In an article published last Wednesday in the Washington Post the discussion of local meat production resurfaces. Seen as one of the toughest obstacles in the local food movement, meat production has become an increasingly emotional topic, as E. coli food poisoning outbreaks and hamburger recalls have had even the more trusting consumers on edge. With this in mind the article delves head first into a discussion of alternatives: small, locally owned slaughterhouses.
Featured in the article are several families and entrepreneurs who have set out to "right the wrongs," so to speak, of the industrial meat market. Bev Eggleston, owner of EcoFriendly Foods in Moneta, Virginia, is quoted: "The food system is broken and dysfunctional, so we had to start building our own."
Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Inc. and now-famous local foods advocate (you may recognize him from Michael Pollan's book Omnivore's Dilemma), is also quoted in the article, making it clear that the processing and distribution of meat are by-far the "two biggest hurdles in the local food movement."
These voices, and others, make a compelling article not only for small slaughterhouses, but also for a meat market that connects producers more directly with consumers.
Check out the full article here for the whole discussion, it is well-worth the read, and raises some interesting questions about the obstacles that remain for the local food movement.
And as always, let us know what you're thinking!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Food and Farming: Events In and Around the State of Ohio This Weekend
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Vegetable Seeding at Stratford Ecological Center
Join Stratford Ecological Center in Delaware, Ohio and plant a flat full of organic soil and seed to start your spring garden from 10am-noonn. The basics of seed starting will be covered and you’ll leave with a flat of 72 soon-to-be plants. Costs are $25/family. $15 for an additional flat. For more information or to register for programs contact Christa Hein at (740) 363-2548 or treebeing@aol.com
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Living Your Small Farm Dream - Northeast Ohio Small Farm Conference and Tradeshow
Small Farm Enthusiasts are invited to attend a very exciting and new event for in Ohio. This intensive conference will give you the opportunity to choose from 18 different seminars taught by Extension professionals and industry leaders on a wide variety of agricultural enterprises. Read further to access the flyer, schedule and registration materials. Brought to you by the OSU Extension Small Farm Program. Tradeshow is at R.G. Drage Career Center, Massillon, OH. For more information and to register, http://harrison.osu.edu/news/northeast-ohio-small-farm-conference-trade-show
Saturday, March 27, 2010
What’s on Your Table?
Renowned Cleveland chef and food advocate, Parker Bosley with Innovative Farmers of Ohio and the Clintonville Farmers' Market present an intriguing discussion with keynote by Mary Holmes. What’s on Your Table asks, Who sets the family dinner table? What is food safety and who should declare what is or isn't safe? What's the impact of our food production on family budgets, on our health, on our land? How does one choose wisely when food labeling is so confusing? All Natural, Organic, Local, Sustainable…? Join the discussion at the Columbus Mennonite Church (market parking lot in Clintonville) at 35 Oakland Park, Columbus, OH from 9am-2:30pm. Fee ($12) includes materials and seasonal, local lunch! Register by March 24 by sending payment to: CFM, PO Box 141318, Columbus, OH 43214. For more information, contact: laura@clintonvillefarmersmarket.org
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Mid-Ohio Valley Ag Opportunities Conference, Marietta, OH
LEARN TO GROW...all kinds of fruits and vegetables at our Agriculture Opportunities Conference. Dr. Joe Kovach will teach us how to combine vegetables and fruit in raised beds and high tunnels to produce $90,000 per acre! Hal Kneen will teach us about starting a greenhouse and growing ornamentals. Author of The Natural Greenhouse - Gini Coover - will join us to share her experiences in growing and raising local foods. From the backyard gardener to the serious farmer - this one day event has something for everyone! For more information and to register, visit: http://washington.osu.edu/events/ag-opportunities-conference
Monday, March 29, 2010
Screening of Film, Dirt
The College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences is partnering with the OSU Multicultural Center in hosting the Columbus screening of the PBS Community Cinema Series. The screening will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the Agricultural Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH. This is free and open to the public.
It's under our feet. But what is it? And how did it get there? Inspired by William Bryant Logan's acclaimed book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, directors Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow take a critical look at our complex relationship with dirt and the solutions to restore this vital natural resource. Get the "dirt" on how industrial farming, mining, and urban development has led us toward cataclysmic droughts, starvation, floods and climate change.
Vegetable Seeding at Stratford Ecological Center
Join Stratford Ecological Center in Delaware, Ohio and plant a flat full of organic soil and seed to start your spring garden from 10am-noonn. The basics of seed starting will be covered and you’ll leave with a flat of 72 soon-to-be plants. Costs are $25/family. $15 for an additional flat. For more information or to register for programs contact Christa Hein at (740) 363-2548 or treebeing@aol.com
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Living Your Small Farm Dream - Northeast Ohio Small Farm Conference and Tradeshow
Small Farm Enthusiasts are invited to attend a very exciting and new event for in Ohio. This intensive conference will give you the opportunity to choose from 18 different seminars taught by Extension professionals and industry leaders on a wide variety of agricultural enterprises. Read further to access the flyer, schedule and registration materials. Brought to you by the OSU Extension Small Farm Program. Tradeshow is at R.G. Drage Career Center, Massillon, OH. For more information and to register, http://harrison.osu.edu/news/northeast-ohio-small-farm-conference-trade-show
Saturday, March 27, 2010
What’s on Your Table?
