A Sweet Spot for Good Food

Posted by David Conner  |  June 7, 2012

Process sheet created for the first summit of SchoolFoodFOCUS' Leadership Council.

In recent years, our food system has shown dramatic growth in direct markets, where consumers buy food directly from those who produced it. Farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture programs and farm stands are the most common examples. They are vital avenues for good food – food produced which is healthful and produced with respect for the environment, farmworkers and farm animals – to reach consumers, and for consumers to express their values in the marketplace. Direct markets have also proven to be important ways to create, build and maintain relationships between farmers and eaters, to mutual benefit.

But there is a limited quantity of food people are willing and able to buy directly from farmers. We all enjoy the ease and convenience of one-stop shopping at grocery stores, or eating in restaurants and cafeterias. The supply chains for these markets favor commodities: homogenous and anonymous foods which can be easily traded, and where price is the only important factor driving purchases.

A question on which I spend a great deal of my professional life is this: how can good food be made available in these indirect (grocery and restaurant) markets with the information about how, where and by whom it was produced – and the values embedded in this information – available to consumers instead of lost in the supply chain?

A promising model that many colleagues and I have investigated is the values-based supply chain or value chain. Value chains are strategic partnerships of supply chain actors which operate to deliver high value food to consumers in ways which benefit all supply chain actors.

Key attributes of value chains include:

Relationships of mutual regard based on shared values. Value chain actors share values and use their business to collaboratively achieve goals related to these values, such as support for local farms and high quality, nutritious  food.

Fair, stable pricing. Pricing is supported by differentiation strategies that create value for customers by offering unique product attributes

Co-learning, trust and communication. Partners invest in the relationships with partners and share information which solves problems.

One factor which I am learning is especially important is to form partnerships that fit well. The partners are of compatible scale such that each is a valued customer or supplier of the other: they treat each other with respect and will work together to smooth the rough spots. They are able to find a sweet spot: the confluence of supply and demand, of bid and ask, of need and have, or give and take.

A great example of this is Denver Public Schools (DPS) and Ready Foods, a custom food processor in Denver. My research in the School Food FOCUS project helped these two parties find each other, and they have found increasing ways to work together. DPS is a large account, and Ready Foods is willing and able to customize recipes, source ingredients and prepare foods efficiently and to allow DPS to serve healthy, affordable, tasty and locally-sourced foods to students. It is a true success story, one of many which I hope will continue to path of good food to many mouths.

What value chain partnerships are you inspired by? 

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Farmer Training Program Graduate Talks About Being a Beginning Farmer

Posted by admin  |  June 5, 2012

Guest blog post from Brittany Hastings, a graduate of the 2011 Farmer Training Program at UVM. This year’s program started in May. Over the course of six months aspiring farmers and food systems advocates engage in a hands-on, skill-based education in sustainable agriculture. The full-time program offers participants the unique opportunity to manage their own growing site, take classes from professors and expert farmers, and rotate as workers and learners on successful, diverse farms in the Burlington area. Participants leave with a Certificate in Sustainable Farming, a deeper understanding of agricultural management and small-scale farming, and the entrepreneurial skills to start their own operation.

Why did you enroll in the UVM Farmer Training Program?

I had been harboring dreams of starting my own farm for much too long, and so when I heard about the program, I jumped at the chance! It seemed like just what I needed, which was an intense approach to all aspects of farming. It was a big change for me, since I had to leave my job and move to a whole new state, but it’s a choice I never regret making.

What were you doing (professionally) before the program?

I was working in the editorial department at an audio book company. My main job was reading over manuscripts and preparing them for our narrators to record, but I also made eBooks and bonus materials. It was lots of time in front of a computer, sitting down, and out of sight of any windows. I think I had to experience that atmosphere first, before I knew it wasn’t for me (although I still love reading!).

What was the most rewarding part of the program?

The sheer volume of farm structures, market outlets, and production techniques we got to experience was very helpful for me. There are so many models of farming out there that we got to see firsthand – I don’t think even a day went by that we didn’t see something new. It really helped me think through what kind of farm I wanted to be a part of, and how to get there.

