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.