A Food Revolution in the Making, from Victory Gardens to the White House Lawn
Last month, First Lady Michelle Obama broke ground for a new vegetable garden on the South lawn of the White House. It's the first time food will be grown at the President's residence since Eleanor Roosevelt planted her Victory Garden during World War II. Back then, as part of the war effort, the government rationed many foods and the shortage of labor and transportation fuel made it difficult for farmers to harvest and deliver fruits and vegetables to market. The First Lady's Victory Garden set an example for the entire nation: they too could produce their own fruits and vegetables. Nearly 20 million Americans answered the call. They planted gardens in backyards, empty lots, and even on city rooftops. Neighbors pooled their resources, planted different types of produce, and formed cooperatives -- all in the name of patriotism.
By the time the war ended, home gardeners were producing 40 percent of the United States' produce. They aided the war effort by creating local food networks that provided much needed produce in their own communities, but their effect on the social fabric of the nation was greater still. Urban and suburban farmers were considered morale boosters who had found a great sense of empowerment through their own dedication to a common cause.
Today, home gardening is on the rise, but most Americans still know very little about where their food comes from, and even less about how the changes in temperature and precipitation associated with global warming may alter national food production. If you break down the fossil fuel consumption of the American economy by sector, agriculture consumes 19 percent of the total, second only to transportation. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a concentrated effort to mitigate its impact on the climate. If we want to make significant progress in reducing global warming we will need to wean the American food system off its heavy 20th-century diet of fossil fuel and put it back on a diet of contemporary solar energy.
Resolarizing the food economy can support diversified farming and shorten the distance from farm to fork, shrinking the amount of fossil fuel in the American diet. A decentralized food system offers many other significant benefits: Food eaten closer to where it is grown is fresher and requires less processing, making it more nutritious, and whatever may be lost in efficiency by localizing food production is gained in resilience; regional food systems can better withstand all kinds of shocks.
Here are few examples of how we could start:
- Provide grants to towns and cities to build year-round indoor farmers' markets.
- Make food-safety regulations sensitive to scale and marketplace, so that small producers selling direct off the farm or at a farmers' market are not regulated as onerously as a multinational food manufacturer.
- Urge The U.S.D.A. to establish a Local Meat-Inspectors Corps to serve and support the local food processors that remain.
- Establish a Strategic Grain Reserve to prevent huge swings in commodity prices.
- Create incentives for hospitals and universities receiving federal funds to buy fresh local produce which would vastly expand regional agriculture and improve the diet of the millions of people these institutions feed.
This isn't just about government reform. Organizations, businesses, and even individuals like you can help advance these key initiatives and support both the revival of food local food economies and the health of our nation.
Next month the Natural Resources Defense Council will honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and innovation in the field of sustainable food in its first annual Growing Green Awards. As the Chair of the selection committee, I'm excited to be part of this initiative and join NRDC in recognizing the extraordinary contributions this years honorees have made in the areas of ecologically-integrated farming, climate and water stewardship, farmland preservation, and social responsibility. The Growing Green Awards is an opportunity to highlight the contribution individuals can make in creating a more sustainable future through better food production practices that improve the health of people and the planet.
Along with my fellow Growing Green Awards panelists, Larry Bain, Fred Kirschenmann and Karen Ross, I'm pleased to announce the nine finalists in three categories: Food Producer, Business Leader, and Thought Leader.
Food Producer
Will Allen, Growing Power, Milwaukee, WI
Judith Redmond, Full Belly Farm, Guinda, CA
Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm, Swoope, VA
Business Leader
Fedele Bauccio, Bon Appetit Management Co., Palo Alto, CA
Michael Rozyne, Red Tomato, Canton, MA
Thaleon Tremain, Pachamama Coffee Coop, Davis, CA
Thought Leader
Ann Cooper, Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley, CA
James Harvie, Institute for a Sustainable Future, Duluth, MN
Sibella Kraus, Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAGE), Berkeley, CA
The winners will be selected on May 9 at an NRDC benefit at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, Calif. I hope you will consider joining me in celebration of this important event.
Resources: Find out what's fresh near you and get great recipes at NRDC's Food Miles page.
This post originally appeared at Greenlight, from NRDC's OnEarth magazine.
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Brilliant ideas. The last one...... federal tax incentives for hospitals and institutions to buy locally grown food. Small family farms would have a chance with this one change in law alone.
Small farms have to throw away food ...which is a shame. Market is the key.
I would hope they would donate it to a food bank or homeless shelter before "throwing it away!"
I hope that is what you menat- because that is much like throwing it away in a business sense.
One instituion that definately should get these grants...S
Michael Pollan lost me when he began advocating food policy that would write off America's family farmers
We can partially agree with someone right?
