The British Can Admit It - Will We?

Major food price rises are all but inevitable. Philip Clarke, the chief executive of Britain's biggest supermarket chain Tesco, has admitted as much to the British press. Tesco, was heavily implicated in the recent horse-meat scandal, has said that rising global demand means the historic low prices to which British consumers have become used are now unsustainable. This is tantamount to the CEO of WalMart or Kroger admitting that they can no longer commit to keeping prices low for all Americans.

Any one who has been shopping lately can attest to the fact that the “invisible grocery shrink ray” is at work in our local markets. The packages may be rising slowly in price but the quantity in the package is smaller over all. The organics and locally grown stuff is characterized as for the elite and other who want to be upper class.

Is Kentucky (or America) that far behind this time? A recent poll, commissioned by the Prince's Countryside Fund to mark National Countryside Week, reveals that a majority of British consumers would be prepared to pay more for food if they knew the extra was going to farmers rather than to supermarket shareholders. With the recent introduction of the “Udderly Kentucky” milk program by the Secretary of Agriculture, James Comer, is he seeing the same sentiment from Kentucky shoppers?

The “Buy Local First” movement seems to be making headway and local farmers markets are establishing themselves in more locations every year. Still, the primary comments are that they are out of the reach of many residents. Sadly, such costs are reflective of the unsubsidized production costs for local entrepreneurs.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization forecast last month that global food prices could rise by as much as 40% over the next decade. Much of this as a result of a growing middle class in countries such as China and India. With the prospects of America's middle class waning and poverty moving to our once booming suburbs, this global rise will hit Americans very hard.

Usually, supermarket bosses (British and American) have proved extremely resistant to admitting economic pressures would affect the cost of groceries. WalMart has recently committed to its sourcing more locally produced fruits and vegetables without discussing whether price differences will be kept to a minimum. One way the WalMart has kept their prices low is to require the producer (or middleman) to do more preparatory work so that their “associates” don't have to.

What comes to mind next is WalMart's (and possibly the federal governments) definition of locally produced. Generally, the range of 500 miles is sufficient for most programs and for Lexington that means as far away as Central Michigan or the Gulf Coast. Local could them mean about 2/3^rds of the Eastern U.S. National brands and the monoculture farming of agri-business can still dominate our food choices at that rate.

I can see that a growing number of Kentuckians (and Americans) are awakening to the reality that many of our corporations are (and have been) leading us astray with phrases like “supermarket to the world” while importing more and more under “trade” treaties. With all of our corporate farming debacles, many countries will not accept our exports for reasons like GMO's or processing concerns.

America's food system has become unsustainable and there is more than enough blame to cast in all directions. The big question is, can it be turned around in time to prevent it from crashing like a house of cards?

Larger stores and bigger selections may have helped get us to where we are but simply reversing those trends will not be a solution. Our seasonal treats of yesteryear have become the culinary mainstays of the declining middle class. Farmers who took great pride in their goods on the farm now see disease and pestilence introduced in the processing and packaging plants. Corporate marketing gurus have persuaded us that only the perfect looking fruit or vegetable is worthy of purchase. These trends also need to be altered.

The way it is major food price rises are all but inevitable, which leaves us with only one good option – to change the way it is.

Urban Food Thoughts

Neal Pierce had an excellent piece of the subject of local food and the rise of cities this past Sunday.

We think of hunger – global hunger – as a third world problem yet of the millions who go to bed hungry each night, more and more of them are in cities. The bigger the city, the bigger the number of unfed.

As Pierce points out, over the next 40 years our planet will have to produce as much food as we have ever produced and I, for one, am worried about its quality. I am also reasonably sure that a majority of it will not be local food.

Cities, by their very nature, develop in the same locations and utilize the same type of land which is ideal to grow food crops. As cities grow they expand across the very land which they may need to feed themselves, devouring acre after acre in non-agricultural and resource consuming urban development.

There are those who stress that cities are where brilliant minds are more likely to intersect with others of like bent and innovations can spring forth. So, where are we going to find the innovations for feeding our ever growing urban areas? The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research recently held a “Feeding Cities” conference looking for answers.

Historically, with all of our cities swallowing up so much fertile farm land and creating climate altering “heat islands” in the process, our family farms have been evolving into massive industrial operations which are highly susceptible to floods and droughts. Scientists say that the altering climate will see many more of these floods and droughts. Did this conference have any good answers?