What was the most challenging part of the program?

Everything went by so fast, I wish I had a rewind button to see things over again. There was a lot of information to absorb, and as I’m farming this year, I’m still unraveling a lot of it.

Favorite memory?

I got to drive a tractor for the first time last summer, which turned out to be lots of fun. There are so many horror stories with tractor rollovers and implements, I was a little hesitant to climb on. I’m definitely the kind of person who can envision all the horrible things that can happen: the transmission blowing up, plowing under a row of cucumbers, mowing down a fellow student. But it was okay! No one was injured, I didn’t destroy the cucumbers, and the tractor saved us tons of time.

What are you doing now with what you learned?

I’m farming a little over a quarter acre, and will be bringing produce to a local farmers market each Friday. I’m starting small, and still learning every step of the way. I’m also working at a local greenhouse, helping them grow some veggies, and learning a ton about all sorts of flowers and perennials. It’s also nice to have a guaranteed income from that, since I’m farming on such a small scale this year. Then I’m also involved in creating an exhibit (on agriculture) for a local museum, and volunteering at a retreat house, helping out with their gardens.

Any advice for beginning farmers?

From one beginning farmer to any others out there – you’ll make mistakes, and probably feel like an idiot at some point, but don’t let that deter you! Keep trying, keep learning, and have fun getting there.

Thinking of farming as a career? Learn more about the Farmer Training Program at UVM.

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Breakthrough Food Leader Carolina Lukac

Posted by admin  |  May 30, 2012

Guest blog post from Carolina Lukac, a participant in our Breakthrough Leaders Program for Sustainable Food Systems. She is a co-founder of Huerto Romita, an urban agriculture demonstration and education center focused on community development and activism through garden-based learning and permaculture design as well as Educational Program and School Garden Director at Sembradores Urbanos and owner of Fermentos Ninkasi , a homegrown fermentation business. Participating in the Breakthrough Leaders Program represents an opportunity to share her experiences living and working in the South (Mexico) with a community she deeply admires in the North (Vermont).

What are you most looking forward to about the Breakthrough Leaders Program?

I am struggling to find Spanish translations for many terms and phrases in the food systems vocabulary. I feel as though there is a cultural divide between food systems initiatives in the North and South, and I am looking forward to clarifying my own vision of what food systems initiatives could look like in Mexico. Gathering a group of individuals passionate about food, in a local landscape like Vermont, during a global time like now, seems like a recipe for a revolution. A delicious revolution!

What about our food systems do you want to change?

I believe there is a spiritual connection to food that needs to be honored and stories behind our food that need to be told.

How did you become an urban gardener and educator?

My connection to gardening came through food (I grew up in a family where food is love) and the individuals who have mostly inspired my journey have been educators. I was born and raised in a huge metropolis; however, I had no connection to agriculture until I went to college in the Hudson Valley. There, I experienced CSAs and the local food movement, I was involved in Farm to School initiatives and I began to question and explore where my food came from. When I returned to Mexico City after college, I looked for organizations and people dedicated to working urban food systems. Eventually, I was lucky to meet two women who felt similarly as me, and we co-founded Sembradores Urbanos. I am an urban gardener at heart because I love the dynamic environment of my community and I believe the future is in cities.

Why do you think community gardens are important?

My connection with agriculture is through food, and I have always considered that food feeds bodies and souls. Community gardening is an opportunity to nourish human relationships and earth stewardship, food becomes the web that unites people from different backgrounds and food is one of our most basic human necessities. I believe that the social dynamic of a community garden is equally as important as the agricultural aspect. I consider community gardens as revolutionary, progressive, regenerative.

What lessons have you learned from your work so far that would benefit other food leaders?

