local. For a while now, foodies have been seeking out produce that's organic, meaning it's raised without the use of conventional pesticides. But now that standards for organic foods are growing more lax and retailers as big as Wal-Mart are offering more organic choices from national distributors, it seems that, for healthy eaters, "local" has become the new "organic." Accessibility is the issue Anyone who has ever bought tender, sweet corn or perfectly soft peaches at a farmers' market knows that, organic or not, food from nearby farms is typically fresher and tastes better than the average supermarket fare. But as Miller can attest, eating local requires effort. That's true even on Long Island, still home to 650 family farms, according to the Long Island Farm Bureau. Most supermarkets throughout the country don't buy much from local farmers. They rely instead on distributors, who in turn rely on distant industrial agribusinesses out West and abroad, even for organic crops. As a result, locally grown food makes up less than 1 percent of the $900-billion food industry. "Accessibility is the issue," said Rich Pirog, leader of the marketing and food systems program at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. He released a study in 2001 that showed produce grown in the United States traveled an average of 1,500 miles in three days to reach stores in his state. He estimates that consumers in New York eat food that travels even farther, in three to five days. And his study didn't include the fast-growing supply of foreign produce from countries such as Mexico and even China, now a major source of organic crops. From 2002 to 2004, 16 percent of the vegetables sold in the United States came from abroad, up from 4 percent three decades ago. And 44 percent of fruit is now foreign-grown, up from 21 percent. That means U.S. consumers enjoy an abundance of produce year-round, but it also means produce is not as fresh as food from closer sources. Although a bunch of grapes from California might take three days to reach Iowa, Pirog said, a bunch from Chile takes 15 to 17 days. Why would local grapes be better? Aside from the question of flavor, they might offer better nutrition. Studies show that levels of vitamin C drop quickly once produce is picked, said Jennifer Wilkins, a fellow in food and society policy at Cornell University. And produce from distant sources is often harvested earlier in its ripening cycle than fruit and vegetables delivered locally. "When you allow tomatoes, for example, to reach their full maturity on the vine, they reach their peak of ripeness and flavor," she said. "They also reach their maximum vitamin C content." Most consumers seem aware of the advantages of local food. Miller, who works for a stock photography company, said he's been unhappy with produce at his local supermarket. "A lot of its food is bred for durability as opposed to flavor, so it can be shipped and stored a long time," he said. So why can't he find more local produce there, even in season? Why are so many peaches in the supermarket from California, even as peach trees in New York and New Jersey are bearing fruit? Reasons range from price to supermarket buying practices. "We can't compete with Third World farms and the agribusinesses on the West Coast," said Green Thumb's Jo Halsey, a member of the family that has owned the farm since the 1640s. Community vs. commercial Today, the farm earns 70 percent of its revenue from a roadside farm stand on the 100-acre property along Montauk Highway. The rest comes from Community Supported Agriculture programs like the one in Astoria, as well as others in Huntington, Brookhaven, East Quogue and Cobble Hill. Such programs allow the farm to collect payment in advance. In Astoria, for example, members pay $378 a year for 27 weekly deliveries from June through December of whatever produce is in season. On a tour of his fields, Bill Halsey explained that volume is also an issue. "We're growing small amounts of a large variety of things," he said as he hopped out of his truck onto a field lined with heads of lettuce. At his feet were more than a dozen varieties, from a leafy green romaine to pale round Bibb to frizzy red, almost purple, Lolla Rossa. Halsey had planted four rows of each, only about 1,000 heads. "A big commercial farm might have 100 acres of Romaine," he said. Next he walked to a field planted with five kinds of string beans, from French-style to yellow to flat-podded Romana, enough for a few bushels of each. "The supermarket is not going to want three bushels of a type of bean," Halsey said. "The supermarket wants 20 or 50 bushels all in one shot." And the supermarket wants low prices. Green Thumb can sell a bunch of carrots for $2.50 at its farm stand, Halsey said. But a supermarket would pay him as little as $1.25 for a bunch it could resell for $2.80. King Kullen supermarkets have inquired about buying Green Thumb products, but the price was too low, he said. At King Kullen, the director of produce, Richard Conger, said that unlike other chains, he makes an unusual effort to reach out to local farmers. During the summer, 4 percent of his produce comes from Long Island, and at the height of the season up to 30 percent of the vegetables are locally grown. But it's a challenge. Small farms can't supply large enough quantities of produce on a predictable schedule. And they don't have refrigerated trucks to deliver it. "A lot of people think local should be cheaper, but it's a little more, because of all the hoops we have to go through," Conger said. Normally, King Kullen gets its produce for Long Island stores trucked by a distributor from a warehouse in Connecticut. In the summer, after the trucks unload, Conger arranges for them to make pickups from Long Island farms rather than return empty. The trucks take the produce to Connecticut, where it's sorted and placed back onto trucks to the stores. Produce picked up on a Monday might wind up in supermarkets by Wednesday. Growing popularity Conger said he worries about the disappearing farms on the East End. "It's a tough industry," he said. "The small farmers have a tough time of it." But consumers seem to be seeking out more local food. The number of farmers' markets in New York State has risen from 