The Health of the Nation: New Article on Regional Foodsheds

After recently attending a Food Empowerment conference at Rutgers in Newark, I was left to consider the necessity of  cities to secure sustainable and resilient foodsheds and the types of policies that would go hand in hand with supporting these structures.  In researching ideas I came across a new 2011 law review article from the Fordham Environmental Law Review: Regional Foodsheds: Are Our Local Zoning and Land Use Regulations Healthy?  The article explains some of the reasons why its so important to focus on agriculture as a solution to our recent environmental, health and social equity issues and also inventories some local communities efforts (within the USA) and the policies they are experimenting with to create and sustain local foodsheds.

The most crucial point the article makes, and one which policy makers, activists and local communities should take note of, if they want to create an inclusive, broad reaching and sustainable foodsystem, is the idea that planning for regional foodsheds should be a collaborative process: “Regional foodshed planning must be comprehensive, and it should ―approach food not just [as] a commodity but as an infrastructural system. . . that needs to be managed and considered in all urban and regional planning efforts.”

Currently, in most situations, food is viewed exclusively as a commodity.  This understanding of food is as unsustainable and unhealthy as it is  incorrect, and we should be as concerned about the present dysfunctional state of our food supply system as we are with other forms of our crumbling infrastructure - roads and foreign-oil dependence.  Consider our current dependent on foreign oil and how stressful the situation has become, now imagine being dependent upon foreign food.  We would soon find ourselves in the situation faced by the majority of the global south, where crops are grown for export and the farmers growing these crops cannot afford to buy imported staple crops to feed themselves.  It is past time to consider how we can improve our current food system structure, and our relationship with food itself.

The article begins by providing an overview of local and regional foodsheds, reviewing not only the environmental and public health benefits, but also highlighting the economic benefits:

In 2009, U.S. households spent more than $526 billion on food produced outside of the home, indicating a significant economic market for locally grown and processed food. Local sourcing can supply a significant amount of food. A recent Michigan State University study posits that by converting vacant urban land to a host of urban agriculture related…, Detroit residents could be supplied with 76% of their vegetables and more than 40% of their fruits… Strong regional food markets economically support labor-intensive small and medium sized farms, which have been overtaken in the past several decades by mechanized, large-scale industrial agricultural operations. Local economies are also reinforced as the foodshed movement spurs the need for local food processing facilities and agri-businesses providing supplies, equipment and services… In addition to job creation and economic development, regional food markets reduce transportation costs and provide some insulation from volatility in the global food market. Furthermore, regional markets for production and processing can decrease costs for healthy foods, which can in turn produce economic benefits by preventing health care costs from diseases associated with poor diet and obesity.

Following this overview, the authors go on to detail strategies that local governments might attempt: creating food policy councils/task forces and incorporating food policies into their comprehensive planning.

Some local comprehensive plans contain sections…that touch on regional food policies, such as agriculture, sustainability, or economic development elements. For example, in Marin County, CA the plan supports “the production and marketing of healthy, fresh, locally grown food.”

The article also delves into a number of other policies being tried across the country, including policies that many larger cities (including NYC) have begun to explore: employing the purchasing power of local governments (and also large institutions):

Procurement policies that favor locally grown foods can help establish a market to support regional food production. In Cleveland, for example, an ordinance was passed in 2010 that requires the commissioner of purchases and supplies and each contracting department to develop a list of local food producers and businesses and to ―endeavor to maximize purchases from these sources. It also favors contract bidders that are locally based and purchase twenty percent of their food locally. Albany County, New York, has also enacted a policy to increase the percentage of local food consumed at the county‘s residential healthcare and correctional facilities. The policy recognizes that locally produced food supports the regional economy, requires less oil and gas, and provides nutritional benefits. Furthermore, in early 2011, a proposal was introduced in New York City to increase purchases of New York state food by city agencies.

The article is a great general starting place for anyone wanting to view a broad array of possibilities for their local communities.  It is also an invaluable tool for those in Newark’s city government and others involved in the redevelopment of the city’s food system and the new sustainability plan.

FoodCorps Launches National Service Program to Transform School Food

Fifty young people from around the United States are convening today in Wisconsin to launch FoodCorps, the new national service organization dedicated to addressing childhood obesity and diet-related disease by building school gardens and developing Farm to School programs.

Chosen from over 1,200 applicants, the first class of FoodCorps Service Members will spend the week training for yearlong placements across 10 states: Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina and Oregon. The orientation includes a full day at the renowned Growing Power Community Food Center, Will Allen’s innovative urban farm project, where they will receive hands-on instruction about building gardens, educating children about healthy food, and more. 

“These young leaders are dedicating a year of their lives to help give kids a relationship with healthy food that we hope will last a lifetime,” said Curt Ellis, co-founder and executive director of FoodCorps, and co-creator of the award-winning food documentary, “King Corn.”

Across the nation and the political spectrum, people understand that Americans and especially our children are in a health crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that the number of obese children has tripled in the last 30 years, and for the first time in history the majority of Americas poor are not starving, but rather suffering from numerous diseases connected to overconsumption of calories, sugars, fats, and sodium.

