“Vote with your food
dollars.”
“Keep your money in the local economy.”
“Know your farmer, know your food.”
Are you familiar with any of these phrases? What about “Sign-Up Now?” Or “Join now so you don’t miss out!” Hey, those are my lines and we’ve been using
them a lot as we are trying to encourage people to sign up for CSA shares
before the season starts in three short weeks!
“Miss out on what? It’s just
vegetables, what’s the big deal about CSA anyway?" Does any of this “support your local food
system” talk even matter?
Earlier this year, my friend (ok, we’ve only met once, but
she’s awesome) Andrea Bemis released a film called Local Thirty. This was one of the main films
featured at Fairshare CSA Coalition’s Food and Farms Film Fest this past
March. While many documentaries about
our food system over the past 10-12 years have been very informative and
brought important truths to light, some have been pretty heavy and
intense! This film was different. It was about food, forming connections, and
finding a sense of “home.” It focused on
exploring your local food system and the positive impact that can have on our lives
and our meals. It was a welcome relief
to watch a film about our food system that made me laugh, chuckle, yet still
pushed me to think about my own food choices.
Andrea B. is a real live farmer who grows vegetables at the
base of Mt Hood in Oregon along with her husband, Taylor. In addition to farming, Andrea B also writes
a blog called Dishing Up the Dirt, which is also the title of her
cookbook! If you’ve followed my CookingWith the Box articles on our blog
over the past few CSA seasons, you’ll likely recognize her blog as I have
shared many of her recipes along the way.
It all started back in September 2018 when Andrea B, her husband Taylor,
and their farm crew (Adam and Rachel) decided to challenge themselves to source
all of their ingredients from within a 200 mile radius. They had 10 cheat foods each (eg coffee,
lemons, black pepper, etc), but aside from those foods they only ate the things
they could source within 200 miles. Why
would anyone do something like this?
They didn’t really have an end goal or mission they were hoping to
achieve. They used this time as a
framework for learning and discovering their local food system. What treasures (both food and people) were
they missing? It was about finding more
of a sense of “home.”
As they prepared for and lived out the month of September,
they had to do their research to find some of the ingredients they didn’t
produce themselves. Research for Andrea
B went beyond the internet, she actually left the farm to visit people she’d
never met before so she could learn more about what they were doing. She had the opportunity to stomp grapes at a
vineyard, take a wild fishing trip off the coast to catch tuna, visit a dairy
farm and drink milk right from the cow, forage for wild mushrooms and walk the
pastures on a neighbor’s cattle ranch. And
what became of all of this?
Here is Andrea B’s conclusion in her own words: “Eating locally for me is about discovering and
celebrating what we have, not mourning what we don't. It's about strangers
becoming friends, and learning more about our landscape and the place we call
home. When we start looking around and talking to each other, it becomes
evident that we just have so much……When I first set out on a month long
challenge to only eat ingredients produced within 200 miles of my home I had no
idea how transforming that experiment would be. Eating the foods I found and
prepared rooted me deeper into my home. They were the flesh of plants I touched
and animals I knew. This made me feel more alive, wild and human. I found out
that eating locally is about discovering and celebrating a bounty that is all
our own and letting it shape a little bit of who we are. It's about joy.”
So does it really matter if
you know your farmer? Does it matter if
you eat food from local sources? Does
the story behind the food you eat mean anything? Does being part of a CSA or shopping at the
farmers’ market impact your life in any way that‘s different than shopping at
the grocery store? Well for some people,
perhaps these things don’t really matter.
But for me…yes, it matters and yes, it’s important. Andrea B. is right, it’s about joy and
forming connections.
Food is political, food is
social justice and injustice, food is linked to our environment and our
economy. But food is also
relational. It’s a bridge to bring our
lives together. You just don’t know what
treasures you might discover and what stories you will unveil when you take the
time to look. Connection. Whether we know it or not, we all need
connection. Every time you learn a
little more about your food sources, you’re allowing a little piece of someone
else’s world to become part of yours. This does bring joy, appreciation, respect
and understanding. It causes you to
think outside of yourself and your own experiences while at the same time,
bringing some stinkin’ delicious food to your tables! Yes, I’m convinced that food tastes better
when you know the story about where it came from.
 |
| The fertile soil and beautiful fields of Harmony Valley Farm |
So back to the original question, does any of this “support
your local food system” talk even matter?
I believe the answer is “Yes.” At
the very least, if you like to eat good food I guarantee you’ll find some of
your best ingredients when you look locally.
The other part of this “Yes” is the community piece. CSA stands
for Community Supported Agriculture, but this isn’t a one-way concept. We need the community to support our farm,
but the community also needs to be supported by those producing food! In the end, we all have a part in this thing we
call our local food system, or in Andrea B’s words, the place we call
home.
In closing, I’ll leave you
with one last message. Our
deliveries start in just three short weeks, so Join Now So You Don’t Miss Out! If
you’re looking to add a new dimension as well as some joy and really great food
to your meals, we hope you’ll not only join us for the 2019 CSA season but
encourage you to see what other treasures you can find within your local food
system this year.
---Farmer/Chef Andrea
NOTE: Go to www.localthirty.com for more
information about Andrea Bemis’s documentary and how to watch the whole
thing. It’s only 46 minutes long, so
make some snacks and kick back to watch it this weekend!
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