Gary Nabhan on Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land

Posted by Guest Author  |  June 13, 2013

This interview was originally published on June 12, 2013, by Chelsea Green Publishers. 

Gary NabhanGary Nabhan is an internationally-celebrated nature writer, food and farming activist, and proponent of conserving the links between biodiversity and cultural diversity. Gary will speak at the upcoming UVM Food Systems Summit on June 27. He recently spoke with Chelsea Green about the relevance of his new book on agriculture and climate change, Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land.

Chelsea Green: What does global climate change have to do with America’s failure to produce more food than its people consume for the third straight year?

Gary Nabhan: For starters, over 2,200 counties declared national drought disaster areas in 2012, four times more than in 2011. Farmers applied for $13 billion dollars of federal insurance due to crop failures and reduced yields, more than twice the running average per year. Increasingly unprecedented climatic disruption is affecting farmers, ranchers, foragers and fishers more than ever before, and yet big agriculture’s lobbyists like the American Farm Bureau Federation deny that we’re entering a “new normal.” Sadly, that disadvantages its own rank and file members by not developing programs that prevent crop failure, as if crop insurance for more failed farms will be sufficient.

CG: Can farmers and food producers really do anything significant to combat or even lessen the effects of climate change?

GN: Absolutely. More than any other human activity that both contributes to and is negatively impacted by climate change, farming has tremendous capacity to both reduce its carbon footprint and adapt to changing conditions. Farmers can do so by using a wider range of crop and livestock diversity to buffer themselves from uncertainty, and by adapting and ramping up strategies for reducing the impacts of heat and drought that traditional desert food producers have employed for centuries, if not millennia.

CG: In writing this book, you’ve drawn upon the traditional knowledge of native and immigrant farmers from around the world — people who have learned how to deal with climate uncertainty. How did you find them?

GN: Since 1978 or so, I have been fortunate enough to occasionally travel on work to nearly every other desert in the world, where I tried to pay keen attention to what indigenous and immigrant farmers were doing to deal with drought, heat, salinization, and scarcity of fresh water for irrigation.  When I saw what looked to be an oasis-like mirage in the desert, I sought it out and found remarkably resilient, intelligent farmers there.  Thirty-five years later, I’m humbled by how much they have tried to teach me that perhaps all of us now need to know.

CG: Is this book primarily for farmers or gardeners? In other words, at what scale are these strategies applicable?

GN: I’d hate to see these strategies relegated only to a backyard garden in some desert region.  I’d like to see farmers and gardeners everywhere—not just in historically arid regions—take stock of these remarkably diverse adaptations to climate uncertainty. They may need to scale them up and adapt them to their own peculiar conditions, but as far as I can see, there will be no silver bullet like a climate-friendly GMO that is going to save us. We need to diversify our strategies and scales for agricultural production if we are to regain some modicum of food security.

CG:  In your opinion, what is driving climate change more: on-farm carbon “foodprints” or the carbon foodprint of our global supply and distribution system?

GN: The latter—on-farm fossil fuel accounts for less than one-fifth of all energy expenditure in our entire food system, but it’s an expenditure of energy that we can dramatically reduce through creative solutions that will improve rather than harm farmers’ bottom lines. And consumers at large should help farmers transition to more energy- and water-efficient practices, as well as dealing with similar problems in the ways they store, process and consume food at home.

CG: Do you have cause for either hope or despair as we pass beyond the carbon level of 400 parts per million in Earth’s atmosphere?

GN: As the saying goes, I’m an intellectual pessimist but a glandular optimist. Every time I get my hands dirty outside and try to solve the problems in my own orchard and garden, I find hope lurking in the emerging greenery. If we simply sit on our butts all day in an office and wring our hands, not much will get done. So read my book quickly, then compost it, and with what you’ve learned, plant something fresh in it!