“As a nation, we are tightening our fiscal belt, yet health-related obesity costs are projected to reach $344 billion by 2018. FoodCorps is a sound investment in a healthy future and gives our kids a chance to beat back the painful and costly epidemic of diet-related disease,” said co-founder and FoodCorps Program Director Debra Eschmeyer, herself a produce farmer and former outreach director of the National Farm to School Network.

In addition to establishing school gardens, FoodCorps Service Members will work with local food service directors to source more school meal ingredients from local farmers. They will also provide nutrition education to students.

Founded in 2010, FoodCorps is a national nonprofit organization that seeks to address the trend of childhood obesity and diet-related disease by increasing vulnerable children's knowledge of, engagement with, and access to healthy food, while preparing the next generation of leaders for careers in food, health and agriculture.  The centerpiece of our work is an AmeriCorps public service program that places highly motivated young leaders in limited-resource communities of need where they conduct hands-on nutrition education, build and tend school gardens, and bring high-quality local food into public school cafeterias. 

For more information, click here

Growing Nutrients and Renewed Hope in New Orleans

A new video shows the hope and renewed energy going into rebuilding New Orleans through a group of gardeners in the Treme neighborhood.

The Perennial Plate Episode 57: Lord, Lord, Lord from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Since Katrina a multiplicity of urban gardens and farms have been popping up all over the city as people seek ways to eat healthier and to re-imagine the city's landscape.

The Future of Farming: Oxfam Release and Olivier De Schutter's Address to Congress

Today Oxfam launched it's GROW campaign with a panel is Washington, D.C. with special guests Academy Award-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, In America), UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter, bestselling author on world hunger and cofounder of The Small Planet Institute Frances Moore Lappé (Diet for a Small Planet is celebrating its 40th anniversary), Dr. Cheryl Smith, President of Trillium and immediate past Chair of the Social Investment Forum, and Oxfam America President Ray Offenheiser.


Click here to listen in: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/grow-campaign


Tomorrow De Schutter  will present the findings from his report on agroecology and the right to food to the US House of Representatives.

Needed: A New Conceptualization of Agriculture

It is a mistake to think of agriculture as simply about productivity. Agriculure provides employment and livelihoods, it underpins food quality, food safety and nutrition, and it allows food choices and cultural diversity. It is necessary for water quality, broader ecosystem health,  and even carbon sequestration. Agriculture must necessarily be integrated with the many needs of humans and ecosystems.

Spring Seedlings for Summer Sustenance: Planting Round #2 in Newark

Last Sunday the Tabernacle Garden in Newark planted their summer seedlings as a part of a day of celebration over the gardens initial success.  As a part of Newark's Interfaith Week the tabernacle opened it's doors to the neighboring community and invited them to share in celebrating the projects progress so far, as well as plans for expansion in the following year.  Rabbi Curtis Caldwell kicked off the event with a welcoming speech, inviting the entire community to join in both the planting and harvesting of the garden, as well as the larger vision of creating a community project to serve as a catalyst and centerpiece for rejuvenating the community.  

Following a short commemorative video, which highlighted the initial planting with local Peshine Avenue Preparatory and TEAM Charter schools, the Rabbi invited up partner institution Planting Seeds of Hope to introduce the broader project goals to the community.  Emilio Panasci, local planner and representative for PSOH and Open Communities, explain the current on-site collaboration between the local schools, government offices, urban agricultural institutions and the faith community as well as the desire to expand the current project through the development of a new community development corporation based around the urban agricultural project and it’s potential offshoots.  

This potential was fleshed out in a brief discussion of example projects across other regions led by Ms. Payne, the teams sustainability and agricultural development consultant, and highlighted the cohesive potential of urban agricultural institutions to promote integration of diverse populations around community gardening activities, the possibility of addressing local economic issues through agriculturally based business ventures, and the potential for the envisioned educational center to serve in promoting multiple urban justice goals: increasing food access and nutritional education, as well as enhancing local public space and creating a haven for civic action and community activism.  

In closing, Stephen Panasci, the group’s landscape architect debuted the proposed garden design to be phased in over the next year.  The plan included the expansion of the current raised beds, as well as the addition of an Urban Orchard and various learning areas.  

The brief overview and call for community collaboration was followed by a meal prepared by the in-house Chef, Shonda, and featured nutritious dishes based on the vegetables and herbs the tabernacle expects to harvest from their garden later this year.  Following the presentation, local children and parents were invited to participate in the spring seedling planting.  The children were given a hands-on opportunity to connect with locally grown foods as well as the opportunity to learn about the life-cycle of plants and some growing basics.  Community members were also invited to participate in funding the future of the project with a mini-seedling sale, which took place throughout the planting.

A preview of the seedlings to be planted

Preparing the new beds

Tomatoes for the summer community dinners

Staking out our peas and beans

Learning how to loosen the roots

Planting Marigolds to scare off pests

Companion planting with onions and eggplants

Water for our thirsty transfers

All this and more in a days work!

Why Buy Local?

A new Iconograph by eLocal lays out the triple bottom line on why consumers should buy local foods, looking at the social, economic and environmental impacts that a shift towards local buying would bring.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: eLocal.com