Sakonnet Growers Market Arrives

Yesterday was a great day for the Sakonnet community. Even amidst the overcast sky and occasional drops of rain, the Sakonnet Growers Market got off the ground. By the time we got there around 11:00, everything was in full swing: Vendors arrayed with their goods, lots of people walking around talking to each other, and most importantly, everyone was supporting our local food economy.

From vegetables to flowers to baked goods and coffee to garden plants, there was something for everyone. In talking to some of the growers, it seems that because of the holiday weekend that some vendors couldn’t be there. But not too worry, more should be around starting next week. Things can only grow from here.

Many thanks to all those people that made this possible. It is yet another milestone in the effort to make our community a more sustainable place for all of us. Hope to see you there in the coming weeks!

Oh, what’s with the picture? Those are some of the wonderful beets we bought from Manic Organic. They are just beautiful, aren’t they? Beets definitely need to be on the list of new vegetables to try in our garden next year.

(The Sakonnet Growers Market will run on Saturdays, 9:00 – 1:00, from July through October at Pardon Gray Preserve on Main Road in Tiverton.)

Preoccupations

Again, almost a month since the last post. But alas, things have been busy. Last week, I wrapped up school for the summer, finally allowing me some free time to tackle that long to-do list, including catching up on the blog.

There are so many things to write about and I hope to bring them to you in the coming weeks. I’d also plan on reorganizing the site to better present the wealth of resources available to us in our efforts to become more sustainable. Stay tuned.

In the meantime – and in the spirit of Independence Day – I wanted to share a bit of our own attempts at small-scale food independence, a.k.a, the home gardens. This is the first year where we’ve gone all out. The pictures show our collection of raised beds where we’re growing peas, pole beans, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, three varieties of tomatoes, zukes, cukes, summer and pattypan squashes, and finally some silverqueen corn. We’ve already harvested spinach, lettuce, and mesclun.

By the fence we put in blueberry bushes and raspberry vines. And on the far side by the stonewall is an attempt at a pumpkin patch for the kids. We’ll see how the latter turn out, as it doesn’t get a full day’s worth of sun. We still have a Concord Grape vine and some rhubarb to plant.

To me, it’s all an experiment. Trying to see what works and what doesn’t. I have a notebook filled with observations and thoughts about how to approach things differently next year. But the prospect of next year’s bounty is only one of the reasons why we’re having so much fun with this. There’s the fact that the kids are getting their hands dirty and looking forward to helping pick what’s ripe. And don’t forget that feeling of walking out your door and walking back with the makings of a fine salad. It just doesn’t get any more local than that.

Casually, I’ve observed more gardens this year – big and small. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s high food prices, maybe it’s a yearning for some greater level of self-sufficiency. The gardening bug is definitely contagious. The more people I talk to about what we’re doing, the more I hear the refrain, “Hey, I want to give that a shot.” We’ve even given some extra tomato plants away as gifts. There is nothing more satisfying than sharing the bounty-to-be.

Here is to the long days of summer and the little bit of goodness that comes from a seed, a clump of compost, the quenching rain, and warm rays of sunshine. It’s a true recipe for slowing down and enjoying a bit of happiness close to home.

Tube for Tuesday: Local Food a Cheaper Option

After a bit of a hiatus, Tube for Tuesday is back. Here's a great segment from NECN about how locally produced food is getting an edge cost-wise over traditionally supplied food. Why? Local food has lower transportation and distribution costs. That translates into less sticker shock at the check-out. The icing on the cake is that you're supporting your local farmer and economy.



Bonus Round: This boston.com story from today is all about this year's growing trend (pun intended) of home gardens in response to rising food costs. You can't get much more local than that.

Local Food Scores a Win

Many congrats go out to the Tiverton Land Trust, Manic Organic’s Nicole Vitello, the Recreation Commission, and all the countless others who have pulled together to create Tiverton’s first farmers market. This is just fantastic. More than anything, this has me really thinking about spring, summer, and all-things dealing with local food.

