Anything Grows: The Future of Food and Agriculture

Announcing the next Anything Grows event:

December 10 at 7pm

Pemberton Public Library

This one features a short talk from Anna about the Terra Madre confrence she recently attended in Turin Italy. This is the world meeting of food communities and the main Slow Food event - 6,000 delegates, most of them farmers and chefs, all together to talk about the "new" agriculture.

Following this, we will have a round table discussion on the food situation in our region.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Bring all those unasked questions from the summer's Anything Grows event.

November 3, 2008.

Here is a little rant...

The case for local food:

An operation such as Helmer's farm, producing good-tasting, well-grown food, is an example of a human economic activity that actually absorbs carbon. We are a carbon sink. Industrial farming (as opposed to a regional model, that is) accounts for as much as a quarter to a third of global emissions (even the most conservative and grudging estimate is 17%).

Local food has tended to cost a bit more than that produced in the industrial model. That is because the industrial model is designed to sell more for less. Go big or go home. Pile it high and watch it fly. In this respect it has succeed amazingly. This food is cheap, fast and easy. On the other hand, good, clean and fair food is not cheap and it will not be free (unless you grow your own- and you always have that choice). Interesting to note that in our region, conventional nugget potatoes found at local grocery stores are at 2.79 per lb. Compare this to the average price per pound of a famous organic Helmer potato: 2.15 per pound. A shift in the paradigm could overtake you at any moment!  

Regionally based agricultural systems, consisting of more farms, growing more varieties of vegetables and meats, are able to adapt more quickly to external forces such as climate change/weather variability, fuel and input costs and consumer demand.

Establish a back-up plan with your food. Take the case of fuel, where we have lost all control of production, price and availability. We can and do find ways to live without fuel, whereas we must have food. There is no substitute. A local food system retains control of production, price and availability. This is food security.

If you think that we are unable to feed the world using regionally based food systems, consider that almost ONE BILLION (and counting) people are now going hungry in the world. There is no question that the current food system is not able to feed the world. It is now broken. According to one expert (Tewolde B. E. Egziabher, Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency of Ethiopia), African countries now dependant on food aid from North America and Europe would require only 3 growing seasons to return to a self-sufficient food supply. Is it in the best interests of developed country industrial agriculture to keep the developing countries hungry?

World leaders are considering going local. Slow Food directors have been invited to address the G8 on the future of food and agriculture.

Local food tastes good. The bottom line.

What now.... October 28, 2008

Anna has just returned from Terra Madre held in Turin Italy, the world meeting of food communities organized by Slow Food International. The big news is that Slow Food has been invited by the G8 to address them on the subject of the future of food and agriculture. I hesitate to point out that Slow Food is going mainstream now, but that does seem to be the case...

This conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet producers from all over the world. 6,000 delegates from 153 countries including 4,000 farmers, 700 chefs, 300 university professors, 1,000 students and youth. Anna attended a potato seminar and met potato growers from Peru, Chile, Uganda, UK, Ghana, South Africa, America, New Zealand. Other workshops addressed marketing and labelling, meat and dairy, climate change and agriculture, and food safety.

The Terra Madre confrence was held in conjunction with Salone del Gusto, which is a food showcase and tradeshow that attracted over 180,000 attendees who browsed their way through wares of hundred's of producers from all over Europe, including cured meats, cheeses, olive oils, vinegars, preserves, chocolate, wine, beer and spirits.

We are inviting everyone interested to a public meeting (date TBA) where you can learn all about it. This could also be a continuation of this summer's event. Bring those questions! If the future of food is really local, then we really have a lot of work to do.

The Original Anything Grows Event...

Thursday August 14 2008

Millennium Place, Whistler

Public forum on the future of food in Whistler and Pemberton, organized by the Slow Food Cycle Sunday Society

Thanks to the following organizations and individuals who made this evening possible:

• Community Foundation of Whistler: event sponsor
• The panelists: for sharing their work and passions with us all
• The Whistler Blackcomb Foundation Technology Fund: all the A/V equipment
• GD Maxwell: our moderator
• Whistler Cooks!: prepared and donated pre-event appetizers
• Millennium Place volunteers and staff
• Sumire Designs: for making us look so good
• Nancy Johnston and Sue Lemmers: the organizational support team

How it went down

By 7pm there were close to 100 people milling about outside the theatre at Millennium Place, munching on some tasty treats from Whistler Cooks. Everyone was seated with eager anticipation (and perhaps some nervous anticipation on the part of the panel) by 7:15 and we were off.

Max started us off with a story that brought into focus the real reason that we have concerns about our food system. The stage was set for exploration and inspiration, each speaker shedding new light on an old topic: food.

Rob Clark executive chef C, Nu and Raincity Grill

How I see it

Roxy Kuurne farmer

The strength of agriculture in Pemberton: soil and seed potatoe

Karin Schreurs Manager Granville Island Farmers Market

Supporting the farmers market model

Caterina Alberti Whistler Farmers Market

Getting the produce and the customers to the market at the same time!

Kevin Damaskie Sustainability Coordinator, RMOW

Whistler 2020 Food Sustainability Plan

Jordan Sturdy farmer

The public face of the local farm scene

Stephen Milstein Whistler Greenhouse Project

Greenhouse Growing for Whistler and for export

Mark Blundell Pemberton Valley Supermarket

The business of selling local food

Heather Pritchard Farm Folk City Folk

Cultivating a healthy rural/urban connection

Astrid Cameron Slow Food Sea to Sky

How to celebrate your local food.

Ramona Scott Manager, Agricultural Programs, The Land Conservancy

Farmland Protection for Sustainable, Local Food Production

Shane Bourbonnais Live Nation

Feeding the Festival

At Anything Grows, these twelve speakers held us enthralled for over 2 hours on the subject of food. There was no time for discussion afterwards. All those questions, comments and concerns are still out there. Our job has just begun.

You had to be there. We didn’t tape it, or film it. We didn’t write down everything everyone said. If you weren’t there, you have to take our word for it that it was a very special evening. If you were, then you have to tell people about it. What did you learn? What did you discover? What came clear? What did not?

So what are we going to do now? We are going to turn this website into a blog. You will be able to ask questions, someone will answer, or pose another. You can come here to get ideas, to join in, to stir it up.  We’ll see what happens then.

This business of food sustainability and security needs our collective attention. As opposed to fuel, where we can no longer claim control over future supplies and price, we have a chance to keep food close to home.

Thanks for taking the time to think about it. Thanks for coming out, both to the Anything Grows event and Slow Food Cycle Sunday. Thanks for making a note of what you want to say so that when we get this blog up and running, you will not forget your questions, comments and concerns.