FoodAction

Do we have a right to know?

2009-07-10T09:03:00.005-04:00

I was listening to NPR on my way home from the Market yesterday, and I was struck by the words of a writer named Ellen Ruppel Shell. She's got a book out titled Cheap: The high cost of discount culture, and at first I thought she was talking about food. Turns out, she could have been.

Yet she was talking about consumer goods, mostly. Clothes, furniture, shoes--stuff like that. But before I actually found out the subject matter, she said some things to Neal Conan that sounded like the things I've often said about food.

Like we don't know where it's coming from. Or who made it. Or how it was made. Or when it was made. And whether or not it's safe.

So it gave me pause, and made me think broadly about our society and its seemingly complacent attitude about all things bought and sold. And I got to thinking maybe we ought to care a little more about having access to the answers regarding the where, by whom, the when, and the safety question.

Then the cycnic in me led me to thinking about why commerce is the way it is, and I concluded the reason we're complacent is because that's exactly what corporations want from us; they want us to buy things, not ask questions.

Still, I have to believe most people would opt for the choice of knowing versus not knowing. I mean it's not a giant leap to think we'd rather know about who is growing the food we eat, and where it's grown, and how it's grown, and if it's fresh, and finally, if it's actually safe for us to eat.

And all of this thinking made me think even more abstractly: Do we have a right to know these things? And if we do have such a right, then why are we not exercising it?

It's an interesting question, yet moot. For unless the the question relates to country of origin labeling (COOL), we don't have such a right. And if one looks at the number of years it took between the enactment of COOL as the law of the land, and it's implementation, it becomes clear that BIG FOOD has BIG POWER in these poorly united States. Moreover COOL's widespread abuses and its lack of enforcement shows just how dull what few teeth it has are. Too dull to bite an abuser, for sure.

And so it seems to me at least, that until we start caring enough to ask the questions and insist on the answers, we'll stay in the dark about the things we buy. Sure, we'll trot out an occasional Trojan Horse or two like COOL, and we'll talk about all the recalls and all the sugary, fatty, and salty foods we eat, and we'll complain about hard, juice less peaches, and tasteless Peruvian asparagus, and we might even visit farmers' markets for a couple of months out of the year.

But will we ever come to grips with the truth that we're pretty much all eating the same foods sold to us by the same handful of corporations whom pay their slotting fees for shelf space, exploit poor laborers in developing countries, print a "sell by" date as if it were an indication of quality, and charge us three or four times what they paid?

I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath....

At the end of the day, I'll keep preaching, mostly to the choir it seems, and keep sourcing local foods and processing them for later consumption. At least I'll be making a small dent in the armor of BIG FOOD. And at least I'll know most of the answers about what I'm eating and feeding my family. How 'bout you?

Every season is different

2009-07-02T07:22:00.002-04:00

No two growing seasons are alike, at least not here in S.W. Michigan. 2009 however, is really different. Today it's 59 degrees as I write this, and the wind is out of the North at 8 MPH, and there's a damp mist in the air.

Weather rules. No matter how skilled the grower, Mother Nature is the final arbiter, and sooner or later, growers learn to accept this fact and not let it bother them...too much.

Ditto for the produce buyer who understands Berrien County, Michigan's promise and its uncertainties. The promise, while ever present, can be broken without notice, without reason, and without prejudice. Still, they come from far and wide because when the promise is not broken, some of the world's best fruit may be procured here in abundance.

So far this season though, the fruit has been mediocre. Too much rain, an early heat wave, and now, unseasonably cool weather is putting the breaks on fruit development.

Yet with our gritty soils and inevitable stretches of dry weather, we'll have some outstanding fruit during 2009; we always have, and so long as growers continue to plant fruit here, we always will.

A localist's lament to the weather, and a vision of a better life

2009-06-25T10:10:00.007-04:00

I know it's been a while since posting, and the fact I could not access my Blogger account is a poor excuse (forgot the password and failed a few times in changing it).

But I'm back!

Every season is new, and every one different. But 2009 is really different: Minus 22 in January killed much of the bramble crop and thinned peaches, some varieties were REALLY thinned. A late, cold Spring. Cold and wet in April and May, then cool and wet later, then wet later still, then no sun for days and days (a real killer), then wet yet again, and now, hotter than I can ever remember in June.

Melted strawberries, aborted peas, cracked and rotting sweet cherries; it's getting really hard to take. But the season is just getting underway, and there's still time for a turnaround. The forecast looks like a return to normal weather patterns (if there even is such a thing anymore), and that's what the region needs right now.

On a positive note, the local foods movement is gaining an unstoppable momentum, and for those of us who have been howling like a lone wolf for decades, the experience is exhilarating. Twenty years ago, there were howling wolves like me about every four hundred miles. Now I can hear them and see them even in my home town!

And the new generation of wolves howl out not their woes, but their hopes for a food system that makes sense for their families, and communities, and their country. It's been a long time coming, but I am sure the end to the insanity of our industrialized food system is in sight.

I see new farms, great diversity of production agriculture, resurrected animal husbandry, new food-related businesses, and perhaps most important, a healthier populace feeding itself nutritious food and weaning itself from the salty, sugary, and fatty stuff (I cannot call it food), marketed so ubiquitously throughout America, and causing the health care crisis.

I see healthier economies throughout rural America due in no small part to local food dollars being spent on local foods and then through the multiplier effect being re-circulated in those same economies, four, five, six times before leaving.

I see a return to an intensely local way of life.

And I see the demise of giant, multinational corporations controlling the goods and services we we've been tricked into buying from them. In their place, I see shingles proclaiming "locally-owned and locally operated."

I see the end to this Great Recession and a new beginning for communities, even here in Michigan.

I see the roots of power...and they're grass! I see the people who will make these changes...and they're us!

Local Food

2008-07-18T12:51:00.002-04:00

A Billion Dollar Opportunity for Berrien County, MI

By: Lee LaVanway

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. National Agriculture Statistics service, Berrien County’s 63,569 households spend almost $375 Million for food annually. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/26021.html

Yet the value of all agricultural products, produced and sold in Berrien County in 2002 (the latest period for which statistics exist), was about $97 Million, and that amount includes items such as field corn, soybeans, and sunflowers. (Almost 25% of the total value comes from those three commodities.) These data reveal a gap of at least $275 million between local production and consumption. http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/volume1/mi/st26_2_002_002.pdf

Though no reliable data exists to identify the amount of locally-produced food actually being consumed in Berrien County, it is nonetheless safe to assume that a significant percentage of the county’s production is not being consumed by its citizens. This assumption is based on numerous fruit and vegetable brokers operating seasonally here; they frequently ship locally grown produce to distant markets, and they’re handling millions of packages.

