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Let Them Eat Carrots

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A Simple Back-of-the-Envelope Exploration of Foodability

Foodability—which can be taken to mean the degree to which a community or region could be self-reliant for its food—is at the heart of the local food movement. It is a pursuit; we don’t know how far we can go in that direction, but we know that we have a long ways before we need to worry about trying to go too far. If local food is to live up to its promise of better diets and health, thriving farmers and ranchers, solid economic development, environmental restoration, biodiversity preservation, and a livable climate, we know we must ramp up this effort dramatically and soon.

20% local? A while back we posed a challenge in our high, short-seasoned, water-challenged community located in Southwest Colorado to pursue an initial goal of 20% of all our preschoolers’ meals and snacks coming from local producers. The idea was to think big, challenge ourselves, start with a very important age group, and have a more concrete goal than just “growing as much of our food as locally as possible.” We still, as most all communities, aren’t even close to this goal, so I think it deserves another, more specific yet expansive look. Let’s start with carrots for preschoolers and go from there.

The virtues of the carrot: Not a perfect food nor perhaps a super food, carrots are yet one of our favorites. They are relatively easy to grow in most areas, can be eaten raw, store very well, come with handles (if green tops are left on as kids like), and are in the food group that almost all of us need much more of—vegetables! What if we grew all the carrots our preschools need?

Can our foodshed do this? We start by looking at our foodshed—do we have the land, water, and climate to even consider this? Carrots do grow well here—I have seen a modest-sized field of them here in fact that would go a long way toward this goal. They also store well—local producers here supply carrots to our schools well into the spring. So how much land would this take?

In our case, we happen to have about 1000 preschoolers in La Plata County. A reasonable serving is one medium-sized carrot (about 0.2 pounds or half a cup). A review of yields from seed companies, ag researchers, and local carrot growers leads us to estimate a conservative yield—for back-of-the-envelope purposes—of 16,000 pounds of carrots per acre. This is a very rough estimate taking into account variations in climate, soils, grower skill, field layout, etc. As we will see, it is a good enough estimate though to answer this basic question.

To provide all our 1000 preschoolers one medium-sized carrot each day of the school week through the year would take just three acres! (Depending on yield, it could be closer to 2 acres or more like 4 or 5 acres—but a conservative estimate of just three.) We have the needed climate in our area, and finding three acres with water is quite doable, so our foodshed’s agronomic foodability for preschool carrots looks quite good.

How significant is a carrot a day? For perspective, eating the equivalent of a medium sized carrot each day of the school week is a big deal—in the neighborhood of a third of what USDA recommends daily for veggies for most preschoolers (double that for adults)—and more wouldn’t be bad. We actually need a variety of veggies, but average yields per acre of a diversity of veggies is still in the neighborhood of that for carrots, so do mix and match those colors, tastes, and shapes. And don’t forget that carrots come in different colors, tastes, and shapes as well.

You do the math: Now pull out those envelopes and adapt this to your community. Have 2000 preschoolers?—just double the three acres mentioned above. Carrots just one day a week to start?—divide that three acres by five. Want to go all out and grow enough for all three veggies a day (not just carrots of course) at school and at home seven days a week?—multiply that three acres by four for each 1000 kids.

Can our food system do this? The food system looks at all the factors, so we must consider having 1) a distribution system (not too hard in a small community), 2) the preschools’ ability to purchase, prep, and serve these carrots (not too hard for carrots), 3) kids willing to eat these carrots (not too hard, especially with the green tops on from our experience), and 4) enough producers receiving a market price that will keep them in business (not too easy these days!).

Keep in mind, these three acres of carrots could come from a single carrot farm of three acres or 15 market gardens with 1/5 acre of carrots each or a healthy combination of farms, market gardens, preschool gardens, and parents’ backyard gardens. Three acres of carrots is a lot of work, but this could provide these preschoolers with a third of all the veggies they need (as a minimum) during the school week. Is supporting farmers, ranchers, and gardeners to do this too much to ask of our community?

