During your next meal, consider for a moment the effort it takes to grow the food you and your family are eating. Consider the costs involved, both economic and social. You might even spend a moment reading the packaging, but not for its nutritional value; instead, to learn more about the food’s origin. We now know the average distance traveled for much of our store bought food is 1,500 – 2,000 miles, or the distance from Santa Rosa to Chicago.
Ask yourself – if this food takes a day or two to travel such a distance, what’s the overall effect of your choice on other aspects of our life systems – the climate, for example as a result of the fuel needed to transport food long distances. Instead, a choice to buy local supports the local agricultural economy and invests in farmland protection here in Sonoma County. Keeping our agricultural economy healthy and protecting productive farmland from being converted to non-agricultural uses has been a priority of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District since our beginning 18 years ago.
Most recently, I have had the privilege to meet and work with some of the nation’s preeminent experts working to build sustainable food networks, gaining critical insights that we will be able to apply here in Sonoma County in our own land preservation program. This Labor Day weekend, I will be joining other land preservation professionals on a panel at Slow Food Nation ’08 in San Francisco to discuss preserving lands locally for growing food; and I will be part of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Urban-Rural Roundtable that is working with organizations and public agencies such as the District to identify and protect the sustainable food systems that serve the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our participation in Slow Food Nation ’08 and the Roundtable underscores the District’s interest in preserving local agriculture, for example, through our agricultural conservation easement and Small Farm Programs. Since 1992, the District has preserved over 33,000 acres of productive farmland using conservation easements and outright purchase, and our Small Farms Program has emphasized innovative techniques to protect and expand farming on smaller tracts of land along urban edges near Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Windsor; growing food we need much closer to those who will eventually consume it, reducing farming costs to get more money to the growers and reducing costs to consumers for healthier, locally-grown food. Visit your local farmer’s market or neighborhood farm stand and you may notice locally grown produce is a good bargain these days when the price of fuel is factored in.
If we are to create healthier, more sustainable urban communities, then maintaining and supporting viable agriculture close to our urban centers is critical. So Buy Locally, Act Globally ! To learn more about these efforts, please visit us at www.sonomaopenspace.org. For further information about Slow Food Nation or Roots of Change, visit www.slowfoodnation.org or www.rocfund.org. And bon appétit!
Andrea Mackenzie, General Manager