Local Meat Facts

But there are credible sources for per capita food costs, by food type— USDA’s Economic Research Service. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Consumption/

There we see useful information about meats consumed during 2005 (again, the last year for which data exists). Amounts consumed by weight volume (2000), may be found at http://www.usda.gov/factbook/tables/ch2table21.jpg

The figures below reflect average, per person consumption in 2000, by meat type, average retail cost, and amount consumed in pounds, per person:

66.5 lbs. Chicken @ $1.60/lb. = $17,237,000.00

66.4 lbs. Beef @ $3.80/lb. = $40,876,000.00

47.7 lbs. Pork @ $2.75/lb = $21,250,000.00

15.2 lbs. Fish @ $6.00 = $14,775,000.00

Total $94,138,000 spent on meats in Berrien County, MI 2005

But the market value of all livestock and poultry produced in Berrien County during 2002 was $12,138,000.00. So in the meat category alone, an $82 Million shortfall exists between what we’re consuming and what we’re actually producing. However, that shortfall also assumes all the meat produced in Berrien County is actually consumed in Berrien County—a highly unlikely scenario. Yet the assumption is useful because it represents the best case scenario (we cannot consume more local food than is produced locally).

The opportunities therefore, for farmers are obvious; they have a huge market potential, if consumers could somehow gain access to their increased production.

But for consumers, whom long ago lost access to locally-produced meats, and whom must make special efforts to access other locally grown food items, the benefits are not so obvious, but interesting nonetheless.

Consider food safety statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control: about 80 million Americans are sickened every year from food borne illnesses; 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die. 30% of all retail chicken sold in the U.S. is tainted with Salmonella bacteria, and a whopping 62% with Campylobacter. http://www.aeshm.hs.iastate.edu/academy/exemplars/CoopLearnExamplars/food%20safety%20and%20sanitation.floriani.pdf , http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/food/index.htm

Food safety therefore, is an obvious consumer benefit of local food systems, for it is a very rare occasion indeed when a local farm family is subject to a mass recall of their food production. Yet an impressive amount of evidence exists showing safety records of the industrialized food suppliers are very poor. http://www.recalls.gov/food.html

I believe it is a benefit to consumers when they know family farmers not only provide food to market, but are also feeding that same food to their own families. An even greater benefit results when consumers establish relationships with those families growing much of the food they eat. After all, what could be more important than the safety of the food we’re feeding ourselves and our families?

It is also a benefit to consumers when family livestock operations rely significantly on pasture for feed, and rarely, if ever, use growth hormones and antibiotics. Pastured beef for example, has been found to be a more nutritious and healthier alternative to CAFO beef (Confined Animal Feeding Operation). And it is widely known locally produced, pastured beef is much more flavorful, owing in part at least, to a much more diversified diet. Finally, for those consumers interested in reducing the carbon footprints of their purchasing, local meats are an excellent means to that end, as are local foods in general.

Fruits and vegetables

Taking a look at fruits and vegetables now, we see a similar shortfall between consumption and production. Yet we know from research and data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), that fewer than 20% of Michigan residents eat vegetables three or more times per day. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5610a2.htm We fare a little better with respect to fruit—about 30% eat fruit two or more times per day.

According to the latest government recommendations (2005), “…for adults, the recommended levels are three to five servings of fruit and four to eight servings of vegetables per day.”

Additionally, according to CDC, Michigan ranks #43 out of 50 states, for fruit and vegetable consumption. In other words, only the populations of seven states eat less fruit and vegetables than we do. It is frankly alarming that a state such as Michigan—a veritable powerhouse of fruit and vegetable production—should rank so dismally low among all states. http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/5ADaySurveillance/compareChartV.asp?state=US&state_c=MI&group=0&grouping=0

Could it be our access to the best quality (freshest, most nutritious, and flavorful) produce is so poor that we refuse to do the extra work required to get it, yet also refuse to buy what’s offered inside chain store Super Centers, because we know it’s not fresh (in transit 10-14 days on average), and not flavorful?

Would an easily accessible, centralized, year-around marketplace for local foods make a difference in consumption? I think so.

Several key facts lead me to that conclusion. First, the trend over the past thirty years has been toward consolidation within numerous and broad business categories. National chains within the retail sector have targeted regional population centers and clustered development within and around those centers. Benton Township, Berrien County, Michigan is one such center of economic development. Niles, Michigan is another.

Retail food sellers (including chain restaurants); the home improvement segment; retail drugs; banking; appliances; and consumer electronics have set up shop there and draw extensively from the rural populations, small towns and villages within 20-30 miles from these so-called “hubs” of retail development. Thus, they are a model indicating clustered development draws people into a marketplace. A scale appropriate local foods venue should show a similar result.

Second, fruit and vegetable consumption is correlated to income groups. It is thus highly likely a significant number of Berrien County residents now consume far less food from those food groups than a healthy diet requires.

Households in the lowest income groups:

Consume around 7% less fruit than average (which is already very low in MI)
Consume 4% less vegetables than average ( “ “ “ “ “ )

Households in highest income groups:

Consume around 14% more fruit than average
Consume 3% more vegetables than average

http://www.igd.com/cir.asp?menuid=35&cirid=122

Moreover, as per capita money income for Berrien County residents is significantly lower than the average for all Michigan residents, it’s logical to assume fruit and vegetable consumption for the 13.8% of Berrien County residents below the federal poverty guidelines, reflect alarming deficiencies in recommended amounts of fruit and vegetable consumption.

So it is logical to project that an increase in consumption would occur if prices for fruits and vegetables in Berrien County, Michigan were lower than those prices found within primary channels. The logic is that lower prices might have the same impact as higher income; and higher incomes are correlated to greater fruit and vegetable consumption.

Hence, because the farmers’ share of the retail food dollar is now so low (nine cents from each retail dollar spent on food according to several sources), farmers selling to consumers presents an opportunity for both lower retail prices and higher returns to farmers, in theory at least.

