The Benefits of The Local Food Movement

Final Assessment

The local food movement focuses on reducing the distance from farm to table and keeping people informed on finding the most nutritious foods to put their plate, keep in their homes, and reduce one’s environmental footprint.

Many studies and articles fail to research farmers' Market demands and why people want more local markets that support their communities, but the little research I did find was out of date. Consumers are becoming more aware of GMOs in food, nutrients lost during travel times, and the impact food has on our environment and many more concerns within the food industry. Examining these demands helps us to understand the importance of the local food movement and why it plays a substantial role in our region and possibly within our communities. When people purchase from local farmers, the benefits provided by fresh produce grown locally, better flavour, quality, prices, and support their community. These motivating factors have increased awareness in individuals' lives and have supported The Local Food Movement for over ten years. “The local food movement holds onto the notion that consumers will consume local produce, rather than relying on traditional food distribution systems (that can still be used to transport organic products).” (Rachel Dodds, 2014). “The local food movement was founded by a need to reconnect consumers to local area food suppliers and to restore the values and relationships within the community” (HELENA NORBERG-HODGE, 2002).

The local food movement can increase their impact to change the mindset of many people

worldwide and additional education for those who care about the origin of their food and the environment. Nevertheless, there are still many factors to be considered. Some of these factors include diversity with farmers industry and the farmers market community, up-to-date and clear information on agriculture, more laws and regulations on NON-GMO products, unconventional farming and information on protecting our agriculture, and ways to support our communities demands for fresh local foods. These factors will create massive change now and in the future.

Social justice is an important topic when talking about communities because nutrition, food, health, community economic development and agriculture successfully work together as one food system. The truth is we tend to treat these as separate issues because it is a sensitive topic for governments and people in power, but as I have seen through the Food for Thought course, they are all interconnected pieces of the food system that still needs improvement. “The discussion of social justice is mostly descriptive and less oriented toward suggesting pathways for addressing the historical configurations responsible for the inequalities that persist in these regions (e.g., differences in wealth, power, privilege and resource access)” (Heckelman, May 2, 2018) The acknowledgement of wealth, power, privilege and resource access is not equal around the world and therefore makes it harder to achieve the goals of the Food Movement. How can we neglect social justice when it ties into the Food System that humans have created. This includes growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption and disposal of food and food-related items. If everything is connected, we could strengthen our communities through individual farming, up-to-date awareness campaigns of sustainable local farming for those in smaller communities who are actively seeking a more natural and nutritious foods and ensure that farmers are paid ethically.

There is a loss of diversity in the industrial food chain industry that also comes with a loss of quality. Often the industrial food chain concentrates on specific plant and animal species when we have a variety. This has caused the overconsumption of the 12 plants, 5 animals, and 366 fish. This can lead to the extinction of a species that we have started to see throughout the world. The industrial food chain supports genetically engineered seeds for farming instead of embracing more of a peasant food web structure; it focuses on uniformity than diversity. The Peasant food web refers to any food that is not packaged or produced commercially and free from artificial pesticides. Food grown in your back yard from local farmers, fishers and foragers is included in the food web. The idea of the food web is that everyone is connected, creating relationships within your community, and therefore strengthening it. “70% of our world is fed from the peasant food web, but the government and people in power push industrial farming are diluting where to find the best products for you and your family. In week six, it is suggested that governments must not only explore species that are not studied and used to their full potential but also encourage genetic diversity within species” (Brown, 2020). I agree it is better to focus on the make of a species and the depth of what they provide for us and other species because everything is connected. We need to find a way to add to the planet we are taking from so that the earth can be replenished, and the loss of plants, animals, and fishes will be reduced through environmental science perspective.

Governments and policymakers need to examine the structure of the peasant food web and how it can add value to people's daily lives. Consumers want to know what is in their food and who is growing and making them. “The ideal human diet looks like this: Consume plant-based foods in forms as close to their natural state as possible (“whole” foods). Eat various vegetables, fruits, raw nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, and whole grains. Avoid heavily processed foods and animal products. Stay away from added salt, oil, and sugar. Aim to get 80 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 10 percent from fat, and 10 percent from protein.” (Campbell, 2013). This advice is coming from Dr. Campbell, who shows exactly how our understanding of nutrition and health has gone off track and how to get it right. These are the types of examinations we should be looking into by centring on creating a sustainable life for us and every living thing on the planet.

The Durham College Food For Thought course has impacted my life tremendously by breaking down how I see food and reconstructing it, so I have started questioning where my food originated from and the process from farm to table. At the beginning of the course, my husband and I were on a clean eating diet but paying more attention to the affordability of the diet and how we could do better at home. The way I saw food began to be broken down when I started to read about obesity, hunger, their connection to improper industrial framing and the toll it is taking on the environment. Here I am as a 27-year-old looking for the best way to feed my family and me, and all I could think of was Canada's food guide. I now look for non-GMO sign food labelling, reusable bags when I am shopping, and keep my in-season produce list close by when visiting local farmers' markets and grocery stores. Since graduating from College as a pastry chef, I find it hard to deny what I have learned and applying it to my daily life moving forward by trying to dig deeper into my community and recognizing how we can do better for our community and for the future children who will have to deal with the worlds environmental crisis. Researching the local food movement has shown me the importance of community and how knowledge, research, and action are enough to create change for our community and you in your community too. My final takeaway from this post is that the whole planet is connected and should support one another if we want a more sustainable future, even if it includes sacrificing the industrial food chain for better long-term practices that support the local food movement.

Does every region hold businesses accountable in the food industry?

Governments are not holding businesses like Monsanto and Walmart accountable for their food products; instead, they allow them to take advantage of the public lack of knowledge of the food industry. We, as individuals, must stay up to date with the overall food system to demand the changes we want to see as members of society. We have seen a massive increase in non-GMO products because the government will not create laws or policies to protect consumers from blindly eating GMO produce without knowing the long-term side effects in a population.

Can we expand the local food movement within our smaller communities to impact real change?

In my opinion, we could expand the local food movement by encouraging our communities to invest in local farming by creating their own individual farms or by supporting other local farms and embracing the idea of the peasant food web. The benefits of The Local Food Movement in smaller communities could drive real change and impact lives better by feeding nutritional produce with little or no food miles and interaction.

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References

Brown, K. (2020, June Slide 29). The ETC Report: The Poor Can Feed Themselves, Slide.

Campbell, T. C. (2013). whole rethinking the science of nutrition. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books.

Heckelman, A. A. (May 2, 2018). Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. A primer on local food systems, 153,155.

HELENA NORBERG-HODGE, T. M. (2002). Bringing the Food Economy Home. Bloomfield, CT USA: Kumarian Press, INC.

Rachel Dodds, M. H. (2014). Consumer Choice and Farmers’ Markets. Consumer Choice and Farmers’ Markets, 21.