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Smell Blind: The Asparagus ‘Bouquet’ Phenomenon, Or Why Your Pee Smells Funny (and Why You May Not Smell it)

Posted by Cynthia Belliveau  |  June 11, 2013

Cynthia Belliveau is dean of Continuing Education (CE) and Distance Learning and faculty in Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Vermont. In June, CE will host the second annual Food Systems Summit, which includes a public conference on June 27.

asparagusFor most people, the fresh, strong, grassy flavor of asparagus symbolizes the onset of spring. True enough, but if you also don’t also associate asaparagus with the strongest urine smell on earth, your olfactory sense must be on the fritz. What happens in digestion that this delicious, elegant vegetable can make you want to spray air freshener immediately upon leaving the seat?

According to the 1975 study by chemist Robert H. White at the University of California at San Diego, this “asparagus urine phenomena” is caused from s-methyl thioesters – or in quasi-layperson’s terms, odor-causing compounds.

“It” smells like grassy sulfur within 10 minutes after consumption. For those of you who eat asparagus and haven’t experienced this “bouquet,” here’s why: Recent research studies show that although everyone produces the smelly compound in their urine, only 22 percent can smell it. This is because only 22 percent of us have the genetic trait, or the one-single gene within a 50-gene cluster of olfactory receptors, that can pick up the odiferous tones of these delicate spears. The rest of the population – and lucky for them – are smell blind.

So for the 78 percent who can’t smell it and of the 22 percent who don’t care, here is one of my favorite asparagus recipes. It’s a classic. While you are at the market shopping for asparagus, remember that thin is not better. In fact, those thin spears are young and stringy while the thick ones are older and far more succulent. If you are in Burlington, Vermont, go to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings and head right for Jane Pomykala’s stall for the most delicious, thick asparagus you’ve ever tasted (she also sells at City Market).

Jane has “old” beds as she calls them that have produced for decades and are at the peak of perfection.

Now, back to the recipe. Asparagus likes to be paired with starches, like pasta, or rice, or potatoes. Starch is the perfect complement base for the stronger tones of asparagus. A bit of salty meat and a dash of cream all tossed with linguine and cheese make for a mouth-watering spring treat.

Asparagus with Prosciutto and Linguine

(Serves Four)

Preparation time – 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of linguine
  • 1 pound of thick local asparagus (cut bottom end off is it feels tough), cut into 2 inch pieces, separating the spear tops.
  • 1/8 pound thinly sliced prosciutto (or ham), finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Liberal amounts of black pepper
  • 1 cup heavy cream or light cream for thinner consistency
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (best if you grate it yourself)

Instructions

  1. Boil water for pasta. When water comes to a boil, add the asparagus, bottom pieces first and cook for three minutes and then add the rest and cook for another three minutes. Test as you go to determine the consistency you like.
  2. With a slotted spoon, take the asparagus out and set aside. Return the greenish asparagus water (full of vitamins) to a boil and add linguine. Stir the pasta around with a fork. Remember, pasta likes to “swim,” so make sure your pot is big enough for it to do so!
  3. While your pasta is cooking, sauté the ham in the butter and oil until crisp on medium heat. Stir in stock, salt and pepper (always taste as you go) and cook, uncovered for 10 minutes or until somewhat thickened. Test to see if your pasta is done. Drain and set aside. Once the sauce has thickened, add the cream to heat only.
  4. In a bowl, add the pasta and asparagus, and toss with sauce and 1/3 cup of Parmesan (leave the rest for the table). Taste for salt. You can always add more cream if you want more sauce.
  5. Serve immediately with a salad of spring greens.

Bon appetit (and let me know if you smell the difference later)!

I eat this versatile dish for lunch, for dinner with a green salad, and as a side dish with roasted meat. It’s ideal picnic fare, too, since it will keep at room temperature for several hours with no ill effects, which is what you want in a fresh summer dish.

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It’s Hard to Eat Good Food

Posted by Guest Author  |  June 6, 2013

By Beth Dixon

Beth Dixon is a Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. She visited UVM recently for a faculty workshop on the ethics of eating. We invited her to share some of her thoughts on the complex issue of food justice.

