The rebuilding of local food systems is an important community task that is critical for building sustainable communities, protecting agricultural land resources, and improving the health of the members of our communities.
Ideas for rebuilding local food systems were brainstormed and discussed.
Each of the participants discussed their backgrounds and their particular interest in local food systems and agriculture.
Jeff talked about his work preserving almost 18,000 acres of farmland in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania with perpetual agricultural conservation easements and how he is now interested in working to connect new sustainable farmers to this preserved farmland.
Ginger talked about her family owned farm in Vermont that she and her husband had operated as a dairy farm and how her son now operates the farm and produces a variety of products for her community (maple syrup, firewood, blueberries, and many more. Ginger also describes how her community has just started 2 new farmers markets.
Ginger also talked about the work of the Vermont Land Trust in helping to connect farmers with farms protected with agricultural conservation easements.
The high price of farmland was discussed as a barrier to getting new food based farm businesses started. Ag Incubator models, like Burlington's Interval (http://www.intervale.org/) were discussed as a way to help beginning farmers obtain access to land for farming.
Jeff mentioned that Lehigh County is in the process of converting a conventionally farmed county owned farm (The Seem Seed Farm) into a sustainable ag incubator. There is also an effort underway in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley to promote the production and purchase of local foods.
Joe asked about ways to protect agricultural land and ways to find local food producers to farm government owned land (i.e. land owned and managed by the National Park Service). Joe mentioned several farms owned by the NPS that are still operating farms (e.g. LBJ's farm in Texas and D. Eisenhower's farm in Gettysburg, PA).
Jeff described the Lehigh County Agricultural Conservation easement program and described how the implementation of strong agricultural protection zoning can also help to protect farms for local food production.
Josh discussed the idea of using Chicago public parkland for community food production. Community gardens were mentioned.
Josh also discussed some of Chicago Mayor Daley's Climate Change initiatives that include support for the development of local food systems.
There was also a discussion of the importance of meeting the community food needs for various immigrant & ethnic groups. Jeremy talked about his work with Asian communities in Boston, MA and his work with the National Bitter Melon Council (NBNC) (http://www.bittermelon.org/pages/grow/farm_for.html). This organization is devoted to the cultivation of a vibrant, diverse community through the promotion and distribution of Bitter Melon.
Jeremy also talked about Massachusetts’s New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (http://nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/) that works with immigrants to help them obtain access to land and also assists this population with starting sustainable farm businesses.
Jeff decided to add representation from the Lehigh Valley's immigrant and Hispanic communities to his ag incubator farm committee to make sure that this project meets the food, economic, and community needs of this subset of the Lehigh Valley's larger community.
There was also a discussion on the need to establish baseline data on how much of our food is currently coming from local sources. It was suggested that Jeff talk to Maureen Hart, of Sustainable Measures, to see how she would go about trying to measure local food production and consumption.
The growing demand for Community Supported Agricultural local food production systems was discussed.
Greta talked about the innovative People's Grocery program that brings healthy locally produced food and jobs to at risk youth in West Oakland, California (http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/).
Burlington's Onion River Coop and City Market (http://www.citymarket.coop) was discussed as a model cooperative grocery store serving the needs of the people of Burlington. This is downtown Burlington's only grocery story.
Greta also talked about a Community Kitchen in Fairfax, Vermont. She mentioned that community kitchen projects could be difficult to implement.
There was a discussion on how much land is needed to produce all the food to supply a local population. A recent Cornell University study showed that a person eating an all vegetarian diet in New York State needs .44 acres of land to meet their yearly calorie needs whereas a person eating a high-fat diet that includes a lot of meat needs 2.11 acres (http://www.news-medical.net/?id=30926) to support their diet. New York State has the farmland to directly supply the food for 22% of its current population.
There was also a discussion on the decline of the Grange movement in the United States.
Joe mentioned the Agricultural Stewardship Association (http://www.agstewardship.org/) that he is involved with in Washington County, NY that promotes the production and consumption of local food and the protection of farmland.
Idaho's Bounty (http://www.idahosbounty.org/) was described as an innovative online local food purchasing system.