region. Imrie sources approxi- mately 40 percent of the food served at her hospital from farms located within a day’s drive. In her work, she helps keep farmers on their land while providing higher quality food to patients and staff. The facility also supports onsite gardens, which yielded $2,000 worth of produce in 2011, despite Vermont’s short growing season. The hospital food is so popular that its café serves downtown businesspeo- ple, further bolstering profitability and community benefits. For local maple sugar pro- ducer Bernie Comeau, Imrie’s consistent purchases provide an income he can count on every month. Imrie is glad to note that for farmers, selling their food to the hospital is “like a stamp of approval.” Marydale DeBor, who founded and led the “plow to plate” comprehensive food and disease-prevention initiative associated with Connecticut’s New Milford Hospital, maintains that, “Institutional leadership is critical.” She says that thanks to a supportive CEO that believed in bring- ing farm-fresh foods to hospital food services, their retail café more than doubled its revenue within two years. DeBor believes that hospital food should set an example for public health.
How to Grow & Find Local Food
Find a farmers’ market
ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets
In season in the region; local harvest calendars and markets
FieldToPlate.com/guide.php
Locate sustainably grown food nearby
LocalHarvest.org
Food gardening tips
KitchenGardeners.org
“We need to support beginning farm- ers, and more food hubs and new dis- tribution systems to facilitate access,” she says. “Consumers need to let their hospitals know they should focus on good food and nutrition.” Farm to Restaurant: Leigh Lock- hart, owner of Main Squeeze Natural Foods Café and Juice Bar, in Columbia, Missouri, buys supplies directly from lo- cal organic farmers and never quibbles about price. She composts any food waste in her garden, where she grows some of the produce used in her restaurant. Rather than large plates of cheap food, Lockhart serves portions within U.S. Dietary Guidelines, comprising higher quality, more satisfying meals. Relationships with chefs are im- portant to farmers, advises Carol Ann Sayle, owner of Boggy Creek Organic Farm, in Austin, Texas. Farmers can rely on a sure buyer; chefs appreciate dependable and high quality food; and customers return because of the great taste. Farm to School: Organic farmer Don Bustos, program direc- tor for the American Friends Service Committee of New Mexico, trains beginning farmers and ranchers in ways to provide food to the Albuquerque Public School District and beyond. For example, farmers grow crops during the winter in solar-powered greenhouses, and aggregate their products to meet school needs. Mobile meat processing and distribution networks also create jobs while keeping small farmers eco- nomically and environmentally viable, explains Bustos. Local agriculture fuels strong communities and fresh local foods help children thrive.
In the Pacific Northwest, Ameri- Corps volunteer Emma Brewster works with the Real Food Challenge, a national youth-based program that encourages colleges and universities to shift 20 percent of their food budgets to farm-fresh, locally sourced foods. Brewster works with Lucy Norris, project manager for the Puget Sound Food Network, which creates opportu-
Scores of studies show that many of today’s chronic diseases are related to poor diet. Factor in medical costs associated with food-borne illnesses, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and pesticide- and hormone-contaminated food and water, and it’s easy to understand why Michael Carolan, author of The Real
Cost of Cheap Food, declares, “Cheap food... is actually quite expensive.”
nities beyond farmers’ markets for local area farmers to connect with regional processors, distributors and end users, including Seattle Public Schools.
Hands in the Dirt
Regardless of occupation, many people feel a natural urge to work with the soil and witness the miracle of seeds sprouting new life. Rose Hayden- Smith, Ph.D., a garden historian and a designated leader in sustainable food systems at the University of California– Davis, points out that home, school, community and workplace victory gardens established during World War II succeeded in producing about 40 percent of our nation’s vegetables. In both world wars, she says, our na- tional leadership “recognized that food and health were vital national security issues.” They still are today.
Melinda Hemmelgarn, a.k.a. the Food Sleuth (
FoodSleuth@gmail.com), is a registered dietitian and award-winning writer and radio host, based in Colum- bia, Missouri. She co-created F.A.R.M.: Food, Art, Revolution Media – a Focus on Photography to Re-vitalize Agri- culture and Strengthen Democracy to increase advocacy for organic farmers (
Enduring-Image.blogspot.com). Learn more at Food Sleuth Radio at
kopn.org.
38 Collier/Lee Counties
swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com
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