One suggestion was that cities can try to toughen themselves by assembling disaster emergency funds, strengthening their infrastructure and building their resilience. WOW – whose idea was this? When we cannot even maintain our pension funds or our roads, bridges and sewers adequately we need to establish a massive rainy day fund (which will probably be blown on the first event)? Not my idea of a complete solution.

Other conferees stressed the preservation of land for agriculture, either within their borders or in surrounding regions, apparently similar to our Rural Service Area (RSA). Lexington has already done that but the majority of crops being grown in the RSA will not feed our local population, since we don’t eat horses. Some conferees saw this as a food buffer and a flood buffer – two public goods, but our experience may say otherwise. In a free market no one can tell the farm owners to actually grow food for people and not commodity crops or inedible animals.

It was mentioned that fending off powerful business or political forces to preserve agricultural lands may be a tremendously difficult task. From gated communities and golf courses to the starter homes evolving into suburban slums amid a food desert, Lexington needs to think about better access to local food production on what remaining land we have.

In the developing third world nations it is estimated that 40% of the food produced annually is lost due to improper storage or delivery systems. Yet, in America we waste nearly 650 pounds per person a year, more than any other country in the world. The losses by careless farming, inefficient food processing or from retail stores simply discarding foods that are past their sell-by dates probably trail our own personal inability to control what we buy and fail to eat. It hurts me to see what remains from many restaurant meals and I don’t see what is discarded from the kitchens themselves.

Did we always have this waste? Could we feed all of the estimated 9 billion people anticipated by 2050 with more local production and less transportation related product spoilage? There is a joy to greater self-sufficiency and local food production which Lexington is beginning to understand, yet we still fail to create real community gardens in our communities. I get the feeling that community gardens are thought to be only for the poorer sections of town. The HOA where I live will only allow a few tomato or pepper plants in pots and less obvious herbs.

Pierce concludes his article with this: 

“To date, city-produced foods account for a tiny share of urban food needs. But one is led to wonder: If city food demand is a top 21st-century concern, perhaps city ingenuity – and spirit – can also help to forge answers.”

For Lexington, those answers are not forthcoming. Nor do they seem to be in other larger communities, since Pierce is still looking for them. That would indicate that we have not achieved a critical mass of intersecting thinkers on this part of Lexington's problem – though there are a handful of pioneers.

That Lexington developed, in part, where crops are known to do well and parts of that development has proven to be a detriment to the whole, just may be a hint toward an answer.

Over the last decade or so, our city has purchased property which was adversely affected or, by its placement, caused that adverse affect on others. Said property has neither been re-purposed for suitable urban use nor been reverted to the other job for which the land is quite well suited – growing food crops.

Do some of these properties fall within an area which can be called a “food desert” or could become one should the nation's transportation costs skyrocket? Could producing healthier food closer to the mouths which need it help? Could production of such food be coordinated under the auspices of a “Local Foods Policy Advisory Group” go a long way in averting urban hunger? Maybe.

Testing Milk

I am glad that I don’t drink milk from the typical dairy conglomerate.

I read today about frequent inspections and discovery of abnormal and illegal levels of antibiotics in older dairy cattle, on their way to the slaughterhouse. Those levels of contamination could also be in the milk on our store shelves.

What is that you say, why doesn’t somebody do something about it? Well, the F.D.A. had intended to start testing the milk from those farms found to be repeatedly marketing “tainted” cows. That is, until the dairy industry cried foul and pressured state regulators. Something about having to dump millions of gallons of milk that they could not store or sell while waiting for the testing to be completed. Hold it until it passes or recall it when it fails, either way it would be costly to the industry.

Dairy industry spokesmen will be the first to tell you that our milk supply is safe, that every truckload of milk is tested for four to six common antibiotics used on dairy farms. What they are NOT tested for are the other drugs not usually found on farms, yet found in the livestock prior to slaughter. The farms which repeatedly fail these tests are the one to be singled out for more rigorous review.

It is true that the number of “tainted” cows is a small fraction of the dairy cows making their way to slaughter, but it is a warning sign-an indication of possible future problems. By knowing my farmer personally and how he treats my animal and those of my fellow herd owners, I know that I will never receive milk from a “tainted” cow. Nor will my milk be mixed with that of a dairy with more lax standards. I like the consistency of the small, local dairy.

