The Local Economy: Benefits and Critiques
The local food movement exists to challenge the unsustainable practices of the industrial food system. To buy food at a farmer’s market or to have a share in a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program are ways in which we can support this growing local food movement. The benefits of these programs include greater direct interaction and communication between those who grow food and those who eat it, the creation of relationships that aid the idea of community, increased knowledge about from where the food is coming, and the contribution to an alternative food system that focuses on the health of land, animals, and humans instead of monetary gain. The pitfalls of the local food movement are also important to understand, such as accessibility of local food for economically disadvantaged people.
Farmer’s markets allow for direct interaction between consumer and producer. The consumer contributes to one of the “local food supply chains,” that “are more likely to provide consumers with detailed information about where and by whom products were produced,” (Hand, 2010). The knowledge about who has grown the food makes it easier to form a relationship with the farmer, which takes the food out of a purely need-based context and allows for more of a community to grow around food. The food at the market is also much fresher than what can be purchased at a conventional grocery store because it has traveled fewer miles to get there and is usually harvested within a few days of when it is sold. Unlike conventional grow operations that are controlled by big corporations, farmers in the local food system rely on their buyers to make a living just like everyone relies on food to live. We must remember that, “food is essential to our very survival, and food markets, more than any other segment of our global markets, remind us that efficient production, allocation and distribution viewed as outcomes at a particular point in space and time under a specific set of boundary and starting conditions do not offer an adequate decision basis,” (O’ Hara & Stagl, 2001). To be concerned with efficiency and an increase in monetary gain ignores the long-term impact of farming without the consumer in mind and leads to practices that are unsustainable in the long run.
What local eaters contribute to and what critics of a global food system fight against is the industrialization of farming. “Industrial farming is highly dependent on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, requires large amounts of irrigation water, and necessitates major transportation systems,” (Smirl 2011). This type of farming, in addition to completely distancing the consumer from how her food is grown and who grows it, creates an unsustainable system that uses up an abundance of natural resources and produces unhealthy food that is oftentimes processed and filled with chemicals. The other extreme, one where a person only eats locally, i.e. a locavore, is also unsustainable in the long run. Locavores believe that “what is wrong with the world (from monocultural practices, to obesity, to global warming) can be addressed through altered personal behavior.” This idea, however, “does more to comfort and accommodate the individual eater (i.e., the locavore) than it does to challenge inequity and existing power structures,” (Delind 2011). When we see personal choices as ones that can change the food system and apply this rule to all people, we forget about the vast inequalities that people in this country face.
Many people who enjoy eating locally have shares in Community-Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs) where they put a down payment on a “share” of a farm so that they can receive local farm produce throughout the year. CSAs, like farmer’s markets, “offer more direct feedback and shorter feedback time regarding the impact of human economic activity.” You are able to see the effect that your money has on the farm that you support with your share. CSAs also offer “more direct communication between producers and consumers that allows a multiplicity of valuation criteria and values to be articulated and lowers the dependence on the symbolic tokens characteristic for global market system.” As a CSA shareholder, you are able to offer face-to-face critiques about what you like and do not like about the food you receive from the person or people that provide it for you. CSAs also offer “more occasions for re-emphasizing local knowledge systems and trust expressed by ‘face commitments,’” (O’ Hara & Stagl, 2001). Your food comes from very close to where you live and you can create a relationship with the farmers who you are supporting because they rely on your money to continue operating.
In spite of all the benefits that CSAs offer their shareholders, there are issues involved with how accessible and affordable they are. “CSAs are also less likely to be found in areas with higher poverty rates. This limits the ability of CSAs to penetrate a wider segment of society,” (Schnell 2007). The people that have access to the fresh, local produce grown by CSA farms are usually financially stable and live in wealthier areas. Another important critique of the accessibility of CSAs is that they “may prove particularly difficult for low-income individuals because CSAs require shareholders pay up front for a share of the harvest at the beginning of the season – something that is difficult to do if you are living paycheque to paycheque,” (Smirl 2011). Therefore, the people who can most readily afford a CSA share have stable incomes and live in areas with low poverty rates. We must be aware of the type of people that have these privileges and therefore take part in CSA programs, and how these programs reinforce economic disparities.
The local food movement, which includes farmer’s markets and CSA programs, is growing in popularity and publicity. As it becomes more popular, however, it “risks ignoring or dismissing diversity, necessity, and cultural pluralism—their messy voices as well as their less-than-pure existence—upon which a regenerative system depends,” (Delind 2011). All of the voices of a specific community, particularly those that have been and continue to be silenced, must be able to share their wants and needs if the local food movement is to grow in an inclusive way. The local food movement must include these voices, for “neglecting the inequalities that exist at the local level cannot only fail to solve existing problems but engender new ones,” (Smirl 2011). It is our priority as supporters of the local food movement to question the accessibility and inclusivity of the movement and listen to communities that do not have the same access to understand their wants and not impose our own on them. It should also be our priority to put pressure on the government “to shift subsidies away from the production of refined and processed foods towards healthier and more sustainable food production,” (Smirl 2011). If we think that local food is best for our health and the health of our planet, then we must convince our government of this so that everyone can have access to this kind of food.
