Making Food Decisions Built on Trust

I remind myself everyday how lucky I am to work for farmers. The world of agriculture is like a family to me, and I have built some very strong relationships within my state and across the nation. The exciting part is that my family continues to grow.

For the past year, I have been witness and huge nurturer of a sprouting seed called CommonGround. Farm moms and women are becoming empowered to talk about life on their farms and how they are working to raise safe, nutritious, ethical and environmentally-responsible food. And for the first time in my career, I am working with young, vibrant ladies who represent all facets of food production!

From Shana Beattie who raises corn, soybeans, alfalfa hay, beef cattle, 8 million pounds of pork and her four children alongside her husband on a 100+ year old farm in Nebraska to Mary Courtney, who raises vegetables for local customers through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in Kentucky. She and her husband bought a new farm and are working to support their two young children with one on the way. Linda grows organic produce and crops to enable a livable return on their small farm and Ashley farms several thousand acres of grain in which her family is able to support 14 families by providing jobs in their community. Did I mention they voluntarily participate in an environmental certification program? The best part is that they all support each other.

Katie (right) and her husband raise turkeys for
Subway. How cool is that?

As a mom of two, I embrace the concept of CommonGround: being able to have a conversation with my peers. I have learned so much by listening to these ladies, and I feel better than ever about making a trip to the grocery store. I also know that I want to support local farmers like the Courtney’s, because I have a connection with them, and I know that getting produce closer to the source tastes better. And… wait for it… I no longer look at organic food as some evil marketing scheme trying to dupe me out of my money. It takes a lot of work to comply with certification standards, and a farmer willing to do that should be paid more for his or her labors.

There is room on my table and in my refrigerator for it all, and I can feel good about what I am feeding my family. I have developed trust in my farmers because they are willing to be open with me about why they choose to grow my food in the manner that they do. They are also willing to listen to my concerns and tell me if they can do better. That is meeting on CommonGround, and I am proud to support the movement.

My plea to my readers is that the next time you hear of a food issue in the news or from a fellow friend who may not get their knowledge first hand, seek out one of these fabulous ladies and just ask. You can find them at http://www.findourcommonground.com/. Bookmark it! You can also find many of my farmer friend's blogs by clicking on the tab at the top.

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Incredible Cause for Concern

What is your definition of “farmer?” Apparently to many of the visitors to the Incredible Food Show in Lexington, Ky. this past weekend it is someone who is growing their own food in their backyard or selling at a “Farmer’s” market.

Farm women volunteers, who are part of the CommonGround initiative, went to the Incredible Food Show to engage with the public and answer any questions they may have about how food is produced on their farms. I was able to assist by moderating a panel discussion about food marketing and production concerns, as well as, encourage conversations at the CommonGround booth.

While it seemed everyone was glad we were there, it really shocked me that every time I mentioned to someone that we were there on behalf of farmers to encourage conversation about how food is produced, the instant response was, “Oh, I love that. I visit the Farmer’s Market all the time.” Or, “My sister has a garden. That’s great.”

The Voltaggio brothers - of Top Chef fame - showed the audience at the Incredible Food Show in Lexington how to use every part of local veggies for some very creative and "artful" eating.

Another thing that really got to me was the fact that one of the guest celebrity chefs, Michael Voltaggio (his brother Bryan was also there) made the comment during their show that “produce from local farmers was great, but everything at the grocery store was test tube food grown in a factory.”

Really? Why does everything think that?

I admit 100% that the fruits and vegetables grown right under our noses taste better to the 100th degree. Farmers that have local markets are able to pick the produce at the peak of freshness and can get it to the consumer very quickly. Unfortunately, this makes up a very small portion of the food supply, at least in Kentucky. There is a big push right now to get more local food to our local customers, but it will take some time.

In the meantime, however, the produce farmer in Ohio, or even California, who is large enough to service several grocery stores in our state now has a big “X” on his/her face. Some folks are just convinced that since the farm is not “local” and is producing food on several hundred acres instead of two, that the product is bad, industrial food.

At what point does a farmer or farm become “industrial?” And when did “success” become a bad word in agriculture?

Having visited several Kentucky farms recently, I wish all the best for them. If Mary and Shane Courtney’s vegetable business is thriving, and they are able to add more acres, more labor, and service more customers, I hope that is what they do. And what if they are able to grow enough produce that they can move beyond the local CSAs, wholesale and restaurant markets? Is there a point where they will no longer be considered farmers? Maybe that is when they are able to hire enough help that they can actually take a vacation during the growing/harvest season? Heaven forbid.

We have farmers and farms of all types and sizes, using various production techniques and located in all geographic areas. Some areas are great at growing produce, and other land is best suited for grains or livestock production. I know that it will take all farmers and farms to satisfy the needs of our growing population. Just today I saw the following statistic:

“Up until 1920 more people lived on farms than in cities and it took almost 20 million farms to feed the U.S. population which at the time was about 100 million people. Advances in and modernization of agriculture since then now allows for 6.5 million farms to feed 300 million people in the U.S. and export food to people around the world.”

While some may not like the idea of fewer farmers producing more food, this is our current food reality, and I don’t think it is all bad. Jerome Monroe Smucker of Ohio made apple cider from a few apple trees planted by Johnny “Appleseed” in the late 1800s. As popularity grew beyond the locals, he needed more supplies of fruit and he eventually had to move some of the processing to Washington, where fruit was more plentiful. Now his family’s products are sold all over the world.

