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from the pages of
February 2003
Making Choices
by Michael Ballon
In the midst of an old fashioned New England winter like we haven't had in years, its may seem a little hard to think about planting a garden, and the issue of supporting local sustainable agriculture. The ground is covered in deep snow, and it will be months before farmers markets reopen with their new offerings. But as mail order seed catalogues trickle in with alluring photos of real ripe tomatoes and exotic varieties of produce, it is fact an opportune time to reflect on some of the choices we make about where our food comes from and how we eat.
A trip to your local supermarket this time of year is like visiting an international bazaar, with asparagus from Peru and Chile, raspberries from Guatemala, and blueberries all the way from New Zealand, all at exorbitant prices. No one seriously advocates a return to the days of our grandparents, when pantries in New England relied on root cellars as a source of vegetables in winter, and fresh green vegetables in the dead of winter were unimaginable. Clearly the ability of modern agriculture and transportation have combined to provide a vast variety of produce in the marketplace year round, and most consumers appreciate this abundance. While we peruse the offerings which are so bountiful on the shelves, the conditions under which this produce was grown and harvested is less apparent. Pesticides and herbicides which were outlawed years ago in America are still in use in many places outside this country, where the FDA and EPA have no sway, and working conditions in fields where produce is harvested are frequently primitive at best.
One needn't be a food fanatic or paranoid subscriber to wild conspiracy theories to be concerned about the quality and nature of the food we eat. Common sense tells us that there is some relationship between the vast increase in consumption of chemically treated food we eat, and the epidemic of cancers and other diseases which currently plague us. Some will chose to only eat food grown organically, and will be willing to pay the increased cost of growing and buying food grown without chemicals. Other striving to eat healthfully may chose to avoid processed, fried, and sugary foods, and rely more on fresh vegetables, organic or not, in their diet. Some chose to eat no meat or fish, others fish only, but no meat, and still others will include most everything in their diet. Bio-dynamic farms, of which there are several in the Berkshires, recognize the natural interrelationship of growing vegetables and animals together, and offer the harvest of both plant and animal from the farm.
Like other forms of orthodoxy, when it comes to our food and diet, we all draw a line and make our own choices based on our belief system, justifying our practices in an idiosyncratic combination of culture, taste, wealth, religion, level of awareness and education, to name just a few factors.
The quiet of the Berkshire winter provides the time and opportunity for chefs and farmers to have a dialogue about the crops and food being grown for the next summer season, partly under the auspices of Berkshire Grown. Over the next weeks this network of producers and consumers have an opportunity to discuss mutual interests and needs, in an attempt to bring supply and demand into greater harmony. Because we are denied the choice and opportunity to eat and buy locally and ethically produced farm products during much of the year in the Berkshires, it becomes that much more important to support them during the limited time when we can. This is the time of year to renew membership in community supported agricultural farms, and to support local land trusts and farm organizations which make local food production possible. This is one choice which is easy to make.
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