Eating local takes root in Somerville

Last Friday, I rode home half a mile from my Somerville pickup site with a stalk of brussels sprouts sticking out of my bike basket like a parade-leader's baton, ridiculous and hungry. Kale and potato soup for dinner.

I'm far from the only Somerville resident getting food closer and closer to home. A new documentary from Somerville Community Access Television, "Eating Local in Somerville," shows how widespread localvorism has become in the region’s most densely populated city.

Filmmaker Wendy Blom, SCAT's executive director, called Somerville "a real leader" in the eat-local movement. meaning food grown or produced nearby, outside the largescale farming industry. The canon of books and movies on the topic includes "Fast Food Nation," "Food, Inc.," Blom’s inspiration "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, and the works of Michael Pollan.

At the Nov. 3 premiere, 30-plus people noshed on apple crisp and traded tips for over-luxuriant fennel ("festo," anyone?). When a woman in the film couldn't identify collards, a knowing chuckle went up in the room.

Residents had plenty of chances to learn about greens this summer. The film is lush with farmers market veg tables piled high with crinkly leafed kale, crimson beets, purple and yellow carrots. Jeff Cole of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets wrote in an e-mail that both the Davis and Union markets "are very, very popular."

My current CSA, Red Fire Farm, distributed about 110 shares from tables set up at the Community Growing Center, said chief farmer Ryan Voiland in an interview. This year the farm's adding a January through March "Deep Winter" share.

Farmer Dave's CSA has distributed shares in East Somerville for several years, recruited originally as part of the city"s renowned Shape Up Somerville health/fitness initiative. Enterprise Farm's Somerville CSA site is Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square; one set of shareholders blogs recipes at farmsharestories.blogspot.com.

The hunger seems to be growing. The cargo-tricycle company Metro Pedal Power has been delivering more and more Massachusetts produce, as well as Somerville-made nonperishables like Taza Chocolate and Fiore di Nonno mozzarella. "Somerville is actually a big part of the market," said Wenzday Jane, CEO of the bike company. Possibly outranking even the neighboring hippie haven that starts with "C."

This fall, the Sherman Café in Union Square opened a market carrying nothing but local items, though in this case local can extend seven hours north into Quebec.

Blom focused on food grown directly in Somerville soil or above it, since contamination from old train lines and factories remains a problem. Entrepreneurs interviewed in the film sprang up to till the need: Green City Growers and Somerville Agripods will both create raised-bed or container "backyard gardens" for you. There's a waiting list for the city's 156 community garden plots.

Lisa Brukilacchio of the Community Growing Center didn't think anyone was raising animals in Somerville - the latest localvore trend - but "there’s this whole underground beekeepers movement." (And "Inspectional Services is very supportive.")

"It’s quite an eye-opener," said resident Mesa Antar, 38, after the screening. Having watched a lot of food documentaries, "I really am getting tired of supermarkets," he said. "This is actually a hopeful message."

Localvorism has its critics, Blom acknowledged. It costs more, though there are initiatives to bridge the gap. Farmer Dave's offers a sliding scale. Farmers markets take food stamps. In the film, district food director Mary Jo McLarney said Somerville schools spent over $50,000 on local produce last year.

In addition, the jury's out on whether it saves energy. Recent articles claim that due to economies of scale, trucking broccoli from western Mass. may create more pollution than shipping the stuff from California.

But Blom's interest in eating local goes beyond environmentalism. She can taste the difference. And, she said, people like "supporting their own communities and feeling part of something."

I dropped my Deep Winter farm share check into the mail today. Hope I’m not too late: Somerville CSA sites always sell out.

“Eating Local in Somerville” airs on SCAT throughout November and is online at the SCAT video blog . The Union Square market has closed for the season; the Davis Square market runs through Nov. 25.

Contact Danielle at somervillescene@gmail.com.

Danielle Dreilinger
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