Category Archives: Local and regional food economies

advocate, Chefs and restaurants, Local and regional food economies

Why chefs love local and seasonal produce

GOING LOCAL – FROM LAKE COMO TO COFFS JETTY

Nick Rose

First published in the Coffs Coast Advocate, 1.1.11

When he first arrived in Coffs Harbour five years ago with his family to open Fiasco’s Restaurant and Bar, Stefano Mazzina found himself in an unfamiliar landscape. Unlike his native Lake Como in Northern Italy (north of Milan, near the Switzerland-Italian border), everything in the food and agricultural business seemed large-scale and anonymous.

Stefano Mazzina, Proprietor of Fiasco Restaurant, Coffs Harbour
Stefano Mazzina, Proprietor of Fiasco Restaurant, Coffs Harbour

This was a big change from Lake Como, where the majority of produce was local, small-scale and specialist to that region, both for the restaurants and for householders. Stefano fondly remembers a strong local cheese-making tradition from his childhood, which is still continuing today:

“Everybody had a couple of cows…and they used to bring their milk into this house where they made cheeses…your repayment for bringing in the milk, was cheese and butter – you never saw money [changing hands]. So this tradition of [local produce], that’s where I’m coming from”, he says.

Stefano also noticed a big difference in the way people related to, and understood, food, when he came to Australia. Unlike in Italy, he says, “there is not the [same] understanding of food [yet], especially in terms of vegetables.”

“People see vegetables in terms of people being meat eaters, or vegetarians, but there is not a fusion of looking at food in general”, he continues. “[For example], some of my chefs here didn’t want to try lentils, but I said, in Italy we eat everything – everything is dictated by the weather, the terrain, and the [culture of the] region. The menus vary with the seasons – they follow the seasons, what’s around – [local produce] is cheaper, it lasts longer, it has a better flavour – it just makes sense.”

He is now working hard to bring this tradition of incorporating local, seasonal produce into his menus at Fiasco. His main supplier, Phil [A & D Fruit and Vegetables] has a good percentage of local produce on his list. “That’s lettuce, mushrooms, strawberries, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, oranges, limes – soon there’s going to be zucchini, green beans, parsley, coriander, basil, – it’s good produce”, says Stefano.

There are many advantages, Stefano says, in having a menu oriented towards local, seasonal produce:

“Having more local produce makes the life a lot easier for a chef, because he’s got more to get inspired by – rather than just buying the same things – there’s no variety [in doing that]. With local produce, you don’t have to have a single menu that runs all year…you can use the seasons, and use the growers’ input, to [craft] the menu and make it more interesting and sustainable.”

In addition, because the produce is fresher, its quality and taste is better. Lower food miles means far less pollution than vegetables from the big central markets. And buying local stimulates the local economy:

“The money stays in town – [and] it comes around. The farmers knows I’m buying from them, and I keep them in business, and maybe one day they’ll come to my restaurant!”

If possible, Stefano would like to encourage more local growers to produce food especially (though not exclusively) for his restaurant. He experimented with this recently, when he provided a local grower with some purple carrot seeds.

With so much dairy in the region, Stefano believes that there is a real lack of value-adding to dairy produce, and especially cheese.

“If I could buy local cheeses, I wouldn’t buy other cheeses. We make ricotta here, from goat’s milk, I know some basic cheese-making techniques…but I’m not a cheese maker, you need an expert for that”, he says.

“In Italy, we used to make a lot of fresh and soft cheeses locally, the blue cheeses – caprini, buffalo mozzarella – [but] you need someone who has the knowledge to do it…”

So here’s a challenge for the Coffs Coast – any budding local cheese-makers out there? And if not, how can we support the establishment of a cheese-making tradition?

Alternatives, Collaborative cultures and networks, Corporate control of food, Democratic food systems, Fair Food systems, Food sovereignty, Growth paradigm, Local and regional food economies

Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice Requires Democratic Food Systems

This essay outlines the ‘biophysical contradictions’ and crises of legitimacy that the globalising industrial food system is now confronting. It argues that the system has become oligarchic by nature and is incapable of resolving these contradictions and crises within its own terms of continued geographical expansion and technological change, the dialectic of ‘plunder and productivity’. I argue that only a much more democratic food system can achieve lasting environmental sustainability and global social justice; and that developments in food sovereignty from around the world offer much promise towards these ends.

Hand plant

Some excerpts:

As in other spheres of human life, the most clearly apparent legacy of the era of neoliberal capitalism in food and agriculture is sharply rising inequality (Duménil and Lévy 2001: 578; Harvey 2005; Guthman 2011: 62). It is no exaggeration to categorise the global food system as oligarchic, even plutocratic, with a small number of giant transnational corporations controlling the sectors of research and development, proprietary seed, agri-chemicals, grain trading, meat packing, food processing and, increasingly, retailing, to the detriment of most producers and consumers alike (Patel 2007: 12-15). The system is designed to meet the needs of corporations for profit and capital accumulation, with the goals of human health and ecosystem integrity being secondary or tertiary considerations.