Why is the Sakonnet Growers Market such a big deal? It’s a win-win for anyone and everyone who participates:

• Local producers now have a new market to sell their products direct to the consumer. No middle-man to deal with means no mark-up and thus more money in the grower’s pocket.

• Visitors are spending their dollars locally, helping to boost our local economy. And with that, they get the freshest possible food. No trucking hundreds of miles to get from the farm to your table. That in itself is a huge step in lessening our environmental footprint.

• Our community binds together in new and refreshing ways. Farmers markets and the food they offer can thread together what would generally be different people from different parts of town. Not only are you meeting the farmer who grew your food, you’re meeting your neighbors.

I can’t wait for opening day on July 5 and hope to see you there!

But beyond the new farmers market, no discussion of local food would be complete without plugging our local CSA programs. Community Supported Agriculture is another cornerstone of a healthy local food economy. Here in the Sakonnet area, we have a bunch to choose from. Farm Fresh RI recently updated their listings of all CSAs in the state. Check it out, and get in early to ensure your piece of this year’s harvest.

And if you’re looking for something to read as the days are getting longer, be sure to pick up the Spring Issue of Edible Rhody. It’s always great to read about the vibrant food scene throughout the state.

Happy eating.

Book Review: "Reclaiming the Commons"

This is a retrospective review. I've read Brian Donahue's, “Reclaiming the Commons,” three or four times now and it continues to inspire and educate me. It’s one of those few books where I’ve made more notes in the margins than I can shake a stick at. Looks more like a used textbook at this point. But that’s the hook. Last week, it jumped out at me again from my bookshelf.

I picked it up in 2000 while still living in Providence, in-between stints in Tiverton. Looking back, I have to say that this could have been THE book that solidified my belief that turning this crazy world of ours around starts at home in your own community; that food and farming can be those conduits of change; and that I wanted to someday try to replicate this concept in some form.

The book recounts Donahue’s trials and tribulations of creating a vibrant, self-sustaining community farm and forestry business within the 2,000 acres of public land in Weston, MA. The farm, called Land’s Sake, evolved into a true community commons – that focal point of activity that brings together friends and neighbors, old and young alike, together to create a new bond with the land and themselves.

Weston, while slightly smaller than Tiverton in both land area and population, is similar in its geography and agrarian past. Both have classic New England farming heritages steeped in history, succumbing to the challenges of modern suburbia; citizens out of touch of where their food comes from and the value that a local food economy can bring; youth disenchanted with the wonders of an outdoor classroom and that thing called work ethic.

From market farming to animal husbandry to cut flowers; from community forestry to maple syrup production to apple cider pressing, Land’s Sake has taken the natural resources of Weston and transformed them into a successful community-based business model. What makes Land’s Sake a wonderful model for what a community farm could be is its fortitude in ensuring all of its various enterprises adhere to the four basic principles of the ecological, economical, educational, and esthetic.

They farm organically and practice sustainable forestry; their enterprises are self-sustaining and profitable; they include kids at all levels of the operation ensure a new generation of well-educated land and local food advocates; their work beautifies the land and welcomes the public to it as a respite from their hectic lives.

What I love the most about the Land’s Sake model is that they have forgone the potential for a more efficient operation for the opportunity to involve kids and integrate an environmental education component into their operation. From summer jobs to school-time fieldtrips, kids are working the land while expanding their minds. What a win-win.

Bottom line: As a resident of the Sakonnet area, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Then sit back and imagine reclaiming our own commons. Building that new focal point for our community that connects the past with the present while ensuring a sustainable future. We could do this. All we need is the land and the vision to make it a reality. It’s the total package: Land conservation, local economic and food security development, and inter-generational engagement.

(Note: Tiverton’s library doesn’t carry this book, but you can order it through the online Ocean State Libraries system.)

Have you read this book? Have you ever envisioned a new “commons” here in Sakonnet? Please take a moment to share your thoughts.