Back to Kentucky, many of our grain farmers are selling corn and wheat to the local distilleries for bourbon and other spirits. Those products are also sold worldwide. Our local family grain farmers are selling to the food industry as well. Our wheat ends up in crackers and cookies sold throughout the U.S. at Wal-Mart stores via Siemer Milling in Hopkinsville. Our corn ends up in corn chips sold all over the country via Mesa Foods in Louisville. Weisenberger Mills in Midway has used corn and wheat from local farmers since 1865 to make its baking products.

My hope is that no matter the origin of the food products, the consumer remembers there is a face behind the production of the food ingredients, and that face is local to someone. To me, the term “farmer” goes beyond a person or family growing enough fruits and vegetables for themselves and few folks at a farmer’s market. It goes beyond the person like me with a few chickens in a coop. Farmers are producing food for the masses.

Just a side note before I close – I was also perplexed at literature I saw from Whole Foods at the Incredible Food Show. On the back of a local magazine, they placed an ad that said “Eat Seasonal. Eat Local.” On the front page of their newsletter/coupon book, however, they were advertising a pasta product produced in Italy. To me this is very hypocritical. The whole premise of eating local is to reduce the environmental impact of shipping food all over the place. Why aren’t they selling pasta made from Durum wheat in the good ole USA? Seems like the Pacific Northwest, where Durum is grown by our farmers, is a little more local than Italy. I’m just saying.

Hogs on the Highway

I was traveling up the interstate today and saw a semi-trailer load of hogs making its way north. (Okay, I smelled it first and pretty much knew there were hogs on board before I saw their pink little hides.) My reaction when I passed was, “Hello, little piggies. Thank you for feeding me.”

Then I began to wonder about the truck driver. Does he get dirty looks from vegetarians? I wonder how he handles looks of disgust or vulgar gestures. But then I began to wonder about the localvores. Do they also grimace at the sight of food traveling up the highway? Obviously this line of thought intrigued me, and I wanted to think more about why our food, specifically pigs, must travel long distances to get to our dinner plates.

After some research, I calculated the following numbers:

• The average American consumes about 48 pounds of pork each year.

• Market weight of a hog is between 240 and 260 pounds, which yields about 184 pounds of meat.

• Therefore, 1 hog feeds about 4 people per year.

Then I began to think about the town in which I live, population 9,344. In order to feed the people of my town the pork they desire, it would require a local farmer to raise 2,336 hogs per year. That sounds like a lot. So I called one of my favorite Kentucky farmers in the county just south of me and asked about his operation.

The Mackey family feeds 5,000 -6,000 hogs per year. They receive a new batch of weaned pigs every 5 weeks and those pigs are fed for 5 ½ months until they reach 260 pounds. Each batch of pigs received and fed is considered a group, and those groups are sold throughout the year..

The Mackey’s also produce the pigs' feed—corn and soybeans—on 250 acres of adjoining crop ground. All of the manure produced from the hogs is used to fertilizer the feed crops. They have to purchase very little extra nitrogen for the field corn. So all in all, this operation is pretty self-sustaining.

My thought is that it would be fairly easy for a hog farmer to produce enough pork to sustain my town, so long as someone was willing to do it, had the land and resources, and could get a permit for such an operation. The operation would only have to be half as large as the Mackey’s.

But what if we wanted to feed my entire county, population 74,319? That would require 18.5 thousand hogs, so at least 3 to 4 hog operations the size of the Mackey’s would be needed. Since Bullitt County is 300 square miles in size, one hog farm would need to be located every 100 square miles. Most likely, every resident would live within 10 miles of a hog farm. Would they want to do that if they knew they were getting local pork? Of course that is depending upon enough farm acreage available to support the operations, which I am unsure of, and if a local processing facility could be constructed and operated.

But then let’s think about my nearest metropolitan area, just 20 miles north of me (which is likely where the hogs on the highway were heading in the first place). The population is 740,000 people, which would require 185,000 hogs. Land is not available for hog operations, so the pork must come from elsewhere in the state.

The total population of Kentucky is 4,340,000. Today, the commonwealth produces less than 300,000 hogs each year, which is only 1/3 of what we consume. The last year that we produced enough pork to feed the current population was 1980. So to be completely local do we consume two-thirds less pork, or does two-thirds of the population do without? Or, does the price of the pork go so high for increased demand that we can no longer afford to eat it?

I asked the director of my local pork producers association what barriers there were to farmers not producing more hogs. She said profitability was number one. Other factors were that it was harder for new operations to start due to environmental regulations and the fact that the growing suburban population does not want to live near a hog farm.

This scenario is not unique to hog farmers. Whether it is beef, poultry, eggs, or even apples, there are many factors at work that prohibit the required local food production. Demand for food beyond what our land and resources can produce is first and foremost.

Could we do more for ourselves? Those of us who have some land and money are in a better place to be more self-sustaining, but I can’t even get a cabbage to grow or keep my chickens safe from the local carnivores. I could raise that one hog to feed my family of four for a year, but did I mention that hogs are not allowed in my neighborhood? Thank goodness for hogs on the highway!