Theoretically, one might argue that ready access, combined with producer pricing, would result in consumers choosing local food. This assumption is made even more reasonable through education; consumer awareness of differences between industrialized versus locally-produced food will very likely result in local choices by consumers: Local foods are safer, more nutritious, better tasting, and often less expensive. They’re also much more environmentally “green.” Still, education is the key to action.

Granted, the premise of local choices by consumers is made without much corroborating data. Yet it is based upon the experiences of others within the local foods movement, and from 30 years personal experience in local agricultural economies. For example, the farm gate average price for fresh apples in Michigan is between $6-8 dollars per bushel (42 lb. unit), while that same bushel of apples purchased at retail from almost all major chain store supermarkets is between $54-75 dollars per bushel ($1.29-$1.79 per lb). Clearly, farmer-priced apples sold at retail would likely be very significantly lower, a win/win for farmers and consumers alike.

What we’re eating now

So if we’re not eating much locally-produced food, what are we eating? Compelling evidence suggests Berrien County residents, like most other Americans, are consuming food produced out of state, and increasingly, off shore. 175 countries now export food to the U.S., and for the third consecutive year, the U.S. is a net importer of food. Prior to 2005, the only other time in American history when we were net food importers was 1959. http://www.ca.uky.edu/AGC/NEWS/2005/Feb/imports.htm

Even so, what’s available at the hub’s giant-sized Supercenters, is food from a heavily industrialized agriculture complex: Four corporations control over 80% of all beef slaughter in the U.S. Five corporations control over 80% of broiler chicken production and slaughter. One of these agri-firms has a place in both markets (IBP/Tyson). http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0217-07.htm
http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/CompanyFeedSvgsFeb07.pdf

And ninety percent of U.S. poultry is from a vertically integrated chain, where a firm such as Tyson contracts with a poultry grower and provides everything—chicks, feed, veterinary services, vaccines—and then buys the chickens at the end. http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=89014

And so it goes with many food items today, with just a hand full of conglomerates controlling the vast market share.

So even if it’s not food from off shore, it’s factory food nonetheless. And that’s what we’re eating in Berrien County, Michigan. The same as most every other county in America.

The most desirable solution to these and many other problems within the industrialized food system is to create easy access to locally produced food, and if we are determined to find ways to make that food easily available, then we would begin to see positive differences in food safety, food security, and food sovereignty.

We would begin to see changes for the betterment of our communities, as they once again showed signs of vibrancy and economic growth. For agriculture in Berrien County, Michigan is one very important key to both; and agriculture throughout our entire region contributes to quality of life.

Simply by changing the current marketing and distribution system for food, from one controlled by a giant industrialized agricultural complex, to one that benefits farmers and the local citizenry, we change our quality of life for the better. I predict such a change will dramatically increase consumption of local foods, and will help our citizenry opt for a healthier lifestyle in terms of what they eat. And the stimulus to their local economies from local food consumption is a big bonus.

Of course, I have written and preached for years that ready access to healthy, local food is all that’s needed to realize that change. But not only have we lost ready access, our production of food has declined as well. One simply cannot buy what isn’t on the shelf; and local food is rarely offered on the shelves of chain store supermarkets.

Thus, a double-edged sword has slashed the availability on the one side, while on the other, lack of markets has resulted in production cuts by farmers; they won’t produce what they cannot sell.

$275 Million Market in Berrien County

So totally, a $277 Million market potential exists for local foods, annually, in Berrien County--$75 Million for meats, and $202 Million for other food items.

What that means is if Berrien County, Michigan were truly food sovereign, and if we were committed to eating local food instead of the industrialized stuff (I have a hard time calling it food), then our local (County) economy would enjoy a big shot in the arm, in terms of local spending and then keeping that money in local circulation.

And, as many highly regarded economists suggest, a dollar first spent locally is likely to be circulated between four and seven times within the local economy before it finally leaves. More than a Billion dollars annually could thus circulate within our county, and one can only imagine what impact that kind of cash would have on our communities. Positive impact, no doubt.

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0209&L=sanet-mg&P=15269 , http://www.ams.usda.gov/TMD/FSMIP/FY2000/IA0288brochure.pdf

So a fabulous opportunity exists for Berrien County residents to lift themselves up simply by supporting a local food system. Think about it: Fresher food items, food that tastes like it’s supposed to taste (as in good….); food without the deep carbon footprint of the industrialized stuff; safer, more secure food; and food that helps build strong local economies and vibrant communities.

The main obstacle

So what’s stopping us? In short, the lack of a modern, scale-appropriate retail venue is what’s stopping us. If we desire safer food, more secure food, and food that makes sense for our communities and the environment, then we must help in providing the access needed so that farmers will take the risk in growing it. We must raise food to a higher level of importance in our lives, and be willing to support the infrastructure needed to insure access.

But even though the questions before us may be simply stated; they are hardly simple: How do we organize an effort to provide a venue where locally produced foods are accessed year around by Berrien County residents? Where do we start? Whom do we include?

Having answers to those questions is akin to having great ideas undelivered; they may be great ideas, but ultimately, only the ideas put into practice are the ones that count. Likewise, only the answers that result in actions taken can make a difference.

In conclusion, I believe agriculture throughout S.W. Lower Michigan has always played an extremely important role in our communities. When agriculture thrives, so too does the rest of our rural economy. But agriculture is not thriving here.

Yet few would wish our region to lose completely that which made us famous in the first place…food. But that is precisely where we’re headed; and unless we act soon, as a community, we will soon reach that destination. I implore anyone with an interest in food safety, food security, food sovereignty, and thriving local economies throughout the Great Fruit Belt in Michigan, to take action now while there’s still time.

Finally, you only plant houses once. Once a farm is developed into a subdivision, it no longer produces food. If nothing happens to change the trend toward the continuing loss of farms and farmland in Berrien County, Michigan, then I predict within twenty years, we will have lost the chance to regain our food system, and our rural economies.

Ahhh, another season for local food.

2008-07-01T10:57:00.002-04:00

And a late season too, by historical accounts. We're about ten days later than we've been in the recent past. Spring was cool and wet. The crops are slow in coming.

But we're starting to see raspberries (black and red), sweet cherries, blueberries, summer squash, pickles, onions, radishes, new red potatoes, and a few other early crops. The quality is very good to excellent, depending upon how much rain fell on individual fields. I know I probably say it too much, but rain and fruit crops are not very compatible when flavor and shelf life are considered. I'd rather have it dry than wet, as I hope you've figured out by now.

