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Are You Gonna Eat That?

AIR DATE: Thursday, April 17th 2008
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It's a spring ritual as regular as forsythia blooms and baseball: farmer's markets, served by over 1000 farmers, are sprouting up all over the state. They showcase everything from smoked goat cheese and lavender honey to dinosaur kale, but they also help bridge an often strained urban-rural connection.

Those markets may be increasingly popular -- and increasingly expensive -- but Larry Lev of OSU Extension Service argues that local eating only goes so far. He has estimated, for example, that only 2% of food eaten in Benton County was grown in Benton County. Just what does that number say about Oregon's agriculture? Could more Oregon-grown food be Oregon-eaten? Is it desirable? Is it possible?

Harry MacCormack of the Ten Rivers Food Web, a network of about 50 growers, processors, truckers and citizens, thinks so. He wants to boost that percentage to 30 by the year 2012. TRFW cites the rise in fuel costs to transport food, the high cost of agricultural inputs, and the number of poor people in Oregon as vital reasons to achieve this goal as quickly as possible.

How would Oregon's agriculture -- what farmers grow, and what they get for it -- have to change to accommodate more localized consumption? Are you a farmer who wishes more of your harvest was processed and eaten locally -- but whose hazelnuts or wheat is being shipped to Europe or Japan? Are you a shopper who has to buy the cheapest lettuce you can find, regardless of where it was grown or how far it's traveled? What would it take to become a locavore state?

GUESTS:

 

 

Tagged as: agriculture · farmer's market · farming · food · locavore

It is not just local!! It is local and organic. I will not support genetically enginered crops or pesticides. I do shop at my local farmers market and every stand i support, even the flower booth, is organic. The local movement should not support farmers who are pouring junk into our soil air and rivers. I also believe we can't go local overnight when so many already poor farmers in other countries depend on our buisness. i will buy organic produce from mexico etc... To truly do this right we need to reinvent the way our world's economy functions as well as the methods we use for shipping. Buying local is a wonderful idea and it should be done in a way that supports the enviroment but also helps the world's poor to prosper.
tara clasen —
Something that has not been mentioned...The cost of buying local food is also a matter of priority. I do not earn a high income, but I choose to spend my money on good, local, healthful food. I could choose to spend my money on a new flat screen TV, a new car, or any other luxury, but I don't. Instead, I choose to spend it on good food that I cook from scratch because health is important to me and supporting local farmers is important to me. It's not only an economical issue it's also an issue of upholding your values in regards to sustainability and health.
berethalverson —
The tomatoes you are buying from Mexico are not supporting a poor farmer. They are supporting a huge corporation that undercuts and destroys local agriculture.
elimunster —
We moved here from WashDC 7 years ago and very soon realized we were in food heaven. When I think about local food I think regionally so try to buy food grown or manufactured within the western Canada, WA, western Idaho, OR and northern CA area. And if I could figure out how to do without coffee and tea, I cannot think of anything I want or need for nutrition that cannot be found in my region. How fortunate we are indeed.
zcounselor —
I want to bring up the farm to school connection that is being made in Oregon. We are the only state with a Dept. of Agriculture Farm to School Coordinator. He is working closely with the Dept. of Education Director of Child Nutrition Programs, and Ecotrust's Farm to School Program. These folks are helping the schools in Oregon to not only grow their own food, but to utilize the wonderful local farmers we have. I am curious that if schools bought only local food, would that boost us from the 2 to 30% that Larry Lev of OSU Extension Service is shooting for? Let's support school gardens and more importantly, LET'S MANDATE THAT LOCAL FARMERS SUPPLY OREGON"S SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM. Thanks
jmpultz —
I totally agree that schools should source local foods, however the change is going to require changes in federal policy. The funding/subsidy program for schools requires purchasing of commodities. Since the state of Oregon does not help support the school lunch program it will be difficult to make this change at local levels.
Tristin —
I am so delighted to see this topic! I'm a self supporting writer (read 'poor') and I've been growing all my fruits/veggies/meat on my 2.5 acres on the outskirts of Portland for more than 20 years. It's not just a matter of selling produce locally, it's a matter of eating seasonally. We are so used to cooking what we want for meals, and that usually includes ingredients from three seasons and two or three continents. Eating with the season -- and we are blessed with near year round fresh produce here -- takes more creativity, especially this time of year.

Mary Rosenblum
Mary Rosenblum —
Eating 100% local is not practical and is not the goal of the local movement. The important thing is to prioritize locally grown and processed foods.

Buying local supports us all by strengthening our local economy and community. I believe that neighbors are more motivated to use careful, sustainable practices because of communal ties.

By growing food locally we can prioritize flavor and nutritional characteristics over packing and shipping qualities.

As we enter peak oil, food that is transported will become more expensive and less practical. If we?ve lost the land best suited to growing food, the farmers with the knowledge to grow food and the plants best suited to grow here, we?ve lost a lot, perhaps forever.

What many people do not realize is the financial risk associated with food processing. The capital investment needed is huge and it takes a long time to get a return on that investment. I am often surprised that we, some of the most affluent people on the planet, balk at the marginal increase in price needed to support local foods.