The F.D.A. had intended to start with the new year and test the milk from about 900 dairy farms. That’s right 900 repeat offenders. They would test for about two dozen antibiotics(not the typical six) and also for flunixin, a pain-killer and anti-inflammatory of popular usage on dairies. These are items that I don’t want(or need) to show up in my milk or my body. I don’t want to go to a doctor and have some unintended residue conflict with whatever he prescribes.

The major sticking point is that these expanded tests could take a week or more to complete. Large dairies depend on timely delivery to the processing plant and the store shelves, so any delay is seen as a bad thing and keeping the cows producing is a necessity.

Public health officials have warned us about the possibility of a proliferation of drug residue in the water systems, especially in large cities, and in the ground water from improper disposal of drugs. Do we now need to worry about our supposedly safe food supply?

Boy, am I glad that I don’t drink “store bought” milk.

You?

Would You Like To Be Sued For Growing Food?

I do have a great interest in urban agriculture and growing more of our food locally, but I hope that nothing like what happened in Clarkston, Ga. ever happens here.

A local landscaper bought a piece of property, upon which former owners had grown vegetables -at a profit- and set about raising a hobby garden, in the back yard. True it was a nearly two acre back yard, but it was a hobby garden. I know several folks, who if the had almost two aces, would put in a wide variety of hobby scenarios (flower gardens, outdoor model trains, etc.) and I believe that all of them would be legal. But this gentleman raised so much edible crops that he couldn't give it all away and resorted to local markets.

That is where the local zoning laws got him. His land was producing too much for the zone. His lot was apparently considered a commercial operation and therefore, not permitted in the zone. Is it possible that such a thing could happen here?

A former neighbor has a house and they own the vacant lot next door. There used to be another vacant lot on the other side, and this neighbor maintained gardens in both spaces, as well as the back half of a parcel approximately a half a block away. This fellow's passion was flowers but I remember some vegetables along the way. None of these spaces could be thought of as commercial but they could supply a good portion of the surrounding households with nutrition if it needed to. Fact is, I don't think that it went afoul of the law, either then or now.

In the case in Ga., the gentleman was eventually allowed to get a zone change, but has been saddled with the expensive fines and penalties as well as the cost of the zone change.

To those of you, who like me, wish to see more urban agriculture and more locally grown food, we must be cognizant of the laws and the possibilities under them. We must also strive to make them allow for future situations and not just restrict past abuses (real or imagined). Zoning laws, by and large, are not written with backyard food production in mind.

While many food activists cite urban agriculture as crucial to establishing locally sourced food systems, zoning laws present challenges. What distinguishes outlaw tomato plants from a legitimate commercial operation is not always clear.

Another point of contention could be the raising of chickens(see what they are doing here), which I don't think is against any local zoning laws currently, although most herd animals are prohibited. The keeping of horses, even inside the Urban Services Area limitation may be allowed.

Cluck (a Sarasota Fl. chicken advocacy group), which has been active for a year and a half and has about 300 supporters, says chickens would make Sarasota more attractive for a younger, hipper crowd. Children who think their food grows at the supermarket can see where it really comes from.

Where should we Lexingtonian's stand on this subject?

A branch of our State Government is on the verge of a systematic harassment of local farmers. Specifically, the dairy farmers whose sole purpose it is to supply healthy dairy products to their friends. These farmers are ones who do NOT supply “dead” milk that has to be artificially supplemented with vitamins and nutrients which have been removed by pasteurization. The farmers I am speaking of supply raw milk, the REAL milk.

I am reminded of the commercials of Meijer and Hardee’s, wherein they have actors posing as competitors explaining how their products, either mass processed or frozen and shipped many miles, are better for the end consumer. Meijer says that their daily butchered meat is fresher than the packaged brands which have unpronounceable ingredients on the label, while Hardee’s claims that frozen is NOT “fresher than fresh”.

We can all see through these advertising ploys and realize that, yes, they are right, the freshness is lacking in mass processed foods but the convenience/price factor is just something that we have to live with. I and my family don’t feel that way. We desire to have the best available and the cost is justified. With the rise of “farmer’s markets” around the country and a growing “locavore” movement, we realize that we are not alone.

