Tri-State Locally Grown Conference

Quincy, Illinois is far prettier than I remember from annual visits to see my great grandmother in the nursing home when I was a little girl. When I drove in from highway 24 I thought I was in New Haven, Connecticut for a moment. The similarity was so striking that I actually felt physically disoriented. But those upmarket blocks fade to a city overrun with train tracks, and what appear to be small mining and refining operations. In my mind these things are still very pretty. Maybe it’s the St. Louis girl in me that finds ghostly skeletons of the industrial revolution beautiful.

The Tri-State Locally Grown conference was held at John Wood Community College. Like other conferences I have attended, the lobby was bustling with exchange of information around educational booths, a couple of vendors, and, thankfully, coffee service.

Apple products from Blue Heron Orchard in Canton, Missouri:

I made my rounds, introducing myself to each booth conductor with - I must admit - the selfish underlying motivation that someone out there knows where I can find a paying job in Missouri local food systems. For shame. Okay, that wasn’t the only reason. I came to the conference to learn. I have a lot to learn – and I started in the right place. David from the nonprofit, The Land Connection, told me what programs are in place to establish new small farms, and support existing family farmers through their organization. My brief discussion with David about small farmers set the theme for the conference: small-scale farming is about Stewardship and Autonomy.

Bonus!: David also gave me carrot, pumpkin, and endive seeds.

The opening speech was by Richard Pirog, Associate Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. He discussed the impact of local and regional agriculture models on global energy consumption and emissions.
My favorite thing about Mr. Pirog was that despite his thorough research in-hand, colleagues at his side, and a confident air, he was humble and open to critique. He acknowledged that data isn’t everything, and, there are some aspects of farm life that can’t be measured with charts and graphs.

For example, studies show that there are fewer emissions when farm food is delivered to customers using a small truck as compared to customers commuting to the farm themselves. However, Mr. Pirog noted that consumers are then unable to see farm, get to know the farmer, the land, and the process. He left the question as to whether this was worth the carbon tradeoff open-ended, and closed with the M. Scott Peck quote, “Through community lies the salvation of the world.”

My first seminar was with Dr. Mary Hendrickson, Rural Sociology professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She discussed benefits of local food systems: community, friends, quality and taste of food, local economy, knowledge, adventure, and variety. But the crux was this: “quality of livelihoods.” For most small farmers, money alone doesn’t equal a high quality of life. In fact the thing that draws most new farmers into the field is autonomy. That’s not to say they aren’t constrained by seasons, timing, customer demands, and that storm blowing over the horizon; but most alluring to the farmer is the ability to plan his or her day themselves. No one could have trouble understanding this concept.

There is enormous social capital gained from engaging in local food systems on the part of consumers, lenders, farmers, and community leaders: healthy, happy, independent people; a growing local economy; an attractive and diverse environment, community vitality, partnerships, trust, equity. A community with high social capital can do anything.

I sat rapt through my next two seminars. The first was an intensive crash course in challenges and solutions to urban food access; and the second taught me how to build my own refrigeration storage out of brick and a window air conditioning unit. Rock'n!

The keynote speakers were Alisa Smith and James Mackinnon, authors of "Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally," one of my favorite recent reads. I had been kicking myself because I left my copy of the book at home, but I was delighted that registration included a new copy, which I was later able to get signed while moderately embarrassing myself talking to Alisa and James about food access in urban areas.

During his speech, James told a great little story that exemplifies the absurdity of our current food system. He met a carrot farmer from Washington State who could never find his own carrots at the local market. Knowing his carrots were sold in North Carolina, he made a trip to the area, and found that his product was the only type of carrot sold in that market. On his way home, he came across a North Carolinian carrot farm that he recognized from his own market. So, carrots were traveling from Washington to North Carolina, and simultaneously, carrots were traveling from North Carolina for sale in Washington State. Two trucks passing in the night.

James pointed out that while food systems can be complicated; there is a simplicity and transparency to eating locally. Buying locally from small-scale farmers is supporting your local economy, sure, but also supporting other people's dreams of autonomy, and a diverse preserved environment that we can all be proud of. This, I think, is what draws me to the issue. Local food has a significant global impact on the issues of peak oil, climate change, social justice, and human rights, but this issue also has a face. A local face, my farmer's face. And I can talk to my farmer while eating his product. That's so beautiful to me.

This is Ron. He grows tomatoes.