The industrial food system is based on monetary gain and fails to recognize the health of humans, animals, and land. Farmer’s markets and CSAs have formed in opposition to the practices of the industrialized food industry, and they create relationships that form communities based on trust and support. For the local food movement to reach all corners of this country, however, the limits of its accessibility and cultural inclusivity must be recognized. The access and affordability of local, sustainable, and healthy food should be a right of everyone in this country. The responsibility rests on the people that already have access and can afford this food to spread the knowledge about local food and listen to the needs of the communities that don’t have access.
Works Cited
1. DeLind, Laura B. “Are local food and the local food movement taking us where we want to go? Or are we hitching our wagons to the wrong stars?” Agricultural and Human Values. Accessed through ProQuest. June 2011.
2. Hand, Michael. “Local Food Supply Chains Use Diverse Business Models To Satisfy Demand.” Amber Waves. Accessed through ProQuest. falseDecember 2010.
3. O’Hara, Sabine U, Stagl, Sigrid. “Global food markets and their local alternatives: A socio-ecological economic perspective.” Population and Environment. Accessed through ProQuest. July 2001.
4. Schnell, Steven. “Food with a Farmer’s Face: Community-Supported Agriculture in the United States.” Geographical Review. Accessed through ProQuest. October 2007.
5. Smirl, Ellen. “Social Justice Deficits in the Local Food Movement.” Canadian Dimension. Accessed through ProQuest. July/August 2011.
The Local Community: Getting Involved
College is a time of transition, which for most people lasts only four or five years. This population of people is also very transient and often does not stay in the city or town of their college after graduation. Community is difficult to find because students have a very limited time in the environment in which they live. Organizations can help fill this role, especially on a campus of this size. FH King is one such organization on this campus that creates community around growing food. They have a two-acre plot in the Eagle Heights Community garden and also give various workshops during the school year.
For my project, I decided to interview three people who have had various levels of involvement with FH King to see what kinds of benefits and community it has provided for them. My first interview was with Ellery, a garden volunteer and attendee of some of the workshops. The first time that she found out about FH King was when she was walking in library mall her first year in school and didn’t know anybody, and she saw a stand with people handing out vegetables. This is known as Harvest Handouts, where FH King brings all of the fruits and vegetables that they harvested to campus from May-October on Fridays from 1-3pm and hands out the produce for free. As she has become more involved with the organization it has given her “more of a sense of people who are interested in the same thing, the same ideals, not just farming or gardening. It’s more of a community of people who think the same or just friendly people to meet up and share food together.”
My second interview was with Kristen, a garden intern and bicycle compost intern. Garden interns are required to devote four hours a week to working on the farm, and she would “usually come in more because it was fun to do.” She said that FH King has provided her with a community of people with whom she stays close because she sees them on campus, at workshops, and on the farm, and she said that she can “see these faces and automatically know that we have something in common, which is awesome. And we can expand on this common ground.” She also has formed relationships with people of different ages and backgrounds at the farm, which she feels has given her “the opportunity to talk and grow,” outside of the dorm setting.
The last person I interviewed was Micah Hahn, who is the program director for FH King. She said that she feels like FH King has given her more of a community than other organizations that she has been a part of because “the way FH King is structured, very informally, that so much of being involved is getting to know the people who are involved and sort of hanging out and just showing up at stuff.” She also said that the organization has given her “lots of food. My grocery bills are pretty awesome, I think, because I get a lot of food from FH King,” and the she has “met a lot of great people in the Madison area.”
Although the level of involvement is varied among each of these interviewees, they each felt like the people with which they became acquainted through FH King has given them a sense of friendship and community. This community is based on growing food in a sustainable way, sharing food at potlucks, and bonding at the various workshops and movie showings that they give throughout the school year.
The other part of my project was researching the positive effects of a local food system, like the one that FH King contributes to. Farmer’s markets and CSAs allow the consumer to know more about how their food is produced, where it is produced, and who is actually growing the food. The consumer can interact directly with the person who grows their food and contributes to a food system that values the health of the land, animals, and food that these farmers depend on to make a living. The relationship between farmer and consumer creates a local economy focused on community. Madison is a city that supports this local economy year round through events such as the farmer’s market, and using our money to support these farmers is like a “vote” for these practices to continue. Food from CSAs and farmer’s markets, when it is in season, is also cheaper than what is available in a conventional grocery store.
