In the beginning of May, I wrote a guest post for Teri about eating local. Now that it’s summer and farmers’ market season is at its prime, I thought I’d post my article once more for those who may have missed it the first time.
* * *
I am sure you are all familiar with the terms carnivore, herbivore, and even omnivore. I assume most consider themselves the latter – eating both plants and animals – while those who eat a vegan diet (and perhaps even vegetarians too) title themselves as herbivores. What and who are locavores, you may ask? Locavores, as the name indicates, are those that focus on eating locally-grown and produced foods. With our country’s current effort on “going green,” local food is a hot topic; I wanted to share a few facts and my two cents on the importance of a locavore lifestyle.
Growing up in a rural town on California’s north coast, fresh, local food was in abundance. I have fond memories of strolling the farmer’s market centered on our town’s square with my mom almost every Saturday morning between the months of April and November. The plaza would come alive between the hours of 9am and 2pm with live music, happy vendors, and friendly shoppers with baskets bulging with farm-fresh produce. Little did I know, this weekend family ritual has had a significant impact on my life today.
Although I do not currently reside in the agriculture haven of Humboldt County, making smart choices about what type of foods I chose to support, and where I buy my groceries hasn’t slipped my mind while away at school. As a college student on a rigid budget, I cannot say that my kitchen is stocked only with organic, locally-grown food as would be my preference; however, the more and more I learn about the devastating effects industrial agricultural has on our environment, the more I am willing to shell out a few extra bucks to support a movement I believe will help our planet spin longer and healthier.
The importance of eating locally can be rather complex, but perhaps a few statistics will inspire you to think about the route your food travels from farm to table:
Industrial food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to fork.
Locally-produced food requires 17x less petroleum than does a diet based on food shipped across the country.
Industrial agriculture has reduced the varieties of fruits and vegetables available by 75% since the beginning of the 20th century.
Today, 75% of the world’s food is generated from just 12 varieties of plants and 5 animal species. Iceberg lettuce, frozen and fried potatoes, potato chips and canned tomatoes make up almost half of U.S. vegetable consumption.
Here are a few of the many benefits of eating local:
Locally gown food tastes better.
As kids, my brother and I loved when my mom would buy a big bag of raw, organic greenbeans for us to crunch on as we sauntered around the Saturday market. The flavors and aromas of foods that have been plucked out of the earth just hours before consuming donot even compare to the plastic-wrapped bags of starched lettuces that survive on supermarket shelves for unnatural amounts of time.
Local organically-grown food is healthier for you.
“Local organically-grown food that is eaten soon after being harvested is higher in nutrients and does not contain pesticides and added hormones found in industrially-produced food” (pg. 10). More often than not, local famers use organic farming methods which build soil and soil fertility. Soils rich in organic matter have a greater capacity for additional nutrients that they can convey to the plants.
Buying local helps build our economy & community.
Growing up in a small town with little to no corporations (and the fact that my family has been running our family-owned and operated business for 35+ years), supporting others trying to make their way in this world the same way is a no-brainer. “Several studies have shown that every dollar spent in a locally-owned store has three times the effect of a dollar spent at a store owned by a distant corporation” (pg. 10).
I hope these few words have inspired you to learn more about becoming a locavore, whether you chose to continue eating a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore diet. Our agricultural standards and food industry in general has frankly gotten out of hand. I hope you will take part in putting the dirt back into your own hands. Start by researching farmer’s markets in your area, look into receiving weekly boxes of produce from your neighborhood famers, or better yet… turn over the soil in your own backyard and plant some seeds of your own. ‘Tis [always] the season to eat sustainability, organically, and locally.
Here’s to a healthy planet and a healthy YOU!
Your farmers’ market fan,
Hillary
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Michael Rubinger delivers keynote at International Housing Conference
Michael Rubinger delivers keynote at international housing conference
23 Jun 2010
Michael Rubinger, LISC’s President and CEO, delivers keynote address at Housing 2010 Conference & Exhibition, an international housing forum sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Housing in England.
On the second day of the conference, which was focused on local empowerment—Our communities: Improving lives through provision, performance and empowerment. How do we engage and empower communities?—Rubinger delivered a speech about the importance of community and local participation in revitalization efforts.
He spoke of how local and resident engagement plays out in the United States and with LISC. “Experience tells us that decisions about what needs to be done and how it needs to be done should be made by those with the most to gain or lose from the outcome, stated Rubinger. That includes not just residents, but local business-owners; schools; social services agencies; and elected leaders, among others.”
LISC’s role, he noted, is to provide expertise, training, and financing to local community groups and projects, emphasizing the need to strengthen local leadership, capacity and networks. “It's about how new relationships among local organizations and residents create a powerful neighborhood platform to raise the level of effort, and sustain the work for the long haul.”
The Chartered Institute of Housing Annual Conference and Exhibition is the leading social and affordable housing event in the UK, bringing together housing associations, ALMO’s and local authorities together with the private and voluntary sectors. The conference is exploring the key national issues facing the housing sector, share best practice, and debate solutions to current and future challenges. The conference exhibition focuses on the provision of social and affordable housing and the development of sustainable communities.
