ruthandetta:

afarmjournal:

ruthandetta:

afarmjournal:

Know who and what you’re supporting when you buy Big Organic. Click here for more charts on organic food processor aquisition, from Philip Howard of Michigan State University. Downloadable .pdfs on his website. 

Well one way to cut out all of this is cutting out grocery stores and supporting your local farms by joining a CSA or buying from the farmers market.  YeahYeah I know thats a dreamland for most of us…but not really, a lot of farmers markers use food stamps!

I apologize that I cannot find a less abrasive way to say this; I only mean to point out that there is a much larger social problem at work here.

But really, not having access to fresh, local, independently grown food is more than just a food stamps issue. There is physical access, distance and lack of transportation. There is lack of education on or the belief in the value of good food at all. There are social constructs, cultural barriers, and economic limitations standing in the way. A farmers market cannot take food stamps if it does not exist. A person cannot use their food stamps at the farmers market if they cannot get to it, or if they lie in the huge gap between low enough income for food stamps and making a true living wage. You cannot join a CSA if you are not welcome in the neighborhood the farm is in based on the color of your skin or the quality of your clothing. Unfortunately, “real food” is NOT dreamland for the “most of us” that do not have access to non-industrial food; “most of us” care more about taste (sugar + sodium), familiarity, and stretching our dollar more than eating well, none-the-less ethically. And “most of us” are not on tumblr searching for food ethics tagged posts.

Firstly the “most of us” Im talking about would be the group of people I interact with in my city, Im NOT talking general population, Im speaking to the people I interact with almost daily.  If I were to post a write up on how to eliminate big names from having control over our food it would go on and on and wouldnt be up on tumblr. 

Does your community or a near by community have the hardships you spoke of with getting fresh and local food? What are you doing to make a change, make it local?

Ah, I apologize! Sometimes I forget that people use tumblr as a personal site, since I use it as a networking tool and most of the people I interact with on a daily basis know how I feel about these things, heh. Just curious, why wouldn’t your write-up be on tumblr?

I’m currently interning in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans. This community has all the aforementioned problems and more. The organization I’m working for, Our School at Blair Grocery, is a developing urban farm, community center, and after-school program whose central goal is to provide resources for the neighborhood youth and to promote a sense of community in this post-Katrina reality. However, I am not from New Orleans, so when I am living with my husband, we grow and preserve our own food, and buy from local farmers we personally know. The community we live in is very progressive and idealistic- which is a reason I came to work with OSBG. Where we live is not my hometown so it is sometimes frustrating for me to see so much good happening in such a remote area. Since I cannot say where I will eventually end up, outside of my current work, pursuit of a bachelor’s degree focused in sustainable agriculture, and local eating habits when it is available, I cannot directly answer your question of what I am “doing to make a difference,” because I have not gotten to that point in my journey, yet.