Renowned Cleveland chef and food advocate, Parker Bosley with Innovative Farmers of Ohio and the Clintonville Farmers' Market present an intriguing discussion with keynote by Mary Holmes. What’s on Your Table asks, Who sets the family dinner table? What is food safety and who should declare what is or isn't safe? What's the impact of our food production on family budgets, on our health, on our land? How does one choose wisely when food labeling is so confusing? All Natural, Organic, Local, Sustainable…? Join the discussion at the Columbus Mennonite Church (market parking lot in Clintonville) at 35 Oakland Park, Columbus, OH from 9am-2:30pm. Fee ($12) includes materials and seasonal, local lunch! Register by March 24 by sending payment to: CFM, PO Box 141318, Columbus, OH 43214. For more information, contact: laura@clintonvillefarmersmarket.org
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Mid-Ohio Valley Ag Opportunities Conference, Marietta, OH
LEARN TO GROW...all kinds of fruits and vegetables at our Agriculture Opportunities Conference. Dr. Joe Kovach will teach us how to combine vegetables and fruit in raised beds and high tunnels to produce $90,000 per acre! Hal Kneen will teach us about starting a greenhouse and growing ornamentals. Author of The Natural Greenhouse - Gini Coover - will join us to share her experiences in growing and raising local foods. From the backyard gardener to the serious farmer - this one day event has something for everyone! For more information and to register, visit: http://washington.osu.edu/events/ag-opportunities-conference
Monday, March 29, 2010
Screening of Film, Dirt
The College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences is partnering with the OSU Multicultural Center in hosting the Columbus screening of the PBS Community Cinema Series. The screening will begin at 4:00 p.m. in the Agricultural Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH. This is free and open to the public.
It's under our feet. But what is it? And how did it get there? Inspired by William Bryant Logan's acclaimed book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, directors Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow take a critical look at our complex relationship with dirt and the solutions to restore this vital natural resource. Get the "dirt" on how industrial farming, mining, and urban development has led us toward cataclysmic droughts, starvation, floods and climate change.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Beginning the Discussion: Local Food in Greene County
My name is Kelsey Swindler, and I am a new volunteer, and new local foods blogger, for the Tecumseh Land Trust and for the OSU Extension Office in Greene County. I was born and raised in Wilmington, OH (just a few scenic miles south of Xenia on Route 68) and now attend Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH, where I am a sophomore.
Lifelong resident of the heartland, my life almost seems defined by food. I have always considered home any place bordered by cornfields and still maintain that my favorite summer snack is a home-grown tomato. I grew up working for our family business, Swindler & Sons Florist and Greenhouse—an 89 year old establishment that has taught me the difference between an heirloom and a hybrid in the vegetable world and has kept my hands in soil since middle school.
Lately I have thought a lot more about the culture surrounding our food, thinking through aspects of the food system I had always taken for granted growing up: specifically, the farms, and farmers, who provide our food. I am not alone in my budding curiosity about local food issues, however. Look to the bestseller stand at your local bookstore and you will most likely see one of several Michael Pollan books—titles like "In Defense of Food" and "Food Rules" jumping out at you from simple cover photos of lettuce bundles and pea pods. If you listen to WYSO or NPR you have likely heard mention of Issue 2, that mysterious Farm Bill that could either protect or destroy small farmers, depending on who you ask. And simply ask what it means to buy "local food" and you may end up in a heated discussion over whether local means 150 miles or 300 miles, organic or nearby.
With this incessant stream of oftentimes conflicting information it is difficult to untangle the truth about your food from the sticky web of media, money, and successful advertising. At times the heatedness of the debate makes one turn once again to apathy, worried that to really truly have an opinion a certain number of books must be read, articles written, and city council meetings attended.
This isn’t the case though. Because, if you think about it, we own the food debate just as much as anyone else does. We eat food, we depend on food, we couldn’t live without food—and really, this is all that matters. The USDA, ODA, EPA—none of them have a greater "right to know" when it comes to food issues than we do.
And that’s why we want to start up the conversation here in our community, with "Eat Greene," a forum for community discussion on local food issues and policy. Because with the local food debate heating up in our households, workplaces, and even in state legislatures it’s time we revisit this ideal, and think about what it means here—what it means for ourselves and for our community.
Lifelong resident of the heartland, my life almost seems defined by food. I have always considered home any place bordered by cornfields and still maintain that my favorite summer snack is a home-grown tomato. I grew up working for our family business, Swindler & Sons Florist and Greenhouse—an 89 year old establishment that has taught me the difference between an heirloom and a hybrid in the vegetable world and has kept my hands in soil since middle school.
Lately I have thought a lot more about the culture surrounding our food, thinking through aspects of the food system I had always taken for granted growing up: specifically, the farms, and farmers, who provide our food. I am not alone in my budding curiosity about local food issues, however. Look to the bestseller stand at your local bookstore and you will most likely see one of several Michael Pollan books—titles like "In Defense of Food" and "Food Rules" jumping out at you from simple cover photos of lettuce bundles and pea pods. If you listen to WYSO or NPR you have likely heard mention of Issue 2, that mysterious Farm Bill that could either protect or destroy small farmers, depending on who you ask. And simply ask what it means to buy "local food" and you may end up in a heated discussion over whether local means 150 miles or 300 miles, organic or nearby.
With this incessant stream of oftentimes conflicting information it is difficult to untangle the truth about your food from the sticky web of media, money, and successful advertising. At times the heatedness of the debate makes one turn once again to apathy, worried that to really truly have an opinion a certain number of books must be read, articles written, and city council meetings attended.
This isn’t the case though. Because, if you think about it, we own the food debate just as much as anyone else does. We eat food, we depend on food, we couldn’t live without food—and really, this is all that matters. The USDA, ODA, EPA—none of them have a greater "right to know" when it comes to food issues than we do.
And that’s why we want to start up the conversation here in our community, with "Eat Greene," a forum for community discussion on local food issues and policy. Because with the local food debate heating up in our households, workplaces, and even in state legislatures it’s time we revisit this ideal, and think about what it means here—what it means for ourselves and for our community.
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