Hoop Houses Are Sexy, and Other Insights

I didn't think a discussion on local food could be so entertaining, but last night's panel discussion following the screening of FRESH at Meredith College was just that. I really enjoyed all the panelists, their views, their experiences, their sense of humor and their suggestions for how to keep moving local, sustainable farming forward.

Joel Salatin, a farmer from Virginia who is featured in FRESH and Food, Inc., expresses himself in a way that is so engaging, thought-provoking and entertaining that you simply want to know more. I left the event feeling like I know him a little bit, and that I would really like to get to know him better. In addition to his opinion that hoop houses, which extend growing seasons, are sexy, here are a few key points he made last night:

• “The fact that I'm considered an activist shows how far our food system has removed itself from normalcy. This is not normal. Young people think it's normal, but this is just a blip in history, and pasture-based multi-pasteurization will return.“
  
• You can't learn anything from reading a food label any more.
  
• A quiet revolution has been going on in farming. A revolution in which technology is making real positive changes for farmers, such as composting, electric fences, better mechanical seed placement, UV stabilized plastic, hoop houses and season extenders. If the same amount of creativity, money and energy had gone into this quiet revolution as has gone into industrial agriculture, we would be producing more food without having destroyed the earth.
  
• If you think something is bad, opt out of it. Just quit. You have control over what you eat.

What Can You Do?

Salatin was joined by a panel of local experts who also shared great information on what is happening in our area and what each of us can to do to keep promote local, sustainable farming. Local farmer Harry LeBlanc of Beausol Gardens, a new vendor at our market, encouraged the roughly 600 people attending to let our elected officials know if we don't want them to get in the way of our eating local food. He was referring to national legislation that is pending right now that could seriously impact small-scale family farms.

Chatham County Agricultural Extension Agent Debbie Roos, who works with local farmers on a daily basis, said that regulations are a major concern for local farmers. They are meeting with FDA officials with the hope that its new regulations will be scale-appropriate so that they don't put these farms out of business. Roos also highlighted local farmers' biggest challenges: the cost of labor, getting health insurance, and access to land and capital.

Nancy Creamer, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and a member of the new NC Local Food Policy Council, discussed a new statewide “Buy Local“ campaign that will soon kick off. Creamer said that if every person in the state spent 10% of their food dollar on local food, it would mean $3.5 billion for the local economy. Stay tuned for details on that campaign!

Katherine Andrew of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle encouraged attendees to get involved with community gardens as a way to help low-income families who do not have access to healthy foods. The Food Shuttle now has a 3-acre farm in Raleigh and two community gardens, while work will soon begin on two more community gardens. About $2,500 was raised for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle last night through the screening.

See the Food Movies

If you haven't seen FRESH or Food, Inc., check them out. Food, Inc. is on DVD, and FRESH has screenings around the country on different dates (one in Winston-Salem next week). You can even request a copy for your own screening.

Both films provide an overview of the industrialized food system we are now subject to, but they also show how a number of amazing people around the country are making changes, one farm and one garden at a time, so that we have access to food that is safer and healthier for us, the animals and our land. Plus I think you'll get a flavor of what Joel Salatin's all about, and I bet you might want to know him better too.