Tube For Tuesday: Edible Schoolyards in Action (Part 2)

Part Two in the series on establishing a new Edible Schoolyards program in New Orleans. This one is all about the kids enjoying the local fruit harvest. Isn't it great to see kids so excited over eating heathly, nutritious, locally-grown food? Enjoy.

Tube For Tuesday: Edible Schoolyards in Action (Part 1)

I thought we'd start a new feature: Tube For Tuesdays. Each Tuesday, we'll highlight a YouTube video that helps showcase some of the great sustainability work going on out there.

Our inaugural clip is all about the creation of an Edible Schoolyard program in New Orleans. It's a little long for my taste (over eight minutes), but the story is inspiring. Next week, we'll showcase Part 2. See my previous post (immediately below) for some background and link to the original Edible Schoolyard in California.

If any teachers are stopping by, I'd love to know what you think of this concept. I recently drove by the new Ranger school and noticed a big plot of land between that school and the High School. How cool would it be to create some sort of program that both ends of the educational spectrum could be a part of?

Protected Farmland + ? = Secure Local Food System

Let me get something off my chest: My suppressed desire is to be a farmer. I’m not sure where it came from, but it's why I talk about food and farming so much here at Sustainable Sakonnet. But as my wife likes to say, "I didn’t marry a farmer." So for now, I get by with a small garden and big dreams.

To me, there's nothing nobler, more respectable than rising each day and growing that which nurtures and sustains your neighbors. Getting your hands dirty, smelling like rich, fertile soil all the way to your bones; learning how to be a better farmer with each passing season.

I was reminded of this when I received the Tiverton Land Trust's fall newsletter. The cover story, “Will buildings be our last crop?” was all about the need for preserving farmland and averting development, especially in Tiverton. Content is taken from an apparent interview with Mr. Tom Sandham, District Manager of the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District. The most surprising stat: "Less than five percent of RI’s consumption of edible products is produced in RI." How amazing it would be if we could put in place a plan to grow that.

But saving farmland is only half of the solution. The other: Getting more people to embrace farming as a career and USE that saved farmland. I know that is much easier said then done. But people are doing it. Look at Andrew Orr in Westport.

There are two other ways that we could help chip away at the back half of that equation. While ideally they could work as a one-two punch, we could operate with one or the other (to begin with, of course).

The first is introducing some sort of agricultural education component into our schools. As the TLT highlights, we have that long history of farming here in town. So why not put in place a program that actually teaches that? A couple examples come to mind here:

• Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard project in Berkeley, CA, showcases the soup-to-nuts possibilities of getting kids growing their own food AND eating it.

• The Food Project lies right outside of Boston in Dorchester and is connecting kids with the land to drive social change.

• And if we ever had a formal agricultural educational component in our schools, we could start up a Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. By what I've seen and read, this development program is creating our farming leadership of tomorrow. There are already six local FFA chapters in RI. We should be the seventh.

The second way of fostering the development of future farmers is to create some sort of farm incubator program. These are basically training grounds, where new farmers can hone their skills, and develop and market their products in a more secure environment. Why not take one of these pieces of protected farmland and build that kind of foundational component? Again, some good examples:

• The Intervale Center in Burlington, VT, is a huge, multi-faceted program – and a great success story.

• The Farm School in Athol, MA, literally teaches kids and adults how to become farmers through intensive hands-on programs.

What I'd like to know is if anyone out there has been a part of or knows of people who have been a part of these types of ventures. Or, does anyone know if these conversations have happened at all in town? If so, I'd be interested in talking to you more.

Bottom line: We do have a rich agricultural heritage in Sakonnet. Saving the land is a great first step. But to truly be stewards of the land, we need to develop that skill and talent to work and cultivate it for future generations.

"No Farms, No Food."

So says the new bumper sticker on my car. I picked it up this weekend at the annual 4-H fair held down at the Glen in Portsmouth. While the fair was so-so, I really want to tell you about the bumper sticker.

