Local Food - A vehicle to reconnect nature and culture
My premise is cooking --that defined broadly enough to take in the whole spectrum of techniques people have devised for transforming the raw stuff of nature into nutritious and appealing things for us to eat and drink--Is one of the most interesting and worthwhile things we humans do. This is not something I fully appreciated before I set out to learn how to cook. But after three years spent working under a succession of gifted teachers to master four of the transformations we call cooking --Grilling with fire, Cooking with liquid, Baking bread, and Fermenting all sorts of things--I am especially proud of my bread and some of my brazes.
But I also learned things about the natural world (and our participation in it) that I don't think I could've learned any other way. I learned far more than I ever expected to about the nature of work, the meaning of health, about tradition and ritual, self-reliance and community, the rhythms of every day life, and the supreme satisfaction of producing something I previously only could've imagined consuming, And doing it outside of the cash economy for no other reason but love. Michael Pollan - Cooked
But I also learned things about the natural world (and our participation in it) that I don't think I could've learned any other way. I learned far more than I ever expected to about the nature of work, the meaning of health, about tradition and ritual, self-reliance and community, the rhythms of every day life, and the supreme satisfaction of producing something I previously only could've imagined consuming, And doing it outside of the cash economy for no other reason but love. Michael Pollan - Cooked
Integrative Apprenticeships with our Local Food Partners
|
Our various partnerships provide a wide variety of apprenticeships in occupations that reconnect the human experience with the natural ecology on which we depend. Initial opportunities include the growing local food movement (from farm to table), Eco-therapy, sustainable nutrition, hospitality and customer service.
|
|
Apprenticeships are a key component of the Institute for ReGenerative Learning’s (IRL) programs. They provide an opportunity for hands-on-learning that grounds knowledge in embodied know-how. The Integral agricultural model, the ReGenerative Agricultural System, brings together bio-dynamic insights, intensive European row techniques, the insights of ReGenerative Science (that helped end the African famines of the 80’s) and a generation of learning from American approaches to low impact, deep organic farming. The result is an evolving model that produces nutrient rich food and offers an economic distribution system that makes that food affordable to a wider audience.
The system and the holistic programs of the IRL provide a solid foundation for a new generation of emergent leaders with the skill and enthusiasm to generate solutions that go beyond sustainability. Our comprehensive approach provides both educational apprenticeships and opportunities for long term employment. With the opportunity for both a livable wage and ownership participation, initially in the local food movement, our programs create a practical pathway for a new generation of ecologically minded social entrepreneurs. One root of our approach is the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement that started in the late eighties as a simple way to support local agriculture. It created a more efficient form of consumer direct marketing and delivery of food. In the CSA Food Membership System growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. The member buys a share prior to the seasons planting and shares in the harvest, generally from May through October. Today there are over 4000 CSA’s across the U.S., with more added each year. Thousands of these right sized farm-to-table farms and gardens provide fresh, healthy food to a growing proportion of Americans. The Institute for ReGenerative Learning and our various partnerships are extending this work by evolving the CSA concept into the notion of Agriculturally Integrated Cooperative Communities that incorporate the ReGenerative Agricultural System. There are at least three dimensions to this initiative: > The improved agricultural methods of the ReGenerative Agricultural System > The development of emerging leaders and the creation of a body of engaged apprentices and colleagues > The implications for community revival and cultural renaissance
The focus of this document is on the economic and cultural potential of a revitalized local agriculture in the northeast. The long term implications for a new form of community, cultural revival and a more creative approach to residential development and land use planning will be addressed in a companion paper. The opportunity to create a renewed (agriculturally based) economy in the northeast is, in many ways, already underway. That economy can supply healthy food to local and regional markets (40 million people live within a one day delivery radius of the meeting place of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York), create jobs with livable wages and help ReGenerate the land for long term sustainability. The jobs will provide a wide variety of opportunities for emerging adults to earn a living, find a meaningful place in society and create a future that works for us all. Of the close to 8.5 million acres of