In The American Way of Eating, Tracie McMillan concludes her year of investigative reporting with this remark, “Food is not a luxury lifestyle product.  It is a social good.” If food is a social good, then we should ask how to make nutritious food available to all people irrespective of their social and political location. Perhaps one way to make progress in this area of social justice is to identify the various ways in which food choices are constrained by structural inequities that create obstacles to being adequately nourished.

For example, how hard is it to follow the “eater’s manifesto” described by Pollan’s very inspiring book, In Defense of Food?  This depends on who you are and the constraints on food choices created by your particular circumstances.  The kinds of circumstances that constrain the freedom to eat nutritious food include: lack of money, lack of time, no transportation, no accessible place to shop, diminished physical mobility, or ineffectual public policy at the local, state, federal, or global levels that restricts access to food.

Food pantry recipients will have a hard time following Pollan’s advice to, “Pay more, eat less.” Those living in low income urban areas where there are “grocery gaps” may have trouble finding a place where food is sold that is not also a fuel stop for cars.  Seniors who use a walker may not avail themselves of the local farmers’ markets even when there is public transportation that connects living and shopping areas. Some seniors also may find it difficult to follow Pollan’s suggestion not to eat alone. And those who work two or three jobs for minimum wage will not have the energy or time to “cook, and plant a garden.”

In many settings, the key to create easier access to nutritious food for people whose choices are constrained in these ways is social and political change.  But local, state, federal and global policy and regulations involving food are subject to a variety of interest groups.  These social and political conditions are not under the control of particular individuals who lack political power and influence.

Let’s explore Pollan’s suggestions through the lens of some food justice stories that highlight some of these constraints:


(1) “Cook and, if you can, plant a garden”

  • Watch The Garden, a documentary film produced by Scott Hamilton Kennedy.
  • Watch Ron Finley, a guerrilla gardener in South Central L. A.

 

(2) “Pay more, eat less”

 


(3) “Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does”

 


(4) “Try not to eat alone”

  • Consider those in senior living facilities
  •  

 

If we can identify the faces of those who are not free to choose nutritious food, we are one step closer to identifying why this is so; and one step closer to proposing solutions to correct for inequality of access to fresh, nutritious food.

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Meet Tamar Adler: Writer, cook, and UVM Food Systems Summit Speaker

Posted by Alison Nihart  |  June 5, 2013

Tamar Adler is the Brooklyn, NY,-based author of An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace. Tamar will speak at the UVM Food Systems Summit Conference on June 27. In anticipation of her visit to UVM, we asked her about her culinary influences.

University of Vermont: How did you learn to cook?

Tamar Adler: Interestingly, my brother and I are both professional cooks, though neither of us went to culinary school. We both learned to cook from our mother, first, and really by first learning to taste. A developmental psychologist by training, our mother is an amazing cook. She fed us wonderful food our whole childhoods.

Her mother—our grandmother—is of the generation that held that many dishes were improved by the addition of a can of Campbell’s soup. In reaction, my mother taught herself how to cook. So we grew up eating more like European families than the American one we are. She liked to have ingredients on hand, so both my brother and I had to learn how to caramelize onions. It was one of our chores. By the time I realized I wanted to cook for a living, it was a short path.

I did a lot of experimenting in college, with many disastrous results, but I always felt all right about it because I felt like cooking was something I could do. When I grew up and had an apartment, I spent all my free time cooking. My boyfriend was very patient as I experimented. He ate the same thing again and again and again in my attempts to get it right. For example, I went through a phase of trying to make the perfect red sauce. When I decided I’d gotten it, I moved on to pissaladière (a Niçoise pizza made with yeasted dough and topped with caramelized onions, anchovies, Niçoise olives, and fresh thyme).

UVM: What inspired you to write about cooking?

TA: I was an editor at Harper’s magazine. The boyfriend I put through the endless rounds of red sauce said I should write about food. At the time, I was resistant because I wanted to change the world. I had worked as a policy analyst at a Quaker organization. Harper’s also felt productive, but writing about food didn’t.

I went from being an editor to being a chef and I still didn’t write about food. I was convinced for a while that I couldn’t write about food. It seemed too detached and intellectual to write about something that is an expression of the living, organic world. Even though I loved reading cookbooks, I felt like my place in the grand scheme was using my hands and feeding people. So I opened a restaurant in Georgia, then I went to Chez Panisse.