The event, held June 22-24, 2010, is the biggest and best attended event in the UK as it brings together more than 5,000 housing professionals, together with over 300 key suppliers all under one roof.
23 Jun 2010
Michael Rubinger, LISC’s President and CEO, delivers keynote address at Housing 2010 Conference & Exhibition, an international housing forum sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Housing in England.
On the second day of the conference, which was focused on local empowerment—Our communities: Improving lives through provision, performance and empowerment. How do we engage and empower communities?—Rubinger delivered a speech about the importance of community and local participation in revitalization efforts.
He spoke of how local and resident engagement plays out in the United States and with LISC. “Experience tells us that decisions about what needs to be done and how it needs to be done should be made by those with the most to gain or lose from the outcome, stated Rubinger. That includes not just residents, but local business-owners; schools; social services agencies; and elected leaders, among others.”
LISC’s role, he noted, is to provide expertise, training, and financing to local community groups and projects, emphasizing the need to strengthen local leadership, capacity and networks. “It's about how new relationships among local organizations and residents create a powerful neighborhood platform to raise the level of effort, and sustain the work for the long haul.”
The Chartered Institute of Housing Annual Conference and Exhibition is the leading social and affordable housing event in the UK, bringing together housing associations, ALMO’s and local authorities together with the private and voluntary sectors. The conference is exploring the key national issues facing the housing sector, share best practice, and debate solutions to current and future challenges. The conference exhibition focuses on the provision of social and affordable housing and the development of sustainable communities.
The event, held June 22-24, 2010, is the biggest and best attended event in the UK as it brings together more than 5,000 housing professionals, together with over 300 key suppliers all under one roof.
Regrowing Local Roots - David Narum
Regrowing Local Roots
Arcata Eye, 3/31/10
By David Narum
In the movie Being There,“Chance” the Gardener, played by Peter Sellers, observes that “As long as the rootsare not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.” Chance, who was not a deep thinker, was speaking literally about the garden he tended, but he is taken by key policymakers (including the President) as a profound policy wonk who was using a garden metaphor to speak about the national economy. There are many funny moments.
But as it turns out Chance’s commentsdi d have a deeper meaning: our roots have been severed, and all is notwell in our (economic) garden. The U.S. economy rests on a fragile and poorly-rooted foundation. Over the pastcentury we have created unstable and far-reaching connections for our energy and material needs. We areheavily dependent on foreign energy sources, on aging and centralized power systems and infrastructure, and ona food system that has most Americans eating low-quality food produced and processed often thousands ofmiles from where they live. And creating these long connections has had the unintended consequence ofdisconnecting people from each other and the local resources that in the not-so-distant past allowed communitiesand regions to largely support themselves.
But we can draw on traditional American values, including individualism, community, creativity andinnovation, to envision another way—to re-grow our roots in our local economic“gar dens.” We may need tospend some time getting the old weed mat up, but once we turn the soil over it should reveal a number ofopportunities for new connections and new growth. And with the right adjustments, we should be able to createan economic soil that is more receptive to the“i dea seeds” of local entrepreneurs and the growth they canproduce if given the opportunity. Basically, we need to figure out what grows best here and then fertilize theheck out of it (with organic fertilizer, or course).
Local energy and resource (e.g., food) systems would not meet all of our needs, but they can meet far more ofthem than they currently do, and reconnecting local economies to these local supply bases can provideopportunities for job growth, innovation, and for cleaner energy and healthier food. Of course we will alwaysbe connected to the broader world for many things (they will want our exports, for example), but we shouldstructure these connections more on our own terms.
Some of the strategies for strengthening local economies include reducing barriers to entry for business start-ups, creating local capital funds (e.g., Economic Fuel) and groups such as community corporations to invest inor grow local enterprises, revitalizing local banks and community currencies, developing local and regionalmarket identities (e.g., Humboldt Made), workforce education, business incubators, university/communityconnections, and so on. We need to foster creative thinking as well as be creative in how we capitalize thosewho have good ideas but who have no practical way to turn those ideas into business opportunities. Hewlett-Packard started in a garage, but lucky for them they had access to both ideas and capital. The innovationecosystem worked for them, and it can work here, too.
Local economies will be stronger if we take the time to understand what our local places can provide for us. We can make our local economic gardens flourish by breaking up the dry, colorless, compacted and sterile clods of our existing economic system and by liberally sprinkling over this newly turned soil the nutrients needed for new ideas and ventures to thrive. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get out the garden rake.
David Narum is a Principal of GreenWay Partners in Arcata.
For more on how to relocalize our economy come to the Fourth Annual Plan It Green Building Green Communities Conference, April 3, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the Arcata Community Center. This year’s conference is titled “Local Self-Reliance: Making Connections.” It’s free and open to the public. Details are available at humboldtplanitgreen.org.
Arcata Eye, 3/31/10
By David Narum
In the movie Being There,“Chance” the Gardener, played by Peter Sellers, observes that “As long as the rootsare not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.” Chance, who was not a deep thinker, was speaking literally about the garden he tended, but he is taken by key policymakers (including the President) as a profound policy wonk who was using a garden metaphor to speak about the national economy. There are many funny moments.
