Over the weekend we read the disturbing news of another foodborne illness outbreak. Once again it is e-coli 0157(h)7, a particularly nasty strain, that has sickened at least 120 and killed at least one person. There may be many more.
The cause, originally thought to be in organic spinach but Monday revealed to be found in conventional, industrially produced spinach instead, is thought to be contamination either from fertilizer, the soil, or the in-field processing system. Detailed descriptions of how this system works are available in Michael Pollan's recent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. The point is not that the spinach was organic or conventional, but rather the industrialized methods used on these massive California farms and elsewhere. Contamination in one of these places can sicken hundreds, even thousands of people.
Any system of distribution that has only a few central points is more economical in the short term, but is simply not sustainable in the long view. Consider for a moment why the Defense Department built Arpanet with the model it did. The goal was to create a system of communication whereby if one junction were attacked, the system could simply work around it, unlike conventional phone and telegraph lines that could be easily cut and disabled. This network eventually became the internet we know today.
A similar system could be used for food distribution. Imagine if more of the produce you buy could come from closer to home, from several small farms instead of one big one. While it is true that no system is totally invulnerable and a foodborne illness outbreak could occur on a small local farm, if it did the illnesses would be far fewer, far more contained, and far less damaging to the economy. This recent outbreak of e-coli has resulted in the recall of all spinach nationwide, a move which will doubtlessly harm many innocent growers and processors for the mistakes of just one or a few.
Many people will argue that such a localized system will result in higher prices. To them I suggest that they consider cost rather than price. Consider the cost of so much packaging to the environment. Consider the cost of so much fuel for growing and shipping upon international relations and global climate. Consider the cost of processed foods to our healthcare system. Consider the cost of massive foodborne illness outbreaks on the innocent farmers and family whose loved ones are sickened or killed. These hidden costs are too much for us to sustain for long.
Now consider the advantages of buying locally. Not only is the food fresher, better tasting and better for you; not only do you have the advantage of traceability, knowing exactly where you food came from and who grew it; but consider this great opportunity as well – if every household in Johnson County, IA (there are about 45,000) were to divert just $10 of their existing weekly food budget to buying something produced locally, it would keep over $23 million in the Johnson County economy every year. Now imagine if everyone diverted $20, or $40, or $80.
I'm not suggesting that everything we eat has to come from right here. We needn't be looking for Iowa grown olives or oranges. But we could be growing a lot more of our own food here, as could everyone else around the country in their home regions. We'd improve nutrition, the environment, the health care system, and our evening meal. Even national security would be enhanced the way Arpanet improved defense communications – a problem with poisoned food one place should not mean the collapse of our whole food system. Don't think for a moment that the terrorists haven't consider an attack on our food system. It's at least as vulnerable a point as our ports or our southern border.
So to enjoy some perfectly safe, delicious spinach this weekend, stop by the local farmers market and pick some up. Find the sense of security that comes from shaking the hand that raised the food – food with a farmer's face.
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Comments: 36
Excellent observations -- and dead on.
My motto is "keep Hawaii green, spend your money here".
Once during a TV show in which I was the guest "chef" (I am not a chef, but that is what the host kept calling me) my son was my assistant and someone from the audience asked where I got my ingredients.......when I mentioned that I like to shop first at the Farmer's Market and second I try to buy locally grown produce at the supermarket..............Anthony quipped "I refuse to eat food that has more air miles that I do"
Thank you for sharing! Love, light, and blessings~Mama T
First easy place to look for local sources is this website:
www.LocalHarvet.org
Search for all sorts of stuff by many different criteria, You'll love it.
A quick search of localharvest.org revealed at least 15 farmers markets on long island, most of them in Nassau, so no, it's not hard.
As for the McDonald's effect, I think if you look at the impact that Slow Food and other movements have had on food over the last 20 years in this country, you'll find that minds can indeed be changed, that McDonald's can in fact have losing fiscal years, etc. But the intent is not to wipe out such places altogether, rather to mitigate their diliterious side effects.
Then their the idea on Long Island of buying local seafood and local wine (there's some very good wine on LI these days)
Cgeck out localharvest.org, then take an hour some weekend and visit a farmers market. You'll be glad you did.
Watch those auctions closely. They are often places where commidity produce from California or Mexico is passed off as local, so caveat emptor.
I live in a very different environment now. I mostly have to rely on Whole Foods for organic produce but am thankful I have that. Kevin mentioned that I might try Decalb Farmer's Market so I will do that one day soon. I'm looking for some locally grown Delicata squash :-)
There is so much in the world I can do nothing about. However, I can support my local vendors and organic farmers with my pocketbook. As I learn more about my new home, I will undoubtedly find local bounty and sources. Thanks for a great article.
Right you are.
You are what you eat, so who owns your food owns you.
What value is there in smaller farmers marketing their produce through a cooperative who hauls everyone's crop to one giant processing center for cleaning, sorting, packaging, and distribution? Once everything mingles together, a single contaminated truckload can spoil the entire day's or week's output!
