Farmers' bounty to be on the table
If Christine Rasmussen of Gloucester has her way, all the farmers of Essex County will have a place at the Democratic National Convention this week. Rasmussen has been working day and night for her constituents, many of whom have no idea of the hours she has put in to make sure their products are on the menus of major convention events.
Rasmussen, 57, a passionate advocate for keeping farms viable, heads the four-year-old Essex County ''Buy Local" program.
Last winter, she heard Dan Ruben, executive director of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC) talk about plans for ''greening" the DNC and noted that ''buying local food had not registered as being important." Now, thanks in part to Rasmussen's advocacy, it has registered, and she has a second job heading the coalition's Buy Local Committee.
The coalition's objectives and Rasmussen's mission in life are the same. They want convention chefs, caterers, and event planners to feature local products, not only because they taste so good, but because buying local has a positive environmental impact.
''Most food travels 1,500 miles from where it's harvested to the dinner plate," Rasmussen said. ''All of the environmental consequences of that -- from the fuel oil to pollution to global warming -- you are eliminating if you purchase local food."
Closer to home, the economic viability of farms provides an important link to a community's identity and environmental well-being. ''This is the land that is part of the fabric of our communities -- the pastures, the woodlands, the wetlands," said Rasmussen, who believes that Massachusetts faces a crisis in farming. According to the state agricultural census for 2002, more than 32 acres per day of prime farmland is being lost to development.
Elizabeth and Peter Mulholland of Valley View Farm in Topsfield have found a creative way to preserve the seven acres that have been in Elizabeth's family since 1977. Six years ago, they bought two Nubian goats, Charlotte and Emily, and Peter taught himself to make cheese. Since then, they have built a business selling quality goat cheese to local farm stands and restaurants north of Boston.
The Mulhollands' creamy chevre and feta -- promoted by the Buy Local program -- will make its Boston debut on the menu of at least one convention party. ''Chefs want local products," Elizabeth Mulholland said. ''They see the place, they see the operation, and they just love it."
Mulholland milks 12 goats a day, markets and distributes the product, and takes care of two young children, while her husband continues his day job as an investment adviser for Fidelity Investments in Boston. In the evenings, Peter Mulholland makes cheese in Valley View's kitchen.
''It's a way of life," said Elizabeth, who holds a master's degree in historic preservation and assists preservation efforts in Topsfield. ''It isn't about making yourself rich with it." That view is echoed by Marilyn Donati of Canaan Farm, on Route 1A in Wenham. Donati's eight or nine varieties of lettuce -- including specialties such as Sierra Red, Nevada Green, and Samantha -- will soon appear in the salads of convention-goers.
''We feel that we are doing something that we love, something that is good for the community," said Donati who works 14-hour days, seven days a week, farming and managing Canaan with a partner, Paul Petronzio. Petronzio, 75, bought the 20-acre farm in 1969 and named it after the biblical land of milk and honey.
Donati is excited about the opportunity to be part of the convention. ''A lot of people coming from all over the country may not think about Massachusetts or New England as being a big producing area, but in fact, it is. We have a lot of small farms."
Essex County has 400 active farms of which almost 75 percent are less than 50 acres. And that, said Rasmussen, is cause for concern because ''the prime farm land which is the best for development is also the land that is best for farming." Once it's developed ''you cannot take back the concrete and return it to farmland," she added.
CERC's effort at ''buying local" for the convention will help protect local farmland because it will put more money in farmers' pockets.
''It is important that we preserve open space in Massachusetts to preserve the state's beauty and to slow suburban sprawl," said Ruben, the executive director.