It’s a promotion for a great national non-profit organization called the American Farmland Trust (AFT). Founded in 1980, it aims to protect farmland and farmers through a variety of policy, community planning, and environmental stewardship advocacy and member education programs.

Here’s the kicker stat that got me: Each year, the U.S. loses around 1.2 million acres of farmland to development. To put that into perspective, the state of Rhode Island is around 775,000 acres in size. When you think about it in terms of food security, loss of community resources and prosperity, and the livelihood of thousands of farmers and their families, that kind of loss is huge.

There are a few features I’d recommend checking out:

• The World as an Apple. This quick little Flash video puts it all into perspective and helps you realize why protecting our farmland is absolutely critical.



• Farm Bill 101. Every five years, Congress debates and passes a new set of nationwide farm legislation. Think it doesn’t affect you? Think again. This year’s legislation is as critical as ever to the health and prosperity of small farmers from Sakonnet to Seattle. From farmers markets to CSAs to roadside stands, all those things that we love so much about summers in New England could be at stake.



• Rhode Island Farming Overview. AFT’s overview of issues affecting Rhode Island farmers and an introduction to Rhode Island’s agricultural profile. According to the 2002 USDA Census of Agriculture, Rhode Island boasted over 850 farms occupying over 61,000 acres of total farmland worth a agriculture production market value of over $55M? That’s nothing to sneeze at, though I wonder what those numbers look like five years later.

Now, what happens when we protect all that farmland but don’t have enough farmers to work the land and provide for us? We need to seriously think about that. Given the bounty of farms and farmers here in Sakonnet, we should be giving thought to cultivating that next generation of farmers through new partnerships with our schools, summer work programs, and heck, even starting a Future Farmers of America chapter in these neck of the woods.

I volunteered one summer day a couple years back at one of our local organic farms. It was one of the hardest days I’ve ever worked, but I tell you, I walked away with such an appreciation for those men and women who put the food on my table. Call it crazy, but it was life-changing in a way.

We need to continue to do whatever we can to secure the future of our Sakonnet farms and farmers, to embrace and support the local food security they give us, and never lose sight of the fact that with no farms, there is no food.

Georgia Corn? Heck No.

On the heels of yesterday’s post, I had to share this story with you. It drives home how you just can’t beat local produce.

I was at Lee’s Market this evening grabbing a few things for dinner. Now, Lee’s does a great job at giving its customers local produce during the summer, and beyond that, posts the state/country of origin for many of the fruits and vegetables it sells.

I’m grabbing some portabella mushrooms when I overhear a woman ask the produce clerk where the corn came from. He said quite plainly, “Georgia.” With that, she did an about-face and left the corn in the dust.

Maybe she just didn’t feel like corn, but I have to imagine the fact that it wasn’t local had something to do about it. Kudos for having the patience to stick it out a few more weeks until the local stuff is coming in fresh from the farm down the road.

Granted, we all like to indulge now and then with some out of season fare. I know – my kids love apples 24/7/365. That’s fine; I’m not trying to strong-arm anyone. But if you’re going to buy fruits and vegetables at any point over the next few months, try to do your part to support our local farmers and save the environment at the same time. Buy local and organic when you can.

Local Food Made Easier: Edible Rhody

A belated Happy Summer to everyone. After some down time, Sustainable Sakonnet is back. The reasons why are too long to discuss. But it’s summer and the time is perfect to expound on one of my favorite topics: Supporting (and consuming!) local food.

The benefits of local food are obvious: From supporting local farmers and market growers to the health benefits of eating all those wonderful fruits and vegetables to the environmental win-win of locally produced (read: less energy used to package and ship), organic fare. If you’re a Sakonnet Local, I don’t have to point out all those tasty stands. But to get the wonderful community experience of the farmers market, check out a local listing at Farm Fresh RI (my favorite is the Aquidneck Growers Market, followed by new kid on the block, Striper Moon Farmer’s Market)

Earlier this spring I stumbled upon a new publication that celebrates and promotes the bounty of RI: Edible Rhody. This pub is the newest installment in the long line of Edible Communities editions.

