I've always been a proponent of eating more local foods. There are delicious things grown and raised and harvested right here in our own backyard and buying them not only means we get the freshest products possible, it also means we're helping out our local economy. Plus, you know, helping out by eating... yeah, I can do that.
Fellow Maine gardener J, over at Earth to Table, wrote a review about a book called Plenty. It's about a couple who vow to eat only things grown within 100 miles of their Vancouver home. I picked it up and am about halfway through it. It's interesting stuff. On average, our food comes from at least 1500 miles away and some of it from places as far away as China. When you think about it, it's crazy to eat lettuce that comes from California when it is so easy to grow here. It can be done in pots in a windowsill for Heaven's sake.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love my coffee and chocolate and occasional mango too much to forsake a world full of edibles, but the book got me wondering, what if we vowed to buy food that is grown locally from local farms?
I started checking out some websites, and there's a surprising amount of stuff out there on 100 mile diets. Sure, some of it is the typical holier-than-thou preachiness but I found some interesting stuff as well. At FoodRoutes.org, you can sign up for the Buy Local Challenge. Fortunately for my coffee addiction, that doesn't mean I have to turn my back on bananas, Goldfish crackers and my other favorite things that come from away. Instead, I've pledged to spend at least $5 of my weekly grocery money on locally grown stuff. That's an additional $260 in the pockets of local farmers each year. I'm going to see how it goes and then perhaps try for $10 a week.
There's a scoreboard page, so that you can see how many people in your state have taken the pledge and how much money it will put back into the local economy. Maine currently has 16 people with a total amount of $6340 being pledged. That puts us at number 22 in the country for dollars committed. I also checked out the Find Local Food Now link and discovered several new farms and shops that I never knew about and must investigate further.
The Maine Department of Agriculture has run their Get Real Get Maine marketing campaign for years now and their website is a great resource for finding locally grown products. You can search for local farmers markets and farm stands as well as for orchards, greenhouses, nurseries and community supported agriculture programs. They even have a cool chart for the seasonal availability of Maine grown fruits and vegetables. Apples, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, kale, lettuce, onions, scallions, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, summer squash, tomatoes and a host of fresh herbs are all available now at local farm stands if, like me, you weren't fortunate enough to get a proper veggie garden growing this year.
All this talk about food has made me hungry. Time for breakfast of coffee from away, but blueberries from right here.
5 comments:
Hi there, I'm just back from holiday and have put some of the 357 photos we took on my blog. Re neat edges - I cut mine with an edging iron (in effect, this is a half moon shaped spade) then dig off the turf. I re-edge twice a year because the edges get a bit messy with soil movement etc and every time I cut the grass I clip the edges with long handled edging shears. I think it's worth the effort, 'cos it looks neat even if the grass needs cutting or the flowers are going over. Hope everything in your garden is going well. Mary
It's funny. What with MOFGA, GetRealGetMaine and the Portland Buy Local movement, I was a little surprised that Maine didn't have a Buy Fresh, Buy Local chapter. Then again, is it better said the other way around? Has there been a time and place for one, with everything else being done?
Apparently, a less than a year ago, Maine was having the problem of local supply vs. demand, in that farms were having troubles meeting the demand for CSA shares. Say what you'd like about Mainers, but this is one of those situations where being leery of things "from away" can be a positive thing :)
Hey Mary - welcome back from vacation. I hope you went someplace dry. Thanks for the info on the edges. I'll have to invest in an edging iron.
Hey J - Thanks for the great book recommendation. It's very interesting and has got me wondering, among other things, does Portland have allotment gardens anywhere? I mean, it's not a big deal for me. I have a yard, but what about you city folk? Ok, you don't count either because you have lovely produce right in your apartment, but still, how about all those other folks with less than understanding landlords who want to grow a few veggies? Do they have anywhere they can garden? Have you ever been to the Wednesday Farmers Market in Monument Square?
I used to go to the Wendsday market religiously on my work breaks. Now, I tend to stock up every couple of weeks. It's held on Saturdays too, in Deering Oaks Park from 7-noon. The best bit is that it's right next to Kris Horten's cheese shop and Big Sky Bread, so it's *the* best place to pick up bits for lunch/dinner. Great, now I've made myself all hungry...
As for allotment gardens, not as much as one might think. There is a little community garden on Valley St., but I'm not familiar with the setup they have for allotments. I was going to try and sign up, but then I got the space here. I think since Portland's an "in between" city, there's still space enough at a lot of apartments for veggie plantings. I know out of all the apartments we looked at before the move, at least half offered garden space.
Great post, Chris! I'll have to check out the foodroutes site. Dan and I just returned from Washington County, where we ate blueberries and visited Raye's Mustard Mill. YUMMY! We brought home several varities.
As for allottment gardens in Portland, years ago I ran a Maine Conservation Corps program to start community gardens in Portland. We started 2 in the Parkside neighborhood, and one by the City bus garage. I don't know their status now, though.
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