Tippin' The Scale
Exploring our changing food culture
Written By: Joel Paul
Culture drives popular trends. Examine any area of interest: books, music, clothing, or food, and you will find something within our culture drives the current trend. What is driving the trend to purchase locally grown produce? The answer is culture. Culture is defined as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize an institution or organization”. Those of us who call the United States, and more specifically greater Kansas City, home are in the midst of a culture change. The culture of food is changing, and this is driving the change from buying food at big box stores to buying from local farmers via farmer’s markets, friends, or family who grow produce, meat, and/or eggs.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number of farmers markets across the States tripled between 1994 and 2010 from 1,755 to 6,132. Now that is impressive! What is the cultural connection to the trend of buying local produce? Growth of farmers markets coincides with the infiltration of the internet into our daily lives. In 1994 America Online (AOL), Compuserve, and Prodigy were introduced to the American public as pay to play, or surf, software suites which allowed us to connect with the world via email, chat rooms, and web sites. This squarely plopped the information age right in the middle of our collective psyches. My family has a heritage of farming in Oklahoma from the early 1900s throughout the 1990s, so I was aware of the steroids used in beef production, and the insecticides poured on crops; however, I did not have knowledge as to the negative health impacts of these agents. For my family the chemicals simply translated into a livable wage. The internet changed my understanding because I was granted access to others who could explain, in laymen’s terms, the health risks that come with ingesting steroids and insecticides. Scientists began to utilize the internet as a venue to highlight the risks of using chemicals in food production. The knowledge of the impact of chemicals used in the production of food created a hunger in our culture for food grown free from chemicals. The advent of the information age gave our culture the ability to exchange and share information relevant to the health of our food. Now that we realize how harmful the chemicals are that are used in mass food production, we can determine to choose better quality, more organic food.
Community Centered
How does buying local benefit our culture? Buying locally grown food creates stronger, more connected communities. Our culture is experiencing a shift to more traditional methods of interacting. As corporate America has centralized, saturated, and lessened the quality of food, and many aspects of our culture, we have decided to return to the days when we knew our neighbors and the merchants we purchased our products from. For many years we have isolated ourselves into “cul-de-sac” communities, and this has been detrimental to our communities because it weakened the bonds we had with people outside our “cul-de-sac”. The increase in farmers markets, and the desire to purchase locally grown food is evidence we, as a society, desire to be connected to each other in a more thoughtful, intimate, and beneficial way. When we purchase our produce from the local farmer’s market, we have an opportunity to befriend the farmer, and in some cases take the time to tour their farm. When we buy local, we get to connect with people who are living and working within the community we live, and our money is being funneled to the very community in which we live rather than a corporate bank account in a different state. It’s refreshing to purchase food products from someone who can explain the agricultural process behind growing that cucumber, and can assure you they have the same passion and desire to grow food that is free from chemicals and pesticides. We also have the opportunity to produce a livable wage to another citizen of our society. Buying locally grown food creates a community of individuals who interact, share stories, aspirations, provide income for our local community, and strengthen the community in which we live.
Conservation Contribution
Purchasing locally grown food also contributes to the health of our environment. Locally grown food, in general, is produced with less machinery, consuming less fossil fuel. In addition to less fuel consumption for product delivery, less motor oil is consumed, and there is less wear and tear on vehicle parts that require replacement. Reducing the impact of everything that comes with transporting food is a significant benefit. Another aspect to local farming that reduces the carbon footprint is the fact nearly 100% of farms that grow local food are owned by families who must be frugal in their day to day operations; therefore, they will be creative in how they run their business. This forced creativity has the potential to produce viable alternatives to heat their house, or make plant potters from the manure of milk cows so as to use every material from a farm (as seen on the episode titled “Poo Pot Maker” from Discovery Channels show Dirty Jobs). Purchasing locally grown produce reduces the negative carbon footprint typically instilled by mass producers of foods who distribute to retailers through a network of distribution centers. Moving to a model local food supply model will reduce the carbon footprint of the food industry as a whole.
Wal-Mart announced this week it plans to double its sale of locally sourced produce by the end of 2015. Since the largest retailer in the world has taken notice of the local food production market, it is clear what started out as a grass roots project is having a significant impact. Tipping the scale to more locally produced food production will benefit the health of individuals and the environment, create sustainable food chains, and contribute to local economies. Buying locally grown food is simply the smart decision.