What surprised me when doing this project were the issues surrounding the local food movement. Although FH King has been on campus since 1979, many students do not know about it or feel intimidated because they do not know anyone in the organization. Farmer’s markets and CSA programs have the stigma that they are much more expensive than regular grocery stores and that they do not carry familiar items. The most pertinent critique of farmer’s markets and CSAs is that they are oftentimes not accessible or available to poorer communities. As students on this campus, however, we have the access to farmer’s markets, CSAs, and student organizations like FH King that are committed to creating a food system that focuses on local, sustainable, and fairly priced foods.
Sam and I decided to make a meal with ingredients from the Saturday farmer’s market and the Willy Street Co-op. We wanted to be transparent about where the food was coming from and show how by virtue of taking this class together, we are a community of students that have a wealth of knowledge about how to get involved on campus. The chili we cooked is a symbol of community because we are able to enjoy a meal together as a class and also talk about where the food came from and how it contributes to a local economy. FH King is more than an organization that focuses on growing sustainable food; they also give workshops such as designing a verimcompost system for you apartment, mead-making, creating mushroom bags, permaculture design (e.g. sheet mulching, guilds, and food forests), beer brewing, urban fruit foraging, wild edibles, canning, making beeswax lip balm, Fall Harvest Fest in the garden with Slow Food UW, and soap making. The most important aspect about FH King, however, is that it creates a community of people who are interested in similar issues and creates long lasting friendships. As college students, we must seek out organizations that make us feel like we are part of the local community and where we can meet people who have similar interests.
Local food ingredients for the chili we cooked:
Onions- Driftless Organics in Soldier’s Grove, WI, which is 98 miles northwest of Madison
Garlic- Brantmeier Family Farm in Monroe, WI, 40 miles southwest of Madison
Chili peppers- Savory Accents in Verona, WI, 13 miles southwest of Madison
Side note: Unfortunately, because our project is taking place in late November, we were unable to use local ingredients for the ground tomatoes and kidney beans. The tomatoes, sold from Muir Glen Organic are from San Joaquin Valley, CA, which is about 2,065 miles away from Madison. We were not able to find information about where the kidney beans, sold from Shurfine brand, were grown. We did not focus on where the spices we used were from.
The transcribed interviews with people who had some affiliation with FH King
First interview is with Ellery, a garden volunteer.
Ben: So what has been your involvement with FH King?
Ellery: Well, I’ve always enjoyed the harvest handouts and the free food, but I recently got more involved by coming to garden hours every once in a while, going to the workshops that I could, and just working my way into it, getting to know the people a little more and kind of figuring out what it’s really all about besides just gardening.
Ben: So what are some of the benefits? You said harvest handouts, what is that?
Ellery: So I remember walking onto campus my freshman year and I didn’t know anyone and I saw that there was a stand and they were giving away food. And I was like, “Okay, that’s odd. Great, I’m poor!” I just started talking to them and hearing that there was this garden where they grew all this food and then gave it away for free. It was so revolutionary to me and so they give away this food that we technically pay for and I feel like not enough people know about it and even then when I found out that’s what they did, it was a little intimidating for me to be able to go out to the farm because it was so far away and what if I showed up and there were only a couple of people there that I didn’t know and they were really tight. Those were always more reasons not to go than to go, but finding out more about the workshops slowly made me want to come to little events here and there that were interesting. I didn’t get on the listserv until this past summer actually, and I didn’t really know that they have so many workshops all the time and I think that’s when you really feel like you’re a member and you can engage more than just showing up to work and give them an hour or two.
B: So it seems like you kept on coming back, kept on coming to harvest handouts and were still interested even though you didn’t feel completely like a part of the organization. So what sense of community has FH King given you?
E: Personally, I got to know some people in my classes even starting freshmen year that were really involved with FH King and I didn’t have the exact same interests as them, so I wasn’t, I thought it was very much about people who were interested in growing or being a farmer, that kind of thing. But now that I started to go to a few more things outside of just garden hours, it’s given more of a sense of people who are interested in the same thing, the same ideals, not just farming or gardening. It’s more of a community of people who think the same or just friendly people to meet up and share food together. It’s the type of people, I think, that are interested in it. The type of people that fit together.
Second interview with Kristen, garden intern and previous bicycle-compost intern
Ben: How did you find out about FH King?
Kristen: So my sister went here and so over the summers she would come down and work on the garden. So she would always say, “You should come, you should come!” But I never did. And so when I got to school here I finally checked it out and here I am (laughter).
Ben: How did you first get involved?
Kristen: I first got involved because of environmental studies with Jack Kloppenberg and there was an incentive to go check out the workshops because you would get extra credit or something like that, so I did and I thought it was so cool. So then I started going to the garden more and meeting more people and figuring out that it was kind of a cool place to be.