The new summer edition (only their second) is chock-a-block full of great stories, recipes, and interviews celebrating the wide diversity of food and fare we have here in RI. I don’t even mind perusing the ads because you can find so many new options when it comes to eating local. Subscriptions are $28 for four issues annually (by season), but if you can find it for free, even better (I get mine at Sakonnet Vineyards).

Out of all the stories, I encourage you to read the one on the new Farm Bill being crafted right now by Congress. It’s a good overview of why this piece of federal legislation is important, where it needs to be improved in order to better support our local food producers and infrastructure, and what you can do to help. The more I read about this topic, the more it brings home the need for doing all we can to secure our local food future.

Here’s to good eating!

Welcome Striper Moon Farmers Market

I was driving down East Main Road in Portsmouth this morning and what did I spy at the bottom of Quaker Hill? The familiar site of Manic Organic’s white pop-up tent and vegetable stand. It’s officially warm(er) out. Better yet, that’s a sure sign that we’re only weeks away from the 2007 farmers market season.

This year, we’ll have yet another option for fresh, local food and fare: The Striper Moon Farmers Market in Bristol. Kudos to Nick Kearney, owner of Striper Moon, for pulling it all together. As he said in an email to me, he hopes it becomes a new “nerve center” for Bristol residents on Saturday mornings. The market will feature local fruits and vegetables from a number of small producers, The Bristol Bakery, and seafood, flowers, cheeses, and other wares from local merchants. Tiverton’s own Coastal Roasters will be providing the coffee. Here are the details:

Striper Moon Farmers Market
47 Bradford Street, Bristol (Google Map)
Saturdays, 9:00am – 1:00pm
June 2 - October 31

Why are farmers markets important?
• Fresh + Local = Better For You. Local means your food was picked in some cases hour ago, not days or weeks. It tastes better and doesn’t have to be laden with preservatives. If it’s grown organically, that’s even better for you and the environment. Did you know that the food you buy in the grocery store has traveled an average of 1,200 miles to get there?

• Supporting Local Farmers and Merchants. We don’t have to look to far to see a new housing development on what was once a farm. Farming is our connection to the land and the people who work that land here in our communities need to be supported – not the huge agro-business industrial farms in the south and west (or outside the U.S. for that matter). Small-scale local merchants keep communities thriving and are a better alternative to chain stores.

• Connect with Neighbors. Farmers markets bring people together. Folks interact, talk, laugh, and even meet new friends. When’s the last time you did that at Stop & Shop?

I’ll see you in Bristol on Saturday, June 2! In a couple weeks we’ll do another post to feature all our local farmers markets.

Community Supported Agriculture

Spring is in the air – even though we had a tinge of snow today. One of the best thoughts to cross my mind in spring is signing up for this year’s community supported agriculture (CSA) program with one of our local farmers. What’s a CSA, you ask?

CSAs are an amazing way to make your lifestyle more sustainable. (A CSA history.) Local farmers who offer CSA programs allow people like you and me to purchase a share of the coming year’s harvest at the start of the growing season for a set price. From there, most CSAs provide you with a weekly bounty of fresh (really fresh) fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other wares at a standard pick up location. Most summer CSA programs will last from June through September or even October.

With a CSA, you assume some risk with the farmer (think drought), but it’s a win-win all around: Farmers expand their local markets; consumers support local growers, eat a more local diet, and have the satisfaction of knowing who grew their food and where it came from.

Personally, my family has taken part in two different CSA programs with local organic farms—one in summer, one in winter—and has loved them.