Just like Hardee’s customers, I wish to eat freshly made biscuits with my breakfast and, as well as the Meijer folks, the freshly cut beef and lamb out taste the “shipped in” products (although we get ours from Whole Foods). Our milk is even more important. We choose not to have the whole product stripped of all bacteria, just to have some “possible” strains of harmful bacteria “cleansed”, then replaced with (artificially created) “good” bacteria and vitamins/minerals. Our grandparents did not have this travesty thrust upon them when they were young and the pioneers did not suddenly keel over from bad farm food.

This form of food adulteration has come about by the rise in mass produced foods and the “factory farms” now being seen as a plague on America. >The massive recall of eggs that has recently been in the news did not come from the small farmers of Central Kentucky, nor did the spinach recalls of a few years ago, nor do the many meat recalls that happen several times a year. They all are centered on huge agri-processing plants which have touted their “economies of scale” for keeping prices low but have nothing to do with food safety. Factory farms and food adulteration may be killing America in the guise of saving it.

Real milk, the raw milk I spoke of earlier is not allowed to be sold in stores in Kentucky. It is not allowed to be sold in any way in Kentucky. These are the rules of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. You may get milk from your own cow for your personal use, and that is why we and some friends share the ownership of a cow. Now, I am a city boy and I don’t know how to deal with cows so we have a farmer take care of the animal (for a fee, of course). He has the land and the know-how, and particularly, the time. Once a week we have to go get our milk and some of the other things like eggs or produce that he may have available.

Our farmer is not the only one who operates this way. It is a also a growing movement, the idea of owning shares of an animal for the good of many (think of it as the original Stock Market shares. Lately, the Milk Safety Branch (a department within the Department of Health and Human Services) has started to feel the pressure from the factory dairies and will begin “on-farm inspections”, although they have no jurisdiction or authority to do so. These cowshare dairies are being harassed as a service of our government for doing more than the agri-business factory farm dairies care to. Product recalls at these cowshare places are unheard of. Health scare publicity for them is non-existent, so why the sudden need to do inspections while offenders and repeat offenders grab headlines and court cases wind slowly through the system?

Those of you who choose to go with the local foods and healthy living may wish to contact your local representatives and try to nip this in the bud, because from here it may only get worse.

I got this from Natural News.

Growing awareness among the American populace about the health benefits of wholesome, raw milk has been steadily increasing over the past decade, putting many state and federal officials into a frenzy. The harsh crackdown tactics used in the past to deter farmers from selling, and consumers from buying, raw milk are giving way to a new approach that anti-raw milk fanatics hope will put an end to the sale of raw milk.

Why would the state and federal government officials get so upset over something that the people find so healthy? In our current America, the health benefits of raw milk are becoming more and more widespread and desired by consumers, even faster than the organic movement that industrial food producers are hoping to cash in on. The USDA has decided that they cannot stop organic food production and giant agri-business has decided that they can get in at a profit, but that same relationship does not transfer to the milk production.

"While millions of Americans are seriously injured by or die from pharmaceutical drugs every year, U.S. regulatory agencies are busy devising new ways to prevent family farmers from selling a natural, health-promoting food to their fellow citizens."

And pharmaceuticals are not the only ones, the e-coli outbreaks and recall cost our citizens $millions each year and yet those businesses are not inspected more closely, nor are they shut down with their equipment confiscated. No, these are the firms that are rewarded with bigger and bigger contracts which put more farmers OUT OF WORK. This is just the kind of thing that our government should be doing in times like these. Therefore:

Stopping people from consuming raw milk is a top priority for federal and state officials.

This makes no sense.

In the nearly three years that I have been in a cow-share program, I have not noticed any of my fellow members dropping dead from the milk, quite the contrary. I have seen my son's eczema totally clear up. I have seen a friend diagnosed with "lactose intolerance" drink milk and cream on a daily basis. My whole family feels better and stronger from the milk.

Factory processed milk is pasteurized to the point that all the beneficial pro-biotics and vitamins that naturally occur in milk are removed.(this is to kill any stray unhealthy virus that may be present) Then manufactured vitamins and minerals are added back in(these are not as good for you as the natural ones) as well as the unpronounceable items that extend shelf life for the retailer. If you need it in there then why did you take it out, only to replace it?

