blue moon fund

At first glance, Charlottesville, Virginia seems to have little in common with the tiny town of Duffield in the far southwestern corner of the state.  Charlottesville’s population of 42,000 is generally more affluent and politically progressive than the 5500 residents of Duffield, or for that matter, most of the communities in the Appalachian region of Virginia.  On closer inspection it’s apparent that these disparate areas share at least one important trend; the emergence of healthy, locally-rooted food systems with the potential to make farming more sustainable and economically viable.  In Charlottesville, Duffield and points in between, the blue moon fund has invested in dynamic community-based organizations that are bringing this new food system to life.

What exactly is a “healthy local food system”?  There are four basic characteristics that distinguish it from a broader, “conventional” food system”: 

1. Producers and consumers are more directly connected, and food travels 80% - 90% less from farm to table, compared with the conventional food system.  According to the Leopold Center at Iowa State University, the average bite of food Americans now eat has traveled 1,750 miles.  At the farmers market in Abingdon, Virginia, more then 75% of the producers are within 30 miles of the market; the  produce, meat and eggs distributed through Charlottesville’s Local Food Hub rarely moves more than 100 miles. 
2. For several reasons, food produced and distributed locally generally has a smaller ecological foot print. The mileage difference described above means considerably less petroleum for shipping, even accounting for the so-called efficiencies of cross country distribution in tractor trailers.  A farmer with a full pick up load of goods making a 50 mile round trip to the farmers market uses about a quart of fuel for every 100 lbs of food, while the full tractor trailer moving cross country requires nearly two gallons to move the same volume.  What’s more, farmers selling close to home are much more likely to be organic, or to use grass-based or other sustainable practices.  The 2008 USDA Census of agriculture found that more than 70% of organic farmers around the country sold locally or regionally for their primary markets.  
3. While it varies from place to place, local food outlets frequently offer a diverse array of healthy foods, from heirloom fruits and vegetables to grass-finished meats and eggs.  The breeds of animals and varieties of produce one finds at a farmers market or local restaurant are more likely grown for their superior taste and nutritional qualities, rather than their long shelf life or uniformity.  Pasture-based beef, pork, lamb and poultry, which have much higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids (the “good fats”) and Vitamin A, are now much more commonly available at farmers markets, local restaurants and  independent grocers than at chain stores or big box outlets.  Given several farmers markets in Virginia and neighboring states are now accepting EBT – food stamps – this healthy food is becoming more broadly available.  
4. Local food transactions offer farmers better prices and more secure markets, improving the overall economic outlook for farmers and rural communities.  As more and more consumers have become aware of the health and ecological benefits of local and sustainable foods, the demand has grown steadily.  The number of farmers markets nationwide has grown from 1750 in 1994 to over 5000 today.  By comparison ,in Virginia, farmers markets have more than doubled in the past 8 years.  It’s  not just farmers markets.  The Duffield-based Appalachian Harvest network links nearly 60 small, organic farmers with over 600 supermarkets in Virginia and neighboring states, creating a demand large enough for many more farmers.  Most of the money consumers spend for these local foods is returned to the farmers’ pockets.  In contrast a 10%  - 20 % share for the farmers is the average through the conventional food system.  

Kentucky farmer, poet and essayist Wendell Berry famously stated that “eating is an agricultural act”.  Most Americans now shape the food system primarily through their choices in the market place. The food we buy profoundly impacts not only our own health, but the economic vitality of rural communities and the ecological health of the globe.  As healthy local food systems emerge in places as diverse as Charlottesville and Duffield, the opportunity to “eat our way to a better world” has never been better!