David Yudkin —
Larry Lev is incredibly knowledgeable about farmers markets and local food systems. How he was quoted here makes him sound bad, believe me, Larry has done more for the local food movement than most.
David Yudkin —
Well, eating local is a nice idea... but when your food budget is already thin, what options do we have? No local ramen noodle plants that I'm aware of... and the rice i grind for bread comes from the Lundberg group in Cali (no, I won't move there to be close to my food source) since rice doesn't flourish here (climate change may help, but probably not for a few generations). When we still had a house in Washington, we grew some vegies, but I have limits on what I am allowed to grow on my apartment porch. Yes, I'll pick berries again this year on days off, but that doesn't seem like what you're talking about.

There are a few problems with eating local from where I sit:

Cost: from fuel driving around to farmers markets to buy produce, to the dollars that critical foods cost. We don't live on fruits, but on grains (and grain products) with some meat. Local salmon is about out this year, and the price of the good free range and pasture fed meat is out of reach for more than condiment status now. I'd love to support the bison and elk ranchers again, but which of my wife's meds do I sacrifice? If I go fishing (about all I can afford in large meat purchases is bait), am I supporting the local food web or actually taking even my limited potential purchases out of circulation?

Availability: actually having local food markets open when I can go. I'm headed out to work now and won't be back until some time around 6pm to 7pm tonight, it's Monday to Saturday work (but at least I'm not unemployed). Safeway will be open when I?m on my way home, and it's just a block out of my route... there is nothing with local food even close, much less open when I can get to it. Am I unique? Is this discussion really just aimed at those who aren't the landless working class (I won't include the poor, I think I got more local food when I had to go to the food banks than we do now)?

On the larger scale, the topic brings up questions about what has a better carbon footprint. There have been some interesting NPR segments on grass fed lamb from New Zealand having a better footprint and lower cost in England, have we got here what it takes to compete on such consideration (ok, we have great grass fed lamb here, though again, it's way out of my pay grade)? And what about just the other side of the mountains? Do they have to subsist on just beef, wheat, and apples? Does the concept of eating locally work only if you live in places like the Willamette valley where you actually have a broad range of choices if you can afford them?
tpohara —
This is IMPORTANT. I feel like a lot of people are brushing it off by saying that the folks shopping at farmers markets aren't spending money on big screen tv's and Hermes bags... but that ignores the difference between middle class and working class. The only reasons that I can afford to eat locally are because I am young and have no dependents, share a house with 5 other people, work at a food co-op and recieve a discount and free 'distressed' produce and have enough free time to grow lots of food.

If I had a kid, or a sick spouse or any number of other factors that MOST people have, I wouldn't be able to hack it in the local food part of my life.

TIME is also an issue in working people's lives - I certainly find myself eating a lot more (NOT organic, NOT Local) Pizza now that I'm working AND in school full time. It's easy to make a salad out of the greens in my garden, but sometimes I'm hungrier than that and have a paper to write.

Someone said that people could spend less time in front of a tv and more time in thier garden.... Probably said by someone with an office job. My father and some of my housemates do very physical work ALL DAY. They don't necessarily want to come home and do more.

The thing that I love about Food Politics is that it ties in so well to everything else, because everyone Eats. So, why aren't we willing to pay people a living wage for a days work? Why aren't we willing to pay farmers a living wage? Why do we allow huge agricorps to sell enough (organic) Tomatoes and lettuce for $2 when we know that if a farmer were to sell it for that, he would go broke????
elimunster —
Are we sinning when we eat bananas, chocolate and coffee? It seems like there are many positive aspects to choosing to consume local foods--supporting local businesses/farmers, enjoying great products and supporting sustainable farming practices. It also seems like there is a role for supporting good farming practices in areas of the globe that grow things that can not be grown in the Willamette Valley and giving those farmers a good market for their crops as well. (And, in some cases the alternative crops those farmers could grow in their terrain and climate are drug crops.)
lisa mykrantz brown —
The ability to find excellent local produce is one of the best things about living in Oregon. I'm in favor of supporting infrastructure like farmers' markets to make it easier for more people to enjoy the freshness and quality made possible by buying locally. It's important to be sure that, in supporting farmers and the markets at which they sell, we are careful to maintain their freedom to grow what makes the most sense for them economically--whether that's a product for local consumption or export. It's also important to produce food where it's most efficient, to keep prices down so that food is accessible to those at all income levels. As we work to reduce fuel consumption, it's especially vital that we think through the efficiency issues of producing various crops in different ecological zones. Balancing all of these issues is a big challenge for Oregon, its consumers, producers, and government; we need to recognize this complexity and avoid oversimplifying. Producing food locally may make sense in some cases, and in others we may have an opportunity to support farmers in other areas or countries.
Ann from Corvallis —
California rice harvests are unsustainable, limited by both water scarcity and salinization of the soil. Australia is facing the same issues (page A6 of today?s Oregonian). A related story on page A8 of today?s paper illustrates another cost of pumping water for agriculture on declining west coast salmon populations. Meanwhile you?ll have a hard time finding that cheap salmon from Chile, see page one of today?s business section ?Virus concerns spur Safeway to stop buying Chilean salmon?.

