Local Food is ALL about the Connection

Thankfully our options in the U.S. for procuring local, organic, and sustainable foods are rapidly expanding. Farmers markets, community supported agriculture programs (CSA's), urban farms, community gardens, cooperatives, and backyard do-it-yourself gardeners are sprouting like mushrooms after a fall rain. But why are these small scale food initiatives expanding and why do I and others strongly advocate for greater participation in the "local food revolution?" This is an easy but very in depth question to answer, so I'll tackle a different and distinct aspect in each new post, and do my best to tell the story. Without the growth of the above mentioned food options, we wouldn't be able to have this conversation, but it's the underlying why that's driving this process, and is most interesting to me.

A picture is worth a thousand words and I think the above picture tells the first story quite well, the story of connection. When we involve ourselves as customers in a direct marketing food initiative such as a farmers market or CSA, we usually interact directly with the person who's grown our food, the very thing that sustains and nourishes us. This immediate and direct connection forms a mutual and bonding relationship. Without the farmer, we don't eat, and without us, neither does the farmer. Yep, this is good ol' capitalism at its finest, the supplier needs customers and the customers need suppliers.

Beyond the business transaction, this relationship creates a deeper bond. We can ask the farmer about their practices; "is the produce organically grown, how do you treat your animals, how do you treat your land or workers, what's your favorite recipe," etc. Some farmers even offer farm tours, allowing us to see and touch the land, ask more questions, and build stronger personal relationships. This is what it's all about, connection and relationships, relationships that rely on mutual trust and respect. Now we have an economic, communal, and environmental connection. The farmer's food nourishes our health, our dollar nourishes their family and recirculates within our community, and the whole process directly nourishes the farmers land and, in the case of local, the greater environment through carbon emission reductions.

It's sadly humorous when I think about our modern food system. If I eat a conventional item out of a standard grocery store, say a green pepper, I have no clue about it's life. Where was it grown, how was it grown, who grew it, how long has it been on the shelf, how many people have handled it, and how many places has it passed through on its journey to my hand? Here it is, the most basic of necessities, the very thing that sustains my life force, and I have no clue about its history, no connection to its process, and no relationship with its grower. The only assurances I have are those of the USDA and the corporation that's selling it to me. I'm sure they have my best interest at the top of their list.

But if you buy a green pepper from your local farmers market, you can look the person in the eye and shake their hand, and they'll happily tell you who they are, where they grew it, how they grew it, and that the only hands that have touched it are their own.

In my experience, farmers like to talk about what they do, and they like to talk about how they do it, but they love to talk about why they do it. More often than not, these "why" stories focus on a connection to the land, a mutual relationship, that is not merely passed on to us as customers, but that which includes and relies on our participation and our collaboration.

I encourage everyone to visit a farmers market or take a local farm tour. Even if you don't want to buy anything, just start a conversation, make the connection, and see where it leads.