9/27/2010
9/19/2010
what it takes people
a sustainable food system needs you:
Educate yourself:
Understand why sustainable food should actually cost 50 to 100 percent more than industrial, conventional food. Figure out how to buy food more directly from farmers and ranchers, if you want to avoid some of the transportation/distribution/retail markup costs.
Know the names of more farmers and ranchers than celebrity chefs, including at least one you can call by first name -- and ask how their kids are doing.
Understand that if you want to see working conditions and wages come up for farming and food processing workers, that you will have to pay more for food. Be OK with that.
Learn about the Farm Bill and plan to write a letter/make a phone call when it comes up for re-authorization.
Chill out:
Don't expect a farmer to have year-round availability and selection. Alter your diet to match the seasonal harvests in your area. Get used to not eating tomatoes until at least July, apples in late August to December, citrus in winter, greens in spring. Don't complain.
Realize that even animal products are seasonal because animals have biological cycles. Know that chickens produce much less eggs in winter when days are shorter and even come to a complete stop when they are replacing their feathers (molting). Consequently you may have to eat less eggs and pay more for them during that time. Don't complain.
Get your hands dirty:
Sweat on a farm sometime.
Participate in the death of an animal that you consume.
Successfully cook a roast. You don't need steaks and chops to make an amazing meal.
Save your bones for soup, beans, stock, or your doggies!
If you own land that's not being farmed, tell some farmers about it. If you rent land to farmers, offer a fair rental price or fair lease (long-term is better), and then stay out of the way and don't meddle or hinder the farmers. They are not your pet farmers nor your landscapers.
Throw your consumer dollar behind a couple beginning farmers or lower-income farmers. Be concerned about how landless, lower-income producers are going to compete with the increasing numbers of wealthy landowners getting into farming as a hobby.
Help your local farmers do their job:
Bring your kids/grandkids/nieces & nephews to the farmers market and to real farms as often as possible
If you ask to visit the farm, also offer to help out or spend some decent money while you are there. Otherwise, wait patiently until the next group farm tour. Don't expect a farmer to drop everything just to give you a special tour.
Consider making a low-interest loan, grant, or pre-payment to a farmer to help her cover her operating expenses. Stick with that farmer for the long haul, as long as he continues to supply quality product and can stay in business.
Give more than just money to a farmer or rancher -- maybe a Christmas card, invitation to a party, offer to spiff up their website, or watch their kid for an hour at the farmers' market.
Really put your money where your mouth is:
Don't complain about prices. If price is an issue for you on something, ask the farmer nicely if he has any less expensive cuts (or cosmetically challenged "seconds"), bulk discounts, or volunteer opportunities. But don't ask the farmer to earn less money for his hard work.
Don't compare prices between farmers who are trying to do this for a living and those that do it only as a hobby (and don't have to make a living from what they produce and sell).
Share in a farmer's risk by putting up some money and faith up front via a Community Supported Agriculture share. And then suck it up when you don't get to eat something that you paid for because there was a crop failure or an animal illness.
Buy local when available, but also make a point of supporting certified Fair Trade, Organic products when buying something grown in tropical countries
Buy organic not just for your health, but for the health of the land, waterways, wildlife, and the workers in those fields
Figure out the handful of restaurants that buy and serve truly sustainable food and become loyal to them. Occasionally give them feedback and thank them.
Don't buy meat from chain grocery stores, not even Whole Foods. Understand that for them to get meat in volume with year-round selection and availability, they have to work with large distribution networks and often international suppliers, and don't pay enough to the producers for them to even cover their costs.
Get the majority of your produce, meat, eggs, dairy, bread, dried fruit, nuts, and olive oil from farmers markets, CSAs, U-pick farms, and on-farm stands. Try to buy from the actual farmer, not a middleman. Get the rest of your food from the bulk section, dairy case, or bakery of your local independent grocer.
Pay for your values. If it hurts, don't have fewer values, just eat less food (sorry, but most Americans could stand to do a bit of this).
I admit, this is a lot to digest.
What I am saying is that we can't be casual about the food system we want to see. If more people don't show some commitment, and take part in some of the hard work that farmers, ranchers, and farm workers do on a daily basis, then we cannot build a sustainable food system.
You don't have to be a passive consumer. You are part of this system, too. Don't just eat, do something more!
Rebecca Thistlewaite
Educate yourself:
Understand why sustainable food should actually cost 50 to 100 percent more than industrial, conventional food. Figure out how to buy food more directly from farmers and ranchers, if you want to avoid some of the transportation/distribution/retail markup costs.
Know the names of more farmers and ranchers than celebrity chefs, including at least one you can call by first name -- and ask how their kids are doing.
Understand that if you want to see working conditions and wages come up for farming and food processing workers, that you will have to pay more for food. Be OK with that.
Learn about the Farm Bill and plan to write a letter/make a phone call when it comes up for re-authorization.
Chill out:
Don't expect a farmer to have year-round availability and selection. Alter your diet to match the seasonal harvests in your area. Get used to not eating tomatoes until at least July, apples in late August to December, citrus in winter, greens in spring. Don't complain.
Realize that even animal products are seasonal because animals have biological cycles. Know that chickens produce much less eggs in winter when days are shorter and even come to a complete stop when they are replacing their feathers (molting). Consequently you may have to eat less eggs and pay more for them during that time. Don't complain.
Get your hands dirty:
Sweat on a farm sometime.
Participate in the death of an animal that you consume.
