May 15, 2013


In an effort to get the word out about the benefits of supporting the local food economy as well as to lay to rest many common myths about local food's costs to consumers, members of the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market enlisted one very passionate local food advocate, educator and farmer, Karen Holmes of Bellrock, to present the case for buying local this season.

Holmes' presentation, titled “Weighing the Costs: Building a case for a Local Food Economy”, took place at Oso Hall on May 11. The event was attended largely by people connected with the market, local farmers and those producing value-added products, along with local food activists, so it seemed that it was a case of preaching to the already converted. However Holmes' presentation speaks to all consumers, some of whom may hesitate to take the extra steps to seek out local fare.

Holmes' strength as a speaker lies in the fact that she practices what she preaches. She worked for many summers at a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) farm, in a community garden and a community kitchen and as teacher at the Royal Botanical Gardens, all while residing in Hamilton while undergoing cancer treatment. She now raises bees in Bellrock and recently joined the ranks of the National Farmers Union (NFU Local 316). She has also published numerous articles about the local food economy, farming and beekeeping for several publications.

Though I was not present for the better part of her presentation in Sharbot Lake on Saturday, I did interview Karen following the event and have quoted extensively from her article titled “Meeting the Challenges of Local Food” in the NFU's publication “Food Down the Road”. In the article she interviewed 20 people about what they believe to be the biggest challenges of trying to buy local. Holmes believes strongly in supporting local producers, and by doing so strengthening the local food economy while also benefiting the consumer. “The satisfaction of eating genuinely healthy foods that are produced locally (within a 100 mile or 160 km radius of home) while contributing to the health and wholeness of the local food system and life of the planet” are just a few of the benefits she names. She clarified several misunderstood terms, such as the term “local”. “Determination of local-food status is not based on farming-methodology (e.g. industrial, organic, biodynamic), although many who are drawn to the local-food movement for issues of sustainability or health are also attracted to organic and other ecological methods of agriculture.” Rather she states that a “food’s 'localness' is based on where its ingredients are from, rather than on where it is prepared or sold. So while one can buy fresh pasta from a local shop, or cilantro from the Kingston market, if the wheat and eggs in the pasta, or the cilantro plant, are not from within a 100-mile/160-km radius, then these foods cannot be termed local.”

Holmes also stresses the challenges that many local producers face. Number one on the list is cost and the assumption by consumers that “local food costs considerably more than the same food at a grocery store.”

While she makes comparisons that show that sometimes buying local can be marginally more expensive, she also showed that in many cases consumers can get more for their dollars when opting for local produce. In one example of buying leeks locally, three large-sized local leeks in Picton priced at $2.50 proved cheaper than the four smaller Mexican leeks available at a grocery store for $3.99. She also touches on the hidden costs that make non-local foods more expensive and costly in other ways in the long run. “We must make a mental shift and realize that to compare a tomato produced locally with sustainable practices to one shipped in from a unsustainable farm-operation is actually a false comparison. In many ways, these two tomatoes are not the same product in flavour, nutrition, or planetary impact.”

Holmes speaks of the need to make local food more accessible, with “local producers needing to strive to bring their products to a wider market by creating low budget food boxes, making preserves in cost-saving cooperative kitchens” and creating more delivery and drop off points while simultaneously making bumper produce readily available to various service agencies.

Holmes spoke of the challenge of trying to make local food more readily available in the winter months and stressed the need for “more local producers of winter (cold-frame & greenhouse) vegetables, of staples (most notably flours, oils, spices) and of fruits as well as the need for more local creameries and sellers of meat, legumes and fish.” She also emphasized the need for more community gardens and seed exchanges, which would “help increase the variety and volume of food available for eating and processing” as well as “more year-round producers’ farmers’ markets which would be an asset and would help build continuity and customer loyalty, as well as making the food available.”

She is honest about the fact that buying local means also taking more time in the kitchen to prepare meals. “Most local food still requires preparation on the part of the eater (i.e., cooking, preserving or processing) and this preparation demands time and skills that many people do not possess.” She also touched on the challenge for consumers having to make a special trip to buy local. “Local foods are not always available for purchase in one convenient location but CSAs and cooperatives are working to address this concern, and there are also local-food delivery-services such as Desert Lake Gardens and Wendy’s Mobile Market, but it is still the case that most local eaters have to make several ‘stops’ to acquire the various items on their weekly shopping lists.”

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