This makes no sense.

"As private buying clubs have been gaining popularity, officials have begun targeting them to shut them down.

Several buying clubs have recently been targeted in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, and even Massachusetts where raw milk laws are more lax. Recent emails obtained through freedom-of-information requests revealed that the FDA, the Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection, and other public health and agriculture officials have been planning to raid up to 20 different buying groups in Illinois as well."

This makes no sense

"Americans are increasingly choosing to drink grass-fed, farm-fresh, nutritious raw milk rather than the filthy, processed milk substance available at the grocery store.

"Americans must stand up and resist the tyranny or else face the elimination of one of nature's perfect foods."

This is what make sense

Sustainable And Nourishable Places

It is no secret that I am very pro local food. Mrs. Sweeper and I have tried our best to find, buy and prepare local foods. That is why we frequent the farmers markets of the area and have joined a cowshare program. I also have not been shy in commenting about the shortcomings of the Kentucky Proud program that is run by the Ky. State Agriculture Department.

It has not been an easy task to find certain local food services, but why is it an even more onerous task for the local farmer?

The idea of knowing where your food comes from is appealing to more and more families every day. Concern over food safety and eating of a healthy diet is in the news on a daily basis. So, why are the local, state and federal regulatory agencies not doing more for the growing “locavore” enthusiasts?

Sustainable development and sustainable cities have been buzzwords in the planning literature for several years and yet we are no closer to achieving such a system than we were thirty years ago. These words are now creeping into our mayoral election and yet we still hear of no solutions being put forth by any of the candidates.

Lately, I have seen a new designation put forth, a label of Nourishable Places. Nourishable Places are ones that grow a significant portion of their food within a few miles of where it is eaten AND could grow more in a long emergency. Unfortunately they are found in very few locations in the First World today. The typical ingredients for a family meal – what is that these days?- will travel over 1,300 miles to get to the table. It is getting worse daily.

In some parts of the country, particularly the Northwest, things are changing. According to Crosscut.com there are more, smaller farms developing on the urban fringes of their Olympic area cities. Even places like Detroit MI and Dayton, OH. are looking at vegetable farming on some of their abandoned residential properties. There are places in Lexington where we could use some of our reclaimed urban floodplain land for community garden plots if need be.

Those actions may help us out in the fruits and vegetables department but will do us no good for the rearing of farm animals. But here too there we are seeing an increase in the number of small farms.

There are now new problems with this rise on farm animal production on small farms and that is, where do they get their processing done? The number of slaughterhouses nationwide declined to 809 in 2008 from 1,211 in 1992, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. America’s small independent farmers are now being forced to schedule their slaughters BEFORE the animals are born AND drive them hundreds of miles to slaughtering facilities. This added movement causes an unneeded stress on the animals and expense to the farmer.

The interest in grass fed and finished or even organic beef and lamb and the non antibiotic, no hormone added production of these animals means that using some of the larger slaughterhouses opens the possibility of introducing e-coli and other unwanted contaminants.

Slaughterhouses should not be placed just anywhere and certainly not in the most urban parts of a state, but as a matter of economic development and employment generators, they are something that a politician should be aware of.

Lexington may one day find that the concept of “peak oil” or “climate change” is real, or maybe there could be a natural or man made disaster requiring that we sustain ourselves. So far, I think that we as a city would fail the sustainability test. We are somewhat positioned, with the PDR program, to have land in the county that could be used for food production (you know, we cannot eat the horses) but we are lacking in the processing facilities necessary for a city of this size. Home canning, for the most part, is a lost art among the youth of today and butchering may mean that they would have to get their hands dirty, so we may be in trouble.

High-tech, healthcare and horses may be of some priority is certain circles and a vibrant, socially conscious downtown is a priority in others, while health and human safety or social responsibility and government corruption will highlight another’s political rhetoric. If we don’t try to arrange for our very basic needs of good food and water, all of it locally grown or collected and processed, then it may all be for nought.

Locavore / Slow Foods

The Locavore/Slow Food list (in the right hand column) is continuing to grow.

These are web sites of local or regional producers of food products. I believe that they meet and generally exceed the requirements of the Kentucky Proud system. In most cases I feel that they exceed the usual standards for USDA approval and as such provide exceptional value for the consumers of Kentucky.