During the past year and a half, I keep revisiting my experience with community gardens in the Romita neighborhood – we taught neighbors how to grow their own food, we gardened with them for months, and we created wholesome interpersonal relationships. However, when I visited the community gardens during harvest season, I was continually surprised at how little was harvested and how abundantly amazing their gardens were. During these visits I learned what I consider to be one of my most valuable lessons – its not just about growing food, but also about harvesting and eating the food you grow. If people don´t know how to harvest swiss chard, or what the nutritional value is, or how to prepare a meal with swiss chard, then it really doesn´t even matter if they know how to cultivate swiss chard.

What are the differences between food systems in Mexico and the US?

Mexican neighborhood markets must be experienced in order to fully appreciate their beauty and intricacies. Every neighborhood has a market, vendors are often family members and have maintained their stall for years, produce is multi-colored and gorgeous, you can find practically anything you would use in a kitchen or serve on your table under one roof, vendors know their produce, and dump trucks collect kilos of organic waste at the end of the day. However, in Mexico City markets, roughly 80% of produce is from conventional chemical agriculture, many fruits are imported from around the world, plastic bags and Styrofoam cups are plentiful, canned goods from China are invading, and campesinos (rural farmers) are increasingly squeezed out of vending space as more privileged middlemen take over stalls.

I’ve visited and strolled through several farmer’s markets in the USA and deeply admire the environmental, social, and culinary ethics represented. Fresh produce, locally grown, family farm, and fair trade spirit is what my food system revolution would bring to places like Mexico City. This fusion of old world and new world, city and country, local and global is what I envision.

What was your most memorable meal to date? Why?

I have fond memories of my family’s Christmas soup, enjoyed every year on Christmas Eve. The soup, Kapostaleves, is a typical Hungarian dish prepared with sauerkraut, sausage, and paprika. It has an extremely strong taste, a pungent smell, and it is not at all attractive. Although I strongly disliked it for at least 20 years of my life, every year at the dinner table, I would eat 1 spoonful in honor of my family. However, most recently and as a result of my journey into food, family history, and fermentation, I love the soup. I actually ferment several heads of cabbage each year to make enough sauerkraut for the family’s soup. I love the smell and I don’t mind the Hungarian sausage (I am mostly vegetarian). I like to believe that I inherited the soup in my blood, and that the family tradition will continue for decades to come.

What is your favorite food? Why?

Food that has history and ingredients that have stories. I like to know what I eat. Once I know, food always seems more tasty.

 

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Vermont is #1 for Locally-Grown Foods

Posted by Cynthia Belliveau  |  May 29, 2012

Photo by Shelby PDX, used under Creative Commons License.

That’s a headline I like to see. What I like even better is the fact that there is now a Locavore Index.

Drawing upon U.S. Department of Agriculture and census figures from 2012 and 2011, the 2012 Strolling of the Heifers Locavore Index  ranked Vermont as the top state in its commitment to raising and eating locally grown food based on the number of farmers markets and community supported agriculture farms we have, each of which indicates both the availability and demand for locally-produced food. We have 99 farmers markets and 164 CSAs, with a population of fewer than 622,000. (For contrast, Florida was in the bottom five with only 146 farmers markets and 193 CSAs for 18.5 million people.)

And Vermonters are fomenting the movement, not only as consumers, but as leaders and policy makers from our Farm-to-Plate and Farm-to-School programs to innovative food incubators like the Vermont Food Venture Center and Vermont Agricultural Innovation Demonstration Center, which help Vermont farmers develop new products, pioneer new business models, and find new markets.

All of this underscores a critical idea as we engage in conversation about the future of our food systems.

That is that the future of food is small – small farms, small-scale agriculture, specialty food makers, farmers markets, and CSAs. Small means big change. And small is getting bigger.

Nationwide, small farms, farmers markets and specialty food makers are popping up and thriving as more people seek locally produced foods. More than half of consumers now say it’s more important to buy local than organic, according to market research firm Mintel, and Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan called the local food movement “the biggest retail food trend in my adult lifetime.” Wow.