Tackling producer viability: It’s truly a whole community effort. Many preschools are financially strapped, but if those families, restaurants, retailers, and institutions who can pay what it takes to keep local producers in business actually do so and help scale up the local food economy, that food could become more affordable for those with fewer resources. For those families with limited incomes, we need to push for livable wages and find a place in food assistance programs for products from local growers and subsidize them rather than industrial/corporate ag. Policy and financial support for preschools, beginning and struggling farmers, and local food development efforts should increase in order to keep local producers in business.

Looking ahead to a vibrant local food future, as producers continue to encounter more and more problems with extreme weather, a warming climate, more frequent and severe and long lasting drought, pollinator and other biodiversity losses, we all must work to help them adapt to these changes, keep things from becoming worse, and double down on our overall producer support. To help the general public see the need to help producers in all these ways, we believe getting involved in growing some of their own food (and keeping an eye on nature in the garden) will open their eyes. This will be essential to ensure an increasing supply of carrots—and much more—in our children’s future.

Three acres of carrots is admittedly a lot of work, but a feasible and very significant start toward the 20% goal for all our preschoolers. Let them eat carrots—local that is!!!

San Juan Mountain Watch

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Connecting Local Food Systems and Ecosystems in the Greater San Juan Mountain Ecosystem

Citizen monitoring is an integral part of our Looking Forward efforts to help more people become more aware—through direct experience—of the need to protect the health of our food-producing and surrounding ecosystems. That ecosystem, or foodshed, health is critically dependent on addressing not only local conservation issues but the global climate and biodiversity crises as well, so many more people must be involved in developing the public will to address these issues.

This particular project, the San Juan Mountain Watch, centered in the Southwestern portion of Colorado, is aimed at developing a regional model that hopefully can be adapted in other regions.

Helping those who are passionate about local food see the importance of the health of our foodsheds and surrounding ecosystems through participation in monitoring indicators of foodshed health.

The overall goal of this foodshed monitoring project is to 1) highlight current foodshed monitoring efforts, and 2) engage more of the public, through their interest in local food, to join in monitoring the ecological health of our local foodsheds and surrounding ecosystems to generate more public awareness, stewardship, policy support, and protection of the food production capacity and ecosystems of the greater San Juan Mountain region.

Vision: We envision gardeners, farmers, ranchers, school children, and all who value local food actively helping scientists monitor foodshed and ecosystem health. With an eye to both the promise of sustainable local food systems and the critical and urgent issues facing us, the ultimate aim is a climate-friendly, wildlife-friendly, future-friendly region.

Being curious and observant is the foundation: Paying attention to nature and how it is doing is the underlying awareness needed. Time spent outdoors, away from screens and other distractions is essential—for toddlers and preschoolers to adults of all ages.  Observing Options for All Ages

Monitoring or observing over time is essential to identifying trends, both good and bad. Observing and monitoring changes when one is growing food is especially useful in this project—as gardeners, farmers, and ranchers. Monitoring by others in the community can support these growers in coping with increasing challenges. For foodsheds, Ecosystem and Wildlife Services for Food Production in addition to weather and climate are the focus. We actually include surrounding ecosystems in our foodshed definition since they are so interdependent with agricultural ecosystems.

Suggested foodshed indicators to monitor: Here in Southwest Colorado, for example, some indicators are already monitored by agencies and others including water quality, water supply/snowpack/dust on snow, air quality, soil protection, and regional weather and climate, but they may need help especially in keeping track of more local variations—local precipitation, hail, and frost dates would be good examples. Other indicators, such as pollinators and beneficial insects, birds, pikas, and phenology (seasonal happenings like blossoming dates, etc.) are well suited to citizen monitoring. If scientists and agencies knew that people would help, they would likely have much more we could monitor for them, in addition to what is happening now. See our expanding lists of Current Professional Monitoring and Citizen Science Opportunities for those who live in the greater San Juan region to consider.

Citizen Science activities aid scientists and agencies in understanding and helping solve serious problems we face such as species decline, climate change, ecosystem disruptions, and phenology or seasonal timing changes. Bumblebee Watch, CoCoRaHS, Lost Ladybug, Vegetable Varieties, eBird, Dragonfly Pond Watch, Great Sunflower Project, and Nature’s Notebook are a few of the rigorous but accessible programs free and ready to use by observers of all ages—see them on our Observing page and our Suggested Observing Targets for 2018.