farmland in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York 70% of the tillable land is planted with commodity crops that are dependent on chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. This system is oil dependent, ecologically suspect and lacking in terms of both taste and nutrition. In addition, these biological “dead zones” are the largest cause of soil runoff into streams and rivers, creating hazard for both human and animal populations. For each acre of monoculture farmland, it takes $43 in direct labor cost to plant, cultivate and harvest crops (usually corn or soy) in the industrial agricultural system. Compare that to over $8000 per acre in direct labor for growing craft based organic crops. At the same time the gross revenue per acre in the current industrial system is $720, including subsidies. Intensive post organic agriculture generates gross revenues (even without greenhouses and 12 months of production) of between $21,000 and $26,000 per acre. The net value of post organic foods produced with this approach, estimating an average return per acre of $24,000, is $16,000. That is more than $15,000 greater than the return on conventional industrial corn or soy, and does not include government subsidies. With the awareness growing across America that food is the first medicine, the demand for high quality, nutritious food continues to grow. Organic food sales in the United States during the 2000 calendar year were almost $7 billion. In 2009 the sales of organic food reached almost $30 billion, and world wide sales in 2010 were close to $55 billion. Organic food is the fastest growing sector of the American food industry, growing 5 times faster than other market segments, at approximately 15% per year. 
|
More Money for Producers
A direct distribution model can provide the freshest nutrient dense food direct from farm-to-table across the greater northeast. Weekly
direct-to-consumer (both commercial kitchen and residential home) delivery of fresh vegetables and fruit throughout the 25 week farming season is augmented through out the rest of the year with fresh herbs, winter vegetables and healthy prepared and frozen food . The market basket is augmented with additional dairy products, meat, and over time organically raised fresh fish. A marketing approach using a Relationship Driven Supply Chain that builds strong relationships between consumers and farmers is an important component of the strategy. These relationships are enhanced by an active internet community and the rich information that travels back and forth across the supply chain. The empowered social relationships that develop between eaters and growers creates a positive reinforcing loop that accelerates the process of delivering the right food at the right price to a wider population. As we convert from the current multi-layer national distribution system to a regional direct system we eliminate the waste of close to 35% of the factory food lost in the process of transportation and distribution. In addition, both our farming methods and our regional distribution system delivers food at a significantly lower carbon cost than conventional agriculture, reducing the impact on global warming and eliminating significant amounts of chemical pesticides and herbicides. World-wide, for every pound of food grown with conventional methods 6 pounds of soil is lost. The composting and soil building technologies that are part of ReGenerative Agricultural System, such as growing bio-mass crops like daikon, using mineral enhancements and integrated livestock actually create new, nutrient dense soil. The heightened productivity of the land that results from these methods, in conjunction with a direct distribution system can provide high quality locally produced foods at a more economical cost then has been the case up until now. It provides benefits to farmers, consumers and the environment. Advantages for Farmers (1) Farming as a Career offers a clear path to success. (2) Marketing and operational support allows farmers to focus on what they love– growing (3) Individuals can work cooperatively within a system that values the craft inherent in “deep organic” farming. (4) Effective new innovations in low impact technologies reduce the drudgery of repetitive tasks and the toll on the body of years bent over. Advantages for the Farm (1) Profits flow from restorative, healthy and sustainable practice (2) Effective new innovations in low impact technologies increase efficiency while reducing unhealthy labor practices, keeping farm workers happy and engaged (3) Increased soil fertility (4) a better natural balance and healthier products (5) Agricultural tax advantages and incentives Advantages for Consumers (1) Consumers receive great tasting naturally grown food and farm products (2) Clear health benefits from higher nutritional value and no chemical residue (3) High quality products at a fair price (4) Long term Food Security (5) Support for local growers and the craft of artisanal farming across the north- east (6) Knowing where the food comes from and who grew it Advantages to the Environment (1) Better carbon sequestration because organics sequester more carbon than conventional industrial farming methods (2) the radical reduction of petroleum based pesticides and herbicides (3) Introduction of high biomass crops that sequester carbon effectively. (4) Reduced impact on Global Warming |
