The Creston Valley Food Action Coalition 2012 board wish you, our members and market vendors, all the best for the holidays. We hope you have some wonderful local food to grace your table.
Because the first Monday of 2012 is a legal holiday and we fear you may be “holidayed out”, the FAC will not hold its regular membership meeting in January. Our next meeting will be on February 6 at 4:00 pm at the College of the Rockies. New members are welcome. We hope to see you there!
What we’re working towards in the Creston Valley isn’t unique to our area. We all know this shift is happening all across North America. Every community will face their own individual challenges and opportunities, and there are many great models of success out there. One of my favourite is what is happening Detroit, read on!
Lloyd Alter
Living / Green Food
December 13, 2011
Daniel Carmody, President of the Eastern Market in Detroit, is a passionate speaker, and entranced many of us attending the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference in Buffalo this fall. It seemed, at first, an odd choice of speaker at a conference about old buildings. But in fact, he demonstrated how important the growing and distribution of food can be to the rebirth and revitalization of our cities and towns. It isn’t about one market, but about the entire economic system in America. Dan kindly shared a copy of his presentation with me, which forms the basis of this post.
A hundred years ago, 38% of Americans lived and worked on the farm; today, it is less than two percent. The impact of that change has been massive; the economist Joseph Stiglitz writes in Vanity Fair this month that the last Great Depression was caused by industrialization of agriculture, a “structural change in the real economy.”
Agriculture had been a victim of its own success. In 1900, it took a large portion of the U.S. population to produce enough food for the country as a whole. Then came a revolution in agriculture that would gain pace throughout the century—better seeds, better fertilizer, better farming practices, along with widespread mechanization. Today, 2 percent of Americans produce more food than we can consume.
Stiglitz writes that we are going through the same kind of massive change right now as the manufacturing economy that built Detroit and much of America changes.
Today we are moving from manufacturing to a service economy. The decline in manufacturing jobs has been dramatic—from about a third of the workforce 60 years ago to less than a tenth of it today. The pace has quickened markedly during the past decade… the inevitable result is precisely the same as it was 80 years ago: a decline in income and jobs. The millions of jobless former factory workers once employed in cities such as Youngstown and Birmingham and Gary and Detroit are the modern-day equivalent of the Depression’s doomed farmers.
No, This Is Why You’re Fat!/via
But the tools and techniques that revolutionized agriculture came at a cost. It is massively dependent on fossil fuels for equipment and fertilizers. Farmers cannot make enough money to live on farming alone. There is massive concentration of ownership (two seed companies control 60% of the market, four companies control 83% of the meat packing industry) so that farmers have little control over the prices they sell their products for. Half of the corn they grow is now used for making fuel, so the price of food is skyrocketing at the same time that the customers are losing their jobs or cutting back on spending because of the economy and debt.
In the country, the agricultural system is broken, and in the city, the manufacturing system is broken. But some, like Dan Carmody, see new opportunity in reintegrating the two. He sees food as an organizing tool for society; urban farming and markets can be important employment and wealth creators for cities. Detroit’s Eastern Market is a demonstration of how this might work; Its development strategy is to make it the hub of a complete local food system:
It can generate a lot of money and jobs; Michael Shuman has estimated that if 20% of Detroit’s food was grown locally, it would create nearly 5,000 jobs and nearly $ 20 million in business taxes.
© Dan Carmody
There are all kinds of jobs in food, from the obvious ones of farming and production to processing, wholesale and retail. The Eastern Market supports 300 independent food vendors and several hundred non-food vendors. It is expanding to serve the wholesale industry and is helping Detroit schools switch from processed food to locally grown and minimally processed food.
© Dan Carmody
They are setting up a city wide network of incubator kitchens in schools’ disused existing kitchens.
People’s Pierogi Collective/Screen capture
They are supporting local processors and packagers to produce and market specialty products. They are working with community groups to establish farmers markets and stands around the City.