But as it turns out Chance’s commentsdi d have a deeper meaning: our roots have been severed, and all is notwell in our (economic) garden. The U.S. economy rests on a fragile and poorly-rooted foundation. Over the pastcentury we have created unstable and far-reaching connections for our energy and material needs. We areheavily dependent on foreign energy sources, on aging and centralized power systems and infrastructure, and ona food system that has most Americans eating low-quality food produced and processed often thousands ofmiles from where they live. And creating these long connections has had the unintended consequence ofdisconnecting people from each other and the local resources that in the not-so-distant past allowed communitiesand regions to largely support themselves.
But we can draw on traditional American values, including individualism, community, creativity andinnovation, to envision another way—to re-grow our roots in our local economic“gar dens.” We may need tospend some time getting the old weed mat up, but once we turn the soil over it should reveal a number ofopportunities for new connections and new growth. And with the right adjustments, we should be able to createan economic soil that is more receptive to the“i dea seeds” of local entrepreneurs and the growth they canproduce if given the opportunity. Basically, we need to figure out what grows best here and then fertilize theheck out of it (with organic fertilizer, or course).
Local energy and resource (e.g., food) systems would not meet all of our needs, but they can meet far more ofthem than they currently do, and reconnecting local economies to these local supply bases can provideopportunities for job growth, innovation, and for cleaner energy and healthier food. Of course we will alwaysbe connected to the broader world for many things (they will want our exports, for example), but we shouldstructure these connections more on our own terms.
Some of the strategies for strengthening local economies include reducing barriers to entry for business start-ups, creating local capital funds (e.g., Economic Fuel) and groups such as community corporations to invest inor grow local enterprises, revitalizing local banks and community currencies, developing local and regionalmarket identities (e.g., Humboldt Made), workforce education, business incubators, university/communityconnections, and so on. We need to foster creative thinking as well as be creative in how we capitalize thosewho have good ideas but who have no practical way to turn those ideas into business opportunities. Hewlett-Packard started in a garage, but lucky for them they had access to both ideas and capital. The innovationecosystem worked for them, and it can work here, too.
Local economies will be stronger if we take the time to understand what our local places can provide for us. We can make our local economic gardens flourish by breaking up the dry, colorless, compacted and sterile clods of our existing economic system and by liberally sprinkling over this newly turned soil the nutrients needed for new ideas and ventures to thrive. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get out the garden rake.
David Narum is a Principal of GreenWay Partners in Arcata.
For more on how to relocalize our economy come to the Fourth Annual Plan It Green Building Green Communities Conference, April 3, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the Arcata Community Center. This year’s conference is titled “Local Self-Reliance: Making Connections.” It’s free and open to the public. Details are available at humboldtplanitgreen.org.
Purpose
I have high hopes for this blog as I move forward. I have never considered myself a writer, a good writer at that. I always was either highly approved of in English/writing courses, or terrible dreaded and unsuccessful and meeting the teachers desired writing styles.
For now I am simply going to begin accumulating articles that inspire me, align with my principles, or push the ideas and concepts of sustained communities farther. Eventually, or in addition to collecting pertinent articles I will begin to either reflect on the articles posted, or hopefully, eventually begin to write my own articles that could maybe inspire and be helpful to others in the community.
The title of the blog "And no message could have been any clearer" is in reference to "The man in the mirror" by the beloved Michael Jackson, explaining the basic concept that I believe anything I find will ultimately boil down to, that it starts with each individual making a change, a society as a whole can push change, and there are many elements in which government and organizations assist and foster sustainable principles, however, the key to the success of any of the existing or future plans, is the individuals, the base for society. Those are the key stake holders that we need to "buy in" to innovative or basic life changes that can make a larger impact.
We shall see as this blog develops, as I am sure I continue to grow professional this blog may be able to document the change and impact "experience" has on my thoughts, beliefs, and practices of engaging community members and individuals to care, and to act, as well as influence policy makers to adjust "age old" practices to be flexible, applicable, and inviting to the everyday citizen.
For now I am simply going to begin accumulating articles that inspire me, align with my principles, or push the ideas and concepts of sustained communities farther. Eventually, or in addition to collecting pertinent articles I will begin to either reflect on the articles posted, or hopefully, eventually begin to write my own articles that could maybe inspire and be helpful to others in the community.
The title of the blog "And no message could have been any clearer" is in reference to "The man in the mirror" by the beloved Michael Jackson, explaining the basic concept that I believe anything I find will ultimately boil down to, that it starts with each individual making a change, a society as a whole can push change, and there are many elements in which government and organizations assist and foster sustainable principles, however, the key to the success of any of the existing or future plans, is the individuals, the base for society. Those are the key stake holders that we need to "buy in" to innovative or basic life changes that can make a larger impact.
We shall see as this blog develops, as I am sure I continue to grow professional this blog may be able to document the change and impact "experience" has on my thoughts, beliefs, and practices of engaging community members and individuals to care, and to act, as well as influence policy makers to adjust "age old" practices to be flexible, applicable, and inviting to the everyday citizen.
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