Movement toward more sustainable food systems is growing
GREENFIELD -- Lierre Keith snips lettuce from a bed in her garden and talks about her plans for an afternoon picnic with friends. She'll make a crustless quiche using pasture-fed turkey from nearby Diemand Farm in Wendell and eggs from some of her own 40 hens. Freshly harvested salad greens will accompany the pie, with the last of the strawberries from her garden for dessert, served with heavy cream from Shelburne farmers she knows.
By design, it would be a meal made entirely of local ingredients -- no produce shipped from California, no meats trucked in from a factory farm. For Keith, it is not just a matter of good food, but also a matter of principle. ``I like knowing that I'm supporting the local economy and not corporate America," she says.
Keith, a writer, is one of an increasing number of people who plan menus with foods that are grown, raised , or otherwise produced close to home. It is a practice, supporters say, that helps keep local farms in business. It also promotes sustainable forms of agriculture, and cuts down on the energy costs and pollution generated by transporting food long distances. The idea has gained attention through Massachusetts organizations such as The Food Project in Lincoln, which will host a week of ``Eat in, Act Out" events starting at the end of this month (see right ). A San Francisco-area outfit called Locavores, which formed last summer , also has challenged people to eat only foods grown within a 100-mile radius of their homes for one month. ``Our whole goal is to get people to eat with a sense of place," said Jessica Prentice , a co founder who takes credit for the term ``locavore." The group now has about 1,000 people signed up on its website.
Historically, diets have varied based on geography and climate, Prentice notes. She believes people have lost the connection to land, to food, and to the people who grow it, and that buying local, seasonal foods is one way to help restore those relationships. ``If I can get it straight from the farmer and put my dollar in the farmer's hand, it feels so good," she says, but admits it would be extremely difficult to rid your kitchen entirely of imported foods.
For many, that would mean no citrus or bananas. No chocolate. No coffee. People who eat locally emphasize that deprivation is not the point -- many will still eat the foods they like even if they come from another country. They also recognize that it can be time-consuming to find local foods.
But some say a small effort can have a noticeable effect on the economy. A South Deerfield group called Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture encourages consumers to spend $10 a week on local products. Since 1999, when the group launched its ``buy local" campaign, it has charted an increase in the number of people buying local foods and the number of farmers selling directly to consumers. ``It would take a very small change in consumer behavior to have a very big impact on farming," said Mark Lattanzi , the group's campaign director.
Eating locally means eating seasonally, and if you stick to that, you eat tomatoes for the next few months, and then -- except for local hydroponic varieties -- stop until next summer. The concept can seem foreign in an age when so many foods are available year-round. Barb St. Onge , a manager at Verrill Farm in Concord, visits places like Carlson Orchards in Harvard for apples and peaches. Once they're out of season, she will simply wait until next year. ``That's one of the reasons why I love the seasons so much," St. Onge says. ``It just makes you appreciate it more."
Many make an effort to keep up the habit over the winter by freezing or preserving produce or keeping a root cellar. Meri Myles , who lives in Concord and works at Verrill Farm, recently got a new freezer with three times as much space so she could put away more summer berries and local meats.
Susan Filene , a Cambridge psychiatrist, has a garden behind her house that yields raspberries, pears, Concord grapes, lettuce, and beans. She visits farmers markets to buy River Rock Farm meat from Brimfield and berries in bulk from Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, which she carefully freezes. She also will seek out products at the grocery store such as Stonyfield Farm yogurt, which is made in New Hampshire, and locally made pasta from Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville.
Others go further. After eating only local foods during the month of August last year , Pat McGovern organized a group near her home in Lebanon, N.H. , that challenged members to eat only local foods for a week in January. Through a nearby farm they had access to squash and root vegetables. They stocked dried beans and vinegar, and even found farms that offered locally pressed oil and locally ground flour. Members allowed themselves ``wild cards" for items such as coffee and spices, says McGovern, who notes that ``it's no fun to cook without black pepper." But for the most part, she says, even in the dead of a New England winter, eating locally was a challenge they were able to meet. ``It raised our awareness and our appreciation of what is available. You just have to think about it and plan it into your life."
Keith, the Greenfield resident, also keeps guinea fowl and raises chickens for meat. Recently she planted nut, peach, and apple trees, and is waiting for them to bear fruit. On a recent weekend, as the first raspberries were beginning to ripen, she tied her tomato plants to teepee-shaped trellises to make sure they grew vertically. For the sake of the earth's future, Keith believes people have to start considering more sustainable food systems, a topic she is writing about in a forthcoming book. She also is often reminded by friends that the food she grows herself simply tastes better. After all, it has only a few yards to travel from earth to table.
``People say `I've never tasted food like this,' " she says. And they probably haven't.
