Finding Our Way Out of Food Insecurity...

I remember the first time I heard the phrase "food desert". A friend I work with used it and I remember the image it created in my mind and I wanted to find out more about it. Because I have not experienced this, it was a surprise for me to find out that places exist where people don't have access to a grocery store, but just small markets or corner stores and much of the food can be packaged or "junk" food. To get to someplace with fresh fruit or vegetables would take traveling a great distance. This was shocking to me. What I learned today is that this isn't an accurate description. There isn't a desert - this creates an image of nothing. There are so many people that live in these areas and do not have access to quality food. This is not their doing, but it greatly effects the quality of their lives.

What used to be just an inner city problem of not having access to food is larger than we realize. Packaged "fresh" fruit that I have bought for years, now says the same things it always said with an added little "product of China" printed at the bottom. Fresh fruit / Product of China really doesn't gel in my mind. It creates a conflict. I am also sick most of the time from food, so this quest has become urgent for me. No dairy, no wheat, minimal corn and soy? I can barely shop at a regular store with this list. So where do I go? It has to be local. But what does local mean?

I thought I had access to food that was good for me (the oranges are from Africa? organic food from China?) and I thought I was not one of the people at risk for eating contaminated food, but that is changing daily across the country as breakout after breakout of illness and death happens because of contaminated food. It isn't a third world problem, it is a world problem.

Why can't we have access to quality food? Without pesticides, and without food colorings and chemicals? We can. We ordered our food this month (meat, eggs, cheese, etc.) from the Mass Local Food Coop. All local from local farms. But this creates another conflict for me. Why can't everyone have this? We are also starting our second growing season of fruit trees, nuts, perennial vegetables and annual beds. We can have local access, but it's going to take work.

Now I need to act. I am researching the Regional Environmental Council (REC) in Worcester, and their next orientation for volunteers is on May 16th. So that's a start. They are already doing it - gardening and Farmer's Markets, reaching out to the community and education. I can find out about volunteering and learn there. I can also support them by shopping at the Farmer's Markets when they open.  I need to learn more to know where I fit in this process.

Today I went to Worcester State University to hear Karen Washington speak about food insecurity. (Not knowing where your next meal will come from)  She is truly an amazing woman. I first heard her speak at the NOFA conference in January and when I saw that she was returning to Worcester to speak again, I took the day off from work for an adventure. She's doing it, and has been for years: urban gardening in the Bronx, giving people in those places that are at risk access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Encouraging people to vote for people who care about food issues, educating youth about food, growing food and contributing to her neighborhood.

One of the things that really made an impression on me was that anyone who went to their Farmer's Market left with food - whether they had money to pay or not. They planted enough to give away to the  people who most needed it.

I have a lot to consider and don't know how I will be involved. I know where to start:

     Buy local, quality food. Check and recheck labels and where my food is coming from.
     Grow as much food as I possibly can.
     Get involved in what is already working and needs my support.

In the forefront of my mind are the ideas of Permaculture. Setting up a system that is partially annual planting, but the bulk of which will be perennial and not require any work except harvesting, saving seeds, canning and storing.

I keep hearing that the best way to "beat the system" is to know the system and learn how to change it. But, what if the best way to beat the system is to just not need it anymore?

Along with the ideas of needing and requiring less, developing quality relationships and having more adventures in my life, I think the best place to start is just outside my door...

NOFA Winter Conference 2013

The Northeast Organic Farmers Association (Massachusetts) met January 12th for the annual meeting and workshops. This was our second year attending and it was really great. We went to two workshops, one on planning a garden for small spaces and one on herbalism.  There were booths set up of different sponsors and vendors and a truly amazing organic lunch for everyone.

I am not a farmer, but this day gave me access to ideas and vendors that farmers have access to. It gave me a glimpse into the fight to keep GMO seeds and food out of our gardens and homes. It showed me that extraordinary people like Karen Washington , the keynote speaker for the conference, can make a difference - one day at a time, one action at a time, one person at a time.