Successfully cook a roast. You don't need steaks and chops to make an amazing meal.
Save your bones for soup, beans, stock, or your doggies!
If you own land that's not being farmed, tell some farmers about it. If you rent land to farmers, offer a fair rental price or fair lease (long-term is better), and then stay out of the way and don't meddle or hinder the farmers. They are not your pet farmers nor your landscapers.
Throw your consumer dollar behind a couple beginning farmers or lower-income farmers. Be concerned about how landless, lower-income producers are going to compete with the increasing numbers of wealthy landowners getting into farming as a hobby.
Help your local farmers do their job:
Bring your kids/grandkids/nieces & nephews to the farmers market and to real farms as often as possible
If you ask to visit the farm, also offer to help out or spend some decent money while you are there. Otherwise, wait patiently until the next group farm tour. Don't expect a farmer to drop everything just to give you a special tour.
Consider making a low-interest loan, grant, or pre-payment to a farmer to help her cover her operating expenses. Stick with that farmer for the long haul, as long as he continues to supply quality product and can stay in business.
Give more than just money to a farmer or rancher -- maybe a Christmas card, invitation to a party, offer to spiff up their website, or watch their kid for an hour at the farmers' market.
Really put your money where your mouth is:
Don't complain about prices. If price is an issue for you on something, ask the farmer nicely if he has any less expensive cuts (or cosmetically challenged "seconds"), bulk discounts, or volunteer opportunities. But don't ask the farmer to earn less money for his hard work.
Don't compare prices between farmers who are trying to do this for a living and those that do it only as a hobby (and don't have to make a living from what they produce and sell).
Share in a farmer's risk by putting up some money and faith up front via a Community Supported Agriculture share. And then suck it up when you don't get to eat something that you paid for because there was a crop failure or an animal illness.
Buy local when available, but also make a point of supporting certified Fair Trade, Organic products when buying something grown in tropical countries
Buy organic not just for your health, but for the health of the land, waterways, wildlife, and the workers in those fields
Figure out the handful of restaurants that buy and serve truly sustainable food and become loyal to them. Occasionally give them feedback and thank them.
Don't buy meat from chain grocery stores, not even Whole Foods. Understand that for them to get meat in volume with year-round selection and availability, they have to work with large distribution networks and often international suppliers, and don't pay enough to the producers for them to even cover their costs.
Get the majority of your produce, meat, eggs, dairy, bread, dried fruit, nuts, and olive oil from farmers markets, CSAs, U-pick farms, and on-farm stands. Try to buy from the actual farmer, not a middleman. Get the rest of your food from the bulk section, dairy case, or bakery of your local independent grocer.
Pay for your values. If it hurts, don't have fewer values, just eat less food (sorry, but most Americans could stand to do a bit of this).
I admit, this is a lot to digest.
What I am saying is that we can't be casual about the food system we want to see. If more people don't show some commitment, and take part in some of the hard work that farmers, ranchers, and farm workers do on a daily basis, then we cannot build a sustainable food system.
You don't have to be a passive consumer. You are part of this system, too. Don't just eat, do something more!
Rebecca Thistlewaite
9/14/2010
no root no fruit!
“Kids don’t have a little brother working in the coal mine, they don’t have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms of the big mill towns of the Northeast. Why? Because we organized; we broke the back of the sweatshops in this country; we have child labor laws. Those were not benevolent gifts from enlightened management. They were fought for, they were bled for, they were died for by working people, by people like us. Kids ought to know that. That’s why I sing these songs. That’s why I tell these stories, dammit. No root, no fruit!”
the words of utah phillips. i had the pleasure of seeing him in the flesh back in Colorado and i was all smiles. the entire time. he was tall. he was wearing a red flannel and overalls, a cool hat and a big grey beard. he had tattoos from the war and from the trains. he was someone you could not ignore. and when he started telling stories and playing his guitar i couldn’t sit still-i was giddy.
the words of utah phillips. i had the pleasure of seeing him in the flesh back in Colorado and i was all smiles. the entire time. he was tall. he was wearing a red flannel and overalls, a cool hat and a big grey beard. he had tattoos from the war and from the trains. he was someone you could not ignore. and when he started telling stories and playing his guitar i couldn’t sit still-i was giddy.
9/01/2010
amigoisms
for me, one of the interesting dilemas of having a blog (worst word ever!) is that people might actually read it. i willingly share with the world but in doing so i set myself up for judgement, stalking, weird comments from my sis, etc. but it's part of the whole deal, i accept that. it's funny though because sometimes i'll censor myself or i'll find myself writing for someone else and i hate it when i do that. anyway, it's a fuckin blog-it's so self masturbatory and nerdy and i can't take it too seriously. that is, until i find out that i've shared something totally untrue! no not the post about the crapper-that shit's legit. but the post about gold lake. the lies! the lies!
just so we all know some real history here-not the bullshit that father like figures sometimes tell, the song "camptown races" (camptown ladies sing this song doo-dah doo-dah) was written by stephen foster. he was not from camptonville california and he most definitely didn't write the star spangled banner. that was written by francis scott key, a distant relative of the cutest fact checker i know. truth be told. truth be gold.
just so we all know some real history here-not the bullshit that father like figures sometimes tell, the song "camptown races" (camptown ladies sing this song doo-dah doo-dah) was written by stephen foster. he was not from camptonville california and he most definitely didn't write the star spangled banner. that was written by francis scott key, a distant relative of the cutest fact checker i know. truth be told. truth be gold.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