Local food is more expensive in part because we have not invested in the local processing and distribution. That can and must change. It must be supported by those that can afford to do so. Throughout the 10,000 year history of agriculture innovation and change has been underwritten by the affluent and privileged resulting in dietary changes for everyone else. In the middle ages the masses in Europe ate a grain based porridge, it was investment by the rich that made vegetables and meat available to most. Unfortunately our investment has made it possible to get flavorless tomatoes and strawberries in February.

David Yudkin —
I support buying local, but good ideas taken too far can often go bad. The economics can be negative for the local community. An example is Tillamook Cheese: the cheese is made in Tillamook County, the cows and milk are closer to Boise. How do you define "local" in this case?

More importantly, Tillamook, a proud local company, distributes widely to probably 150million people. "Local" Tillamook consumers may only include about 2 million Oregonians. Reducing their consuming footprint by 98% might well bankrupt the firm. This is an extreme example, however the "buy local" does not consider or recognize the "export" economy of local producers who prosper by exporting products out of our low-population rural geography. We can only build a great food economy and local prosperity by supporting artisans and industries that flourish locally and internationally.
dlakey —
I agree - it is not only LOCAL, but also food that has been raised without chemicals and that has not been genetically modified. What local growers need to know is that Oregonians are wise to 2 things: 1) the USDA organic label means nothing; 2) we know all about GE foods and WE DON'T WANT THEM! If local farmers want to increase their local sales, they need to grow their crops responsibly. My 10-year-old daughter chose "You Shouldn't Eat GE Foods" for her persuasive speech at school. We went in search of a short word for "non-GE foods" that kids could understand. "Organic" doesn't work anymore, because most of the food labeled "organic" in the grocery stores, although it might have been grown without chemicals, has been genetically modified. "Natural food" doesn't work because it is a marketing term which has been consistently misused for decades to sell food which barely qualifies as natural. Then we came across the TrueFoods.org web site. Concerned consumers should check it out. Bottom line: I try to buy everything I can from local producers, but when there is no GE free alternative, I will purchase imports from Europe where (so far) GE is still taboo. Also, I look for the Oregon Tilth seal or California Certified Organic Food (CCOF) seal because these organizations seem to be more conscientious in protecting consumers.
s.johnsonking1@hotmail.co —
For the cost-conscious among us (OK ? I?m a penny-pincher!) I?d like to know why the fresh fruit at Farmers Markets often costs more than the same fruit from the same farm at the local grocery store.

For example, a pint of blueberries from Hurst?s Berry Farm for $1.99 at the farmers market or $1.49 at the store.

I?ve seen the same principle at play with Hood River Pears.

I'm sure the principle is widespread. The question is why.
ChrisB —
Price at the supermarket is set by the store itself. The price paid to a local farmer is often extremely low because that farmer has to compete with lower price per pound offerings from other regions or countries. Stores can also offset the price of an item by charging more for another item. Many local farms are actually excluded from the local supermarket chains, often because the purchasing decisions at those stores comes from an out of state purchasing agent. Expansion of the UGB also increases the cost because it pushes urban areas into traditionally agricultural regions, which comes with a host of increased regulations, jursidictional requirements, and often a loss of productivity due to new environmental pressures. In fact, for most farmers, the markets are more of a marketing opportunity than a real sale, so even if the cost is higher at the market, it is really costing the farmer more to be there.
eclath —
One way agriculture in Oregon can change to accommodate localized consumption is by bringing it into our backyards... literally. My next door neighbor has founded City Garden Farms (http://www.citygardenfarms.com) and is literally turning our 1/3 acre yard into part of his network of urban organic farms. Yards, lots, and plots all over the city of Portland are being turned into farms, feeding the people who live on and near those lots. Customers in the city can purchase a subscription to the farm, entitling them to a fresh basket of local, seasonal, healthy, organic produce a week. In addition, the closest farmers market to us is less than 2 miles away, ensuring that the leftover crops from our yards goes to feed our neighbors.
adie wilson —
The most obvious conclusion to "eating more local", is growing more of your own food, and preparing it more from scratch. Your own backyard, porch, and kitchen are as local as cultivation and production get. If you refuse to give up coffee, bananas, and chocolate, you can atleast offset your carbon foot print with oyster mushrooms growing in your coffee grounds, dwarf apple trees in pots on your porch, fresh sprouts on your kitchen counter... the list goes on much longer than you might think.
annelid.design —
Absolutely! Grow your own food, and teach your children to do so. For more information on growing your own food (even on an apartment deck), watch GO GREEN at 6:30 on Saturday, April 19th, Channel 2 (KATU). This special features local people who are growing food for themselves and their neighbors, and making a difference by teaching others how to do the same.
s.johnsonking1@hotmail.co —
I am actively trying to eat more locally this year. My husband and I are turning the majority of our .25 acre property into a garden growing heirloom and non-genetically modified organic vegetables from a oregon based seed and plant company. Not only am I monitoring everything I consume, but everything my food consumes. Thanks to our well and very rich soil, this will be an affordable alternative to rising food prices.

With luck and hard work we will eat well this summer, and have enough to can, freeze and cool store crops to supplement our winter diet. I look forward to teaching my young son how vegetables should taste.

It is only the size of my garden that has changed. Even when I lived in a Portland apartment, my patio and living room were full of plants.
Berdans —
The food industry seems to get a disproportionate amount of attention, which many people have alluded to here. It would certainly be preferable for much of our food to be "local," but this clearly depends on how efficient it is to grow in the climate of your area, what can be grown and how much.