This season, with energy and food prices skyrocketing, make it a point to seek out local produce. Eat it fresh, but please, don't forget that home-processed food is far superior to almost all industrialized food. Thus, this year especially, take advantage of where you live and put enough away for winter.

Now is the time to process strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and 'B' size potatoes. You'll be very thankful next winter....

An update on peaches

2007-07-25T13:54:00.000-04:00

After the rains, peach flavor was noticeably less intense, and the sugar noticeably diluted. That's because prunus species can really uptake free water, especially close to harvest. So for about a week now, I haven't been eating too many peaches. But this morning, I ate a peach of the variety "Early Red Haven" and it was a great peach. Not outstanding mind you, because the water was still there, and it made the flavor a bit bland.

But if it stays dry over the next few days, I predict we'll be back in the tall clover, just in time for "Red Haven," the main season variety that made Michigan peaches famous. "Red Haven" was introduced by Stanley Johnston, peach breeder working for Michigan State University, in 1940. Today, it is the world's most widely planted peach variety.

A few growers in Berrien County made their first picking of Red Haven yesterday. But it's actually the second and third pickings that are the best. So wait about a week if it's dry, and buy Red Haven for the freezer or to can. But if it rains a couple of inches or more, wait until the Flamin' Fury varieties PF 15a, PF 17, and PF 23; they're just as good. Other great varieties for eating and preserving include Glo Haven, Loring, and Bellaire.

I'll post about later varieties later.

We're all in the same boat

2007-07-19T09:57:00.000-04:00

Most everything I do professionally is connected to food. Most everything you do is likewise connected to food. Think about it and you’ll agree food is one of life’s true essences, and you can’t do very much of anything without it. Pretty soon you’re going to get hungry, and then soon thereafter, you’re going to get hungry again. That’s just the way it is with us. Over, and over, and over again we’re all going to get hungry often.

So we’re in the same boat—we’re all connected by that essence, like an unbreakable thread binding us, one to another. And so far, the only way to disconnect from food is to die. Maybe someday we won’t be so connected like that, but I doubt it.

Some of us though, know more about that essence than the rest of us. Some of us actually work inside the essence of food doing more than eating it. We’re the ones either to seek out as people who can get the best food, the tastiest food, the healthiest and safest food, or as people who know how to use food as a tool to make money.

Either way, I’m one of those people who know a fair amount about food—where it comes from, how it gets here; how it’s produced; how to produce it; its value in terms of nutrition and enjoyable eating, and its value in terms of its use as a profit center for some really big corporations, and some really small ones too.

And I can tell you what you’re eating today is mostly a part of an incredibly industrialized agricultural complex with a concentrated base vying for a share of the $1 Trillion food market annually in the U.S. And the nutritional value of that food is squat next to its value as a profit maker for the likes of ADM, Cargill, ConAgra, IBP/Tyson, Kraft, and a handful of other huge members of the U.S. Industrialized Agriculture Complex.

A bit too dry...and some relief....

2007-07-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

According to the National Weather Service drought monitoring data, Berrien County, MI has been too dry. Actually, we've been in a fairly serious drought. Non irrigated crops have suffered, and some crops have been destroyed.

But this morning about 3:00AM, I was awakened by a sound that had become a memory too distant to immediately recognize, like some 50's tunes. Rain. Light, steady, rain.

I got up, walked out onto the deck, and sure enough, a pretty nice shower seemed to have set in. It lasted about an hour like that. Just slow and steady, the kind that will sink in and not run off.

Then as I left for work about 5:15AM, it started really coming down! We must have received an inch or slightly more in those two hours, and we needed it. Still, fruit quality is almost unbelievable this year. Oh sure, fruit size is off, owing to the dry conditions, but man, the intensity of flavor and the sweetness of the fruit is truly vintage.

If you're reading this and are close enough to Berrien County to make a drive here, do not leave without peaches. Blueberries too are incredibly sweet this year, and intensely flavored.

And now that the soil has been recharged, let it once again be dry, dry, dry....

It's what makes for vintage fruit years. The last one was 2005, and it's great to have two so close together.

Some facts behind the mess we're in

2007-07-10T14:01:00.000-04:00

Each one of these bulleted points can make a post for this blog. The trick is stealing the time. Who or what gets robbed is always the challenge. Today, I'm robbing the laundry. Hmmm, it feels pretty good:

U.S. is increasingly a corporate, industrialized system of production agriculture.

The U.S. is a net importer of food. (2005, 2006, & projected for 2007)

The U.S. is a fast food nation.

The demise of our local processing industry.

No storefronts for local foods.

Very poor infrastructure for local food distribution.

Very poor local access to locally-produced foods.

Almost no year-round access to local foods.

No local “think tank” for public policy research on food issues.

Food safety and food security not being addressed locally.

Loss of farms and farmland (60% and 57% respectively).

Few beginning farmers/average age of farmer in Berrien County is 62.

Skyrocketing external costs of food (fossil fuels, other inputs).

No mobilizing force for residents, farmers, and organizations.

Consumer ignorance regarding importance of agriculture to the local economy.

No programs assisting limited resource consumers in procurement of locally-produced foods.

No organizations promote institutional buying of local foods.

Consumer ignorance of varieties, grading, home processing, and uses of non-industrialized food.

No programs challenging youth about agriculture.

No public school curriculum providing education about important food facts.

The steep decline of specialty crops (strawberries, peaches, apples, currants, gooseberries, plums).

No local resource for food programs, grants, food business development.

Peach season is upon us

2007-07-03T08:48:00.000-04:00

If the current weather pattern holds, we’ll experience a vintage year for deciduous perennial fruit. Definitely, non-irrigated sweet cherries, raspberries, and blueberries have benefited from the dry conditions in Berrien County, Michigan. But peach season is now upon us, and so far, the first two varieties being picked are firmly in the outstanding class.

Harbinger is a small (under 2.5”), red, fuzzy, and a bit oblong variety of clingstone peach. Most years, this cultivar is a good to very good eating peach, once you get the fuzz off, and deal with the very clingy flesh. But this year, Harbinger brings a special treat to the start of Berrien County’s peach season; they are sweet, sweet, sweet, and very peachy tasting.

Flamin Fury PF-1 is the other cultivar now being harvested. It too is eating like a peach ought to eat, sweet and juicy. It too, is a clingstone, but one of larger size, and far less fuzzy.