But then, part of me had always wanted to revise the messages of How to Cook a Wolf, by M.F.K. Fisher. When I was in California, I felt like something was really getting lost in the conversation about cooking. My greatest objection to the industry of cooking tips and shortcuts is it implies that cooking is hard, even though it often is not. My second objection is that it doesn’t take into account that people love poetry and want to be transformed. The whole “eat cheap” movement in 2008-2009, after the bubble burst, felt disrespectful. It had the same quality Fisher was responding to during the “eat cheap” literature of her era—those messages like “tighten your belt” and “make do.” That doesn’t take into account how much we need to be uplifted, held, and cherished.

That’s what inspired me to write An Everlasting Meal. I thought, “I really do know how to explain it in a way that is approachable, and respectful of readers.” And I thought I should write a book about cooking as something to be enjoyed and relished. And definitely, “eat from your cupboards, but you can do that in a way that’s beautiful and deep and traditional and poetic.”

UVM: Are there any particular ingredients that have been exciting you recently?

TA: I always get excited about eggs in the spring because chickens here really do stop laying in the winter. I have this really wonderful, strange relationship with my neighbor—an utterly bizarre character you’d only encounter in New York City or in an incredibly tiny little town. He’s always at home and we always trade things. So when I can tomatoes, I write him and give him tomatoes. I once did a big fundraiser for Alice Waters and I had special charcuterie made. At 2am the night of the event, I sent him a text message, and he came right over for leftover charcuterie. His parents raise chickens on their farm in New Jersey, and they lay the most delicious eggs. They arrive in my kitchen by the ones and twos. So we’ll trade any amount of anything. Last week he gave me one egg, two morel mushrooms, and this other massive mushroom called pheasant’s back. He’s the last person you’d ever expect to go foraging—he wears a leather jacket and has a little goatee. I cooked the pheasant’s back mushroom that night and it was so good. They really retain their structure, so you can cook them and they’re really meaty. They’re kind of like what portabellas are supposed to be. The morels were also great.

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Are You Part of the Junk Food Industry’s Unpaid Army?

Posted by Guest Author  |  May 30, 2013

By Yoni Freedhoff

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa. A renowned obesity expert, Dr. Freedhoff writes regularly on issues of health, weight management, nutrition, patient advocacy and fitness for a variety of publications including US News and World Report, Psychology Today, and The Huffington Post, as well as daily on his award winning blog Weighty Matters. Dr. Freedhoff will speak at the upcoming UVM Food Systems Summit on June 27. In anticipation, we asked him to share his thoughts on a nutritional issue that means a lot to him.

I’m the father of 3 little girls. And it seems no matter where they go, no matter what they do, no matter who is taking care of them, someone other than me or my wife is offering them junk food.

Whether it’s on the sports field after they’ve bent seemingly single blades of grass, in the library going to take out books, at their school club meetings, their friends’  houses, or their great-grandmother’s nursing home, there simply isn’t an occasion too small to not be christened with sugar.

Valentine’s Day has become the new Halloween, Thursdays have been replaced with Pizzadays, and candy has become everyone’s go-to plan to pacify, entertain, reward, bribe, and just plain gorge my kids.

And the worst part of it all? Our children’s junk food purveyors don’t even realize it’s happening. The inclusion of junk food in the fabric of daily child life has become so normalized in modern day society that its pushers often don’t even realize they’re members of the food industry’s unpaid army – an army that furthers junk food’s reach, ups its emotional ante, and often sweetly poisons and undermines a parent’s best efforts at minimizing their children’s consumption of, and relationship with, junk. Worse, the normalization is so complete that questioning this insane status quo often leads to anger from the sugar soldiers. “But it’s just one,” they say.

If only that were true. Sadly “it’s just one” happens sometimes multiple times a day and often dozens of times a week.