Just for kids: Engaging students from PreK-12 in observing and monitoring in natural settings, especially in school gardens, is key to their education, emotional development, and in developing a healthy relationship with nature. Our Wild School Gardens program shows how.

Wild farms, ranches, and gardens: Most of the monitoring activities in our Wild School Gardens program are well suited to adults as gardeners, farmers, and ranchers—and those who support these growers. In fact, coordinating the observations, monitoring, and Citizen Science between school gardens and adults throughout the community is the ideal. For example, community experts can help in school garden monitoring projects, and farmers and ranchers who sell food to schools can coordinate monitoring with kids in those schools.

What if??? What if farmers, ranchers, gardeners, school children, local experts, science/conservation/sustainability groups, and citizens of all types were much more aware and engaged in monitoring food-producing and natural ecosystems surrounding our local communities? What if they were connected with each other and with other communities across the greater San Juan Mountain region? What if we had more data showing ecological trends across elevational and latitudinal gradients—weather, pollinators, wildlife indicators? What if people were much more informed and involved in protecting and restoring the foodsheds and other ecosystems of the region and the climate and biodiversity of the planet? Our kids might just thank us some day.

Getting involved: We need partners of all types to make this happen. If you are in this region, here is how you can help. If you are from elsewhere, consider this approach tailored to your own issues and needs.

  • Scientists and Agencies: What data could citizen scientists gather to help you here?
  • Citizen Scientists: What are you monitoring here now and how can we support you?
  • Environmental & nature groups, schools, etc.: Can we help you do more Citizen Science?
  • Those wishing to become Citizen Scientists: Let us know—we will help you get started.  Check out our Citizen Science Opportunities page.

Paying attention to nature and how it is doing—especially in, under, over, and around our farms, ranches, and gardens—can build the community-wide awareness and engagement to protect and restore our foodsheds and surrounding wild areas and ensure a steady supply of healthy local food into the future.

Local Producers Need Our Help

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Supporting Sustainable Local Food and the Growers Who Produce It

As we look forward to a steady and increasing supply of healthy, local, sustainably produced food—especially in the face of a changing climate—we need to make sure that we provide all the support for the producers of that food that they really need. These sustainable farmers and ranchers need loyal customers who are willing to pay them a fair price for their hard work and attention to quality. But they also need community support, recognition, and encouragement—as well as our support for local, state, and federal policies that encourage rather than hinder community-based, sustainable food production and marketing. We can, and must, help in all three areas of support or we won’t have the quality local food we need into the future.

First, we need to learn and talk strategically about industrial food. We need to keep reminding ourselves of the fundamental differences between industrial food and that which is produced by our local sustainable farmers and ranchers. The beauty of local is that we know these producers and know, or should know, how they produce our food. We need to resist the tendency to ignore the destructive social, economic, and environmental externalities of the industrial food system.

We do need to talk with others about these disturbing externalities. But, as sustainable local food activists, we need to know just how much of the dark side of industrial food we need to portray to various audiences to get their attention without “turning them off,” and always try to have viable and positive alternatives to put forth. Before we expound on industrial feedlots, it’s best to have some local sustainable grass-based ranchers to recommend, and suggestions as to how to afford higher quality meats by perhaps eating less. Before we point to farm worker abuses, chemical contamination of waterways, biodiversity losses, or climate impacts of industrial crop production, we best have some good local growers in mind and some encouraging gardening advice.

Gardening can actually support our local producers. Rather than fear that community members growing food in their backyards will cut into local producer sales and profits, we should recognize that the more people are involved in growing some of their own food, the more likely they will support local producers and appreciate the challenges they face. They will more likely value the hard work and skill of local producers and the need for sustainable growing methods. They will be much more likely to be loyal customers and pay the fair prices that will keep local growers in business. Gardens at institutions such as schools, preschools, hospitals, senior centers, and colleges can likewise leverage greater institutional sales for local producers through greater awareness and public support.