I will continue to explore and sample others providers in an effort to build a market for their style of food products. If you have a suggestion for inclusion to the list, send it along. I will check it out.

A New Follower And The Local Growers

I want to welcome one of my latest followers John's Custom Meats, from down in Smiths Grove, Ky. I sure do wish that I was a bit closer to western Ky(or that they were a bit closer to Lexington) so that I could enjoy some of their product once in a while. I guess that I will have to make do with another Kentucky Proud supplier that I located on the net today. One that is closer to Lexington.

Better Beef is an outgrowth Lone Tree Cattle Co. LLC. of Paint Lick, Ky. with a local outlet in Berea. Finally, a local grass-fed, no hormone, grown, raised, finished and processed in Kentucky supply of reasonably priced meat. This is definitely a place that Mrs. Sweeper says that we will give a try. These people currently deliver to Lexington and say that they will soon add Louisville and Danville. Between our cowshare program, which supplies us with milk, eggs and cheese, a good local meat supply and the Good Foods Co-Op, we may be eating some of the best meals in the country.

I am going to have to add a Locavore/Slow Foods links list soon in order to keep up with all of this.

What Is To Be Proud About?

I don’t know that much about the “Kentucky Proud” initiative and maybe I should, but it sounds like something that promotes a very local oriented, food production and slow food lifestyle. I get the impression that more and more of the local restaurants are receiving fresh produce from a local source and that there is a minimum of processing involved. And, I don’t think of canned vegetables or fruit when I hear the words “Kentucky Proud”. That is why I was enthused to hear about an expansion into the distribution of locally produced beef products carrying the “Kentucky Proud” labeling.

The press release from the Commissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer’s office was written to indicate that a statewide food distribution network has been established for all products by three experienced food service companies, but several key phrases lead me to realize that we are now talking about processed meat products - specifically beef.

The network is distributing beef raised by Kentucky producers such as the Greathouse family of Midway and other cattle purchased through Kentucky’s Certified Pre-Conditioned for Health (CPH-45) program, in which source-verified cattle are raised under a strict health regimen. The cattle are finished on a nutritional diet developed by Alltech of Nicholasville and processed by PM Beef of Windom, Minn.

I guess that I should be happy that they are buying locally raised cattle, but finishing them out of state and then processing them in Minnesota seems like insulting our intelligence. Does it matter to anyone else that cows are supposed to eat grass and not some other nutritional supplement, even if it does come from a local supplier in Alltech? Does it matter that the cost of shipping the animals out of state, slaughtering and processing the animals and then shipping the product back in to the state, has to be added to the final sales price?

To be sure, all of this transporting, slaughtering, processing, re-transporting and distributing is supplying jobs for folks but are they Kentuckians who are getting these jobs? I would think that, being a state government initiative, a primary purpose would be to promote local jobs and the local economy. I can understand that some of our local meat processing facilities may not be able to handle the estimated volume, but isn’t that just a matter of building our own infrastructure to be able to handle our own needs? That is how we can build our sustainability.

According to the article in Business Lexington, “Kentucky Proud” has been in place for nine years and “working to help Kentucky producers and value-added processors market Kentucky products” and yet for nine years we haven’t noticed that we have no local meat processors of any scale capable of the volume envisioned. Only lately, approximately six months ago, did a processor from out of state call upon the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA), when they recognized our state’s need for their services. They were the one to propose a project, so there must be a profit in it. They were the one to initially identify a distributor.

If I may quote from the above referenced article:

It begins with family farms looking for a steady market for their products working with family focused processors like PM Beef. The processed products are then distributed by a network of family owned distribution businesses which deliver the Kentucky Proud products to small family restaurants across the state. Snell (a spokesperson for KDA) believes this system goes to the core of what the Kentucky Proud program is about, helping Kentucky families by promoting local Kentucky Proud products.

It also begins with the family farms which raise their livestock in a traditional way, unlike the giant agri-business herds, and the quality conscious consumers looking for such a producer. The missing component here is a local, traditional, quality conscious processor who will not dictate changes to either the farmer or the consumer that neither one wants. This is also what should be “the core of what the Kentucky Proud program is about”. Can the KDA and the Department of Economic Development not co-operate with each other for the advancement of all Kentuckians?