So the next time you want to shake your fist at the food industry for their predatory advertising targeting your children – a fist that undoubtedly will be shaken in vain – consider shaking your fist, gently, at the world around you, because your children’s most frequent sugar pushers are likely folks who actually care about them, and maybe, just maybe, if you chat kindly with them, they’ll change.

And if you’re an unquestioning pusher yourself maybe it’s worth a reminder that while it’s a parent’s prerogative to give their children candy, it’s their parents’ prerogative, not yours.

Posted in Economic, Health, Social | 2 Comments

Enid Wonnacott: How I became a sustainable food systems leader

Posted by Guest Author  |  May 23, 2013

By Enid Wonnacott

Enid Wonnacott is the Executive Director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT). She will present at UVM’s Breakthrough Leaders Program on effective leadership for sustainable food systems this June. In anticipation, we asked her to share her thoughts on leadership.

Although I have no formal training in leadership, I have 26 years of experience as the Executive Director of the NOFA-VT, a non-profit organization working to support organic farms, healthy food, and strong communities throughout Vermont.  I was recently interviewed by a group of college students on my leadership background, strategies, and goals.  It’s interesting to be in the situation of “being” a leader versus “becoming” a leader – it is not a title I necessarily trained for. Their questions made me think a lot about my leadership influences, and how I came to this position.

For me, having a powerful role model was influential in my leadership development.  My mother, Erica Wonnacott, served as the Assistant Dean of Women and then the first Dean of Students of Middlebury College for 20 years, at a time when there were few women in leadership positions at higher education institutions. My mother embodied the belief that “people matter,” and she did everything she could, every day, to meet students’ needs.

Whereas she was the voice of the students, I have felt driven, my whole life, to be the voice of the farmers.  At an early age, heavily influenced by James Herriot, I wanted to be a rural vet and I spent every summer traveling with the local large animal vet practice.  Then, recognizing that it wasn’t necessarily the medicine that I was interested in, but rather the management of the animals and the maintenance of rural farms, I was influenced by Wendell Berry and the cultural values of small farmers. I was fortunate to be awarded a Thomas Watson Fellowship to study the feasibility of alternative agricultural systems around the world in 1983-1984.  Shocked by the influence of failed American agricultural policy I witnessed, I was inspired to return to the U.S. and work towards a strong, farmer-centric, food system.  I have been doing that ever since.  So, along with having a great role model, the other critical component of effective leadership for me is having a passion and the belief that I can effect change.  I look forward to expanding on these themes at the Breakthrough Leaders Program and discussing the kinds of leaders we need right now to build strong food systems.

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Meet Sandor Katz, King of Fermentation and UVM Food Systems Summit Speaker

Posted by Alison Nihart  |  May 21, 2013

By Alison Nihart

Sandor Katz is the author of The Art of Fermentation, which won the 2013 James Beard Foundation Book Award, and other books on fermentation. Sandor will speak at the UVM Food Systems Summit Conference on June 27.

Can bacteria be revolutionary? Sandor Katz thinks so.

Katz, a self-proclaimed “fermentation revivalist,” is credited for reintroducing the art and science of fermentation to the Western diet. In addition to authoring several books and a zine on fermentation, he has taught hundreds of workshops around the world, and is featured in a DVD on fermentation techniques. A self-taught scholar on the topic, he effortlessly connects the dots between the scientific and biological underpinnings of the fermentation process with anthropology, religion, the industrial agriculture revolution, and modern efforts to reconnect with our food.

Fermentation is a food preservation technique that involves culturing raw foods with bacteria and fungi to make them more flavorful and digestible. Wild fermentation relies on creating the right conditions for naturally occurring microbial organisms to thrive, often simply through the introduction of salt.

In case you’re wondering about the food safety risks of fermentation, you might be surprised to learn that it’s actually relatively safe. Botulism, the most commonly feared bacteria associated with food preservation, can only thrive in anaerobic (oxygen-free) and otherwise sterile environments. The aerobic process used in fermentation encourages “good” bacteria to thrive, thereby out-competing the “bad” bacteria. The result is both tasty and healthy.