Why is consumption of local foods on the rise? We consumers are concerned about food safety. Contaminated food has caused major health crises – with the food coming from large multinationals. We want to know where are food is made, how it’s made and who makes it. We want to support our local economy – local foods create local jobs. We want to increase the health of our communities – local foods are fresher, losing less nutrients and incurring less spoilage. We want to reduce environmental pollution – local foods travel lesser distances, using less fuel and generating less greenhouse gases. Local food also encourages diversification of agriculture, reducing the reliance on monoculture — single crops grown over a wide area to the detriment of soils – which has destroyed farms and soils globally and caused the major food crisis in which we find ourselves.

The AP story covering the index pinpoints another key reason we want local foods:

…there’s more to it, said Jessica Prentice, a San Francisco Bay-area chef who coined the term locavore. “Really what it’s about is moving into a kind of food system where you’re connected to the source of your food,” Prentice said. “You’re buying from people that you know or can meet and you’re buying food grown in a place that you can easily drive to and see. “This is more about creating an oasis really in the context of a globalized food system that’s completely anonymous,” she said.

Social connection. Food connects us to each other. It’s an obvious, but forgotten idea.

The movement toward local is still evolving. Chiefly, there are still a lot of definitions to clarify: What is local? Food from the same state in which it’s produced? Food produced within 100 miles of where it’s consumed? And further, how do we reconcile local foods with energy-intensive processes used to produce them?

How do you define local food?

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Shining a light on food workers

Posted by admin  |  May 24, 2012

Guest blog post from Irit Tamir, Senior Advocacy and Collaborations Advisor for Oxfam America’s US Regional Office. Tamir will be a speaker at our June 2012 Public Conference “The Necessary (r)evolution for Sustainable Food Systems.”

Ironically, those who work in the food system are often the most food insecure, and farmworkers in particular are vulnerable because they are excluded from many of the protections that cover other workers under US law.

Every Mother’s Day involves working in my garden; and every year I plant vegetables and hope they’ll do well. But frankly, I’ve found the Massachusetts soil to be much less forgiving than the Midwest soil I’m used to. Nevertheless, on Sunday, my family and I once again planted a raised bed of vegetables with the help of Home Harvest. I’m hoping the professional assistance will yield more crops than we produced in past years.

Vegetable gardening may be a hobby for us, but it always gives me an appreciation for the people who actually do grow our food. Those people are usually invisible to all of us. We go to the grocery store and see beautiful produce lining the shelves without any real awareness of the process and hard work that it took to get them there.

Ironically, those who work in the food system are often the most food insecure—and that extends throughout the food chain. Here in the US, over 20 million people work in the food supply industry. According to the Food Chain Workers Alliance, 23% of grocery workers are paid less than minimum wage. The Restaurant Opportunities Center found that 10.1 million workers are employed by the restaurant industry, which has some of the lowest wages along with many occurrences of wage theft. The median wage in that industry is only $8.89, which means that over half of restaurant workers earn below the federal poverty line for a family of three.

Farmworkers in particular are vulnerable because they are excluded from many of the protections that cover other workers under US law. For example, agricultural workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, so they have no right to collectively bargain under federal law (workers in other industries enjoy this right). In addition, they are exempt from many of the provisions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, including overtime provisions.

Most states exclude agricultural workers from the requirement of employers to provide workmen’s compensation insurance—despite the fact that farmworkers have a high incidence of occupational injury and illness. According to the Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States, in 2009 the occupational fatality rate for farmworkers was five times the rate of the average worker; yet in that same period fewer than half of them were covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Bottom line, there are at least 1.4 million farmworkers in this country, and three out of five of them (and their families) live in poverty.

Oxfam is working to bring these issues to light through the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI). EFI is a program that will certify good working conditions at a farm along with better food safety and pesticide practices. The program was created by major food buyers, growers, farmworker groups, and other non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam. Soon, consumers will be able to buy fresh produce and know that it came from a farm that provided a dignified livelihood for farmworkers, with fair and safe working conditions.

In the meantime, if you want your grocery store to join this program, tell them about EFI so we can begin to bring all workers in the food system out from the shadows and where we can see them thrive.

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