Written By: Joel Paul
Culture drives popular trends. Examine any area of interest: books, music, clothing, or food, and you will find something within our culture drives the current trend. What is driving the trend to purchase locally grown produce? The answer is culture. Culture is defined as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize an institution or organization”. Those of us who call the United States, and more specifically greater Kansas City, home are in the midst of a culture change. The culture of food is changing, and this is driving the change from buying food at big box stores to buying from local farmers via farmer’s markets, friends, or family who grow produce, meat, and/or eggs.
Courtesy Wiki
Cultural ConnectionAccording to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number of farmers markets across the States tripled between 1994 and 2010 from 1,755 to 6,132. Now that is impressive! What is the cultural connection to the trend of buying local produce? Growth of farmers markets coincides with the infiltration of the internet into our daily lives. In 1994 America Online (AOL), Compuserve, and Prodigy were introduced to the American public as pay to play, or surf, software suites which allowed us to connect with the world via email, chat rooms, and web sites. This squarely plopped the information age right in the middle of our collective psyches. My family has a heritage of farming in Oklahoma from the early 1900s throughout the 1990s, so I was aware of the steroids used in beef production, and the insecticides poured on crops; however, I did not have knowledge as to the negative health impacts of these agents. For my family the chemicals simply translated into a livable wage. The internet changed my understanding because I was granted access to others who could explain, in laymen’s terms, the health risks that come with ingesting steroids and insecticides. Scientists began to utilize the internet as a venue to highlight the risks of using chemicals in food production. The knowledge of the impact of chemicals used in the production of food created a hunger in our culture for food grown free from chemicals. The advent of the information age gave our culture the ability to exchange and share information relevant to the health of our food. Now that we realize how harmful the chemicals are that are used in mass food production, we can determine to choose better quality, more organic food.
Community Centered
How does buying local benefit our culture? Buying locally grown food creates stronger, more connected communities. Our culture is experiencing a shift to more traditional methods of interacting. As corporate America has centralized, saturated, and lessened the quality of food, and many aspects of our culture, we have decided to return to the days when we knew our neighbors and the merchants we purchased our products from. For many years we have isolated ourselves into “cul-de-sac” communities, and this has been detrimental to our communities because it weakened the bonds we had with people outside our “cul-de-sac”. The increase in farmers markets, and the desire to purchase locally grown food is evidence we, as a society, desire to be connected to each other in a more thoughtful, intimate, and beneficial way. When we purchase our produce from the local farmer’s market, we have an opportunity to befriend the farmer, and in some cases take the time to tour their farm. When we buy local, we get to connect with people who are living and working within the community we live, and our money is being funneled to the very community in which we live rather than a corporate bank account in a different state. It’s refreshing to purchase food products from someone who can explain the agricultural process behind growing that cucumber, and can assure you they have the same passion and desire to grow food that is free from chemicals and pesticides. We also have the opportunity to produce a livable wage to another citizen of our society. Buying locally grown food creates a community of individuals who interact, share stories, aspirations, provide income for our local community, and strengthen the community in which we live.
Conservation Contribution
Purchasing locally grown food also contributes to the health of our environment. Locally grown food, in general, is produced with less machinery, consuming less fossil fuel. In addition to less fuel consumption for product delivery, less motor oil is consumed, and there is less wear and tear on vehicle parts that require replacement. Reducing the impact of everything that comes with transporting food is a significant benefit. Another aspect to local farming that reduces the carbon footprint is the fact nearly 100% of farms that grow local food are owned by families who must be frugal in their day to day operations; therefore, they will be creative in how they run their business. This forced creativity has the potential to produce viable alternatives to heat their house, or make plant potters from the manure of milk cows so as to use every material from a farm (as seen on the episode titled “Poo Pot Maker” from Discovery Channels show Dirty Jobs). Purchasing locally grown produce reduces the negative carbon footprint typically instilled by mass producers of foods who distribute to retailers through a network of distribution centers. Moving to a model local food supply model will reduce the carbon footprint of the food industry as a whole.
Wal-Mart announced this week it plans to double its sale of locally sourced produce by the end of 2015. Since the largest retailer in the world has taken notice of the local food production market, it is clear what started out as a grass roots project is having a significant impact. Tipping the scale to more locally produced food production will benefit the health of individuals and the environment, create sustainable food chains, and contribute to local economies. Buying locally grown food is simply the smart decision.
Posted by Urban Growth KC at 10/19/2010 9:30 AM 
Categories: informative
Tags: local markets Local farming organic agriculture Local gardening sustainable organic produce gardening
Categories: informative
Tags: local markets Local farming organic agriculture Local gardening sustainable organic produce gardening
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