Farm Fresh Rhode Island, a Providence-based non-profit that helps businesses and people connect with local food sources, has a list of local CSAs in our area. The closest three based on a zip code search using 02878 gives you:

• Manic Organic in Tiverton (www.manicorganic.biz)

• Wishing Stone Farm in Little Compton (no website, but you can email owner, Skip Paul)

• Simmons Farm in Middletown (no website, but you can email them)

All three of these farms are certified organic, which is even better. But there are more to choose from. Check out Farm Fresh RI to read profiles of the farms, then reach out to see if there’s still room in their CSA programs.

In a later post, we’ll talk about the local food movement in general. But until then, ponder this stat: When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically traveled at least 1,500 miles. (Source: 100 Mile Diet)

Connecting Farms, Food, and Kids

Well, we’ve had two 50-degree days in a row and I’m thinking spring. And that makes me think of kick-starting the garden and compost piles. We’ll save composting for a later post. For now, let’s talk about growing food and what we do with that food here in the Sakonnet area.

When I think local food, I think local farmers. We have a lot of them. From community supported agriculture (CSA) programs to local farm stands, we’re blessed with bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables for a good chunk of the year. Local farmers are our link to the land, our link to a time when they were literally a lifeline for the communities they farmed in. While that is still true to an extent, local farmers continue to face tough challenges in an ever-more competitive and price sensitive marketplace.

Now, let’s talk about another issue: School lunch programs and their connection to the health of our kids. This topic has been all over the news of late and for good reason. While lunch programs are regulated for content, there’s only so much that you can provide for a certain price point. Look at the Sakonnet Times every week for the school lunch listing. Pizza, hot dogs (foot long, no less), etc. We can do better.

Let’s create a farm-to-school program. This is a national trend whereby local farmers are finding new markets with local schools to provide them with fresh produce for use by their lunch programs. It’s a win-win all around: Farmers grow their markets; our kids get nutritious, wholesome food that sure beats pizza and hot dogs. Kids are learning about where there food comes from, better nutrition, and creating life-long eating habits that put them on the path to health and wellness.

Check out the new report from the National Farm to School Program entitled ”Going Local: Paths to Success for Farm to School Programs”. It’s a wonderful and inspiring read, showcasing examples of successful programs from across the county.

According the Farm to School website, there are no municipal level farm-to-school programs in Rhode Island. Why shouldn’t we be the first and set the bar for the rest of the state? We have farms, we have schools; all we need is the desire for something better.

Are you a parent? An educator? A municipal official? A farmer? Please post a comment or email me if you’re interested in exploring this further. We can make this happen. This could be sustainability in action.

Need some more inspiration? Check out what Alice Waters is doing in California at The Edible Schoolyard; or closer to home in Connecticut with Chef Timothy Cipriano’s effort called Local Food Dude.

What's Your Idea?

Let’s start this conversation off on the right foot. Demographically speaking, the communities of Tiverton and Little Compton make up a decent sized footprint in this state. Consider this equation:

50.3 square miles of land + 18,853 residents + 7,552 households = The Potential for Many Good Ideas

So what’s that green idea you’ve been mulling around with for a while? Want to share and get some feedback? If you haven’t thought about it of late, here are a few to jumpstart your juices:

• Outfitting public buildings with renewable energy and energy conservation devices (Inspiration: Check out the headquarters of Rhode Island’s own Peoples Power & Light at www.17gordonavenue.com)

• Connecting our local farms with local schools to develop new curricula, appreciation for local food, and maybe even a more healthy school lunch program (Inspiration: Check out what local food advocate Alice Waters has created in Berkeley, CA, at www.edibleschoolyard.org)

• Creating a new public education forum to connect citizens and learn about how to live a more sustainable lifestyle (Inspiration: Check out the breadth of events being sponsored just across the border in Newton, MA, at www.greendecade.org/events.html)

• Supporting local business with our own municipal currency. (Inspiration: Forget Monopoly money, the real thing is happening in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts. Check out www.berkshares.org)

So ask your friends, ask your children, ask your neighbor. Then post a comment or email it to sustainablesakonnet@yahoo.com. We’ll share the results and see where it leads us.