And as the season progresses, peaches become larger in size and are freed easily from the pit. And if it stays dry, dry, dry, the varieties are only going to get better and better for eating. I’ll keep you posted. But if you’re buying peaches today, don’t be afraid; they’re really outstanding just now.

Fruit Salad

2007-07-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

My parents celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. My brother and my two sisters opened my parent's little farm to friends and family for a few hours, and we fed our guests as much local food as we could.

On the positive side, we utilized the following fresh, local produce:
Knob and green onions
Cilantro
Summer squash
Sweet corn
New red creamer potatoes
New red beets
Black sweet cherries
Red raspberries
Blueberries
Cantaloupe

Not so positively, we served delicious, but long-traveled shrimp, from who knows where besides Costco, and yellow cake from Sara Lee (but with a home-made frosting, beautifully garnished with fresh raspberries and blueberries, thanks to a talented niece). My youngest sister made a fabulous sauce from the cilantro, etc., and then mixed in the shrimp. Though from far away no doubt, the shrimp were excellent, and the other salad components sublime.

But it was the fruit salad--only the watermelon had more than a hundred miles on it--that emerged as the food of choice. And it was funny how people reacted to it.

I want to explain that reaction, but first, I'll explain how I put the salad together, as it was my job to procure the fruit and prepare the dish: The watermelons were huge, over thirty pounds each. I cut the tops off of them about three quarters up from their base, and hollowed out the bases to make big serving bowls for the salad. Then I cut little triangles around the top edges, like small teeth carved out of a jack-o-lantern. I seeded the watermelon and cut it into chunks big enough to explode inside your mouth. Then I cut and seeded the 'lopes into chunks about half the size of the watermelon. Muskmelon, as they're often called, are pretty intensely flavored most of the time, and they can easily overpower the more delicate subtleties of other fruit.

Next, I washed and pitted the sweet cherries, Cavalier, a variety known for it's crunchy texture, sweet flesh and black color; one of the best sweets grown in these parts. Then I washed the blueberries and red raspberries. Next, I mixed the melons and blueberries in a very large stainless steel mixing bowl, in roughly equal parts by weight volume. The cherries have a very dark juice that will stain the melon chunks, and the raspberries are far too delicate to hold up under a vigorous mixing. So when the two melon types and blueberries were well mixed, I gently folded in the raspberries. Lastly, I dried the pitted cherries in some toweling, and, being careful not to be too rough, folded them into the mix. Finally, I filled the hollowed-out watermelon with the now completed salad, and added a large wooden spoon to finish the task. It was beautiful. But its beauty was dimmed by its taste....

I stood back from the crowd and watched as our visitors spooned conservative servings of the fruit salad on their plates. Soon however, conservative portions grew to platefuls by those seeking seconds. Then thirds. And more than a few went back four times!

Not a single person could possibly have eaten that salad and not made indistinguishable noises. I kept pretty busy keeping the watermelon bowl full.

Being born and raised inside the Great Fruit Belt of Michigan's Southwest, I've known all my life how a piece of fruit should taste. I've had the pleasure, and experienced the awe, of consuming a vast array of fruit when it was at its peak for flavor. I've known, forever it seems, about the noises people make when they're eating the best of the best; they are oblivious to their own noise, being in a flow state of culinary satisfaction. Only one other activity I know of, causes such a reaction.

And so it is with eating a fresh fruit salad, when its fresh that is, and when the fruit are perfect, and when that fruit is from Berrien County, Michigan.

A big bowl of sweet cherries

2007-06-29T06:56:00.000-04:00

It's sweet cherry season in Berrien County, Michigan, and that means a whole lot of people here will be missing out on one of the season's finest fruits. That's a shame because it's been very dry here over the last month, and the cherries are particularly sweet, very firm and crunchy, and intensely flavored (see my post on "dry, dry, dry"). Too bad most of them will be consumed by folks in and around Chicago, and other markets away from where they've been grown.

And too bad most of the money being spent in Berrien County on sweet cherries will not be for locally-grown cherries. Instead, that money will leave the county, and enhance quality of life in California and Washington State, and with it, any chance to multiply through recirculative local spending.

If you want to work at it however, you can find local sweet cherries at fruit stands and at least a few local farmers markets. But don't waste your time looking in the produce section of the major chain store Supercenters; they carry the tasteless varieties from industrialized factory farms 2,000 miles west of here.

I have a vision though, that someday, people here will have an easy opportunity to experience the night-and-day difference between cherries grown on gritty, glaciated soils, and those grown so far away from here that their carbon footprints are deep enough to fall into. Someday, soon I hope, people here will learn about the correlation between place of origin and quality of food.

Because this place, through a fact of geological happenstance, became a place where fruit can be grown with particularly unique, and outstanding qualities. That same fact makes Berrien County, Michigan like no other place in the world, in terms of flavorful fruit production. Here, a cherry tastes like it ought to, sweet, intensely flavored, crunchy like a Michigan apple, juicy like a Michigan melon. No other place is like it.

But the superior quality for eating, and the "greener" distribution method, and the just-picked freshness, are not the only differences. Community, and what local purchasing does for it, also plays a role. For community is a concept that improves the general quality of life when folks make informed choices to support one another. That bowl of cherries might take more effort to procure at a farm stand or farmers market than it does in a Supercenter, but oh what a difference it could make for Berrien County if more of us chose to make that effort.

Why we blog

2007-06-28T08:06:00.000-04:00

As a boy, I walked down the streets of my town and saw dozens of people out and about. Though Eau Claire, Michigan has never had a population greater than 550 residents, the village was vibrant, bustling with activities every day.

We had a hardware store, a Ford dealership; clothier; pharmacy; two restaurants; five gas stations; a lumber company; a locally owned bank (when’s the last time you saw one of those?); three grocery stores; a doctor’s office; a small department store; a bait and tackle shop; a weekly newspaper, and even a candy store. These were all locally owned and operated businesses, and they thrived because of one overlying business sector—Agriculture. Agriculture… as in food.

In those days, we truly had a community-based food system, and if the local farmers were picking strawberries, you could buy them at the local grocers. Ditto for peaches and every other produce item that was grown throughout our region. We had access to locally-produced fresh and processed food, and we bought that food, and we ate it.