I have a certain repulsion to the trendiness of this however. I am a vegetarian and eat mostly organic and generally find myself in restaurants that support local farms, but I find it disturbing when people announce this to the world as if it was a badge of honor. I also find militant vegetarians uninteresting.

It is a tad ironic to be sitting at a local local-restaurant on a chair from IKEA. At the local local-restaurant Bijou, the owner no longer allows straws because they are bad for the environment. Clearly this type of thinking is irrational, it would be better to close the restaurant down entirely to stop the pollution of people getting there. If these half-baked lopsided ideas put people like me off, I can hardly imagine what they must do to people who are already disinterested. At the same time I appreciate that people are trying to make a difference.

-Portland, Oregon
scottmil —
It's an exciting time right now in Portland for local food. We have so many options to eat local. Vibrant farmers markets run nearly every day of the week in the city and more opening each year. Even year round farmers markets like Hillsdale Farmers Market. Community Supported Agriculture is thriving here. This is where you can buy a 'subscription' to a farm's produce for one growing season. The subscribers pay at the beginning of the year for a season's worth of produce. 47th Avenue Farms has been around for years growing in the Woodstock neighborhood. Sunroots is a new, bike based CSA on multiple sites around the city.

This idea of growing food in the city is becoming a real option for more and more people looking to eat very local. I have started a business called City Garden Farms here in Portland that is based on the concept of growing intensively in the city. We grow very intensively to pull as much vegetable out of the smallest spaces possible. This technique is a much more efficient use of land than those used in conventional farming. It makes me believe that we really can eat very locally for many items for most of the year. I believe that we are going to start seeing more and more of our food marketed by how many miles it has traveled..."food miles". Local is getting smaller.

Dan
dan@citygardenfarms.com —
I just wanted to say how thankful I am for the local movement for the labeling improvement it has made at many local co-ops and groceries. I try to buy local but I also won't shop at the large chains now where I can't figure out where anything comes from.
NancyP —
I've been a produce buyer for a major food distributor and currently sell wild greens and mushrooms from this area and ship them nationwide.

Your guest mentioned that when produce is shipped across country, it affects the nutrients in the vegetables. Does he have any scientific studies that prove this, or is this just an opinion?

We're in an area that can't grow many of the produce items that constitute a well-rounded diet and I'm not sure that, if they actually do lose nutrients, the produce which is trucked across the country still doesn't have a great nutritional value. Please cite your sources. Thanks you.
John, Vancouver
pianoman9701 —
A good question, and one I'll have Harry MacCormack follow up on after the show. I think citing sources may be more productive online, where you (and everyone else) can actually read them.
David Miller —
At City Garden Farms www.citygardenfarms.com we are growing Ultra local, ultra fresh food IN Portland on sub acre 'farms'. In return people who offer their land/yard get a weekly subscription share and the opportunity to join the local food movement in a unique way. ( They also get to come to our Summer harvest Dinner)
We offer CSA shares to the public and sell at farmers markets aswell. For a look at a unique urban farming experience please visit www.citygardenfarms.com or follow us at http://www.citygardenfarms.com/blog
Martin Barrett —
I am from Australia and sometimes I see oranges from Australia for sale in the supermarkets here. I used to buy these oranges thinking that I was doing the right thing to support the agricultural market from 'home'. But the taste of these oranges was just so average, and so bland (despite their lovely appearance) that I now only buy organic organges - the cost is more, but the taste is so superior, and I'm feeling better not supporting an industry that ships oranges from the other side of the world!
I have also lived in the Middle East, in Qatar, and you really have no choice there but to buy produce that have been shipped in. The climate of the Middle East is so hot, so harsh, and the 'soil' is really just sand, that you really have to buy from all over the world. The local dates though are fantastic.
Katrina, Lake Oswego
katrina85 —
I grew up selling organic produce at the Lincoln County Small Farmer's Market in Newport, OR. Harry will likely remember me -- I certainly remember him from those misty Saturday mornings on the coast.

Growing up with an organic market garden was not always the most fun experience (weeding was especially unfun as a kid), but today I live in Eugene and have a city garden plot in my neighborhood. I grow my own veggies to consume during the summer -- it's hard to grow everything we weant to eat, so I substitute what I can't grow (or grow enough of) with locally grown produce from the local Eugene Saturday Farmer's Market.

If I didn't grow my own, I would certainly join a CSA. Local does taste better -- more variety in the type of produce grown (not as much highly hybridized food) and fresher and harvested when ripe.... makes a BIG difference.
ORSunshine —
In 1910, 40 cents of every dollar spent on food went to the farmer?and the other 60 cents went to things like seed producers, energy for running tractors and fertilizers for the fields. In 2008 only 8 cents of every dollar spent on food goes to the farmer and 19 cents goes to things like seeds and fertilizers to grow the food. A whopping 73 cents goes into marketing?things like packaging, refrigeration, advertising, trucking/shipping, supermarket fees etc. That?s right?the grand majority of your food dollar doesn?t go to the grower, or even into the food?it goes to oil companies, advertising agencies and packagers of food!
Realwealth —
It's not just about organics! It's not just about price! It's also about genetic idversity of our food supply, it's also about sustaining local agricultural economies. It's also about the choice between agricultural land use or luxury housing developments.

