Foodlust
  • Home
  • The Food Chronicles
  • About
  • Contact

My Foodshed

11/28/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Defining one's foodshed can mean different things to different people.

I recently became a member of our fabulous, local food co-op in Reno, The Great Basin Community Food Co-op. As a working member, you volunteer to support the paid-staff on duty. A new customer drawn by the colorful exterior of the building came in asking if we sold ONLY local products. I replied, "If there is a local food producer, we sell their products but we do sell other organic and natural items to provide a diverse product offering. And in winter, we pull from the larger foodshed that extends into California." She quickly replied, "I want local, not something from California."

She was making a fantastic first step to become better connected to her food and I didn't want to squelch her enthusiasm by having a debate over what defines local so we focused on finding Northern Nevadan products.

Picture
The beautiful, veggie cooler at the the Co-op
The encountered intrigued me...Here are two people with similar aspirations for our food but our different perspectives could put us at odds. We are obvious teammates but with a different game plan. You see this a lot in politics. A political party could be a fragment of several camps each with their own agenda. If we all work independently, we'll never get anywhere. The food movement is no different. In order to move the ball further, we need to come together in solidarity and find common ground on the issues which define the movement.

We've all found ourselves in a situation where your passion for something goes too far to prove a point driving an even bigger wedge between you and the person you are trying to have a conversation with. The intention was good but the delivery was wrong. What is the best way to facilitate healthy, productive and supportive dialogue that is inclusive of each other's opinions? I think listening has a lot to do with it! I get so excited about food stuff sometimes that I practically throw up all over people with my organicy, regional, sustainability. I'm trying to get better...at first taking a deep breath, asking some questions and listening. This is especially handy when talking with people who are total newbies at making conscious food decisions. Too quick to convert, and we may lose them so we need to be respectful and play to their food interests.

Picture
The question for the woman I met may have been, "Where do you get things that aren't local?" Even that has a twinge of condescension but it's a good question. And it begs us to look to the larger foodshed we are either apart of or connected too. I live in Tahoe. Tahoe straddles the Sierra Nevada range. The Truckee River drops east into Reno and The South Yuba River drops west to the Pacific Ocean flowing through Sacramento. It provides a unique opportunity, one denied to most people in the United Sates, the ability to eat year-round within 150-200 miles of our home. We are blessed!

Last week, I attended an invigorating meeting with the Local Food Network of Reno. I was so impressed by the amount of work that has already been done to map out the region and identify key initiatives for the volunteer-based organization. I was in dynamic company. We looked at food production, distribution, education, outreach and available  resources in the area. We examined each category on three scales...neighborhood, metropolitan and regional foodshed. It was brilliant! And a perfect visual to demonstrate how to procure your food when trying to shop local...Start by fulfilling food needs as close to home as possible. When needs can no longer be meet within your neighborhood, evaluate their importance and move to the next ring for options, the greater metropolitan area. As more needs arise, you'll explore the entire region for availability and discover the connection to the larger foodshed. Along the way, you'll reach thresholds as well as make exceptions for goods purchased further away. But hopefully not too far ;)

Tahoe is a high food security risk with its short growing season. We rely heavily on our Reno, Sierra Foothill and Sacramento partners to feed us. The rivers which flow east to west from Tahoe connect us. Watershed like foodshed! My foodshed!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Follow SusieSutphin on Twitter

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    4 Season Growing
    Agrarianism
    Agritourism
    Agroecology
    Agtivist
    Animals
    Aquaponics
    Biodiversity
    Book Blog Vol. 2
    Book Blog Vol. 3
    Book Blog Vol. 4
    Book Blog Vol. 5
    Book Blog Vol. I
    Climate Change
    Coffee
    Community
    Compost
    Conventional Farming
    Cost Of Food
    Crafts
    Crop Rotation
    Csas4713f5b38e
    Dairy
    Education
    Energy
    Equity
    Fair Trade
    Farm Bill
    Farm Incubator
    Farming
    Farm Stories
    Feed The World
    Food Access
    Food Hub
    Food Labels
    Food Miles
    Food Policy
    Food Security
    Foodshed
    Food Sovereignty
    Food Stories
    Food Waste
    Forestry
    Fracking
    Gardens To Hospitals
    Gmo
    Green Jobs
    Growing Dome
    Happy Cows
    History
    Kids
    Land Use
    Localized Economies
    Markets
    Nutrition
    Occupy Movement
    Organic
    Permaculture
    Pest Management
    Recipes
    Regional Food Systems
    Reruns: The Best Of
    Restaurants
    Rodale Articles
    Seasonality
    Slow Food
    Social Movement
    Soil
    Strawberries
    Sustainability
    This I Believe
    Vegetables
    Vermiculture
    Volunteering

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.