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On one level, the plutocratic global food system faces a crisis of legitimacy, as the perversity of its operation, and the extent of its dysfunctionality, becomes more widely known. A crisis of legitimacy does not, however, translate into a systemic crisis, as long as the circuits of production and consumption can continue to be closed, enabling the system to expand and capital accumulation to persist. On another level, the system is confronted by a series of ‘accelerating biophysical contradictions’ (Weis 2010) which have the very real capacity to undermine its continued conditions of existence.

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The conclusion to be drawn from the above discussion is that industrialising capitalist agriculture finds itself at a serious impasse; and yet its promoters in Northern governments apparently find themselves capable only of urging its continuation and expansion because their worldview is so constrained by orthodox economics, and the vested interests of large corporations, that they cannot see any alternative. Further, the ‘long waves’ of capitalist expansion over centuries have in turn rested on a series of agricultural revolutions, beginning with the first English agricultural revolution of the ‘long seventeenth century’; succeeded by the second English agricultural revolution of the nineteenth century, and most recently the industrialisation of agriculture, led by the USA, in the twentieth (Moore 2010: 403). These revolutions have played this enabling role by bringing about, through a combination of outright ‘plunder’ (in the form of the dispossession of indigenous peoples of their land and resources) and technologically-driven productivity gains, an ‘ecological surplus’, with ‘cheap food’ at its centre, that has managed to restrain the cost of labour relative to other factors of production, and so enable sustained profitability (Gutham 2011: 54; Moore 2010: 392-3).

The trouble is that as capitalist industrial agriculture encounters its biophysical contradictions in the form of a series of planetary boundaries and a steadily widening ‘ecological rift’ between humanity and nature (Foster et al 2011: 76-79; Rockstrom et al 2009), and as the global capitalist system as a whole now appears to be stagnating and entering a period of crisis, no new agricultural revolution, and thus no new ‘ecological surplus’, is in sight. Large hopes have been, and continue to be, placed in genetically modified organisms, but the evidence to date reveals a disappointing ‘failure to yield’ (Sherman 2009). The current era of cheap food may be drawing to a close, thus elevating the current crisis into a truly systemic, ‘epochal’ one, and intensifying the uncertainties and risks of the decades ahead (Moore 2010: 398).

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Together, these pillars represent a pathway to a democratic food system. In transitioning away from the destructive oligarchy and plutocracy of market-led industrialised agriculture and agri-food regimes, the democratisation of food systems is a pre-condition to making them sustainable, fair and resilient. Many regions in North America have years of experience with democratic governance of their food systems via Food Policy Councils, and these models are now being embraced and adapted elsewhere (Food First 2009). At the global level, the reformed Committee on World Food Security offers the possibility of a more inclusive space for policy formation; and La Via Campesina have articulated a powerful framework for the protection of peasant and family farmers in their draft Declaration on Peasants’ Rights (La Via Campesina 2009). The food sovereignty movement has momentum: can it shift the power of vested interests?

To read the full article, follow the link below and go to pp33-39:

Political Reflection Vol 3 No 4

advocate, Bellinger Valley, Fair Food systems, Food sovereignty, Local and regional food economies, New market mechanisms, Small-scale farming

Discovering the secret of being able to live your passion

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Small-scale farming in Thora, near Bellingen

Nick Rose

A version of this article first appeared in the Coffs Coast Advocate, 25.9.10

It’s no secret that small farmers are an endangered species. The logic of food production worldwide is ‘get big or get out’. Estimates suggest that Australia alone has lost as many as 50,000 farmers in the past 35 years.

 

The so-called ‘cost-price squeeze’ bears a lot of the blame. The cost of farm inputs, freight and packaging costs keep rising – particularly when the price of oil shoots up – while the farmgate price has barely moved for many items since 1980.

How do most farmers survive? Through off-farm income.

So it’s both refreshing and remarkable to discover small-scale growers who are now managing to support themselves entirely through the sales of their farm produce. This is Kathy Taylor and Bob Willis, of the Thora Valley, about 20 kms from Bellingen.

Their secret? Biodynamic methodologies, a willingness to experiment, and finding a reliable market in Melbourne through the Demeter Biodynamic Marketing Company.

Kathy and Bob have approximately one acre under intensive cultivation, with another acre used for mulch: the ‘agricultural silver’, as Kathy calls it.

Like many growers in the region, their principal commercial crop is garlic, a mix of Italian and Russian varieties. In the past year they’ve experimented with two other crops, both of which have been very successful.

The first was broccoli, a sprouting variety that produces side shoots after the initial head has been taken off. Kathy and Bob sowed 800 seedlings in March, and began harvesting in May. They sold the big heads locally, and since then have been sending the shoots – the ‘tender tops’ – down to the Demeter wholesalers in Melbourne, at a wholesale price of about $10 a kilo.

Why were the shoots not sold locally? Two main reasons. The first is the absurdities of the freight system, the logic of which is centralisation in the big wholesale markets: it costs Thora growers $8.80 to send one five-kilo box to Coffs Harbour, while they can send up to 11 boxes to Melbourne for a standard charge of $18.50. “It’s quite difficult to go against [the logic of the system] and do something different”, says Kathy.