This article goes on to describe the potential for this beef program by stating, correctly, that people are requesting more quality in the products that they buy. Many Kentuckians also relate local production with better quality and so are looking for local products like those having the Kentucky Proud label. Some of us realize that just meeting the USDA standard is not enough and that even their “organic” qualifications are starting to be watered down, at the request of the large agri-business multi-national corporations. We would like the “Kentucky Proud” quality to be higher than it is. The estimate for full scale production is set at 400 head of cattle a week. That seems very low to me for a statewide program.

Once again quoting:

That is 400 head of cattle each week that were born and weaned on farms in Kentucky. That is 400 head of cattle each week that were sold through Kentucky markets to PM Beef for finishing. Then those 400 head a week would come back processed to be distributed…

That is 400 head of cattle that are trucked out of state and maybe not by Kentucky truckers. That is by truck, not rail which is 11 times more efficient than trucking. That is 400 head of cattle finished on something other than grass. That is 400 head of cattle that are slaughtered by non-Kentuckians and trucked(again no rail) back to the local folks to be sold as “local” products.

"As the largest beef cattle state east of the Mississippi we should be proud to see our beef come back to Kentucky as a branded product,"…

As the largest beef cattle state east of the Mississippi, we should be embarrassed to have no local processing plants, which employ local labor, and force our consumers to pay extra for a “local” product for which we are so proud.

"At the end of the day this is going to be bigger than the Kentucky Proud beef line. The distribution team is also networking with Kentucky family farms for chicken, pork, dairy and lamb," said Snell. "We are looking for sustainability and what is good for Kentucky, and we are building relationships and networks that will last. This is what being Kentucky Proud is all about."

If I recall correctly, a local economist told the Urban County Council lately that agriculture accounted for only 2% of the state's output and it is not expected to grow. With deals like this going on, then I can concur with that assessment. We in Lexington, have enacted a PDR program to preserve farm land. The Fayette Alliance has called the preservation of farmland and the local production of food a necessity and yet we still want to send our products out of state for processing.

I am still waiting for something to be really proud about.

Urban Agriculture?

I have had these thoughts percolating for a few weeks now and, from some of the things that I have been reading lately, now is the time to get them out.

Lexington has been plagued by poor development along some of our major streams, where seasonal flooding in some residential neighborhoods, has resulted in a pattern of repetitive insurance losses. The City, after identifying this pattern, initiated a program of funding the flood-proofing those properties with minimal damage and purchasing, for demolition, those with major repetitive damage. This has left the city with several areas of un-developable greenspace along these streams, most of them even unusable for anything but scenic open space.

I took a look at one of these areas, back in November, with the thought of "Why can it not be a part of the Wolf Run Park? It is adjacent to the park, so what is the best public use of this property if not for recreation?" And this is only one of a handful of similar situations around town.

In my research of urban agriculture, I came across several stories concerning a millionaire in Detroit who is acquiring large parcels, sometimes whole blocks, for the purpose of creating farm fields and growing fresh, local produce for the beleaguered city. The idea is to provide food products and employment for the needy and maybe re-establishing a farming presence in Detroit area.

Then, last week, Steve Austin posted a video on urban agriculture in Dayton, Ohio. This program is sponsored by the City of Dayton and allows local residents to grow gardens of flowers or food(especially ethnic vegetables for the large immigrant population) while using public property in the foreclosed neighborhoods. While watching the video, I could not help but be reminded of the great work that Jim Embry, Seedleaf and others are doing in the downtown area here in Lexington. Thanks, Steve, I needed to see that post.

So, Lexington does not have the vast wastelands of former neighborhoods like Detroit or Dayton but we do have some acceptable(and available) areas along side available water sources just waiting to be put to good use again. Most of them are in existing neighborhoods, accessible by foot, and as a bonus some of these neighborhoods are somewhat ethnic or are tending that way. Beyond that, we have a need for more locally grown produce(that, if grow organically will not pollute the adjacent streams), the need for more school children to learn how food is produced, and the need to supply better food to those living in our own "food deserts".

I know that even with all the good restaurants in the downtown area and the presence of the downtown farmers market, for a majority of the residents it is a "food desert". Those who need the good food cannot afford it and those who can afford it just don't live there. The folks that I mentioned before are already working on that, but there are these other areas too. Areas where we can start to reestablish the values that are important to a community. Areas where we can work toward becoming a sustainable community.

