When creating a sustainable food system, what we are really proposing is an alternative food system. Applying a sustainability model to the current conventional model is like shoving a square peg into a round hole. Moving food through a national supermarket structure is contradictory to sustainability. It marginalizes seasonality and nutrition and doesn't make local economies more resilient. Before we can transition, we need to create a alternative model to which we can transition....a paradigm shift!

It is going to take BIG picture, outside-of-the-box thinking like that of Larry Yee and Jim Cochran. They share a vision for a new food future taking a "whole systems" approach which will relocalize our food system. At the core are several mid-sized, organic farms each producing a variety of different crops versus large, industrial-sized mono-crops. The engine which drives the model brings these diverse products to a regional hub where it is aggregated for local, not national, distribution to area markets. "Local" is the operative word. And in being local, players both producing and marketing work together and in cooperation. They are partners in community and representatives from this community serve as a governing body to steer the system. Other key elements include, a land trust which preserves farmland and helps local food producers acquire their land and a community bank which provides financial services and invests in area enterprise. It is dramatic shift from where we are now but it's the change we need. Larry and Jim are realistic and have set an attainable first goal of providing locally sourced food to 10% of the US food market by 2020 starting out in five pilot cities and eventually having cooperation between neighboring regional hubs as more develop. Plans are still in their infancy stages but a dream team of strategists and doers have been assembled. The ball is in motion. Look for it in an area near you...The Food Commons.

I don't know the exact birthplace of the strawberry but I did learn a fun fact today about where it gets its name...Strawberries are a hot crop where plastic tarps cover their raised beds to generate heat and cut down on weeds. It acts as a mulch. Back in the day, they didn't have plastic mulch so they used "straw" around the base of the plant to trap heat and reduce weeds. Get it?  Straw-berries :)

When we need to do field trips and group discussions, our group of 32 is broken down into smaller groups of four. Today we visited Toby Kline at Santa Cruz Farm along Hwy 1. He leases and farms 3.5 acres on a hillside with views of the ocean. Combined, it provides a comfortable lifestyle for one person allowing him to take winters in Baja where he volunteers and consults on other farms. During peak season, he'll have 4-6 full -time staff but otherwise, it is pretty much just him. Seeing a farm of this scale put into perspective the idea of farming a small plot of land. Which directly ties in with the Abraham Lincoln quote that Toby has emblazoned on the wall of his tool shed, "The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small plot of land." For Toby, farming sustainably is not just about organic methods but also what is sustainable for himself, his budget and lifestyle. He's one guy, who isn't wealthy and still wants a life. He has struck that balance.

70 years ago, nearly 20% of the population made their living as farmers and over 50% worked the land in some way perhaps in the form of a subsistence farm. Today less than 1% of the population claim farming as their main occupation. It's not even listed on the census form. How far we've strayed! Toby is a great example of closing that gap not only providing for himself but others in his community. We need more farmers at this level like Toby. It demonstrates that you can carve an income from even a small-small scale farm. His food can be found in area restaurants, New Leaf Community Markets and three of Santa Cruz's Farmer's Markets. Toby is planning another phase to his sustainable farming practice by transitioning to primarily perennial crops meaning they will regrow each year unlike an annual which you have to plant new each year. It allows the soil to establish itself and get stronger over time versus always being tilled and replanted. He'll find himself more on the berry side of the patch than vegetables which are typically more annuals but he sees a growing market and one ripe for the picking.

Here's my group at Santa Cruz Farm. Toby is in the middle with the trucker hat. From L-R...Back Row: Christina, Lenora, Kristina, Toby, Franciso, Susie, ? Front Row:Tara, ara, Dongmei.