I think there are great quotes and information in here for every market, every food system piece of writing you are doing…
Including this quote:
But alas, the gospel that better nutrition means more expense has taken on a life of its own. Everyone has heard it — and so everyone tends to repeat it. Perception becomes reality, so most people simply accept that good nutrition is economically disadvantageous. They then stop trying to eat better and simply propagate the urban legend.
In my mind, the story linked at the end of this post is like ending up the wrong side of the tracks in a regional food system: You’re viewing the poor part of it (in this case, in values) and maybe it’s wrong to see it as being part of the same place at all.
Trumpeting a man made water-reliant artificial system for growing what is known among the wild-caught fishers in my neck of the woods as “textured protein” rather than understanding that shrimp are creatures that are born and live in a complex free flowing water system, such as our estuaries around the Gulf of Mexico is dangerous wrong-side-of-the-tracks behavior.
And instead of pointing out that true localvores eat what is raised as part of their bioregion, this story extols the virtue of every food item available 24/7 in a desert.
I do have access to seafood and as a result of that bounty, live with the uncertainty of life on the edge of a massive waterway that is prone to hurricanes and dead zones from run off up North. I do have access to seafood, but go without fresh corn or stone fruit being available locally and only see those wonderful items when I travel to another food system. And that, to me, is the definition of a localvore.
Our national voice for farmers markets, Farmers Market Coalition(FMC) has launched their great Seven Days, Seven Ways campaign to celebrate the many ways markets benefit the farmers, shoppers and community. Take a few minutes to see the list of economic, social and human measurements FMC has used in their report (culled from markets own reports) and make a mental note to visit the innovative markets that FMC honored this year.
Michigan: “UCS released the report just a few days before the 12th annual U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Farmers Market Week, which starts Sunday. According to the report, “Market Forces: Creating Jobs through Public Investment in Local and Regional Food Systems,” the number of farmers markets nationwide more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, jumping from 2,863 to 6,132, and now more than 100,000 farms sell food directly to local consumers.”
Source: Huron Daily Tribune
Download the report here:
Report
Stacy Miller, Executive Director of Farmers Market Coalition kicks off National Farmers Market week in Oregon.
Story
“There are increasingly more farmer’s markets offering fresh fruits and vegetables in low income neighborhoods where before it would have cost residents to travel for healthy food choices.”
I travel this evening to Ecotopia (read the description of the area in the book “The Nine Nations of North America”) to work with my colleagues at the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), and as a bonus, to meet up with the fine folks from Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) who will be also be traveling to the area.
As many probably know, I serve as a board member of CFSC. It is an amazing organization that puts on the best food conferences and its crackerjack staff has a myriad of projects going to support many different organizations, like FMC and their Learning Circle project (more on that later) that I will be able to work on as well.
Check out both of their websites:
Pictures and updates from the Renewable Region over the next few days…
“Cotton candy, corn dogs and candy apples once ruled the midway at the local fair, but visitors now want food that’s exotic—as long as it’s on a stick…”
Maybe the national farmers market movement needs to do a top 10 food items list. That side-by-side comparison with this one would show once again how the industrial food system is obsessed with caloric count and additives versus alternative food’s obsession with taste and healthy foods.
Although let me say that fairs have a place in local food systems, and it might be time for farmers market organizers to saunter over to the exhibition area and shake a few hands, or hand out some flyers to the seniors heading to the exit…
I recently posted a story about Seattle’s new food truck laws. This msnbc story covers that in detail and also adds some of other cities that are just trying to figure it out. Nice to see cities paying attention to start ups, but will we see McDonald’s carts in the future too?
Food trucks
2012 National Main Streets Conference: Rediscover Main Street
Over the past year a constant theme heard locally and nationally is the trend of retailers – including “big box” stores –moving away from strip malls and back downtown. Businesses are not alone either. Residents and visitors are also choosing more traditional locations. In Baltimore we will continue to showcase the power of preservation-based economic and community development and to provide education and networking opportunities to help businesses, governments, residents and visitors Rediscover Main Street.
The National Trust Main Street Center is seeking session proposals designed to help inform, inspire ideas, and explore methods and best practices to capitalize on this growing trend and to encourage the rediscovery of what Main Street has known for decades – preservation as economic development works! Read more about submitting a proposal for the 2012 National Main Streets Conference here
Deadline: August 26, 2011
Contact the National Trust Main Street Center:
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036
202.588.6219 | mainstreet@nthp.org | http://www.mainstreet.org/
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization providing leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize our communities.
This seems to me to the kind of tip that would work so well in a market newsletter; maybe ask a Board member or a volunteer or a farmer to offer some tips for shopping at your market.Story
Helping Farmers Markets Grow 