The Joel Salatin talk in Medford last week was packed – thanks to the folks at JCLAC for bringing such an energetic speaker. Mt. Salatin has become a popular supporter of the local food movement after being featured in Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma.
The evening opened with a discussion of elements of a local food system, and Mr. Salatin broke it down this way:
1. producers who grow the food
2. processors within the community
3. accountants & business types
4. marketers who spread the word
5. distributors who link farmers to consumers
6. customers who “get” local food
It’s interesting to look at our community and/or region and start asking the questions about those elements: which do we have? what are we missing? how can we create those things? is there enough interest? can we all connect to support a local food system? Presently I have the great opportunity to be working for the Siskiyou Economic Development Council where I am doing just such a local food system assessment and working to connect with those growers, processors, sales people, customers and community members who want to get involved and contribute to the exciting work of growing our local food system. In a place like Siskiyou County, where the Shasta, Scott and Butte Valleys are capable of growing a lot of food, there are a lot of things to consider, not least of which is who wants to buy local food. I think we’re looking at a chicken and the egg situation right now: we need more farmers growing food for humans, and we need more people buying locally grown food so that we’ll drive a need for more farmers. Huh.
In talking with people from different areas of the county I am feeling that there is interest building around local food and momentum is building. From large gardens to CSAs to emerging food clubs and herd shares, folks are finding their way to local food. It’s an exciting time.
Mr. Salatin described people who “get” local food as those who are willing to go on a “treasure hunt to learn what grows locally.” I like the treasure hunt idea, and I have certainly been on my own treasure hunts in past years, especially when is comes to gleaning fruit. What I’m finding these days is that there is a lot of food diversity here in Siskiyou County. Just this week I talked to folks who are raising goats, cows and chickens and selling milk, cheese and eggs and folks are growing veggies, fruits and grains. I heard about a man in the Scott Valley who has a producing Meyer lemon tree. There a plenty of grains out there too, once again in the Scott Valley: wheat, rye, teff, amaranth, oats.
With all this good stuff within such a short driving distance (compared to the average 1500 miles that food travels from producer to plate) the trick is to get connected, to hook up with these farmers and ranchers and start buying from them. And that’s what this site is about: making connections around local food. Keep reading, it gets more and more exciting every day that spring approaches.
