Be a Food Citizen – 12 Actions for Food System Change, Part 1
by Jennifer Wilkins, PhD, RD
12 Actions to: build vibrant, community-based food systems support food and agriculture policies based on health and sustainability, and enhance the pleasures of eating.
1. Think globally, eat locally. Most regions are capable of producing a wide range of foods but specific foods will vary from one area to another. Buying food produced by local farmers helps build vibrant communities and strengthens the local economy. Every dollar spent on local foods helps ensure more money going to farmers who are part of your community, and that agriculture will remain part of your local landscape. Eating locally also helps reduce your total intake of food miles thus significantly reducing the amount of fossil fuels used to transport food great distances. This not only helps conserve a limited and increasingly scarce resource, it also cuts down on CO2 pollution, and the wear and tear on transport vehicles, highways and by-ways that ultimately means using more natural resources to remedy.
2. Celebrate the seasons at the table. Eating locally means that your diet changes from one season to the next. In spring delight in the arrival of a succulent greens, asparagus, new potatoes, and garlic scapes. In summer glory in the bounty of the seasons cornucopia of tree fruits, berries and every color of vegetable. This is the time to focus on fresh! In fall, savor cool weather crops and delight in the abundance of the final harvest. In winter take stock of the many hearty roots, apples and pears stored from local harvest, and fruits of summer preserved for mid-winter sustenance.
3. Get involved in the politics of food. These days there is a multitude of ways to help shape local, state and even federal food and agriculture policy. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 2004, every school district is required to develop and implement school nutrition policies which will have an impact on whats served in the cafeteria, what nutrition and food education is taught in the classroom, and other ways that kids are exposed to food at school. Since school districts must form wellness committees that include members of the public, this is a way to get involved in food policy. Food policy councils provide a way to be involved in policies that impact the food system at a community level. If you are a farmer, anti-hunger advocate, farm labor representative, member of the faith community, food processor, food wholesaler or distributor, food retailer or grocer, chefs or restaurant owner, official from farm organization, community gardener, academic, or just someone who eats and cares about food, you can be part of a food policy council. Cities and states do not have departments of Food, but food policy councils are forming to fill the void in local and state government for a comprehensive approach to food system problems. At the national level, you can provide input through state or local food and farming organizations about the Farm Bill. This huge piece of legislation with equally huge implications for health and the food system, is revised every five years and needs more citizen input!
4. Grow something you eat. Eat something you grew. Growing some of your own food is one of the best (and nutritious!) ways to connect with nature. And it doesnt have to be as ambitious as growing a full-fledged vegetable garden. Growing fresh herbs or sungold tomatoes in a pot on your deck, apartment balcony or window sill, or sprouting seeds on your kitchen counter are simple ways to produce some of your own food. By home canning, freezing, and drying what you grow, your efforts will be rewarded all winter long!
5. Get to know a farmer. During your local growing season, buy direct from farmers. By visiting and spending some of your food dollars at a local farmers market, farm stand, or pick-your-own operation you will learn where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised. By getting to know who grew some of your food, you can build strong relationships, increase understanding and trust and support production methods that are better for our health, our communities, and the environment. Farmers need to know consumers care about efforts to reduce the use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in their operations.