The second reason is simply that Kathy and Bob’s tendertops would be perceived as competing against standard broccoli heads, whose price was much lower. But as Bob points out, normal broccoli production – whether conventional or organic – is highly energy intensive:

“They use a tractor to cultivate…a tractor to plant, and to weed [and] to mulch-mow…And to help them harvest…And the output of that is a head which is anywhere between 200 gms to 400 gms. And then it all starts again…”

Independently of fuel usage, there’s a lot of waste in such a system, because anywhere from 25-40% of the broccoli sold in retail outlets is the stalk, which most people just throw away. With tendertops, everything is used.

The system is labour-intensive rather than energy-intensive, as Bob explains,

“We cultivate with a tractor, but then we plant by hand, we weed by hand, we harvest by hand, and once the main head’s gone, we can get the secondary side-shoots. And that allows us to have these plants in here [for a whole season] – with one use of the tractor, and not multiple uses, and we get five-six kilos off a single plant.”

Their other main crop this year was tumeric, which they also sent to Melbourne, again at around $10 a kilo. Tumeric is a highly nutritious root that can be eaten fresh and added to almost any savoury dish. Unlike garlic, it can be left in the ground until the grower is ready to sell it.

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Ideally, Kathy and Bob would like to sell locally, and they have began experimenting with veggie boxes on a small scale, collaborating with a few other local growers, and with a small buyers’ group. They want to expand this in the coming years.

“I really think that in the future, the local sustainable seasonal veggies has got to be the way to go”, says Bob.

advocate, Coffs Coast, Collaborative cultures and networks, Fair Food systems, Farmers Markets, Food sovereignty, Local and regional food economies

Building community through food

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“Community Through Food”

 First published, Coffs Advocate, 7.8.10

Nick Rose

Farmers’ markets – ubiquitous before the age of supermarkets, then almost disappearing – have enjoyed a renaissance during the past decade. Ten years ago they were virtually unheard of in Australia; today there are more than 120, including of course the popular growers’ markets in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen.

Their growth in the United States has been equally dramatic, rising from 1,755 in 1994 to 6,132 in 2010. And in the UK there are now 550 farmers markets, from a base of zero in 1997.

This is a phenomenon in search of an explanation. There is the quality, seasonal, produce these markets offer. There is the convivial atmosphere, often enriched with arts, crafts and live music. There is the knowledge that each dollar spent goes directly to the farmer. And there is the direct connection with the person who produces the food, which contrasts so sharply with the antiseptic anonymity of the modern supermarket.

Farmers’ markets create ‘community through food’, as Shana Henry, one of the founders of the Nambucca Valley Local Food Network (NVLFN), puts it. It’s this capacity to bring people together which is perhaps the key to understanding their popularity, in an age when there has been such a widespread loss of any sense of ‘community’.

The NVLFN, launched last September, placed farmers’ markets at the core of its mission to create greater access to local produce for local residents. Inspired by the various sustainability initiatives launched in Bellingen over recent years, Shana and her co-founders felt frustrated by the low availability of locally-grown produce in such a fertile valley. “We just can’t get much local produce [where I live] in Macksville, unless it’s from a face-to-face exchange, and that’s what we want, those face-face connections.”

They soon found however that supporting a farmers’ market is not as easy as it sounds. Their first efforts were directed at the Valla Beach market, in existence for less than two years, but they feel disappointed by what they see as a drift in the market’s initial focus on local produce, and a lack of support from local residents. Jocelyn Edge sees the problem in the market’s lack of frequency: “It’s a bi-monthly market, and people don’t use it to buy their food.”

Last October, other members of the NVLFN in Taylor’s Arms successfully launched a farmers’ market supported by the local Primary School. Shana believes that this market may be more successful, because “they’re a small community, more easily mobilised”. She adds, “We [also] want to establish a [farmers’] market in Macksville, but we need to see how things play out with the recent opening of Woolworths.”

And what has been the impact of Woolworths on local businesses in Macksville? Not as bad as some expected, according to Shana. “Food Works [the local co-op] have survived, people have tried out Woolworths and came back. They [the co-op] were pleasantly surprised.”

“In some ways Woolworths have been their own worst enemy”, adds Gary Pankhurst. “They’ve cannabilised their own market, because now the Woolworths in Nambucca Heads is suffering.”

Apart from farmers’ markets, NVLFN members support each other through the sharing of skills, knowledge and information. “We’ve done breadmaking, and soap-making and candle-making, and we would like to involve the older generation in teaching us how to bottle”, says Shana. Recently the group organised a cheesemaking day, producing 8 kilos of feta from local cow’s milk. They’ve organised local food picnics, and have plans for a bush dance later in the year.

Though they may be relative newcomers to the Valley, Shana and her colleagues are attracting support from long-time residents. Recently Shana was contacted by a 79-year old lady in response to a NVLFN notice about sourcing goats’ milk locally. “She rang to tell me how she needed it years ago for her children, and she was just so happy to see that people were taking things into their own hands [again]”, said Shana.

Building a community around food.