© Dan Carmody
It is much more than a farmers’ market; it is putting people back to work making stuff we need. And it isn’t just for cities like Detroit; the model works for main streets in former market towns across America.
Here at TreeHugger, we have been writing for years about the merits of supporting local farmers, vendors and craftspeople, about the advantages rust belt cities will have in the future, with their water, their transportation infrastructure of rail, road and canal; their temperate climate in a warmer world.
© Dan Carmody
In Detroit, Dan Carmody and the Eastern Market have shown how this might work. It’s a demonstration of how to revitalize a community and rebuild a local economy. it is more than just a farmers’ market; It may well serve as a model for survival.
Congratulations on your mystery seed package from the Food Action Coalition! Your seed package has a letter on it, below are the instructions for how to plant them.
For all the seeds, 1) select a sunny location to prepare the seed bed. (All of the seeds can be planted anytime after the weather warms up in late April or May. You may also plant your seeds in a pot and grow indoors but the Runner Bean grows so large that it is best grown outdoors.)
2) Prepare the soil by digging, breaking up soil lumps and clearing any weeds or unwanted plant growth from your selected location. Mix in soil amendments such as peat moss or compost. (Separate flower and seed heads from weeds and toss in the garbage and then compost all remaining parts of the weed plant.)
3) Rake and level the selected area.
Your mystery seed is:
P – Poppy – sprinkle seeds onto soil surface. Press firmly into soil. Water lightly and keep moist until sprout appears. (Produces a colorful red to purple flower about 60 cm tall) In late season, the dried pod will provide seed for next year’s planting.
M – Marigold – sprinkle seeds onto soil surface. Gently pat down seed to ensure entire length of seed has made contact with the soil surface. Lightly cover seed with a thin layer of soil – 4 mm only and water lightly. (Produces a beautiful yellow or orange flowering plant about 30 cm tall) In late season, dried flower heads will provide seed for next year’s planting.
C – Calendula – same as for the marigold seeds but cover with 1 cm of soil. (Produces a beautifully scented yellow to orange flower about 45 cm tall) In late season, dried flower heads will provide seed for next year’s planting.
RB – Scarlet Runner Bean – These plants will need a support to climb. Drop seed onto soil surface. Push seed down into soil to a depth of approx 3 cm. Cover with soil, water regularly. (Produces a tall vine with colorful flowers and then a large bean later in the season) In late season, after the bean pod has dried, extract the bean seeds and you have seed for next year’s planting.
After many months of research, interviews and discussion, the much anticipated first step towards what will hopefully become a regional food system alliance for the West Kootenay is now complete.
In April of this year, funding and support was secured to carry out research into organizations in Canada and the United States which are seeking to improve their communities’ access to local, healthy and responsibly produced food by bringing together stakeholders within their local food system.
The West Kootenay is already home to a diverse community of individuals, businesses and organizations who contribute to the production, processing and distribution of food for local consumption. All combined, these efforts, their accompanying relationships, and the very act of eating, make up what can be referred to as our ‘food system’. In recent years, the contribution of local food systems to health and well-being, the environment, the economy and culture has become widely accepted to be of critical importance. But how do we define this ‘system’ and how do we identify the relationships within it to make sure that the system is functioning in the best interest of the people it serves?
With no efforts currently underway in the West Kootenay region to consistently bring together those involved within and outside of the food system, a regional food system alliance was believed to be an ideal forum to help enhance our regional food supply.
Jon Steinman of Deconstructing Dinner took the lead on the initiative and gathered a team from throughout the region to advise on the process and contribute to what has become a strategic recommendation on what next steps should be taken.
Now available on-line is this in-depth report – Towards a Regional Food System Alliance Development Strategy for the West Kootenay. The report looks into how food councils, non-profits, and other food system initiatives are formed and how they function. The accompanying recommendation, which is also found within the report and as a separate document on-line, is driven by the committee’s belief that determining the function of an alliance prior to determining its form is essential. The committee then narrowed its attention on economic development, believing it to be the greatest opportunity for our regional food system. This focus of attention has proven to be very successful with organizations like The Center for an Agricultural Economy in Vermont and the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition in Oregon. These organizations offer great examples of the opportunities to be found from more coordinated, cross-sector work within the food system. The committee believes this should become the primary focus of an eventual regional food system alliance in the West Kootenay.
