The importance of a community-based resilient food system
I’ve rewritten this email a few times trying to gather my thoughts. These emails can be a great way to engage with all of you, to share what’s happening on the farm, offer agricultural educational materials, and tell you a little bit about what’s on my mind. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to get all of my thoughts down in a way that’s palatable. But I’m going to try.
I’ve told y’all this before, but I wasn’t raised in agriculture. My family and friends don’t always understand my passion and dedication to local food or where it came from. It came from seeing the inequity in the global food system, from learning that we grow enough food to feed everyone on the planet, yet hunger is still rampant. This drew me to dive deep into food access, which is what I studied in college. I found so much passion and drive in the idea of fixing our food system. So here’s what I think:
The key to a resilient food system: community.
There’s a lot of noise in pop culture right now around keeping food local, farm-to-table restaurants, and glamorizing rural lifestyles. It’s really quite trendy these days to eat organic and go to farmers markets. Which is great, but what we really need is dedication to farmers, food access, and getting more people farming.
The people here at Rainshadow inspire me every day with their dedication to feeding you. It’s not work for them—it’s their lives. Farmers are the backbone of communities, and food is essential to life. The number of farms around the country has been declining steadily for the last 75 years, whereas agricultural output has almost quadrupled. Farmers and ranchers now comprise only 2% of the U.S. population and a whopping 40% of all food grown in the U.S. is never eaten. All while 41.7 million Americans rely on food stamps and food prices have gone up almost 30% since 2020. Can you see why I’m a bit fired up?
Industrial farming doesn’t prioritize equity or accessibility, but small, family farms do. Monocropping, CAFOs, and pesticide spraying don’t prioritize the health of the planet, but organic, local growers do. Large-scale grocery chains don’t know their customers by name, but Melody, Mel, and I know yours (and your kids’)! A capitalist food system doesn’t prioritize people, but being part of a CSA does. When the government can’t come to a consensus about the budget and food stamps don’t go through, grocery stores won’t give you food, but farmers will.
When you choose local food, you’re not only choosing the healthier option, you’re choosing to feed your neighbors. You’re choosing to nurture the planet. You’re standing up against injustice in our food system. You’re boosting the local economy, decreasing your carbon footprint, building community, all while eating better, more nutritious food than you could get from a grocery store. Should I keep going?
Being part of a CSA is a big deal. Less than 1% of the population of Central Oregon participates in one. Thank you for being so dedicated. Thanks for being the good change and helping us do the good work.
Want to make sure our community gets fed while the government shutdown continues?
The High Desert Food and Farm Alliance and Boundless Farmstead are raising $15,000 for Fill Your Pantry (re-named this year to Fill All Pantries) for customers who would’ve used their SNAP benefits to stock up on local food for the winter. If you feel drawn to donate, please follow the link below. If you’re on SNAP, or know someone who is, we are offering $20 per person per day of free produce in our farm store until all SNAP benefits for the month of November have been distributed.
That is a community-based, resilient food system in action. Thanks for being a part of it. |
