1. Local Food A Sustainable Choice

2. WHERE DOES YOUR FOOD COME FROM?
The Grocery Store?
A Box?
A Bag?
Grown or raised by farmers from the soil, the land, and living animals

3. So, what do we grow around here?
Fruits & Veggies Meat Eggs Dairy Produced Products: Cheese, Wine, Baked Goods, Sauces, Pasta, Preserves… On-Line Farm Guide

4. Ag in Southeastern Mass
Including Bristol, Barnstable, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties
2,329 farms stewarding over 105,000 acres of land.
Market value of ag products sold = $154,200,000.
Value of direct sales to consumers = $5,065,000
Mass is #2 in Nation for Direct Sales – Farm to Consumer

5. When is food available locally?
Generally, the season runs from June through October
Vegetannual
Harvest Calendar

6. What is Sustainable Agriculture?
Satisfy human food & fiber needs
Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends
Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources

7. Sustain the economic viability of farm operations
Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole

8. 3BL – Triple Bottom Line – 3 Legs of the Sustainability Stool
PEOPLE: Social Equity & Well Being
PLANET: Environmental Health/Protection/ Conservation
PROFIT: Economic Prosperity & Continuity

9. Industrial Farming/Agribusiness vs
Industrial Farming/Agribusiness vs. Smaller Family Owned Farms – Massachusetts Farms…
Extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers vs. none, moderate, minimal – access to the grower to ask what is used on the crops, safer for farmers/labor

10. External energy inputs – uses more vs
External energy inputs – uses more vs. less energy usage, perhaps more likely to utilize EE/RE
High labor efficiency – cheap labor vs. Few workers, just family, getting paid more/a living wage

11. Confined and concentrated systems in terms of livestock vs
Confined and concentrated systems in terms of livestock vs. Free range, grass fed, few animals, little or no use of antibiotics – access to farmer to ask or see what conditions were kept in
Bottom Line vs. Triple Bottom Line

13. Why Eat Local?
HEALTH
ENVIRONMENT
LOCAL ECONOMY

14. HEALTH Locally grown produce is fresher, has longer to ripen
Just plain tastes better & If it tastes better you will WANT to eat it!!!
Spend $ on healthy food to stay healthy now – instead of $ on healthcare because you’re not healthy later

16. Stay in touch with the seasons & get to know your neighbors – a connected person is a happy person, is a healthy person!
Access to the farm/farmers/growers – you can get connected to where your food comes from
Buying Whole Foods (unprocessed) then you need to cook = family dinners! = healthy, happy, connected families!

17. ENVIRONMENT Travels less
Maintain soil nutrients, crop varieties, rotation, grazing
Open space – keep farmers farming
Maintain our foodshed

18. ECONOMY Money spent locally stays local and grows exponentially
Local farmers, growers, producers put the money back into the local economy
And so it grows…

19. Where? On-line Farm Guide – www.SEMAPonline.org Farmers Markets
Farm Stands
CSA/Fs
Local & Independent Grocery Stores
Restaurants & Bakeries
Schools…working on it…
Caterers & Private Chefs
Your Own Backyard! GROW YOUR OWN!

20. How? 10% Challenge Localize Your Favorite Recipes!
Cook with the Harvest Calendar
Farm tours
Family Dinners A DAY TO EAT DINNER WITH YOUR CHILDREN – Monday, September 26, 2011

21. Local is a State of Mind

22. Local Food is a Sustainable Choice
Bridget Alexander Ferreira, Esq. Executive Director Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, Inc.