Local Food Systems

Local food is one of my passions.  Partly of course because local farm eggs taste so much better than the weak, pale yellow cousins in the grocery store. Partly because it worries me to get large portions of my family’s fresh food from places like Argentina or Peru or even California. I try to mitigate my worries on this front by working to strengthen what local food is available.
This can be tricky here in NW Iowa, as in many northern climes, simply due to the shorter growing season.  High prices for farm land, sent skyward by high energy prices and commodities markets and real estate “investors,” makes it hard for small producers of actual food to get land at prices they can afford. The local population, like much of the country is much more accustomed to getting strawberries in December than they are dealing with the rhythm of food grown locally in season.
In spite of that, I think the local food movement is slowly growing. I want to share some of the strategies that I have personally used to increase my  family’s food security. If you worry, as I do, about where your food is coming from, I advise you to use any and all strategies at your disposal to encourage the production of local food in your area.
Community Gardens – I have started community gardens in the past two cities I’ve lived in. The hardest part is always finding the land.  In one, the city council was able to free up part of an under used park. In another, I teamed up with a church to use a corner of their expansive lot. Both times, I had to just keep asking around. County extension offices can be of help, as can other ag support groups.  Finding other gardeners has not been hard, in either city. Both times the garden plots available were taken in the first year, with demand the second year increasing.  Both times we had to expand the community garden in the second year, to avoid turning people away.
Farmer’s Markets – I can’t claim any hand in creating farmer’s markets.  I do work hard to support them though.  Local farmers have many obstacles to overcome to get fresh local food to the market. I arrange our food budget so that we can buy our fresh veggies and fruits from local producers, even if that means we eat less of something else (usually meat) to afford the slightly higher prices.
Real Connections – Whenever possible, I make real connections to the local food producers whose food we eat.  When boy #1 was a baby he and I went to help our favorite small farmers get their garlic crop planted. I’ve helped the local apple grower (who I swear has to be 80) with some of his trees.  When high winds destroyed some hoop houses I showed up at the work day. I make sure to know the names of those growing our food, and make sure they know ours.  The relationships take time, but I’ve always found it to be worth the effort.  Facebook, of all things, is slowly making this easier as some of my favorite farmers adopt the social media as a way to keep in contact with their customers.
Have any of you done any work in the local food area? Any winning strategies to share?
Do you know who’s growing your food?
– Calamity Jane