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Is eating local accessible?

Posted at 1:59 PM on September 8, 2008 by April Luginbuhl (6 Comments)

The leaves are starting to turn here in Ohio, and kids are going back to school. And so am I- sort of. Before the move and the baby, I was trying to finish my graduate degree. Just a few chapters left on my dissertation and I'm done! (That sentence makes it sound so easy and simple....) Anyway, in the spirit of getting back to school, I started reading academic articles again, and I came across one quite relevant to our project at Locavore Nation. I provide it as a little food for thought as it were.

In an article from the August 2008 issue of the professional geographer (Volume 60, Number 3) Professor Julie Guthman raises the question of what do farmer's markets and CSAs accomplish? Do they truly help everyone in a community, or are they just a novelty for the middle and upper class Caucasians? Does the locavore movement reach minorities of any class and the poor of any color?

Her work addresses these questions, and finds that generally farmer's markets and CSAs are accessible only to those of privilege and do not seem to be helping address the question of food security and accessibility in poor areas. This happens in part due to the location of farmer's markets, and the type of clientele CSAs seek out. To some degree the cost, especially of joining a CSA, can be off putting. Also, Guthman argues, the vocabulary surrounding local food movements often doesn't capture the imaginations of all races, and does not seem to welcome all groups to local eating.

What do you think? I know in Cleveland, the point of our CSA, City Fresh, is to increase urban agriculture and local food accessibility especially in the urban core. I don't know of their success rate, but there is quite a diverse group, both racially and economically, at our pick up spot. The farmer's market I frequent is in a racially diverse suburb and the clientele reflects that. I don't see a lot of signals for economic diversity, but they have a WIC stand, and the venders take WIC. I don't know how successful that is in drawing in people who need financial assistance. I don't know that my visual inspection is a good way to measure diversity anyway.

This article caused me to reflect on why eating local is important to me. For me, it is out of a sincere belief that my actions will help shore up local food security, that our farmers won't have to sell good quality land to development, and that all people can eat meals grown in their community and without chemicals, artificial additives, and preservatives. This article then challenges me to ask the next question- is my eating local achieving those goals?

I don't know the answer. When I talk with the farmers from whom I buy produce, I think the answer is yes. When I read more about urban agriculture and see my CSA in action, I think the answer, at least in my region, is yes. But, I'm a privileged white girl in the suburbs. So maybe I don't see the whole story. Short of doing research like Dr. Guthman, I don't know if I can find out the answers.

What is your experience? Is local food available to a diverse group of people? Does the local food movement start to address food security and food access? What benefits do you see in your area from supporting local food?

Comments (6)

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Hi April,
Thanks for making this post. This issue is something I've been pondering for a long time and wanting to post about. Thanks for bringing it up with eloquence and sensitivity. I hope you don't mind if I piggyback a related post onto this one. Hope all's well for you and the family!
Happy local eating,
Autumn

Posted by Autumn Long | September 9, 2008 11:16 AM

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I live in an affluent suburb, but one with a large proportion of asian immigrants. In our farmers' market there is a stall run by Asians which aims specifically at the Asian market, with vegetables you might otherwise find only in specialty asian stores, all grown only a few miles away. So farmers' markets can be relevant to minority communities - they need to both be in the right location and sell the right produce. I think it's up to the farmers to seek out these niche markets and tailor their products to them, like any other business.

Regarding cost, I find that my CSA saves me a lot of money, compared to what I used to spend in the supermarket. Then again I did always buy a lot of veggies.

Posted by sonya | September 10, 2008 10:10 AM

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In the city I live in, I know of two farmers markets located at churches. There may be more; I just don't know about them. Surely they serve their neighborhoods. (They are in fact in neighborhoods, one more affluent, one less so.) Is this a growing trend? Since I'm only just beginning to catch on to the locavore idea, I don't know about these things, but I applaud them and am trying to get into this scheme of things. I would guess these two, plus the main farmers market in the downtown area, are, in fact, reaching toward the goals you mention.

Posted by Glen Stadler | September 14, 2008 8:10 PM

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Hey April,
Vera and some of the Central bloggers had a conversation about this topic. Let's face it: Being able to buy all your food, especially processed food, from the grocery store became a symbol of becoming mainstream and successful. Success meant that you bought into the the food system. Poverty was about getting it fresh from a source you were connected to or even making many items from scratch. Now rhink about the elitist tag that has thrown on people for attempting to be locavores!

I do believe that as food gets more expensive, more people are going to return to this way of eating.
Paulette (West Coast blogger)

By the way--I am a teacher and one of my students is out this week due to getting food poisoning from McDonald's!

Posted by P. Thompson | September 15, 2008 8:38 PM

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Autumn: I'm glad you piggybacked the topic. We should check out the discussion they had in the central region on this as well. I'll check it out before commenting on your post.

Sonya, I think that's great that there are stands that reach out to diverse preferences at your market. I'm wondering if there is more of that out there than I realize. I agree with you about the cost of the CSA. I find that I save money be joining one. I wasn't going to join one this year since we moved and I felt it was too complicated, but we couldn't afford not to and keep eating the amount of fresh produce we like.

Glen, the markets you describe sound like a good start. It makes me wonder if locating markets at a neighborhood anchor, like a church, makes them more accessible. Many of the markets I've frequented across Ohio have been at shopping centers, and they aren't always as accessible as a church might be. Those shopping centers are either hard to walk to with no bus service, or are in affluent neighborhoods. It would be neat to see a study looking at the economic demographics of markets located at churches or libraries vs shopping centers.

Paulette, thanks for letting me know about the central region discussion. Ironic really how the pendulum swings. I do hope though that locavore isn't just an elitist trend, but truly changes the way we think about food in this country. I can't help but wonder what will happen as our economy reshapes itself. Maybe locavore will be part of the answer.

Posted by April | September 16, 2008 2:16 PM

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Thanks for your post and your comments, April. I agree that this project is a good potential launching point for discussion about and participation in better alternatives to the industrial agricultural system. Why locavorism and elitism are conflated these days is a broad issue, and one that I hope to do my part to help solve in some small way.
On another topic, you had asked me about floating row covers. The best-known name brand is Remay. They are made from very lightweight, translucent, spun-fiber material. You can lay them over rows of plants or entire beds like a blanket. They are so light that they don't crush the plants; just secure them at the corners so they don't blow away. They help protect plants from pests (of the insect and mammalian varieties) and offer some protection from frost and sun damage as well. Be sure to remove them from plants that need insect pollination when they begin to flower.
Cheers,
Autumn

Posted by Autumn Long | September 22, 2008 3:18 PM