Buying at a farmer's market can be cheaper because each farmer/vendor is free to set their own price and that's often less than retail. And, fresh, whole foods grown on healthy, live soil tend to be more nourishing and satisfying than the same amount of "factory" food.
Here's an extreme example of value. I just spent a week preparing for and a weekend demonstrating sorghum making at Heritage Park of North Iowa in Forest City. I made the syrup the way I remembered my grandfather making it while I was growing up using his press that was recently repaired and a new vat the same size as the one he used then gave the finished product to the historical society to use and/or sell. I later heard that one buyer donated $20. for a pint jar that they were asking a minimum donation of $1. for.
Good food has real value. Let's do all we can to promote the message and keep it from getting lost in the daily drivel that's bombarding us to confusion.
Same thing with labor. Small farms means lots of laborers, working less efficiently, to maintain and harvest the same size crop. Will this be more expensive? You bet.
I'm for local produce, but I'm not for ignoring the problems and cost.
There's a hint in the Internet analogy that is not really explored. One of the economies of scale is that you only have to deal with one vendor when there's a monopoly. If you had to call 20 different farms each week to make sure you had enough produce, you'd go bats. With modern communication, e.g., the Internet, maybe you wouldn't have so much trouble. If you can improve the communication, you can work out a system where the spinach I need next week in Iowa comes from the nearest available source. That's one of the things brain dead liberal articles can miss.
How about some new ideas, instead of same-o, same-o?
"Lots of small trucks use more gas than a few big ones. It might be less fuel overall, but you'd have to do the math to convince me."
Well Bob. I'm not a mathemetician, economist or statistician, however the food travels an average of 1500 miles. Iowa City sits in the middle of a county that's about 30 miles across, so JoCo farmers travel (at most) 15 miles to get to the farmers market. We'd need 100 of them before we reached that 1500 total miles, and we don;t have or need that many spinach purbeyors in Iowa City.
There's also the energy used in producing and packaging and refrigerating all that industrial produce.
Then Bob says:
"Same thing with labor. Small farms means lots of laborers, working less efficiently, to maintain and harvest the same size crop. Will this be more expensive? You bet."
As I said in the original piece, you are considering price rather than cost. The industrially produced food might be cheaper at the checkout lane (though not always), but it costs a lot more in terms of effect on a community, its jobs, its healthcare, its environment and its economy - things you will pay for, even if they don't swipe your debit card at the supermarket to do it.
And then Bob says:
"If you had to call 20 different farms each week to make sure you had enough produce, you'd go bats. With modern communication, e.g., the Internet, maybe you wouldn't have so much trouble."
I deal with about 34 different farmers procuring food for my restaurant, and while some may say I'm "bats" it's not because of my purchasing system. As for using the internet to find these sources, that's a great idea, but not a new one. There are lots of internet resources to do that very thing. Start at LocalHarvest.org.
THEN Bob says:
"If you can improve the communication, you can work out a system where the spinach I need next week in Iowa comes from the nearest available source. That's one of the things brain dead liberal articles can miss. "
Well Bob, as I just said, we are improving the communication. Such as using Gather.com to broaden the discussion, using flash media like the Meatrix (google it) to broaden the outreach, and sites like the aforementioned LocalHarvest.org to pinpoint the sources.
These are things we "brain dead liberals" have already done. Kinda like these other things "brain dead liberals" came up with:
Freedom of Speech, Assembly and Religion
Emancipation
Women's Sufferage
The New Deal
The Interstate Highway System
The Civil Rights Movement
The Peace Corps
The Weekend
I'll take the "same-o" of that any day.
Yes--
Nice suggestion.
So since I live in Nevada, I get to eat...
cacti and sagebrush...mmm..mmm....
Yeah, it can sometime be rough in places like Nevada, or say, North Dakota, but not impossible. Take a look at Gary Paul Nabhan's book "Coming Home to Eat." It's about the 2 years he spent eating only food that came from within 100 miles of his Flagstaff, AZ, home. You'll find some good ideaas there.
We're not just looking at gas prices here, folks. We've got to envision a future where we're no longer dumping raw sewage overflow into rivers for the folks downstream to deal with. So what DO we do with raw sewage? Check out SOLVIVA's ideas for one thing.
Ever used a composting toilet? Not bad. And all that compost from, say, a whole village, could be used to fertilize the village's surrounding grain fields. No human-waste compost for veggies - only for grains and trees.
With more and more interest in re-villagification of cities, and co-housing neighborhoods, then it's easy enough to see the return of garden-produce commons areas for each neighborhood.
Thanks for this article, Kurt.
Superb article, Kurt. I commend you for standing up for the little farmers - I grew up in a farming community, and strive to support local when I can. Yes, it means that much.
I am not sure if "Bob" is talking about purchasing produce for a restaurant, or just for the average consumer. If it is for an average consumer, then you have to make a mental shift. Eating locally requires eating what is in season, at that time, in that area. If it is the middle of July in the South, spinach is not going to be available. However, when it is, it will be worth the wait because it will be fresh and picked at its peak. Same for apples, peaches, berries, green beans, etc. The mentality of "I want it and I want it now" does not fit a sustainable system.