Sandor’s fermentation adventure started with one batch of sauerkraut, made with cabbage he harvested from his garden. After that, he was hooked. He began exploring other live-culture foods, including other kimchi, pickles, miso, tempeh, yogurt, kefir, sourdough bread, wines, beers, and vinegars. He also began to research the cultural history of fermentation, which exists as a food preparation method in culinary traditions from around the world.

Sandor’s interest in fermented foods also stems from his interest in nutrition. Sandor is HIV positive and considers eating fermented food as an important piece of his healing. He is also an avid gardener, which supplies him with fresh-from-the-dirt ingredients for his fermenting explorations. Through his books and website, www.wildfermentation.com, he provides information that demystifies the value of microbial organisms and empowers people to experiment with fermentation on their own.

We’re excited to have Sandor come to UVM in June for the UVM Food Systems Summit!

Follow Sandor Katz on Twitter @sandorkraut.

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Meet Karen Washington, Community Activist and UVM Food Systems Summit Speaker

Posted by Guest Author  |  May 16, 2013

By Karen Washington

Karen Washington has lived in New York City all her life and has been a resident of the Bronx for over 26 years. Since 1985 Karen has been a community activist, striving to make New York City a better place to live. As a community gardener and board member of the New York Botanical Gardens, Karen has worked with Bronx neighborhoods to turn empty lots into community gardens. We asked her to blog for us as we approach the UVM Food Systems Summit in June, at which she will be a speaker.

Hi, my name is Karen Washington and I will be one of the speakers at the UVM Food Systems Summit in June. Leading up to that event, I have been asked to blog about my experiences along the way.  I am definitely new to blogging. I barely have the time to read my email, but I promised to take a stab at writing down food events where I will be speaking or attending as I make my way to UVM in June. Charge!

To start, this morning my colleagues Lorrie Clevenger, India Rogers and I spoke to a group of young students from Kalamazoo, MI. They belong to a faith based organization from the Methodist Church and are here for 10 days to learn about urban agriculture.

Over the past few days, they visited a rooftop farm, a community garden, and an urban farm. They’ve been very much impressed by what they have seen. I don’t think they have many community gardens and rooftop farms in Kalamazoo; as one put it “imagine growing food in a big city like New York”.

So this morning, we talked to them about food justice and its impact locally and globally. We told stories from our own experiences and perspectives about the way food has impacted our lives and the lives of people of color along the food chain.

What was intriguing for me was this new transformation I have been feeling around food and faith. Realizing that one of the reason I grow food is my faith. For years I have been growing food in NYC, and speaking out against the injustices present in the food system, but what was my drive? Aha, I got it! The essence of my drive was faith based. Now, I am not saying that I am some sort of religious fanatic. But for me, when looking at poverty and hunger head on, the fight goes deep.

So as I stood before the students today, I needed no props, PowerPoint, notes or handouts. I just spoke the truth. The message being “we all play an important part in our food system, from the person who harvests to the person who serves on our plate; thus a sustainable food system can only happen if the system is fair and just, not just for some but for all”.

–Karen Washington

Posted in Economic, Environmental, Health, Social | 1 Comment

Meet Tanya Fields, Food Systems Revolutionary and UVM Food Systems Summit Speaker

Posted by Guest Author  |  May 10, 2013

This interview was originally published by Chelsea Green Publishing on May 9, 2013.

Tanya is Executive Director of The BLK ProjeK. Inspired by her experiences as a single working mother in a marginalized community, Executive Director Tanya Fields created and founded the BLK ProjeK in 2009. Tanya will be both an instructor and speaker at the University of Vermont Food Systems Summit in June.

In New York City, one and a half million people (out of 9 million) are food insecure, meaning they do not have access to healthy, good quality affordable food.

While many of the city’s residents can afford to dine out in expensive restaurants or shop at upscale markets, there are neighbors, many of them children, who go to sleep hungry. Many organizations have stepped up to deal with this crisis in food insecurity. One of those is BLK ProjeK in the South Bronx, headed by Tanya Fields. UVM interviewed her about the successes and challenges of building a sustainable food system in the biggest city in the US.

University of Vermont: How did you get involved in BLK ProjeK?