If all food choices are based solely on price, then food quality is economically encouraged to decline as cost efficiencies dictate practices such as mono-culture farms, mechanized production, and direct tie-ins to monopolistic seed producers (start looking into how seed is sold to farmers). Demand for local food goods encourages sustaining multiple genetic strains of all kinds of foodstocks, from wild salmon to multiple varieties of tomatoes, grains, and legumes, just to name a few.

And while organic choices are more healthful to the ecology (if not the body), local food choices are more healthy to the local economy by contributing to sustaining family farms. Land use issues in the Willamette Valley are huge issues.

It is frustrating to see the conversation framed essentially by "organics is good" and "buying local feels good". The issues are much more complex, and so far the discussion is missing a good part of them!

. . . though what I am hearing on the show now is beginning to address some of these issues . . . finally . . .

-Cole Danehower
Editor, Co-Publisher, Northwest Palate Magazine
Cole Danehower —
I don't think making a comparison of quality between local, sustainable, organically grown foods and industrial agriculture captures the price differential. Sustainably grown food COSTS LESS even though we might pay a little more for it up front. Industrial agriculture externalizes the costs of polluted water from pesticide run off, increased green house gas emissions from overuse of petro-chemical fertilizers and international shipping and all of the general health concerns and environmental degradation that result from the industrial agricultural model. We pick up the tab for that destruction. Paying a little extra now means avoiding major COSTS in the future.
Potency —
Absolutely right . . . and paying a little more up front for locally grown food has tremendous ripple benefits in the economy, as well as ripple benefits to the ecology. Industrialized farms don't bring as much back to the local economy as small farmers do! I really recoil at the American society's emphasis on "cheap." As someone else pointed out, we have no trouble spending all kinds of money on non-essential items, but balk and spending a few dollars more on what goes into our bodies and sustains our health!
Cole Danehower —
I have some serious concerns about the industrialization and corporatization of agriculture, particularly the concentration of animals in mass factory farms and calling this practice "sustainable." In Oregon, we have Threemile Canyon Farms, which concentrates 55,000 cows in one location. This complex often promotes itself as "sustainable," "local" and even "organic." Another example is Foster Farms, which promotes its chicken as "Northwest grown." Despite the fact that these operations are in Oregon and technically "local," it is neither healthy nor sustainable to concentrated thousands or hundreds of thousands of animals in one location. This is not good for the environment, the communities, nor the local food economy. I would be interested to hear your guests comment on how we can support the local food economy without supporting an unsustainable industrial system that happens to be local.
KendraK —
Why is it that people will penny pinch over paying an extra couple dollars for quality, locally grown, healthy food, but don't flinch at spending $35-100 dollars a month on cable TV? If families worked on their own veggie gardens together, as a form of bonding and entertainment and then subsidized the food they grow with locally grown farmer's market produce. I venture to guess they'd be saving money on a monthly basis, while spending more quality time with their family. It all boils down to a matter of priorities. I will always make the choice to buy local, even if it means sacrificing something else.
zosimoff —
The funny thing is that many people who support local food penny pinch on many other things. I highly doubt the average farmers market shopper is out buying Hermes bags and Miele vacuums for the great quality regardless of the price. Price is relevant for everything!
scottmil —
I agree - price is always relevant. Actually, I think probably that the average farmers' market shopper has a very highly developed sense of quality (which is why they're shopping at the farmers' market), and many own Hermes bags (I do) and other items which are of high quality. However the difference might be that these farmers' market shoppers know when and how to spend their money - like for instance, buying a Hermes bag second-hand on Ebay for a fraction of the price of a new bag, and doing so based on the quality of the item rather than on the latest fad (the seller of the used bag undoubetedly onto the "latest and greatest" at full price). This is a question not so much of price, but rather of what you get for the money. You can choose to upgrade your SUV every year to the latest model, or you can use the money instead to buy healthful food for your family. It is really a choice between paying a bit more now for TRUE food, or paying a lot later in health care expenses because you've been eating food that has been treated with chemicals, radiated as it crosses borders during transport, picked green so by the time it arrives to you it is "ripe", or artificially ripened, genetically modified, or grown in human feces in garden beds constructed from toxic materials. The PRICE might be your life. But then, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so why not eat the cloned-beef hamburger?
s.johnsonking1@hotmail.co —
Yes, I certainly have no evidence to support the lack of Hermes bag sightings at farmers markets. But there also isn't much evidence to say that FM shoppers are advocates of quality no matter the cost in other areas of life. This is one area of commerce that FM shoppers have deemed important enough to pay an increased cost. This quality could be in terms of health, taste or environmental impact.

There is just something that irritates me regarding the local food movement even though I myself support it. I think it lies in this sense of moral high ground people take on the issue and they use it to judge others for a lack of interest in it. Its almost like this natural repulsion I have toward the religious. I guess considering most of the world is religious and watches American Idol it is hard to care that much about local food or spend time worrying that other people aren't interested in it, when I'm made to feel guilty because I enjoy the garden burger at Red Robin as much as the veggie burger at Farm.