If the local farmers and landowners will not help grow our own food in Fayette County and agriculture is not more than 2% of our economic workforce( I think that is what the economist told the Council today) and not expected to grow any, then we will have to find some other way to begin to become sustainable for the future.

Anybody wish to help elaborate on this idea?

Community Farm Alliances

Mrs Sweeper and I attended a local chapter meeting of the Community Farm Alliance last Thursday evening. I was hoping that we could find out more about the farms of Fayette County who are participating in the farmers market movement that has burgeoned in Lexington lately. Hopefully, there would be farmers offering their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs for this year. I wanted to hear about how more farmers were growing more organic foods locally.

I was disappointed.

I met a small number of young people, mostly students, who have great intentions, massive amounts on enthusiasm, and farm experience. These were the "local organizers" of the programs of the CFA.

I heard about their "fresh stop" efforts, their Community kitchen efforts and a "stone soup" program centered in the downtown area. There was mention of a report which identified a "food desert" in Lexington. A food desert is an area which lacks grocery stores and restaurants serving healthier items than "junk food". I did learn about their teaching opportunities such as "farm to school" and the community gardens being set up on the BCTC campus off Leestown Rd.

There are many other places to create "community gardens" and I've heard of one town where an activist has, on her own, arranged for those who wished to garden, to meet those who had backyard space for a garden and where each party benefited.

I was just hoping for more than what I found. I would like to find that some of the many ten acre lots that were created in the past 25 years could be moved from large residential lots to small farms and used to feed the local residents as they once were.

Thinking and Eating Locally

You all have seen me post about the benefits of buying local farm goods and even the possibility of some backyard farming. I cannot do such a thing today because I don't have much of a backyard. At our old house, we used to have a lot of homegrown fruits and vegetables grown in the garden(if we got to them before the tree rats). We have tried to eat as organicly as we can and as locally grown as possible.

Mrs. Sweeper told me of a conversation that she had with a friend about raising chickens and how her friend had bought some chicks, hoping to get fresh eggs. She did not have or want a rooster, just some hens for eggs. She also had a desire for a cow for milk.

At this point, her husband told her that she couldn't drink it as they had no way to pasteurize it. People for many years-like thousands of- have been drinking milk straight from the pail and cheese, butter, yogurt as well. Does he think that it will kill her? All those other people lived, I know that because we are here now.

The FDA has convinced the American public that raw milk is not good for you. First we need to kill all the bacteria in the milk, both good and bad-kind of like a military scorched earth policy. Then we add back all the vitamins and calcium that we took out, bleach it to make it white to please our senses, water it down for 2% and skim versions and raise the price so that the processor get the money, not the farmer.

We, the Sweeper family have been members of a Cowshare program for about two years now and I am proof that drinking real milk, unprocessed milk will not kill you. My whole family is in better health and feels better now than we did several years ago. Two of my sons developed scaly skin on their knees and elbows which took prescription cream to clear, but after several weeks of drinking real milk, the expensive cream was relegated to the back of the medicine cabinet. Mrs Sweeper is like a magnet for mosquitos in the summer and it is worse now that we live closer to the waterfront, but since we have been using a real milk based soap infused with citronella, the mosquitos get to within several inches of the body and then veer off. Sometimes it is comical to watch.

The beauty of the arrangement is that we OWN a portion of a cow. We do not have to house or graze the cow on our property, but we do have to maintain the cow, or at least pay for the upkeep on a community property. In return we get the proceeds of the cow(or our portion) in the form of milk. Rich, creamy, good tasting milk the way it is supposed to be, fresh from the farm and full of all the probiotics necessary for good health.

The family that looks after and administers the herd for all of us cowshare owners also has chickens and will supply us with fresh eggs on a weekly basis. These eggs are larger, fresher and tastier than can be bought in the supermarket for just about the same price. We would be crazy not to avail ourselves of this treasure trove of locavore cuisine.

Lexington has a growing variety of locally owned organic farms producing a multitude of healthy food choices. The make up the bulk of the Farmers Market sellers and they need to be supported or we may lose our sustainable agriculture that is envisioned in the 2040 report that the Mayor has so proudly put forth.