Tanya Fields: I was born and raised in Harlem, a community that I love, but that I could no longer live in due to gentrification. I moved to the South Bronx several years ago. It was an eye opener. I became much more aware of food insecurity, particularly among children. When my own child became ill, I realized that the quality, quantity and affordability of healthy food was a key determinant of health.

I also realized that social activism had a major role to play in the solution. We can complain about a perceived problem, but unless we do something, take action, the problem will persist. BLK ProjeK has two intertwined missions: to make healthy food accessible, and to develop leadership skills in local youth, particularly females.

UVM: In a city as big as New York is that an insurmountable task?

TF: No. If I thought that way, I would not be able to do my work. We are very small as an organization and it is difficult to get the funding that we need to sustain our work, but we are making changes everyday. Next month, we launch our Mobile Market, which will bring the needed healthy food to the people who need it most in this community.

UVM: There are several organizations, some big and some small, that do work similar to yours. How do you differ?

TF: Sadly, the organizations that have been around for many years and some newly formed organizations, have more than a million people to serve. That’s important work for all of us. We spend all of our money on food and delivery to the most in need. We don’t spend money on brochures and t-shirts because we just don’t have it to waste. We invest our money in solutions that increase access and create opportunities for people to feed themselves and their families.

UVM: What do you see as most important agenda in fixing the broken food system?

TF: Leadership. Particularly among the people who know these underserved communities first hand. I grew up seeing the dynamics in my neighborhood, in the schools, in social networks. I understand the issues because I lived them. But that is not enough. We need to develop leadership so that change is achieved though policy, though concrete solutions. A delivery of food to someone hungry is vital. Even more important is being an instrument of change, so that the system of food insecurity does not perpetuate itself.

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The Vermont Food System Atlas: A Clearinghouse Website to Advance our Local Food System

Posted by Guest Author  |  April 29, 2013

By Erica Campbell, the Vermont Farm to Plate Program Director

The Vermont Farm to Plate Network is a statewide initiative legislatively directed to strengthen Vermont’s food system and increase local food production and consumption by 2020. It’s made up of over 225 organizations encompassing farm and food system businesses, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund helps coordinate the Network and is launching the much anticipated Vermont Food System Atlas this spring. The Atlas features thousands of food system resources including stories, videos, job listings, data, a searchable map, and all sections of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan—the most comprehensive food system plan in the country and the first in New England. The Atlas provides a one-stop web portal searchable by people and places, region, keyword, and food system categories to enable partnerships to help reach the 25 goals of the plan.

Network members are getting excited for the Atlas to go live. “As a diversified farmer, I anticipate being able to use the Food System Atlas as a single source to connect with all the resources available to help me farm successfully,” says John Cleary of Cleary Family Farm in Plainfield. “Improving farmer access to technical assistance programs, educational workshops, and financing opportunities will help Vermont farmers grow and develop new markets. In my role as a fieldman for Organic Valley, the Atlas will help me connect new and existing farmers with market opportunities offered by our farmer-owned cooperative.”

The Vermont Food System Atlas will also serve as the communication hub for the businesses, organizations, and stakeholders engaged in the Network. Members collaborate in working groups and task forces and are developing and initiating specific projects to meet the plan’s goals, including increasing consumption of local food, diversifying production, and soil conservation. Besides helping these groups stay connected and coordinated, the Atlas will serve as and indicators dashboard to track the progress we’re all making toward building a resilient, viable, and sustainable local food system.

The Vermont Farm to Plate Network is not only working to grow Vermont’s food system but is also helping build a vibrant food system for the Northeast. Network members are active participants in the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) and the Food Solutions New England (FSNE) Network. Vermont is also playing an important role in helping other states develop food system plans. The Food System Atlas helps bridge Vermont’s multi-faceted local food efforts and programs to a statewide level to prepare Vermont for its vital role in creating a robust regional food system.

One May 13 the Vermont Food System Atlas will go live to the public, www.vtfoodatlas.com. Follow Vermont Farm to Plate news and updates on Twitter at @VTfarm2plate.

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