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Local Farming and Personal Gardening
I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula along with approximately 500,000 other people. The region is economically depressed and socially isolated. There are two main sales pitches that one hears when considering moving here. One, the landscape pocked and dotted with clean lakes full of fish, virgin forests covering thousands and thousands of acres, and, of course, the ever present Lake Superior.
The second pitch is the often misrepresented cost of living. It is, in fact, cheaper to live here than it is nearly everywhere else in the United States. The caveat, however, is the availability of gainful employment. It is virtually non-existent and a majority of households cannot be considered middle class - living wages are hard to come by. Couple that with the hundred of miles consumables have to travel and you are faced with a situation were luxury is rarely achieved, fuel prices are incredibly high, and thus food is expensive.
I know hunger, I have been unemployed, and I know the difficulties one faces when there is not enough to eat. There are programs with the intention of assisting those in need, but, for most of them, their focus is short sighted and does not address the issue of food security outside the paradigm of welfare dependency.
The local, organic farming trend has taken off in the region in the past decade and for this many of us are thankful. There is one farm in particular that comes to mind, Seed and Spores. They are a local organic farm that meets much of the food needs of the community. They sell their products on the farm, in a food co-op, and at several farmer's markets. Their prices are reasonable (the costs are, however, more than those found at the traditional grocery store) and the quality of their produce is unrivaled.
There are many vendors that are found at the local farmer's market, which incidentally is two blocks from my apartment. During the Summer and fall months one can find nearly any produce item that can be grown locally, as well as a nice variety of meats. This farmer's market does allow the use of food stamps, which is great because it allows the impoverished to make healthier food choices. I spend a lot of my food stamp money at the farmer's market.
Coupled with the farmer's market, my wife and I usually have at least one garden where we grow a variety of herbs and vegetables. Because we rent the amount of space that we can use is limited so we have to grow accordingly.
I believe that if urban farms were to be more common place and more localized that food costs would come down. Further if we were to educate others how easy it is to grow food (it really is easy) we would eliminate much of the dependency that so many have on the government and super markets. In keeping food purchases local you are reinvesting in the community, reinforcing community pride, and taking initiative to direct your own diet.
The second pitch is the often misrepresented cost of living. It is, in fact, cheaper to live here than it is nearly everywhere else in the United States. The caveat, however, is the availability of gainful employment. It is virtually non-existent and a majority of households cannot be considered middle class - living wages are hard to come by. Couple that with the hundred of miles consumables have to travel and you are faced with a situation were luxury is rarely achieved, fuel prices are incredibly high, and thus food is expensive.
I know hunger, I have been unemployed, and I know the difficulties one faces when there is not enough to eat. There are programs with the intention of assisting those in need, but, for most of them, their focus is short sighted and does not address the issue of food security outside the paradigm of welfare dependency.
The local, organic farming trend has taken off in the region in the past decade and for this many of us are thankful. There is one farm in particular that comes to mind, Seed and Spores. They are a local organic farm that meets much of the food needs of the community. They sell their products on the farm, in a food co-op, and at several farmer's markets. Their prices are reasonable (the costs are, however, more than those found at the traditional grocery store) and the quality of their produce is unrivaled.
There are many vendors that are found at the local farmer's market, which incidentally is two blocks from my apartment. During the Summer and fall months one can find nearly any produce item that can be grown locally, as well as a nice variety of meats. This farmer's market does allow the use of food stamps, which is great because it allows the impoverished to make healthier food choices. I spend a lot of my food stamp money at the farmer's market.
Coupled with the farmer's market, my wife and I usually have at least one garden where we grow a variety of herbs and vegetables. Because we rent the amount of space that we can use is limited so we have to grow accordingly.
I believe that if urban farms were to be more common place and more localized that food costs would come down. Further if we were to educate others how easy it is to grow food (it really is easy) we would eliminate much of the dependency that so many have on the government and super markets. In keeping food purchases local you are reinvesting in the community, reinforcing community pride, and taking initiative to direct your own diet.
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Tags: LEARN2, farm, food, urbanfarming
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Comment by ninmah on March 15, 2010 at 2:00am -
I gave you +1 local insight, but it could easily have been knowledge share or courage as well. Thank you for giving us such an open and honest glimpse of some of the food security issues in your corner of the world.
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Comment by Claire Moylan on March 15, 2010 at 2:18am -
Sometimes I think those of us that have gone through hardships have done so in order that our souls have first hand experience of that which we want to address on a social level. Your experience with food insecurity and unemployment is classic. It can be a strength for you later. I completely agree with you that food banks do not address food insecurity, in that they are basically short-term welfare. It's a wonderful program, and I hope they continue, but the element of establishing independence and food security is still there. What would you change to create a system that provides you food when you are unemployed and still does not hook you into a welfare system?
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Comment by Sean Michael Stimac on March 15, 2010 at 3:00am -
My wife and I are more conscious now about what we eat. We are both concerned about food quality. We have changed the way we spend money on groceries. It seems really difficult, but it is not that hard to eat fresh organic foods. You just have to change the way you buy. I also think that more people should pull their flower gardens and plant food. You may not be able to grow enough to support yourself year round, but it is possible to grow a lot of meals in a small space. That's significant when you factor in the several dollars it costs for a package of good seeds. After that you only bear the cost of fertilizer and your labor, which really is minimal on a small scale.
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Comment by Sayel Cortes on March 15, 2010 at 6:28am
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Great insight! I wish more people would do something like that. I find it really sad when people from rural areas decide to plant to sell instead of plant for themselves. As economically attractive as this sound (specially from the mouths of middlemen trying to make some business), the end is that farmers became part of the highly risky food market and the money they get is usually not enough to get the food they would get if they planted in an informed way. Keep the good work. Good luck!
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Comment by Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys on March 15, 2010 at 10:53pm -
"I believe that if urban farms were to be more common place and more localized that food costs would come down." I agree 100%
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Comment by Brian Ballsun-Stanton on March 16, 2010 at 2:09pm -
Interesting. In some studies, people have shown that the cost of transportation is actually fixed, regardless of distance.
On the other hand, walmart is looking into local farming.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/the-great-groce...
How would we remove labour costs from urban farming to allow it to be competitive with agribusiness? How would we avoid a monoculture?
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