My point must be this: there is more then just quality motivating people to advocate for local food, its been turned into a lifestyle, a heaven or hell, and its advocates are often self-righteous and militant. I remain agnostic, there are so many other issues I can't figure out and I don't want to be labeled a heretic just because I am not certain of the level of efficacy of the local food contingent. At the same time I support it because there certainly is no harm in it!
scottmil —
My mother rarely prepared fresh food, so it seems rediculous, but sometimes I just don't know how to prepare fresh food. Or what recipes to use fresh produce in.
CasandraMShannon —
If you want good recipes and tips, talk to the farmers when you buy produce at a local farmers market. They often have really simple ideas to share. There are some really great recipe books out there as well. But a lot of good fresh food can be really simple to prepare -- so don't be scared -- your body will thank you for the better nutrition.
ORSunshine —
Thanks. And even though fresh produce was never a staple in my diet as a child, I am still trying to educate myself today. I just think another conversation we could have is about our American diet in general. I would say that Oregon's collective diet does not mirror the rest of the country's; fast, cheap, processed.

People won't start to care about where their food comes from if they don't even eat fresh foods.
CasandraMShannon —
This guy really avoided the comments from the farmer in eastern oregon. His ideas are ridiculously unrealistic and seem to avoid a lot of realities. Seems to echo the general chant of the oregon "sustainable movement". Most people don't have time to look for the their neighborhood foodshed and a lot of organic food costs way more than non organic. I paid 9 dollars for three tomatoes the other day at a coop. Most people can't afford that.

Also, the organic classification is an arbitrary certification that was created by the government and is redefined at their discretion.
esmeraldo —
Speaking of wheat, there are wheat farmers who have found ways to sell direct at markets - there are "green wheat" products that sell very well even at $6 per pound! In Pendleton a wheat farmer brought in whole and ground wheat kernels to sell as cereals, bulgar, and flour. They did demonstrations, and sampling, to a very happy crowd. And though they only sold a bushel, it sold for $50 for that bushel, and raised a lot of awareness about the possibiilities. We'd love to get another processing facility in eastern Oregon, for noodles, pastries and other products that use local soft, white winter wheat. A nascent coop group in Pendletong is actively seeking partners to create such products for sale in the local area.

Local foodshed out here includes the entire "inland NW' - or the Columbia Plateau (platter!).

Thanks. Karen Wagner
Karen Wagner —
Last year, as I tried to lose some weight, I learned that soft white wheat -- and the products made from it -- are not the kinds of foods to eat. Donuts, cookies, cakes and crackers taste great -- but play havoc with our digestive and metabolic systems. It's lower in protein and higher in carbs than other forms of wheat.
lindae —
Good point. One certainly needs to find a balance between the good, bad or better - since eastern dry lands grow this grain well, it behooves us to find the best, most healthful ways to eat that product. Farmers out here are actively seeking new strains of higher protein soft wheat... AND, they used to grow other types of grains, like rye and barley out, which don't command a large market share, so farmers do what is most profitable economically. If that soft white wheat is used "whole" rather than highly refined could we get a more healthful product line? What other grains could local consumers convince farmers to sell?
Karen Wagner —
I dont think many people see the connection between buying locally and improving the local economy. Its about helping your neighbor, the guy down the street, the guy ten cities over, etc. by doing that youre keeping your money local and chances are it'll come back to you and those you know. by making sure small businesses, including small farmers, youre helping individuals, not large companies and that'll bring about more local jobs and hopefully increase wages. Not only that, but youre helping the environment by not using oil to transfer these goods halfway across the world. Many times local farmers care more for their customers and the quality of their business and the products they provide that the huge feedlots, therefor many times offer a much better quality product. why not spend locally to keep dollars local even if it sometimes costs more? that money gets circulated in your area MANY more times in your area instead of going out of state and many times out of the country.
Bill Larson —
There is something fishy about "the connection between buying locally and improving the local economy." Doesn't this average out anyway in a free market? If I buy oranges from Florida and Florida buys hazelnuts from Oregon?

What is the fundamental benefit of the supporting only the local economy? If everyone did this wouldn't we be in the same position? Its a global world. Isn't buying local for economic reasons jingoism?

Supporting small businesses in general could be a good idea but I don't think they have to be local.
scottmil —
There's the idea of the local multiplier effect, where "every dollar spent at a locally owned store contributes three times more to the local economy?three times more income, three times more jobs, and three times more tax benefits."
(http://www.bangormetro.com/media/Bangor-Metro/May-2006/The-Multiplier-Effect/)

Also check out Michael Shuman's work:
http://www.small-mart.org/about

I think there are a lot of different factors to consider in making purchasing decisions, and that imports and exports can be important economically and occasionally even preferable for environmental and/or social sustainability. However, I've been convinced that keeping more dollars circulating in our local economy is a valid and powerful concept and practice.
jocelynf —
Thanks for the information. It is helpful!
-Regards, Scott
scottmil —
There isn't anything fishy about buying local and keeping your dollars local. For example, if I purchase my lettuce at the farmers market from the farmer who purchases hay from his neighbor who buys feed at the local store who then comes to my store and buys a bicycle, well that is keeping the dollar local. The difference is that we are supporting each other and our businesses versus supporting globalism or a person in Florida that we don't know who is growing oranges. I think this is the fundamental benefit of supporting a local economy which really has nothing to do with jingoism.
kvandis —
It just doesn't seem that there is any substantive evidence to supporting a local small farm versus any other small farm irrespective of environmental impacts. I think the motivation at its root has little difference then supporting a sports team because they are in your city or you went to college there. It just seems sentimental and emotional to me. If you are talking about small business then that is a different thing, but then again it doesn't matter to me whether the small business is local.
scottmil —
I buy local milk, cheese and plants

I have already torn up my yard and planted fruit trees and a large garden. This allows me to get pie cherries and nashi pears at a reduced cost and it allows me to grow heirloom (organic produce) that I can't get at any market.
My herb garden provides the biggest cost savings.