270 in 1998 to 335 now, according to the Farmers' Market Federation of New York. "It's more than fruits and vegetables -- it's a great community event," said Diane Eggert, the executive director. As for Community Supported Agriculture programs, there are now 41 in New York City with up to 10,000 members. On Long Island, there are more than 20 programs, including one in Huntington with 90 members. Many, but not all, offer organic choices. Starting with foods like asparagus and baby lettuce in April, the Huntington sites now offer such produce as tomatoes, summer squash and corn. By fall, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts and kale will turn up on the folding tables. Members can't always be sure what they'll be getting, and that leads to some improvisation in the kitchen. Lori Carlin, a publishing executive who lives in Huntington, hesitated over a choice of herbs -- rosemary, dill or sorrel -- on a recent Thursday. She picked the sorrel. "I went online to find a sorrel recipe the last time it was here, and it was very good," she said. Her creation, a sorrel cream sauce that she paired with salmon, offered a contrast between the mild fish and the bitter herb. "Sometimes I find it difficult to find enough time to cook all this," Carlin said, hoisting a couple of heavy plastic bags. "But local is fresher, and organic tastes better. Every day that food ages it loses something." Ron Rudaitis, another member from Huntington, joined the program in part to support local farms. "It's important to be connected to the earth, to support the local economy," said Rudaitis, who produced a documentary last year for WLIW called "Farming the Future: Farm Life on Long Island." "It's a nice community here, too," he said as he lingered to chat with volunteers. "It's nice to be around people who care about the same things you do." That would include Suzanne Zoubeck, who founded the Huntington program nine years ago. Aside from the fact that it allows her to "eat like a queen," she said, she sees the promotion of local food as a cause. In particular, she points out the fuel that's saved by buying food that hasn't been shipped across the country. As the last members straggled in to pick up their bounty, Zoubeck looked on approvingly and said, "This is part of the yummy revolution." Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc. 10. RFFP High Tunnels All Season Growing Project Regional Farm & Food Project is finishing up a two-year SARE-funded grant project called "High Tunnels: Innovative Farmers Educate Agency Personnel About Managing High Tunnels (ENE04-082)." Catchy title, eh? The work of the project, led by Tracy Frisch and Ted Blomgren, has been to develop training materials for cooperative extension folks that will support them in helping farmers use high tunnels to extend the growing season. On June 8 we presented a high tunnels farm tour which was attended by more than 60 people. There will be a second farm tour in October, with details to be announced shortly. One of the main obstacles to our Northeast agriculture renaissance is climate. For fruit and vegetable growers in particular, short growing seasons and moisture control present challenges to specialty crops, product quality and overall farm viability. To have a thriving agriculture economy, we need to produce a diverse, steady flow of product all year round, which also means a steady flow of income for farmers. Using high tunnels, which are also called hoop houses or greenhouses, is an increasingly attractive option for growers of all types. These training materials will help promote the practice of using high tunnels, guide farmers in their investment in this technology, and share the expertise required to be successful all-season growers. Tracy and Ted have developed six farm case studies, produced a training video, and are now putting the finishing touches on a training manual. The farms included in the project are: Cramer's Posie Patch, Elizabethtown, PA; Weaver's Orchard, Morgantown, PA; Cedar Meadow Farm, Holtwood, PA; Intervale Community Farm, Burlington, VT; Starlight Gardens, Durham, CT; and Slack Hollow Farm, Argyle, NY. Currently we are organizing the distribution process for the training materials. All cooperative extension offices in the Northeast will receive a copy of the DVD and the training manual. However, if you want to be certain that you are on the mailing list, please contact Billie Best at billie@farmandfood.org or call 518-271-0744. It's country fair season in New York State! September 7 "The Real Dirt On Farmer John" September 7-9 "Back to the Pasture" On Friday, September 8 - Jo will speak at Glynwood Center in Cold Spring,NY. There will be a reception with Jo prior to her presentation and a dinner featuring pasture-raised meat and regional produce prepared by Chef Peter Kielec. Reception at 6:30 pm, Presentation at 7:15 pm, Dinner at 8:00 pm. Reception and Dinner $75 On Saturday, September 9 - Jo will lead an in-depth discussion of grass-based production from the perspective of farmers raising pigs, beef and dairy cattle. There will also be a discussion of the financial benefits and new market opportunities for producers of grass-based production. Joining the workshop is Josh Applestone, co-owner of Fleisher's Grass-fed and Organic Meats. Registration 9:00 am, Workshop at 9:30 am, Lunch 1:00 pm. Workshop Registration including Lunch $35 Reservations for each event can be made by contacting: Jill Rubin at jrubin@glynwood.org or by phone at 845-265-3338, ext 106. September 9 Renewable Energy September 9 Beekeeping September 10 Family Farm Festival September 10 Project Native September 15-17 "Building Democracy" September 16 “Strategies in Maple Syrup Tubing” September 16 Growing American Ginseng September 16 The Art of Broom Making September 17-29 Yestermorrow Permaculture Design Certification September 18 Building the Anti-Hunger Movement September 21 On-Farm Energy Assessment Field Day September 22-24 Common Ground Country Fair September 24 World Farm Animals Day September 28-30 How to Create Successful Markets September 30 Farm Food Preservation Workshop September 30 How to be Green and Save Green October 4 Field Corn Biomass for Heating Greenhouses |
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