But like many other Berrien County, Michigan communities, we lost our food system. Big corporations bought out the local processing plants and then shut them down. Oligopolies formed in the drug business, banking; retail grocer sector; hardware; lumber, and home improvement sectors, and before we knew it, life had changed in Eau Claire, Michigan. Today, one may buy a tan on Main Street, but not a local peach….

Moreover, during the past fifteen years, I have not seen a single Michigan strawberry on the shelves of a Walmart Super Center, or Kroger, or Safeway. Not a single one. Little wonder strawberry production in Berrien County has declined over 99% since 1969.

I have no doubt my town is like many towns that lost their local food system, and then lost their local economies. In S.W. Michigan, I know there is an inextricable link between food and farming, and vibrant communities. And I know that if we’re to revitalize my town, and similar towns, we need to get back to the community-based food system that helped make it vibrant and viable in the first place.

Now I’ve got to drive twenty miles or more to buy a pair of trousers, or a washing machine, visit my doctor, or get a prescription filled.

But you know what? If I could buy community-based food, I’d make the effort and pay the extra cost. In fact, as I posted a couple of weeks ago, I proved to myself that I would make the drive and spend the extra cash for better food. But it seems a real shame I can’t get the same food closer to home.

That’s one major reason Rebecca and I are writing this Blog; we want better access to healthier food. And we think we might help make that goal a reality.

Because within the current globalized, industrialized, oligopolized, and commoditized food industry, providing choices for what we eat depends upon local initiatives. Ones designed to provide access to the best food available. Food that is days, even weeks, fresher. Food that is higher in nutrition because it is fresher and harvested at the proper maturity. Food that tastes better; strawberries with natural sugars and juice; stone fruit that are picked when they’re ripe, not two weeks before they’re ripe; apples that are allowed to develop flavor before they’re picked; and food that is produced and distributed in ways that can be sustained for generations to come.

That’s our ticket to food sovereignty, and that’s why we’re Blogging.

Imagine....

2007-06-27T12:26:00.000-04:00

Imagine a Local Foods Market. A big one. One serving hundreds of local farm families and local food vendors. One controlled to the extent only locally produced and/or locally processed food is all that can be offered for sale. A year around market. A market offering beef, pork, lamb, poultry, fish and specialty meats. A market selling fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. A market with local food restaurants. And a market that serves as an anchor to a vibrant, regional agricultural industry.

That’s what I imagine when I think about what’s needed to save The Great Fruit Belt of Southwestern Lower Michigan.

A billion dollar local food economy for Berrien County?

2007-06-25T14:19:00.000-04:00

Over the years, I’ve spent a fair amount of time looking at statistics. Early on, those looks required hours in the library. Today, I can view stats from a huge number of credible sources in minutes. The Internet is a new, highly efficient library for research.

Regarding food-related statistics for Berrien County, MI, here’s a few I’ve found that show very clearly our food losses, and our opportunities:

Berrien County residents spend about $377 Million on food annually. Of this amount, about $94 Million is spent on meats , and by far and away, meat spending here is not from locally produced beef, pork, chicken, and fish. Those industries, though once alive and vibrant are gone. Long gone.

That leaves $282 Million for all other food purchases annually in Berrien County. Of that amount, no more than $45 million could possibly have been produced in Berrien County because $45 Million is roughly the total value of all fruits and vegetables produced here. That leaves a $242 Million market potential, annually.

In other words, if Berrien County, Michigan were truly food sovereign, and if we were committed to eating local food instead of the industrialized stuff (I have a hard time calling it food), then our local (County) economy would enjoy a big shot in the arm, in terms of local spending and then keeping that money in local circulation.

If, as many highly regarded economists suggest, that a dollar first spent locally is likely to be circulated four times within the local economy before it finally leaves, then we’re talking about BIG money (as in a Billion), and one can only imagine what impact that kind of cash would have. Positive impact, no doubt.

But this so-called “multiplier effect” is rarely triggered when local dollars are first spent at a national chain store, because unless one lives and shops at a Walmart in Bentonville, AR for example, those dollars are electronically transferred to the chain’s headquarters. The key to the multiplier effect is therefore local spending, not spending at a national chain.

Anyway, it seems to me a fabulous opportunity exists for Berrien County residents to lift themselves up simply by supporting a local food system. Think about it: Fresher food items, food that tastes like it’s supposed to taste (as in good….); food without the deep carbon footprint of the industrialized stuff, and food that helps build strong local economies and vibrant communities.

So what’s stopping us? In future posts, I intend to at least tell you what I think is stopping us, and what we really need to reverse the trend of diminishing local food availability. Stay tuned….

Bisquick Dilemma

2007-06-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

So, yeah, we've been eating strawberries lately. Which means, in addition to stawberries out of hand, and strawberries on our cereal, that there is a big demand for strawberry shortcake.

How do we make it? With, of course, Bisquick. Why? Its the tradition in both of our families, and, frankly even more important, its easy. And quick.

I was in a rush on Fathers Day to make shortcake to take down to my in-laws for our cookout. Ran in the door with the Bisquick box. Luke took it out of my hands and scrutinized the ingredients. He sniffed as he read, "partially hydrogenated soybean (and/or cottonseed) oil." Luke is, quite rightly, on a quest to cut that ingredient out of his diet.

But guess what gets cut out of my schedule (among many other things). Taking the time, effort, and energy to figure out how not to use Bisquick. Probably wouldn't be that hard, or take that long, but what with all the other things I'm not doing....

Anyway, Bisquick shortcakes it was, and has been so far all strawberry season. (Luke eats 'em, too, by the way....) So the only hope for a change to more wholesome ingredient shortcakes is if Luke takes on the task himself. So far? Not yet....

How Sweet it is to be Dry, Dry, Dry.

2007-06-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

This is the third year for our little strawberry patch. We started with fifty plants of the variety “Jewel” and today there must be a couple of hundred, at least. I haven’t done much weeding, just enough to keep the berry plants ruling the space. I haven’t fertilized beyond the compost at planting time and the decomposing mulch (straw, mostly). And I haven’t watered. At all.

Early in the growing season, we had plenty of rain, and our first pick of berries on June 06 were definitely influenced by the rainfall. The fruit were of good size, about 20-30 grams, and they were of fine appearance; and I have to admit a bit of pride owing to the excitement Rebecca and the kids exhibited upon this first harvest.

