Local Food Challenge

by Rachel Dunstan Muller

My three-year-old has started making connections about where her food comes from. Eggs come from chickens (she helps gather them from our backyard coop), apples come from trees, and strawberries come from strawberry plants. The one thing she doesn’t understand is why we can’t plant candy canes in the garden.

Lately I’ve been questioning where our food comes from as well. Why did the organic garlic I purchased yesterday come all the way from China? Why are we importing apples from New Zealand, and flying kiwis in from Italy? There are many reasons our present food system works in the short run. Most of them have to do with global economics and the current availability of cheap energy. But the present system isn’t sustainable. Transporting food across such great distances leaves a huge carbon footprint. Industrial agriculture also requires heavy applications of nitrogen fertilizer, which in turn produces nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with 298 times the impact of carbon dioxide. And then there are the food security issues. We produce less than five per cent of the food we consume on Vancouver Island, which leaves us extremely vulnerable in the event of natural or human-caused disasters.

I read The 100-Mile Diet a few years ago, which chronicles the experience of two Vancouver residents who pledged to eat only locally produced food for 12 months. While it was an entertaining and thought-provoking book, a strict local diet is impractical for most already busy families. Even the authors admitted that their challenge consumed the time equivalent of demanding second jobs.

So how do we move towards a healthier, more secure food system for both our kids and the planet? In the hope that it might inspire you to come up with your own ideas, here’s what I’m pledging to do this year:

Grow more food. We have a large yard, but most of it is shaded. Still, I’ve managed to find a few pockets that get sun. We’ve built a small raised bed and acquired some half-barrels to grow strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, kale, beets and a few other things. We’ve also replaced some of our landscaping with dwarf fruit trees and blueberry bushes. A new community garden has just gotten off the ground in our town, and I’ve signed up for a small plot. If that isn’t enough for a novice gardener, I’m in negotiations to grow more food on a vacant city lot. I’ve got much to learn, but I’m very excited.

Gather more food. In late summer, you can’t go a block in most areas of our semi-rural neighbourhood without seeing at least one large patch of blackberries. I pick some every year, but this year I’m going to make sure the freezer is full. Blackberries are local, organic and free. They’re high in fiber, packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants—and my kids can’t get enough of them! I’ve also taken note of a few wild cherry trees. The birds will still get the fruit on the highest branches, but I’m going to make sure some if it ends up in pies and jellies.

Glean more food. With the extra garden space my hands are probably full enough already this year. But if I didn’t have so much space of my own, I would join the local gleaners who sign up to pick surplus fruit and vegetables from area yards. The gleaners keep some of what they’ve gathered for their own use, and take the rest to the food bank. It’s a great way to prevent food from going to waste.

Shop at farmers’ markets and farm gates. There are two weekly farmers’ markets within cycling distance of our home. We can also buy eggs, honey, blueberries, kiwifruit, hazelnuts, corn, oysters, cranberry products, and a good selection of in-season vegetables directly from their producers. Our next project will be to build proper cold storage so we can keep some of this locally grown produce over the winter.

Look and ask for local food at the grocery store. This is the easiest way for most families to support area farmers. We can buy local poultry, eggs, and occasionally produce from the independently-owned grocery store near our home. Local dairy products are available almost everywhere, including from most of the bigger chains. The small butcher shop at the center of our community is a great source for local meat and fish.

Eat less processed food. Fewer ingredients translates into less transportation miles and less energy to process. As an added benefit, our grocery budget goes further when we’re buying a large bag of rolled oats versus a small box of cereal. More of the original food value is also retained.

Waste less food. North Americans waste a whopping 40 to 50 per cent of their food. (Most of that waste occurs before food reaches the grocery store; consumers throw out about 18 per cent of what they take home). What a difference we could make if we could reduce these figures even by half! Most of our family’s waste goes to our chickens, who in turn give us eggs and manure for the garden. Still, I’m making an effort to reduce the amount of “edible” waste they get by buying smaller amounts of produce so we can use it before it rots, offering my youngest children smaller portions initially, and freezing leftovers that we’re not going to consume in the next few days.

It’s not the answer to all our food-system issues, but it’s a start.

Rachel Dunstan Muller is the mother of five, and a children’s author. She and her family are working at reducing their environmental impact, one area at a time.