By ‘economic development’, the committee is referring to a sustained effort among all people within the region to support and develop the infrastructure, knowledge and skills, necessary to increase the amount of food produced and processed in the region. It’s also essential that this effort be informed by and contribute to an ecosystem-centered approach, culture, health and social well-being. Namely, the committee believes that through better coordination among individuals, organizations, governments and businesses, a regional food system alliance would be an exciting tool which could carry out a mandate to take on, stimulate, and/or partner on activities which would capture the millions of food dollars leaking out of the region every year. What is meant by ‘leakage’? Using average per capita food expenditure figures, the committee estimates that the population within the region spends roughly $266 million per year on food, with only a small percentage of that being spent on locally produced products. “We see this as one of the greatest economic development opportunities for the region,” says Jon Steinman. “Focusing more attention on the food system as economic development and trying to keep more of our food dollars within the region, means increasing the support for existing, new and emerging farmers, businesses and co-operatives; it would create jobs; foster greater resilience within the regional economy; and, reinstate the importance of being strong stewards of our soil, forests and watersheds.”
To better determine the function of a food system alliance focused on regional economic development, the committee proposes a number of initial strategies, which include, among others, coordinating and initiating a local food market economic analysis, and researching best practices / feasibility for an annual West Kootenay local food guide for both the public and businesses/institutions. The results and recommendations generated through a local food market analysis would be followed up with region-wide consultations to narrow in on what within the local food economy is in need of the greatest attention. At that point, the form which a regional food alliance could take to carry out those strategies could be determined. The Towards a Regional Food System Alliance report will offer a strong direction on how to proceed with that stage.
The advisory committee supporting these recommendations is made up of Corky Evans (former MLA Nelson-Creston), Sheila Dobie (Spencer Hill Orchard), Jocelyn Carver (Kootenay Country Store Co-operative), Wayne Harris (Kootenay Alpine Cheese / Mountain Valley Farm), Mike Stolte (Center for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership) and Carolee Colter (CDS Consulting Co-op). The committee believes that the report and accompanying recommendation will offer strong support for a West Kootenay food system that shows an increase in the percentage of locally produced food each year, is robust and versatile in the face of ecological and economic pressures, and is an inspiration for a vibrant and resilient culture of food in other regions.
The report was made possible by funding and support from the Columbia Basin Trust, the Hume Hotel, Nelson and District Credit Union, Heritage Credit Union, Kootenay Country Store Co-operative, Kootenay Co-op Radio, Kootenay Food Strategy Society and Deconstructing Dinner.
To read the report and the recommended next steps, visit www.deconstructingdinner.ca. Feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
Contact:
Jon Steinman
Coordinator
Start-Up Advisory Committee, Proposed West Kootenay Regional Food System Alliance
Email: jon@steinman.com
Creston Valley Food Action Coalition Potluck Dinner & AGM
Come one, come all to the Food Action Coalition 2011 Annual General Meeting. Learn about the progress we’ve made in the past year advancing food security in our valley. Gather and socialize with like-minded individuals, and vote for your 2012 Board of Directors. Festivities will begin with a fabulous local foods potluck.
Please bring a dish to share, and your own plate, fork, knife, etc.
It all begins at 6:30 pm, Monday December 5, in the greenhouse classroom at the College of the Rockies Creston campus.
See you there!
College of the Rockies (Creston campus) is offering two workshops next week for local farmers:
See the poster below for more information and registration details:
Interested in learning to make and process apple juice? Join Alexandra Dansereau of Harvest Share on Saturday, Nov 19th from 10am to 4pm. Contact her for details!
College of the Rockies, Creston is pleased to offer two workshops with the
Ministry of Agriculture’s Growing Forward Program.