But a serious drawback to being experienced and reasonably knowledgeable about fruit, is knowing when the quality is poor, fair, good, really good, and outstanding. When you know what a particular fruit is supposed to taste like, that knowledge can spoil you, make you hard to please, make you a bit on the snooty side….

I rated this first picking of my own strawberries between good and really good, but closer to good. Certainly far better than anything shipped 2,000 miles or more, and arriving here looking pretty but being pretty much without juice and sugar, and possessing only a faint taste of the flavor attributable to strawberries.

Still, I like my strawberries firmly in the “outstanding” category, and it was not until the last picking yesterday that I had my first truly excellent strawberries of 2007. And it’s all about being dry. When it’s dry (as in no rain for 2-3 weeks), fruit becomes more intensely flavored. Its juices are not diluted by too much rain (or irrigation). So the flavor is intense, the natural sugars, high. Vintage fruit years are dry, dry, dry.

To eat world-class fresh strawberries out of hand is an experience impossible to forget. It is a rare experience for most. It is an experience making one think about the days when almost everyone living within the Temperate Zone had access to locally-produced fruit, like fresh strawberries. And if the conditions were dry, dry, dry, then there is no way to forget the experience. What the local foods movement needs more than just about anything else, is more and more people experiencing the intense flavor, texture, juiciness, and freshness of local horticulture and pomology. I can tell you, good fruit is addictive—when you experience some, you want more of it.

Wouldn’t it be great if all we had to do to get it, is visit our local grocer?

The loss of local food sovereignty

2007-06-22T09:34:00.000-04:00

For the third time in as many years, the U.S. will be a net importer of food in 2007. According to data from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), the U.S. is facing an increasing threat to its food sovereignty. Like our dependence upon foreign oil, we are becoming a society dependant upon other nations for its food supply. Imagine a headline referring to an Organization of Food Exporting Countries (OFEC) cartel:

OFEC announces food cutbacks, prices expected to rise

But don’t be shocked. For more than a decade now, right here in Michigan’s Great Southwest, we have been a net importer of strawberries, peaches, nectarines, tray-packed apples, plums, sweet cherries, Bartlett pears, fresh raspberries, onions, potatoes, and many other fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s the same story for chicken, beef, turkey, pork, and fish. And we shouldn't leave out dairy products because we’re net importers of those too. Of course, these farm products for the most part are being imported from other states. Still, when a region’s access to its own food industry is trumped by food being shipped in from other states and foreign nations, it means we have lost our local food sovereignty.

Now one might easily understand how such a thing could happen if we were discussing North and South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, or many other states lacking the soils and micro-climate we enjoy here in our corner of Michigan’s Water Wonderland. Yet Michigan leads all the other states in the production volume of fifteen agricultural commodities and ranks in the top ten for fifty more. How for example, can the third-leading state in the U.S. for apple production import more bulk fresh apples from Washington State, California, and New Zealand than it sells here in Michigan?

Actually, the answer is simpler than one may think: First, we are losing family farmers at an alarming rate. (As in ½ our apple orchards since 1982.) Second, we are still a much diversified agricultural production region, with only a couple of factory-styled farms producing the individual volume required to satisfy the needs of an increasingly consolidated retail foods industry. The rest do not produce enough of a single farm product to consistently supply the major chain stores. Third, we have experienced a collapse of local food processors, which means for the most part, we have access to locally grown food only on a seasonal basis. (And then only if we seek out farmers, fruit stands, and local farmers’ markets.) Finally, we the people don’t seem to care.

It’s this last aspect of not caring troubling me most, because unlike many other industries, the farming business cannot rebound once the land is developed. When a farm is converted to one acre lots and housing, it’s pretty much gone forever. So not caring has its consequences, and dependence upon others for food is what’s at stake. Not to mention the consequences of having no choice but to eat food harvested days or even weeks earlier, with little flavor, reduced nutritional value, and living in communities where food dollars are sent elsewhere instead of being circulated here.

Yet it’s not too late! If we make a choice to seek out local food producers, and make demands of our retailers to offer local farm products, and yes make a protectionist decision to stop buying those tasteless, tart, juice less, hollow, and hard California strawberries, we can regain our local food sovereignty. If we learn to freeze again, and dust off that old canner again, and relearn the experience of eating food that tastes good and is good for us, who knows what might happen.

Maybe someone will decide to open up a local foods store, or maybe someone will see there’s a market for canned Michigan peaches and invest in a commercial kitchen to do the processing. Maybe someone might even start to offer grass fed beef, free range chickens, and locally raised rainbow trout. Here within this unique corner of Michigan, just about anything is possible in agriculture. But only if we agree to a grass roots, bottom-up commitment to local food sovereignty, and then follow through with action....

Local grocers: rare as an underpaid CEO

2007-06-20T07:49:00.000-04:00

Along with corporate concentration in retail foods, came the demise of most small town grocery stores. In just a couple of decades, important outlets for locally-produced food vanished. Consumer choices also vanished with local grocers—you can’t buy what is not on the supermarket shelf, and premium-quality fruits and vegetables, locally produced, rarely adorn chain store shelves.

But the loss of most communities’ ma and pop grocers also carries many hidden costs. For example, many consumers must now drive twenty miles or more, one way, to shop for food that was once available right in their home towns and neighborhoods. More fuel usage, more time away from family, wear and tear on vehicles, highways, more pollution...you get the picture.

Consumers’ retail food dollars thus no longer stay in their own communities and circulate by means of the multiplier effect. Instead, the money is sent electronically on a daily basis to distant headquarters of the giant food retailers. Remember that a dollar spent at a chain store supermarket is spent only once locally, while a dollar spent at a local grocer may circulate several more times within the community.

Think about what it is we’ve lost, and then think about joining the movement toward local food sovereignty. Regaining access to better choices for what you eat, and what you feed your families, requires you join the struggle when called. That struggle will start in your own neighborhood, town, village, or county. In other words, at the grass roots where nothing is more powerful than a committed citizenry allied for meaningful change. Lead the struggle if you can, or answer the call to be led. Either way, you will make a difference….

I had forgotten how burgers should taste

2007-06-18T16:25:00.000-04:00

As planned, we drove the two hundred mile round trip to Sweetwater Local Foods Market on Saturday. The Market opened at 9:00 AM. We got there at 11:45 AM, and it looked like a storm had just swept through the place. We bought the last chicken; the last of the grass fed ground beef in bulk one-pound packages; the last four packages of beef patties, and the last pack of special snack sticks (a smoked meat product like a slim Jim). We bought organic lettuce, fair trade organic whole bean coffee, and a couple of cheeses made from raw, organic milk.