This harvest only suppliments our food needs.



blairb —
What I want to know is: where do we draw the line for "local"? Is local only what we have within 50 miles? 500 miles?

I live in Central Oregon, and we are not blessed with the Willamette Valley's lengthy growing seasons here. I am acutely aware of every piece of produce I purchase at the store with labels from Chile or Israel, and I would much prefer to buy local. I try to by produce from Oregon and Washington with the intention that it is "local enough". After all, if I were to buy products only from Central Oregon, I'd be eating nothing but beef, corn, and the occasional fruit or vegetable. I do grow what I can in my own garden, but the growing season is brief and harsh here.

So how can those of us who live in harsh environments still support local agriculture?
plateauphoto —
It's the demand for "cheap food at any cost" is what drives our food purchases now. We have to change that paradym and accept a balance of cost/quality. Listen to Larry more. He's got it right at every point.
JBradwell —
We have quite easily increased the amount of local food we eat, by numerous small changes over the years. We have planted food producing trees and shrubs (apples, raspberries, currants, strawberries, pears, etc.), we have three hens in our NE Portland backyard (average of two eggs per day), we subscribe to a CSA (Pumpkin Ridge Gardens, $15/week for 1/2 share, more than our family of three can eat in a week). We also shop at Food Front, a local food co-op, which stocks produce and goods produced locally. We do buy things from far away as well, it isn't about absolutism, it's about making changes which you will be able to live with and keep.
Deborah Abele —
Robert Felix is a retired agribusiness worker. He states that only two railroads supply all the grain used in the U.S. from a small area in the MidWest. This includes Oregon, since as your show stated wheat grown in Oregon is shipped out of state. Our grain storage capacity ended in 1980. How are we planning to survive rising grain costs for feed, flour, etc?
semyon —
We used to raise chickens and eggs and even had an all-egg CSA in the Portland area, but we stopped a couple of years back when oil and feed prices just kept rising. We could see the $6/dozen eggs coming down the line, and just didn't want to go there, but we would have had to in order to cover our costs. Unless we had resources to grow our own feed, we were at the mercy of international markets which influence the cost of feed ingredients.

We've switched to raising grass-fed beef and actually made a small profit last year for the first time. Our only input is naturally grown and organic hay, which we source from a farmer about 15 miles away. I think it's very important to grow foods that match your region's capability. But because of regulations, the minimum amount we can sell to customers is a 1/4 animal. We know that many people can't afford to buy (or store) that much meat at once. Changing the current regs (as was discussed on air) to allow us to sell by the cut would enable us to sell to a wider audience, and would benefit a lot of small-scale ranchers on both sides of the Cascades.
Val mossback —
Once again you've picked a topic that is interesting, current, and supremely relevant. Keep up the good work, TOL!

Just last night I stood in front of the cheese display in Lamb's Thriftway - Garden Valley. I was looking for blue cheese, but wanted to buy local. After spending several minutes examining the fine print on every option there, I found that none of them were produced here in OR, so I ended up buying some Tillamook sharp cheddar (another yummy option for my roast beef sandwich! :) ).
My point is just that it can be a lot of work to try to determine what is local. How about a few standardized labels that could be put on food, specifying different degrees of "localness?" There could be one indicating that something is completely produced and processed in OR, another for foods either grown here or processed here, etc. I'm sure a lot more people would be willing to buy locally produced foods if that attribute was easier to determine.
jasona —
So try a market like New Seasons that features local ingredients. One of the finest blue cheeses in the world (as determined by a world competition in London) is made in Cave Junction, Oregon, and is widely available here in Portland.
Cole Danehower —
Generally speaking, chain stores, because of their corporate structure, are not going to carry locally produced and grown items. The whole idea of chain stores is to make cookie-cutter produced items everywhere, because it's cheaper.

If you look at what happened with the history of Organic labeling, you might reconsider the idea of creating a labeling system... When the USDA started to regulate Organic standards it simultaneously weakened what Organic meant and ensured that small farmers wouldn't be able to afford to be certified, no matter that they were more organic than the "organic" produce you can now buy at KMART.
elimunster —
About the caller who was trying to explain the problem with selling meat at farmer?s markets: You can only sell meat cuts that have been processed in Federally inspected slaughtering facilities. However, Oregon has state inspected facilities where you can have your own animal (whether farmed or hunted) processed for your own consumption. So a farmer can sell a consumer a whole live animal, which the consumer can then have slaughtered (directly on the farm where it was grown) and have it custom butchered. This is why the caller was trying to explain that small farmers could only sell whole animals and not cuts of meat.
Citrine —
This is Larry Lev from Corvallis with a few comments based on the discussion and emails. It is great to live in a place where people care so much about food and agriculture.