Recognition and supportive policies are needed. The more we publicly recognize and showcase the social, economic, and environmental contributions of local sustainable farmers and ranchers, the more they will be encouraged to strive for greater sustainability, and the more likely they will receive support in the marketplace and in policies. We all know how important local policies are to agriculture, but need to take a second look at what will actually support local food producers, many of whom are on small acreages, need to do value-added processing for viability, need flexible local marketing options, and often have limited funds to meet food safety requirements—some of which may not be necessary for small local operations with excellent traceability. These policies are our own local responsibility. On the state and federal levels, being informed and working with enlightened policy groups to advocate for local sustainable producers is critical. We must ensure that these producers have fair access to government assistance and have regulations appropriate for their scale, and that subsidies support not the needs of agribusiness but the needs, desires, and values of the American public and long-term sustainability in a changing world.

Whose responsibility is the affordability of good food? When we speak of the need for healthier local food and being prepared to pay more if necessary for it, the question of affordability obviously arises. We must unpack this issue carefully in order to solve it sustainably. First, if one can afford the extra cost for sustainably produced and local foods, they should do so! Next, to put the burden on the farmer or rancher to provide food to consumers at a price that all can afford seems unfair. This, in fact, is what our industrial and corporate food system does—a race to the bottom to drive down the prices that growers get. It seems most appropriate to place this burden of affordability on society as a whole and ask society to work towards livable wages for all consumers and growers, control of corporate market manipulation, and food assistance programs that serve the health of the consumer and the sustainability of our planet more than the corporate profit margin.

Supporting young farmers. Young farmers are our future as we all know the average age of farmers is far beyond what it should be. I’ve been impressed with the National Young Farmers Coalition and those producers I know who are members in our area. In my view these farmers tend to see the real impediments they face and have clear visions of what their life and that of their families should be as local producers. They can also articulate what they need in order to continue growing for us. A recent national survey of the group listed their major challenges—the top being access to land followed by student loan debt, labor needs on the farm, health insurance, and more. The survey results indicate we need to listen carefully to these young farmers if we are to provide them the support they really need, as we may well have preconceived notions of their challenges. A case in point: the most helpful “policy, program, or institution” cited was the Affordable Care Act!

Young farmers on climate: Of particular interest to us are the survey responses of these young farmers relating to climate change and the environment. Unpredictable weather, severe storms, pest pressure, and water supply are some of the climate-related challenges they face. It behooves us as a society and as a local community to do what we can to help our young local farmers adapt to the climate changes that are here now and that will be increasing in the future. We also must work throughout all sectors—food, energy, transport, and the like—to help mitigate additional climate change that could make farming in the future extremely challenging for these farmers and ranchers. These bright young people are key to a sustainable future.

As we look forward to more healthy local food from healthy local foodsheds, keeping our sustainable local producers—young and old, beginning and established—in business, happy, and rewarded is in our community self-interest.

Gardens for the Future

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Keeping the future in mind as we garden is essential to reaping the many benefits that can come from growing at least some of our own food, not the least of which is action on climate change and biodiversity.

Looking Forward: As mentioned earlier, we at HCFS “look forward” to ensure an increasing supply of healthy local food in spite of the daunting challenges facing us, especially climate change and biodiversity losses—the two interconnected crises we see as demanding much more and more urgent attention. Engagement of far more of the public in supporting and taking action to address these issues is critical. We believe that there is a promising opportunity to build on the impressive public interest in healthy local food to engage more people in caring for their foodshed’s health and thus the environment. We have done our share of sharing facts and “educating the public,” but social science research into climate action tells us that is not enough. Engagement is more likely when people experience the impacts of climate (and we would add, of biodiversity losses).

Growing Food While Watching Nature: We have come to the conclusion that getting people gardening and helping people to pay more attention to changes in the natural world around them are two strategies to pursue without delay. When these two strategies are combined, and people observe and monitor changes in natural processes such as weather, pollinators, birds, etc., while growing food, the effect should be highly synergistic—a greater impact than either activity done alone. What gardener, especially one that takes the time to pay attention to nature in and around the garden, doesn’t become acutely aware of climate changes and biodiversity issues.