But our hope of filling our freezer was dashed; the Market has far greater demand than supply. This of course is a good thing, and I for one am happy we made the trip, despite the deep carbon footprint we left from going and coming without a full load.

Still, it was a heck of an experience to see how the Market had grown in just two years.

Yet the real experience was when we grilled the ground beef on Fathers' Day! Now, I've grilled a fair amount of food on the grill--from hot dogs to venison, and about everything in between. Burgers? I've grilled hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more. But I've never grilled one from grass fed beef until yesterday. Man, what an unusual experience.

First off, very little juice came bubbling up from the patty. It kind of just sat there on the grill and cooked without much sizzle. I had a hard time knowing when to turn the patties because they did not cook like an industrialized patty; they stayed plump, and they didn't curl up or shrink. Finally, I flipped them and there they were, beautifully seared and showing crisp, darkened lines from the hot grate.

I called for Rebecca to take a look at what I was doing because it fascinated me to experience such a difference in how they responded to grilling. She suggested I cut one open a bit to see what the inside looked like. I did and am glad I did because the burgers were done! Just the faintest hint of pink in the middle.

At the table, we ate the burgers and made unintelligible noises owing to an outstanding flavor that was but a very dim memory to me, until yesterday that is. "Best burgers we've had in our life," the teens opined. My Dad (79 years) said it took him back in time. My Mom just smiled and kept making noise.....

We'll be placing a large order that will hopefully be waiting for us next Saturday.

The price of safe food is not that much higher than the often-tainted industrialized stuff. We paid a buck apiece for the burger patties. The problem is, what a pain in the neck to access the stuff.

Vote for Me...

2007-06-16T07:46:00.000-04:00

I've thrown my hat into the ring. I'm running for Eau Claire Village president on a platform that includes food and water, and because of contaminated industrial sites, even the air we're breathing is an issue.

My slogan (no kidding), " A free range chicken in every pot."

Close seconds, "Local food on every table," "Clean water at every sink," "I like Lee.""

We have really old water mains needing replacement, but because we're a village of less than 500 people, we struggle financially, and folks think a new water system is beyond our reach. I pledge to work toward a better water system. After all, my family is drinking the water too.

I want to bring food back into the lives of Eau Clairions. We are so lucky to live within this Great Fruit Belt, yet our access to local food for year around consumption is as poor as the next guy's.

So one thing I'm going to push the council for: A change in the ordinance now disallowing animal husbandry. It's simply wrong, very simply and very wrong, that residents of our little village cannot access safe meat. I see nothing wrong with allowing folks to raise a few animals for family consumption within the village limits. It's a heck of a lot better than telling them if they're going to eat store-bought chicken tonight, there's a better than 60% chance it's tainted.

For those who do not have enough space to raise a head of beef or other animal(s), I'm going to be proposing we develop a plan to utilize the village's farm (over 100 acres), for village residents to grow gardens, raise livestock, and to establish a small, licensed kitchen for community residents to process their own food for winter consumption. Just because we can't access locally produced food year around at the chain store supermarkets, doesn't mean we can't be eating local food year around.

Hamburgers and Fries in the Meantime....

2007-06-15T08:54:00.001-04:00

A typical late afternoon at our home. 5:00 p.m. yesterday. Lee's tired after work, and has a 7:00 meeting about the upcoming Fiddle Fest in Berrien Springs. I've got a scheduled work phone call that will begin at 6:00. So, for dinner?

We choose one of our two Eau Claire restaurants, and Lee picks up our burgers and fries (and ice cream, of course!) from Main Street Burger. Good things: the food comes in a brown paper bag, tastes good, and the owners and employees are all local. Not so good things: restaurant ingredients come from the industrialized food system. But Main Street has little (almost no) choice about that. There isn't a good, close, reliable supply of local beef and potatoes. Not that our surroundings couldn't support both. But our food distribution system can't.

Our four-year-old Callie was pleased with dinner, since french fries dipped in ketchup are one of her favorites. Oh well, at least its not McDonalds. This time.

The chicken we'll be eating

2007-06-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

Those of you trying not to take food for granted these days, might be interested in knowing my home county of Berrien in Michigan, produces enough chicken to feed each county resident one-half of one ounce per person, per year. That's less than a single chicken drummie per year for each of our 162,000 residents.

So I got to thinking what a wonderful opportunity for local farmers: Here in Berrien County, Michigan, a market exists for 2,700,000 chickens per year. That's almost three million chickens, and over $6 million in local economic stimulus, ripe for the multiplier effect. Meat that makes sense, and cash that will re-circulate within our communities.

But sadly, I predict we'll go on shooting craps with the 50 pounds of industrialized chicken we're each eating per year, on average. Actually, the odds at craps are considerably better than the odds with industrialized chicken: According to the Centers for Disease Control, 30% and 62% of all chicken sold at retail in the U.S., are tainted with salmonella and campylobacter, respectively. Time magazine calls chicken one of the most dangerous items in the American home.

Don't ya think we oughta care about the fact 80 million of us are getting sick every year from food borne illnesses? Care enough to do something?

Well, hard as it is to actually do something about it, I'm not going to eat Tyson, Perdue, or Pilgrim's Pride anymore, and we're going to travel almost one hundred miles and buy local chickens, humanely raised, and free ranged by a family who is feeding themselves the same chicken. Our plan is to buy enough to last till fall. So, we'll still be eating chickens, just not the poisoned ones.... (Uh, excuse me Mr. Tyson, but I'll have my chicken without the feces, if you please.)

Time to Get Serious About Local Meat

2007-06-13T09:31:00.000-04:00

Here's our dilemma. We say we want to feed ourselves, and our kids, healthy food. Locally-grown. But we keep going to our grocery store to buy ground beef, chicken, milk, etc. and we cringe to think about the provenance of the food we're preparing and eating. So its time to try to put more of our money where our mouths are.

On Saturday we'll journey to the local food farmers market our friends Chris Bedford and Diana Jancik founded two years ago, the Sweetwater Market in Muskegon, Michigan. We've bought the occasional chicken there, but the market is more than sixty miles away, and we don't get there often. This time we're going to get serious and take a big ice chest to start filling our freezer.