The LocalHarvest Blog
22 Sep Mon 2014
Beyond Local
Welcome back to the LocalHarvest newsletter.
A couple of months back a journalist asked me why I feel so passionate about local food. She caught me at an odd moment and my mind went utterly blank. All I could think was, "Yikes. Do I feel passionately about this?" I don't remember what answer I gave her, but the question and my blankness stuck with me for days.
Weeks, actually. For a while I felt restless and guilty. "What am I doing promoting local food if I can't find my passion for it?" Eventually my husband helped me out of the hole I was digging; he pointed out that I have been supporting family farmers and eating locally so long that what once inspired a lot of emotion is now regular life.
This isn't just happening to me, of course. The culture is changing. Everywhere we look people are embracing the notion of 'local'. What was a new idea back in 2000 when we launched LocalHarvest is slowly becoming the standard. That is just what we wanted! Fortunately, a life that includes beautiful local foods yields a lot of delight and gratitude (e.g. our neighbor's early apples are fantastic this year!) even as passion for the idea of local food may fade with familiarity.
To me, all this means it is time to go deeper. Buying directly from farms is good. It gives farmers a higher return, making small scale farming more economically viable. Buying local is good too. Communities benefit when their members keep their money recirculating within the group. But we can do much more to protect the integrity and viability of small scale farming. First, we need to make sure that "real" food stays real. The more successful 'local' is within mainstream society, the more likely it is to be coopted by big business. "Farmer McDonald's CSA Egg McMuffins" - it sounds farfetched but it could happen, and in smaller ways already is. Second, our communities will be strengthened as more of us get involved in the complex issues facing agriculture. There are many issues to choose from, such as local zoning issues, federal farm regulations and the ongoing GMO fight, to name a few. For all the incredible momentum buying local has gained, making substantive, long lasting political and economic changes in the food system will require tenacious collective attention.
We can do it. My hunch is that our love for real food will be what prods us to make the effort and strengthens us along the way. Then we may both rediscover our passion for local food and put it to good use.
Until next time, take good care and eat well,
Erin
Erin Barnett
Director
LocalHarvest
