The challenge makes clear how important it is that The Valley and
Vermont can grow significant amounts of our own food. Consider an
article in <MI>Yes! Magazine<D> written by Brooke Jarvis
that looks at Illinois, a farm state with 76,000 farms and more than
950 food manufacturing companies.
Illinois, which is 80 percent farmland, supplies only 4 percent of the
food eaten in that state. The bulk of what is grown there is exported
while the bulk of what is eaten there is imported. At the state level,
the Illinois Legislature is working to address the problem and working
to strengthen the local connection between farm and table.
In the last decade the number of farmers' markets in the state has
grown from 97 to 270 and community-supported agricultural programs have
more than quadrupled. Illinois' situation is not unique -- the food
most Americans eat has traveled an average 1,500 miles to reach our
plates.
Vermont finds itself in a slightly different situation, although much
of our food still travels 1,500 miles to reach us as well. But there
has been a resurgence of small family farms in Vermont, and farmers are
branching out, moving from the state's traditional dairy farming to
other types of farming including fruit, vegetables and meat.
To take one example, organic farming in Vermont, the numbers are even
more impressive. Vermont ranks fourth in the 22 eastern states in the
number of certified organic operations. Vermont ranks third in the 22
eastern states in the number of certified cropland operations and ranks
third in the number of certified organic cropland acres -- significant,
given the state's small size compared to New York and Ohio, ranked
first and second, and Pennsylvania, ranked fourth.
Organic, however, does not tell the whole tale. The story also has to
include residents making conscious decisions to protect their prime
agricultural lands via zoning ordinances. It has to include consumers
making informed decisions about why they buy what they buy. And it has
to include the obvious economic impacts of shopping locally as well as
the adverse environmental impacts of purchasing food that has been
shipped 1,500 miles to get to your plate.
During the Localvore Challenge week, the question of whether we can
feed ourselves is in the forefront of our minds as we search for the
right foods to fulfill our commitment. Let's hope that question lingers
after the week is over.
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