Gardening is a Powerful Climate Action: The simple act of growing one’s own food is a fundamental action that nearly everyone can engage in to adapt to ever increasing impacts from extreme weather and climate change on our food system, and at the same time to help reduce climate impacts not already locked in. Even if one grows only a small portion of their food needs, it gets one started on a path of greater individual and community self-sufficiency, a path of seeking the most sustainable foods possible beyond what is grown oneself, and a life more in tune with slow-food rather than fast-food values. In those rare cases where backyard or community gardening or even a small container garden on the patio is not feasible, helping or bartering with neighboring gardeners, or buying from local producers you get to know well, is the next best thing.

Gardening with an Eye to the Future is Even More Powerful: As we grow our food, if we keep climate and biodiversity in mind, the importance and irreversibility of these two crises should strengthen our resolve to make gardening the norm throughout the community. Gardens—in backyards, front yards, community gardens, schools, preschools, hospitals, and other institutions—could be a central part of our sustainability efforts, with an urgency and importance reminiscent of the Victory Gardens of years past. If we are good observers in our gardens, we will see the importance of protecting and restoring biodiversity as a key tool for biologically based food production that we will need to shift to in our overall food system. Keen observers will likely see the ethical imperative of coexistence with nature as well.

Gardening for the Future Actually Supports Local Producers: Rather than cutting into local producers’ sales, the more people that grow gardens, the more likely they will insist on the freshest and most sustainable sources for the food they do not grow themselves (likely a majority of their food). They will see the value of good food and recognize the work it takes to grow it well, so they are much more likely to be loyal customers willing to pay neighboring farmers a fair price for their work. They will see how important it is to support existing and prospective farmers and ranchers in the community and in local, state, and federal policies. We see the promotion of gardening as one of the best pathways for creating greater support for local producers.

What Does Gardening with the Future in Mind Look Like? If we are truly observant and aware of what is in store in our future, we will make serious gardening a priority. We see several elements of future-oriented gardening:

  • Get serious about producing food. It admittedly depends on your location, time, and resources, but striving to grow as much food as you can will serve you well whatever changes are in store. Don’t wait until you feel sure of yourself to start to garden—learn what you can, talk to fellow gardeners, and be ready to make a few mistakes, but start growing! Support gardens at all schools, preschools, and other institutions as well.
  • Be observant. “Watch while you work.” Keep track of pollinators, soil organisms, birds, beneficial insects, and seasonal occurrences (phenology). Share your observations with kids, fellow growers, and even with scientists through Citizen Science programs.
  • Grow with the Wild. Following Wild School Garden approaches for kids (and for any gardener) and Wild Farming and Ranching strategies combines astute observation with enlightened management for profound ecological, educational, and production benefits.
  • Support local producers. Get to know local farmers and ranchers, buy from them what you don’t grow yourself, learn from them, and support them as loyal customers and as voters so we have a reliable food supply into the future. Get more of their food into all our schools and preschools.
  • Care for others. Share food and seeds with others, and consider “growing a row” for the needy. Respect and nurture wildlife and the natural processes that make growing food possible. Show our children we care about them and their future.
  • Adapt. Start now looking at seeds, fruit tree varieties, water use, fertility, and management techniques that will work well as our climate changes.
  • Mitigate. Make sure we are reducing greenhouse gasses as we garden—much less fossil fuel use, fewer trips to the grocery, efficient water use, healthy soils, less food waste, etc.

Local food is the low-hanging fruit for broader citizen engagement in serious action on climate and biodiversity—and “Gardening for the Future” is a great way to start.

Looking Forward at HCFS

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Looking Forward to More Healthy Local Food from Healthy Local Foodsheds (LF3)

Our New “Looking Forward” Project is a positive, yet serious, proactive look into the future. We look forward, with hopeful anticipation, to more and more good local food. We look forward into the future at increasingly serious challenges, especially the connections between the climate and biodiversity crises and food. We look forward to a bright future for our children and our planet as we take the necessary actions now to ensure it, starting with food in our case and extending to all aspects of a sustainable future.