Does anybody remember the 70s and the burgeoning natural-foods movement, when this became popular? Nothing new under the sun... but this has been unfashionable for a long time (thank you, Reagan era) and it's great to see it surfacing again.
I've appreciated and learned from Mr. Pollan's writing, but his link to the NRDC page regarding food miles and eating local was more amusing than informative. I entered my state (Arizona) and season (late April) into their "What's Fresh Near You" widget, only to learn that *nothing* is fresh and local in the entire state this time of the year.
Having purchased locally grown tomatoes, garlic, onions, potatoes, celery, cilantro and fennel last weekend at downtown Phoenix's farmers market - in addition to harvesting eggplant and artichokes from a neighbor's garden - I wondered why NRDC thinks us poor AZns must import food from CA, CO and NM to sustain life this time of year.
Read both of his books, and while so much of it is good, he is headed further and further into indignancy an egotisticalness. It bugs me more and more that he isn't willing to acknoledge efficiencies that do occur through mass retailing. For example, his adoration of Polyface Farm doesn't ship anything out, but instead has each individual drive out to the farm, wasting gas for each individual car, instead one truck could take his food to a more populace area where this wouldn't be necessary.
I even understand that Pollan will not allow nutrition majors to take any of his classes, nor will he accept nutrition questions. For someone claiming to know everything about food and nutrition, he certainly doesn't want to have anyone critiquing his pre-destined imaginings about what food should be.
It's not Nutrition that's the issue, but Nutritionalism! Pollen is anti-nutri
Without nutionalists though we wouldn't understand what vitamins are or that we need them. There is an extent that the nutrition field has over-reached its bounds; however, there is a lot of value in what nutrition has developed.
Pollan, again and again, says that nutrition does not have all the answers and proceeds to claim that he knows all about how food will react with our bodies.
He seems to revel in a religious-esque, anti-science viewpoint. Just because we don't know how these things operate in entirety now, is simply no excuse for not trying to figure it out. If we go by Pollan we would still be thinking that fatback is the most nutritious food we can get and if we were able to afford it, it should be the only thing we should eat.
Well said, Mr. Pollen, you are one of my favorite authors (and Food is my favorite subject!). It's time we help create a healthier nation and get off the pesticides. Folks need to eat much more fruits, veggies and leafy plants. This would help our country and planet on many levels, I believe. Bravo! -
www.thebas
I think that there has been a garden at the WhiteHouse long before the benevolent dictator took over. At least according to the chef who worked for Clinton and Bush.
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I wish all the AGW disciples would read this and recognize how much of a difference we could make if each did our part to cut down on the need for Industrial Agriculture and the transportation of those products to cities' supermarkets. Just think of the possibilities rather than argue about "who done it".
Be the Change You Want to See!
This is very positive news. Hope it is not just a trend, but continues to become culture.
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With you there.
I am laughing so hard.. while everyone seems to have discovered SOMETHING NEW.. SOMETHING GREEN be green be natural.. etc.. where have you been? All of a sudden what was old is now new.. I have been growing plants, veggies etc since I was 18.. my whole family grows a veggie garden EVERY year.. last year since we now have a home with a nice sized yard we have a small farm and I learned how to can all my favorites we enjoyed eating the fruits of our labors all winter.. I had a small yard when my kids were small and we STILL grew whatever veggies we could.. just so they knew where their food comes from.. this is not a new idea.. it's an OLD one that should ALWAYS be taught to each generation
It is about time.
Gardening and canning were important to my grandparents that were children in the Dirty 30's. I worked in the garden from an early age and I am grateful for that influence. I didn't learn much about the canning process an adolescent so I'm doing it now. It's about time.
Everything old is new again!
I am dragging my mom out of canning retirement this year-she is gonna show me how!
In New Hampshire we have locals farms that wil let buy potatoes in the fall and kep them in their cellar if you live in an apartment.
Worldwide Protest;
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Great article! You're absolutely right when you say this isn't just about changing government. It's about changing our own attitudes about food and nature in general. It's about educating ourselves about where our food comes from, what is used on or in it and how it affects our health and lifestyle.
I tend to grow plants and veggies that I have had success with, and I find it rewarding to do the work and reap the harvest. We grow pumpkins for my granddaughters, and to use in outdoor decorating from October through the end of November. We grow tomatoes and cucumbers, which are just better right out of the garden, before they're ever refrigerated. We grow peppers and corn. Gardening is also a great stress reliever, it's good for the soul; even weeding.
Ahh a shift in social conscious, would be nice.
That's awesome, I love taking care of my plants & try to get new veggies each year. We're starting on our roma tomatoes for the first time ever! We are excited for our son to see the results of all the work that goes into taking care of all our herbs, fruits & veggies. Everyone should have their own modern 'victory garden'!!
Love this!!
-Monique and Jeff
I loved this article. Really inspiring. Thank you.
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