Katy Coba talked about the three legged stool that supports Oregon agriculture. I would say that even 10 years ago that stool was commonly regarded as having only two legs. The within Oregon market was viewed by most as a small relatively uninteresting part of the US market for Oregon products. The recognition that Oregonians represent a viable market for many Oregon farmers has only slowly developed over the last decade.

Emily started out the hour with a vocabularly lesson on the term "locavore". There is another bit of agricultural jargon that people may be interested in -- "NPR farmers". Coined in Virginia, it refers to exactly the types of farms and types of market channels discussed on this show. I think it also captures the concerns with elitism and high prices that many emailers have noted.

I also want to provide some addional context about the size of this locally-oriented agriculture within Oregon agriculture. Overall Oregon farmers sold $4.9 billion (with a "B") of products in 2007. Farmers markets are the most visible form of this locally-oriented agriculture. My estimate is that total farmers market sales in 2007 were $30 million or less than 1% of the value of what Oregon farmers sold. CSAs were also mentioned. There are about 50 CSA farms in Oregon. Their members represent less than 0.5% of all Oregon consumers.

Local markets have become a viable and thriving component of Oregon agriculture. They can certainly use your support. But looking at it from the producer side, it is important that supply and demand both grow together. A dramatic and rapid increase in supply could result in many unhappy and out of business farmers.
LarryLev —
Thanks for this topic!

Last month a friend of mine who lives in Vancouver, WA, and who's new to the idea of eating locally, wanted to cook her extended family a dinner of locally grown foods. She went to her "local" supermarket, and asked for foods grown within 50 miles. She was told that although some of the foods may have been grown within that radius, all were shipped first to a distribution center in L.A. and then returned to this area! Not exactly what she was hoping for . . .

Obviously, the system as it exists, isn't sustainable over the long haul (sorry for the pun). As many commenters have said, it is up to us, the consumers, to request locally grown foods, to frequent farmers' markets, and to join CSAs if we want knowingly to support Oregon agriculture. Otherwise, we're just taking our chances.
Kim Carlson —
Regarding eating locally, a strong driver to make that happen in the near future is the fact of peak oil. Many people do not know that the greatest amount of oil to ever be produced worldwide is being produced right now. Demand keeps rising. Supplies will soon begin to decrease and prices will go ever higher, as will food prices. Big agriculture will be a vicitim of its own excess; it is highly dependent upon cheap energy, now a thing of the past. Food production will become a totally local endeavor since the transportation of food long distances will also be a thing of the past.
driveless —
Local doesn't mean we all have to eat Oregon wheat. When food products are shipped thousands of miles, you can reduce that even by selling Oregon grains throughout the willamette valley but also Puget Sound and even British Columbia. Local doesn't mean 10 miles, the entire Pacific Northwest could feed itself as a region. Idaho potatoes, Oregon wheat, Washington apples as well as barley, wine grapes, fruits, nuts and dairy products throughout the region can be redistributed among the millions of people living in Seattle, Portland, Boise and Spokane metropolitan regions. If companies like Franz, Widmer, Starbucks and Burgerville are actually committed to using the abundant regional crops intensively and year round, the amount of energy wasted in transportation and storage could be greatly reduced. One of the biggest reasons so much wheat in the region is sold internationally is because decades of government direction has been intended to create the world dependent on american wheat. Simultaneously, rice imports from Asia to the US have continued to increase while American wheat goes unused as a major cereal grain. When people discuss the "local" food issues, politics and economics are too often ignored as if it is entirely up to the consumers to "choose" local. Food exports are subsidized in our country both directly and indirectly through artificially cheap fuel prices. The decision to buy local is heavily dependent on government action and the understanding that Portlanders buying Idaho potatoes are buying local; they're eating a product that is being shipped less than a third of the distance of the average food item. Remember people, "Think Regionally, Act Cooperatively." Remember that if you think Pendleton wheat is local, so are Yakima apples and Boise spuds. That little line on the map doesn't really change that much about the food crossing it.
jaycoolman —
In any conversation about food, let's be sure to consider the concerns of the farmworkers who are a huge part of getting that food on our plates. Local and organic growers often have better labor practices and relations, but this is still an issue to bring up. At the same time, we can't place all the burden on struggling farmers to raise wages or otherwise improve the lives of farmworkers, when we as eaters are unwilling or unable to pay more for our food. How can we ensure that everyone is able to have affordable access to the healthy, good food that we all deserve, while ensuring that all the people who grow, pick, transport, process, and sell that food can make a decent living?

Achieving this is my definition of a socially sustainable food system. There are some creative ideas and projects out there that are starting to move in this direction of getting out of the cheap food for consumers vs. income for producers paradox.
jocelynf —
I have no idea where to post this....we know there is a problem with bees in the US. Today we found a honey bee in our yet un-prepared garden plot in Gresham. He'd stuck his head into the mud and was dying. Is this a signal of problems here? Seems unusual behavior, never seen a bee act like that, and we are all organic. Is there a place to report this to someone studying the issue? I will not be able to watch this forum closely for replies, but if anyone has any input you can email me at tinklerm@gmail.com
Mary Tinkler —

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