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Margaret Hochla
El Reno, Oklahoma
I have been married for 27 years to Victor and have 4 children. The two girls and two boys range in age from 25-10 years. We are pleased to still have one grandparent from each side of the family ... More about Margaret
Sareen Dunleavy-Keenan
Minneapolis, Minnesota
I live in Minneapolis, in 1.5 story craftsman bungalow with beautiful woodwork, but a tiny lot. Sharing this space is my husband Brendan, 'baby' (5/07) and 'new baby' who is expected to join the fold in August. More about Sareen
Gina Keenan-Klages
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
My name is Gina, and my husband's name is Patrick. We have three children, ranging in ages from 1 to 5 years. Our household also includes my mother, who is living with us from September to May. More about Gina
Donna McClurkan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Early January may seem an inauspicious time to begin an "eat local" project in Southwest Michigan. As if to underscore that point, nearly a foot of snow fell in Kalamazoo on January 3. More about Donna
Cher Stuewe-Portnoff
St Louis, Missouri
My first father-in-law taught me to garden in the mid-1960s. Over the next few years, with a family of five to feed, I read everything I could find about nutrition ... More about Cher
Vera Schabicki
Ashland, Mississippi
Four years ago my five children, one husband, two dogs, one cat and I moved to the rural South from a large northern California city. We went from .12 acres to a rambling 57 acres. More about Vera
- oh yeah
- Love
- successes and failures
- Hurrah for (kind of) local juice!
- Wow, it has gone fast!
- You must be brave
- Perhaps to give you some insight
- Finale: The Meaning of Life
- Meeting Joel Salatin ... and other posts from the cutting room floor
- The snack that does what?
< From beef to pork | Main | Local business, local food? >
Will Eat for Change
Posted at 8:01 PM on April 22, 2008 by Donna McClurkan
Members of my church are considering "something green" to replace part of the vast, unused blacktop in the back of the building. A community garden, native plants or a small greenhouse are among several options being tossed around. In addition, folks are joining CSAs, sharing their canning/preserving books and expertise, and the congregation is planning a local food-themed potluck in September. The catalyst? A brilliantly titled and expertly led workshop called "Will Eat for Change."
Chris Dilley, the General Manager of our local food co-op, is the architect and leader of this interactive workshop. Our awareness-raising session was billed as a way "to learn what's possible when we look closer to home for our food," a goal being to have us change - even in small ways - how we think about food.
We started with a brainstorming activity to identify the good, the bad and ugly about our food system: planting, growing, raising, harvesting, storing, processing, packaging and distribution. Several flip-chart pages later, we met in small groups to review some statistics relating to our local food system, including:
Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, a network of 23 pantries providing emergency food assistance in Kalamazoo County, gave out over 1 million pounds of food in 2007. That is a 21% increase over 2006.Michigan produces over 200 commodities on a commercial basis, making the state second only to California in agricultural diversity (Michigan Department of Agriculture).
If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Kingsolver & Hopp)
Our small groups used these statistics and others to come up with realistic and doable steps that could be taken to address demand for and access to locally grown and raised food.
I think it's safe to say this 90 minute session left us energized and a bit more knowledgeable about where our food comes from ... and willing to eat for change!