Interest in local food continues to grow, and presents a wide range of opportunities to capture multiple benefits and deeper sustainability. This interest in local food is always a positive, but sometimes can be relatively shallow and subject to complacency if not harnessed for greater good. It can, with some strategic awareness-building and support—which we are committing to in this project—lead to multiple, robust, deeply sustainable outcomes in our food system, and beyond.

The First 100 Days, the Next 100 Years: At the beginning of this year, there were a number of calls to action to address fears of what the new administration might do. I struggled to determine exactly what we should commit to—what should be our plan for the first 100 days? While many organizations in our area were ready and able to set some wonderful responses into action, I knew our local food work could contribute, but it took an extra couple hundred days to articulate a longer-term comprehensive response. We don’t have time to waste waiting for a new administration, but must do what we can on more local levels while keeping pressure on the federal government. And for us, that action starts with food—but doesn’t end there.

The Intersection of Food, Climate, and Biodiversity: Once the connection is made in the public’s mind between the health of our food and the health of the soil it is grown on, a progression of increasing levels of concern can be set in motion. How can the food be healthy without healthy soil, without healthy ecosystems in gardens and on farms and ranches? And how can they be healthy if not surrounded by healthy natural ecosystems—a healthy regional landscape, or “foodshed” as we call it?

As we look at the health of our local foodsheds, we see a number of challenges—air, water, soil, pollutants, and more—many of which are being addressed by some excellent agencies and organizations. Yet, we see that the climate and biodiversity crises are not being addressed at a level that their importance, irreversibility, and urgency demand of us. Try as we might, these two crises cannot be separated. Climate change has become the primary threat to biodiversity. Many if not most strategies to combat biodiversity losses due to agriculture will address climate change as well, and vice versa. Biodiversity is absolutely essential to the type of biologically based agriculture that our climate’s health requires. In terms of public engagement, addressing biodiversity can be an easier starting point for those people who find climate action difficult.

Our “Looking Forward” Plan: As we look to the future, we wear several lenses: that of local food as a multi-faceted tool for good, that of the necessity of healthy foodsheds, and that of biodiversity and climate being two of the most critical things, among other critical things, to address. We plan to do our part working toward a bright future, using local food as our tool to add to the efforts of many other groups and initiatives by focusing our promotion, resource development, and support efforts on four areas:

  • Gardens for the Future: Not only gardens for all kids, for all backyards, at all institutions, and in all neighborhoods, but gardeners who are continually adapting to the changing climate while working to reduce further climate change, protecting and monitoring biodiversity, incorporating climate-adapted seeds/trees/growing techniques, and reducing food insecurity for all.
  • Observing Foodshed Health: Observing indicators of foodshed health—by farmers, ranchers, gardeners, school children, and the community at large—is critical to building awareness of the challenges producers face and the urgency for us all to address climate and biodiversity. Citizen Science observing of weather, pollinators, beneficial insects, birds, and the like can help scientists monitor issues and actually develop solutions.
  • Local Producer Support: Producer support in the marketplace, the community, and the voter booth as well as public awareness of the need for healthy foodsheds and climate adaptation should help producers provide healthy local food into the future in the face of a changing climate and biodiversity losses—both domestic and wild—among other challenges.
  • Wild Farming & Ranching: Farms and ranches that are compatible with wildlife and with the natural ecosystems that surround them can be powerful forces in combating not only the biodiversity crisis, but climate change as well. These sustainable producers need public financial and technical support to implement wildlife-friendly practices, but loyal customer support as well to stay in business.

Beyond Food: Whether you start with food to address climate change and biodiversity, or with another strategy involving transportation, renewable energy, land use conservation, energy efficiency, water use, etc., it is critical to move on to the other sectors in our pursuit of long-term sustainability. It is our firm conviction that local food can be an effective entry point for many people in this overall effort—one that can be very positive, engaging, nurturing, therapeutic, and effective. We hope you will join us!

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