I'm going to avoid a "save the world" argument here as to why I think finding food close to home is a good idea. I mean I care and all but usually reasons closer to here, now, what's fun or not fun, costing money or free, and what is yummy, guides my decisions. How selfish right?
So yeah, obviously finding local food means lessening energy dependence and all the yada yada, but other reasons a compel me more.
But before I list them- what do I even mean by source food locally? Well as my blog title says I mean forage farm and ferment. I mean looking to local nature, local farms and home gardens, and my own kitchen to provide as much food as possible for myself and my family.
So besides being naturally wired to distrust all forms of institutional authority including industrialized food and its pyramid pimps, the following reasons drive my conversion to local food systems.
- Foraging= nature respect- A nature walk takes a new level of interactivity when foraging. When I learned miners lettuce makes a tangy salad, how tasty wild mushrooms make a cream soup, or that natures herbs make delicious and healing teas- nature took on a new quality. It's grocery shopping without needing money! And it helps the kids learn to appreciate nature, giving the little squirrels (my kids) purpose.
- Garden therapy- I learned that good living soi lcontains a bacteria which exudes a smell triggering happiness. I fully believe that-it holds promise of future food so of course evolution would have us react favorably to it. Not to mention that caring for a tender seedling on it's way to maturity and then food on my plate- feels like an accomplishment, even if it's just one plant. There's also an intrinsic metaphor in gardening- when we care for something it will care for us-happiness and abundance requires getting outside of ourselves-predicting another lifeforms needs reaping tenfold rewards. But it's interesting-when I tried to care for a plant and killed it I never thought "you stupid plant. I give and give and you just go and die before it's my turn to take from you". More just felt sorry I failed it.
- Food grown=money saved. If I were to start from seed and use compost created from what I'd otherwise waste- vegetables cost nothing (almost). They may cost in time but not really because even as a lazy weeder- I still have more than I started with. But honestly where I live I can't make tomatoes not grow. I planted five plants in my compost soil, had them on a morning night water timer-totally forgot to weed and ended up with more tomatoes than I could eat. That's 40 easy lbs for nothing which is great considering organic heirloom tomatoes in the store never go below 3 dollars per lb. Yay I made 120 easy bucks.
- Transparency- Small local farms want me to get to know them. They offer volunteer exchanges for food, and exude pride in their methods which means I'm certain they don't use night soil for fertilizer. YUCK. I can also ensure chickens aren't living life in one square foot of feces, or that pigs aren't covered in sores. OK I'LL STOP but you get the picture. Industrial food won't show us their process. Journalists have had to infiltrate as employees to get the lowdown, and that makes me a tad uncomfortable. Actually it makes me really uncomfortable. If it's wholesome enough to get FDA backing, why hide? And when did the average person get so cozy outsourcing their trust?
- Taste-When I discovered lacto fermentation via Sally Fallon from her book Nourishing Traditions, I swear to you my life changed. I felt like a lost orphan who finally found home as my SOUL remembered the tatse of lacto sour! I made kraut, kimchee, cordito, carrepeno, krishna kraut, ginger carrots, pickles, lacto ketsup, and creme friache. Meals became an excuse to eat condiments. (I must confess becoming lazy about making new batches which is part why I started this blog- To keep the good things I do alive!). After finding the delisiousness of tangy sour fermented foods, I no longer craved the chemicals in processed food- no more bbq lays or nacho doritos. The flavoring in those mimics the taste sensation the real thing I'd found.
- Community-can anyone remember when food was culture? Since the 50's marketers convinced us food was a problem convenience could fix- freeing up our time- But growing, cooking, baking, canning, and eating food with friends and family is one of life's simple delights. We got time-time now spend chasing money to pay for food and health insurance. Did we win? My opinion is no. But where I live food returns as culture in both senses of the words. We have a culture which cultures- crazy people carrying around sourdough starters in a pouch return among us, potlucks abound, and I couldn't be happier.
But despite compelling reasons, I roll back. I know the path to food freedom and an interconnected life- but without continuosly challenging new skills and forming new connections- habits overtake me. I am not writing this blog as a garden guru or a brawny homesteader. I'm a regular person with kids in public school who gets really excited for projects sometimes-often forgetting to complete them. Bear with my on my path- spiritual, practical, and philosophical, to food freedom and to one day fully practising what I preach.
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