Good Food is Everybody's Business
Notice how the retailers’ pledge initiative recounted in Big Retailers Make Pledge of Stores for ‘Food Deserts,’ (The New York Times, July 20, 2011) is entirely top-down and makes no mention of empowering local neighborhoods to support their own independent grocers?
In the Andes, there have been fundamental changes in production patterns as a result of the different processes of land reform in the region and “agricultural modernization.” Today, the environmental context and local culture are no longer the main determinants of production systems, but rather the habits of unknown consumers and their food demands are determining what farmers grow and when and how they grow it.
Food varieties extinction is happening all over the world—and it’s happening fast. In the United States an estimated 90 percent of our historic fruit and vegetable varieties have vanished. Of the 7,000 apple varieties that were grown in the 1800s, fewer than a hundred remain.
In tough economic times, it’s not unusual to see rural businesses close their doors. So the wide ray of hope shining from Wilmore, Kentucky, is nothing short of inspiring.
It’s been a cool, late spring here in Puget Sound, which means there’s still time to plant a garden. In fact, we’ve just gotten the tomatoes we bought at the Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sale in the ground! Buying starts and seeds from local growers and at local sales ensures that you get plants that are climate-appropriate. There are some plants that just don’t do well in our short summers!
Devon Peña – teacher, farmer, anthropologist – talks about food sovereignty and producer ethics. He is part of a co-op of 52 farmers in the San Luis Valley of Colorado who raise grass-fed beef and heritage corn and beans.
The growing oil, water, and climate crises threaten food security in all communities. This new film by Chris Bedford looks at the deeper issues of food security and community survival in this new age of global chaos and scarcity. “Getting Real about Food & the Future” features the wisdom of John McKnight, Bill McDonough, Lester Brown, Bob Costanza, and David Korten.
Are you a seed saver and/or food grower? A new, one-person seed company has just been announced and it offers some fascinating items. The company is called Fertile Valley Seeds and it is Carol Deppe’s way of offering her innovative seed breeding work to gardeners, especially those in the Northwest. Her crop breeding techniques are in the public domain, rather than owned by a profit-making corporation