It gives me hope that each small action I take will stand together and make a difference. Most people don't start off extraordinary...ordinary people do small things (and sometimes big things) and end up changing the world around them.

One of the most important things for me, was the workshop on herbalism.  We learned that so many plants that we consider weeds and a nuisance around us, are plants that have healing properties and can help us to have a better balance of nutrition and health. It seems to me that we have all but lost our connection to the earth, and to nature. We eat chemicals and plastic tasting, food colored, sugar and starch with no nutritional value at all. Emotionally we think we're full, but physically we are killing ourselves with our choices. We are drowsy, malnourished and dying quicker than we should.

What I hold in my mind is the sun on my face, and the golden hairs on a tomato plant glistening in the sun. The smell as the tomato is picked and the taste of the freshness of summer. This reminds me of the garden of our childhood, as large as the lot I live on now, that I sometimes resentfully weeded or tended, but I never complained about the amazing vegetables and fruit we ate from that garden. I knew the food was good, but I didn't appreciate the work.

Now I understand better that the work, the journey of life is the best part. If I plant seeds and tend them, and they grow, but never produce anything...I am still changed. If the food grows, it is a lovely reward, but it is not the goal. The goal is the work, the doing of it all.

There are good and bad years farming and we have had some things grow, and some things die, but what matters most is that we are trying. More than ever, this effort is needed, and I believe it will yield something greater than we understand. Not just vegetables or fruit, but a return to the land, and a return to a connection to the world around us. A connection to each other and the building of community.

NOFA is a tool and a place of education and fellowship with people who share the vision of being connected to the land, and to other people. I'm grateful we were able to attend and participate in our little way on the path of change.

Northeast Organic Farmers Association Conference!

On Saturday, January 14^th, we attended an all day conference for NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) at Worcester State University. This is the first time either of us have attended anything like this and it was such a great experience!

There were many workshops scheduled at 3 different times during the day, a presentation by keynote speaker John Jeavens, an organic lunch and many, many vendor booths to visit.

In the morning we went to a class about raising chickens. There is a proposal in Worcester to allow families to have 4 chickens as long as they are properly cared for and in a coop that has been inspected. We are waiting for the approval and plan to have chickens as soon as possible after it is passed. So the class was a great source of information and I learned a lot from the presenters.

We went to hear the keynote speaker John Jeavons talk about Biointensive Gardening. I am always interested in listening to the innovative ways that people are growing food in small spaces.

There was a great organic lunch of beef stew or a vegetarian soup, salad and bread and dessert – all provided by organic farms in the Northeast.

After lunch we went to a workshop presented by Jonathan Bates of the Permaculture Nursery in Holyoke MA. It was a great presentation on how to grow a lot of different food in a small area – and his personal experience of planting a dirt lot and creating a garden out of it using Permaculture methods. He does a lot of planting and experimenting with different plants, and also sells those that do well in our area. We have already ordered several different berries, kiwi and grape vines, and some other plants to add to our collection for the Spring.

After the workshop – we went to the vendors and looked at what types of organics are available in our area and signed up to be contacted by the Massachusetts Local Food Coop – they do monthly orders for farms in the state and we can have access through them to some things that are not available to us otherwise.

What I took away from the workshop, is the encouragement that so many young people are actively seeking information about gardening, farming and organics, and are concerned about the future and providing quality for their lives.

I am sure that we can use our yard and grow enough fruits, vegetables, etc. to supplement the bulk of our groceries and get our meat from the food coop.

What I am most encouraged about is how many fruits and vegetables – plants, vines and trees – are perennial and will only need to be planted once, but will continue to grow for years; And that there is a wealth of information on-line to read and study to make our garden a success. I am especially interested in the Permaculture information: restoring the balance of an ecosystem so plants and people thrive. Abundance.

I know what it is like to put my hands in the dirt and what it feels like to work the earth creatively. It’s like waking up and everything else becomes clearer. The petty things of life fade away and what is left is the essence of who I am as a human being.

My connection to nature is a peaceful, healing experience and I had been away from it far too long….

Beautiful Birch trees at Crow Hill