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
Local Food Systems
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sadly we’re even importing produce from china! we’re slowly working on producing our own, and buying from a local produce guy that gets his from north carolina mostly. out west lizardfarmer has networked with all the local ranchers to sell their grass fed beef locally only. its gaining momentum, not a moment too soon. we will soon see the gov try to control us via food. during the first civil war, shortage of food was the most devastating to the cause, more than military losses. an army fights on its stomach.
China! Hell no.
I went to a wet market in Shanghai once, and lost my appetite for about 6 months.
Talk about a paradise of deregulation… there’s no knowing what mixture of chemicals, human and animal waste went into any given cucumber that the ship out of that country.
Yikes!
All I can say about the China syndrome you commented on is …. Yikes!
I ran across an academic article not that long ago on the production and sale of food in China that was made from non-food items .
Say what you will about the FDA, but go to China for a couple of weeks and you won’t give a damn about the over-regulation of unpasteurized yogurt. You’ll just want cornflakes without lead based paint in the frosting.
But …. but …. lead based paint adds a such nice metallic flavor.
My wife and I are quite concerned as to where our food comes from and have and are taking steps to eat as locally as possible. Our garden gets bigger each year and I built 3 raised beds using concrete blocks getting the idea from this very website. I would pass along if one uses blocks I would put some type of barrier against the inside of the blocks to cut down on water loss. They seemed to suck a lot of moisture out of the beds . We support our local farmers market where our daughter and son and law sell lots of produce during the season. I do not buy any food from China and now we had to start growing our own mushrooms are we buy fresh because you can hardly find canned that does not come form China. So I would encourage everyone to plant what you can and support the locals best you can. I dont see things getting better anytime soon so we need to take care of ourselves and those we love. Fair winds…….
I grew some basil in a window box once. It was awesome.
Then I had to leave town for a couple of weeks and it all died. And that’s really with producing your own food. I’m all for it, but who can stay in one place for a year to keep it going?
Aquaponics is awesome. I’d definitely do that if I lived in a bunker in The County.
There’s a whole “window gardening” movement in NYC.
People who live in apartments build these hydroponic systems out of 2 liter soda bottles and PVC pipes in their windows and grow vegetables all year indoors.
Jane,
The city & area I live in was a well known farming area because of its incredible weather. Lots of development has taken place but there is still quite a few local farms that supply organic veggies & fruit. You are right about one thing – eggs from the locals are far different than the store bought, mass produced eggs like the scene in Napoleon Dynamite.
Yikes! comment about the window box growing as they do in NYC is a great observation & easily doable by anybody.
Yeah, I had great luck with it until I accidentally bought organic potting soil and got sickly plants and was overrun with some kind of fruit flies or gnats or something. I read reviews of that stuff and everyone had the same problem, so I’m comfortable blaming the soil.
Got to use the cheap stuff from Kmart with the poisonous, carcinogenic, explosive fertilizer chunks in it. That works great. Big, bushy plants in like 2 months.
I am currently being sued by our covenent enforcement , just because I have some hens (on my 4 acre lot which is zoned for horses). As I love my organic eggs , and the nice rich fertlizer for my organic garden.I am fighting litigation.A group of 5 of us have started a non profit to support our lawyer fees. Its not always easy to eat the way you want,but worth the fight , I think.
Maybe put the chickens in your garage & call them your pet. I’d bet they’d have a tougher time moving forward with the suit.
After, negotiate with them how many you can have outside, the type of habitat etc.
Many times the covenant enforcers are residents with a militant power trip who want to exercise their will using the HOA’s money.
Also, let them know that when the HOA is in litigation it increases the difficulty to sell properties because the mortgage lender gets a copy of all of the HOA information & if there is litigation, it presents a risk to the home’s future value & they shy away until it is settled. When the rest of the homeowners find out this bit of information, they get mighty pissed off, especially those thinking of selling.
Lastly, if the deed restrictions specifically prohibit poultry, you may be fighting a losing battle.
so call them miniture horses. make a little saddle or a plow harness for them. no ordinance against crazy:)
You are funny Riverrider but a darn good idea!
I have and love my 7 hens, haven’t seen a tic in 2 years and I hate buying eggs from the store this time of year. I just keep enough around for baking/recipes, and wait till the girls are producing to eat my breakfast of 2 eggs over easy. I am trying to build up a nice big blueberry patch, and lost a big pine in Sandy, so I have a few fruit trees slated for that empty sunny spot. I too see a big local produce movement, I wish to see more grass fed beef/pork going on though.
Keep up your fight for the chickens, maybe they just need to see all the benefits and be educated.
I have kept bees and sold honey for several years. The local food movement is so much more imprtant than anyone cares to realize. The further away from your food you are the greater risk you put yourself and your family under.
the pet chicken route is what we are using.
I’ll bet one or two of the board members are married to a chicken they lovingly call “pet”.
I am a member of the local Slow Food chapter, look here to see if one is near you (http://www.slowfoodusa.org/?gclid=CNzJp77H5bQCFUlxQgodqw0AcA).
I live in the maritime Northwest which makes year round gardening possible and have just joined a neighborhood level urban farming group with the plan to get legislation in place to guarantee our rights to grow food in our front yards. locally this has not been an issue yet but in looking at news items from around the country I can see it coming. There is also a group of us at work trying to get a community garden going.
I love the local farmers market but it is too pricey to get more than the occasional treat from, $50.00 buys about 3 days worth of produce, Ouch!
in our area of socal several sustainable COOPs have started in the last few years. You pay a yearly fee and then every week or two depending on the plan you get a box of fresh veggies and fruit. What you get depends on whats ripe. You get really fresh produce and your helping small local producers stay in business and even expand. One coop sends a recipe based on what produce they are sending you that week.
Wow, I am glad you mentioned it, thanks Tim! I Googled local farmers who do a coop & found a great one. They deliver certified veggies to the door & the cost is just slightly higher than the local health food store where I buy my veggies currently.
Saving the time & the little bit of fuel plus, supporting local growers makes it well worth it.
there is a big coop out of escondido that delivers to specific drop off points called be wise foods….organic and all that