B: What has been your position with FH King, what have you done as a member?
K: What have I done as a member?
B: Or what has been your position with them?
K: Like as an intern, what did I do?
B: Yeah.
K: So I did the composting thing, and you know what that entails, lots of biking, lots of stink, a lot of fun. And then at the garden it would be four hours a week, but I’d usually come in more because it was fun to do, but harvesting and talking about sustainability, weeding, lots of weeding, adding to the compost, that kind of thing. Eating.
B: What kind of benefits do you think FH King has offered you?
K: Other than just learning how to grow food, especially in an urban setting, which is awesome, it’s offered me, like my mind has really opened up to different possibilities. There are people that come from a lot of different backgrounds than what I originally met in the dorms, so some people would be in graduate school, someone’s getting their Ph.D., there are some undergrads like me, just having the opportunity to talk and grow with the food.
B: What sense of community has it given you?
K: You know, with this massive school of ours, it’s really hard to meet people and especially if you have a class with them and you get to know them, you’re like, “Oh this person’s really cool,” but then the next semester you literally will not see them. But FH King provided a nice foundation of faces, so when you walk around campus or now that I have classes, more classes, I can see these faces and automatically know that we have something in common, which is awesome. And we can expand on this common ground.
Third interview is with Micah Hahn, program director of FH King
Ben: How did you first get involved with FH King?
Micah: I started going to programs when Mark Sandberg was the program director and Nathan, my boyfriend, and I went to a few beer brewing, I remember more specifically a vermacompost one and so we started doing that and then in the spring they advertised for garden assistant and I applied for it and I did not get the job. But I ended up being a garden intern for the summer and had an awesome time and then in the fall of that year when Mark was done, I applied for program director and so I became program director for the next three semesters.
Ben: What do you as program director, what does that involve?
Micah: So FH King sort of has two arms, there’s the garden out at the Eagle Heights Community garden and then the other arm is the educational aspect of FH King, so workshops, or speakers, or film series, or classes on something, whatever. Anything that is, it can also be out at the garden too, like putting up a hoop house, that type of thing, but any kind of workshop or event that would happen in FH King is the responsibility of the program director to plan that stuff.
B: What kind of community has FH King created for you?
M: FH King is definitely a community more than I have felt in other organizations that I have been in, I guess, because the way FH King is structured, very informally, that so much of being involved is getting to know the people who are involved and sort of hanging out and just showing up at stuff. It’s not like, some student organizations or some things I have been involved with in the past, you pay your dues and then you’re a member and that’s all you ever do with organization and it’s on your C.V. But FH King, the only way to really be involved is to actually do stuff, so basically, it necessitates being part of a community if you want to be involved and yeah, it’s a great community. (Laughter) I don’t even know, it’s so hard to describe. I think, I mean everyone is very like-minded, which is typical of organization, but we’re just doing fun things so it’s easy to have fun doing them with people, like growing food, for the people that are involved, it’s really fun. And like eating food and talking about it is also really fun. So…yeah, I would say it creates a strong community because that’s the way the organization is structured.
B: What other kinds of benefits do you feel you’ve received from FH King?
M: Lots of food. My grocery bills are pretty awesome, I think, because I get a lot of food from FH King. As program director in particular, other members would say differently, I’ve met a lot of great people in the Madison area, like I’m always looking for people to come in and do a workshop and so, it’s so awesome to be able to email this person who I’d love for them to come to campus and talk about something and be like, “Hi, I’m the program director of FH King and we have some money to pay, and wonder if you can come,” and they’re like, “Yeah, sure.” And I, it’s a good power, it’s so cool to be able to do that, and so, I’ve made a lot of connections in the Madison area which has been really awesome.
2377arredoc
adkraemer
akreinert
amjohnson21
awefilledbewilderment
befox18
benpauley
bretttietz
carmencordis
chrisborgerding
cirezone
djkonen
edittmar
ejzavala
elagrimini
eliotmarkman
emmaelizabethan
ericjamescarlson
hagan91
ianabbie
isaacchevako
jarollins
poisonivy
jdschultz01
jeffreyziegler
jellencollins
jeredvogeltanz
Jeremy Ginsburg
Justin Mertes-Mistretta
joanmavis
jvmendoza92
kcmallett
kdbereswill
kellyamendola
khoffmeister
krfrimer
kryoungblood
ltrilling
madagan11
marcosbrocach
mbrunn
melaniedavies51
mgarizmendi
mjmoreno
mlnhope
nlhamric
opinionbase
Stephanie G.
pclarkallen
petergeppert
putman9953
rgerry
rhthomas2
rjnewman1117
rknutson14
robu424
rrknecht
saddisonbrad
samswiech
seanbecker
spsimonett
ILS 252 improves your world 