This past weekend, the New York Times Magazine posted the results of a contest to write a brief but compelling ethical argument in favor of eating meat. Unfortunately, the judges were “some of the strongest ethical critics of meat, or at least of the way we consume it — Mark Bittman, Jonathan Safran Foer, Andrew Light, Michael Pollan and Peter Singer.”   This struck me as akin to asking some of the Amish farmers who bring their produce to the Chesterhill auction whether my next computer should be a Mac or a PC.

Regardless, they received around 3,000 entries, which ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. (I really liked the guy who said the contest was just a big conspiracy to harvest email addresses to distribute to political candidates, another ploy of “Big Brother in New York City.” Also, the Venus’ flytrap defense.) Lots of people really thought about what they were eating and why for the first time. This is intrinsically valuable; as Michael Pollan said, “[S]imply stimulating people to think through their eating choices has a value, since our thoughtlessness in these matters has such a high cost.”

In the end, the NYT got some absolutely unassailable arguments in favor of eating animals. The most oft-repeated conclusion, however, was that CAFOs are right out. As the winner, Jay Bost put it, “[E]ating meat raised in specific circumstances is ethical; eating meat raised in other circumstances is unethical.” But there is more to it than that. Bost continues:

What are these “right” and “wrong” ways of producing both meat and plant foods? For me, they are most succinctly summed up in Aldo Leopold’s land ethic: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” While studying agroecology at Prescott College in Arizona, I was convinced that if what you are trying to achieve with an “ethical” diet is the least destructive impact on life as a whole on this planet, then in some circumstances, like living among dry, scrubby grasslands in Arizona, eating meat, is, in fact, the most ethical thing you can do other than subsist on wild game, tepary beans and pinyon nuts. A well-managed, free-ranged cow is able to turn the sunlight captured by plants into condensed calories and protein with the aid of the microorganisms in its gut. Sun > diverse plants > cow > human. This in a larger ethical view looks much cleaner than the fossil-fuel-soaked scheme of tractor-tilled field > irrigated soy monoculture > tractor harvest > processing > tofu > shipping > human.

The hills of our region are sometimes too steep for efficient agriculture — but they grow great grass upon which animals can readily graze or trees amongst which they can forage. Eating local meat, milk, and eggs is a plant-based diet!

Another common argument is related to the above: A successful farm is a successful ecology. Runner up and young farmer Stacey Roussel explains:

Production of vegetables without the use of animals requires much larger amounts of energy. In small-scale farming, we use animals to clear fields of vegetation instead of relying only on industrial systems like tractors and herbicides. On our farm, we grow rows of vegetables while green cover crops and weeds fill the spaces in between those rows. After the harvest, dairy goats are grazed to get the land back under control, followed by the chickens that eat most of the remaining vegetation, and then finally with one pass of my tractor, I incorporate what is left back into the soil and plant the next crop. The animals clear vegetation and leave free fertilizer. They build biology in the soil rather than destroy it. Working in the natural order reduces our dependence on outside sources of energy, allowing us to harness the energy that is on-farm. The method leads to a better product, one that is more balanced for my customer, my community, my land, and me.

We see this all the time with our local farmers and producers. For example, Chris Chmiel, of Integration Acres originally focused on pawpaws.  Then he got goats to help clear out the underbrush as well to attract flies which help pollinate the pawpaws. Of course, he needed something to do with the goats, so he began milking them, and then the milk was turned into cheese. But what to do with the leftover whey? Pigs. As for the manure, he’s been selling it and using it on his own vegetable patch.

With small producers, the creation of a self-contained, self-sustaining system isn’t just about some theoretical or philosophical stance (although that may also be true.) It’s a matter of simple practicality. Our farmers can’t, as Joel Salatin says, “sleep until noon and enjoy coffee on the veranda at 3 p.m.” Everything must be used; waste must be minimized.

We Athens-based omnivores have it good. We have a wide variety of ethical — and tasty! — choices of beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, and more. While it was the first time many of the entrants to the NYT contest really sat down to think of the ethics of what they ate, that’s a much more common pursuit here. Through the efforts of the CFI and others, we can keep encouraging such important questions and finding answers which help all of Athens to prosper.

The most important role CFI plays in our community is to light the spark of efficacy within people. All of us have the ability to contribute to creating a healthy community either as a gardener, a teacher, a cook, or simply as an eater of delicious foods.

The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) commends Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-KS) on their bipartisan leadership of the committee and on crafting a bill that minimizes cuts to nutrition programs while supporting programs that are building a more resilient, equitable, environmentally and economically sustainable American food system for the future.

The bill includes increased funding for CFSC Farm Bill priorities that support community food security programs and local food initiatives including:

• Community Food Projects Program – Doubling mandatory funding for this program to $10 million per year
• Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program – Expanding the Farmers Market Promotion Program to include developing food hubs and doubling funding to $20 million in mandatory funds per year for five years
• Hunger-Free Community Incentive Grants – A new local fruit and vegetable incentive grant program to increase purchases by SNAP customers at farmers markets and other healthy food retailers with mandatory funding totaling $100 million over five years
• Specialty Crop Block Grants - Funding increased to $70 million per year for five years from the current level of $55 million
• Healthy Food Financing Initiative - Authorization for funding up to $125 million
• Improving ease of SNAP Redemption at Farmers Markets, Mobile Markets and CSAs – Authority to establish pilot programs to test mobile technology and online ordering as well as ease SNAP redemption at Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)
• Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program – Mandatory funding maintained at $20 million per year

The $4 billion cut from the Nutrition title mirrors last fall’s cut in the Super Committee proposal and is significantly better than last week’s House Ag Committee vote to cut $33 billion from the program for deficit reduction.

The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act (ARFJA) eliminates the direct and counter cyclical payment programs and includes a payment limit for farmers and a maximize size for farms to received federal farm support, important reforms to the flawed agriculture subsidy system. It also includes support (albeit at reduced levels) for beginning farmer programs, key organic provisions and instructions to USDA to create crop insurance that will serve the needs of small and diversified farmers.

The bill does not include mandatory funding for the 2501 Outreach and Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers program.

from the CFSC Grapevine

I also recently found out that Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Democrat from Cleveland, has introduced the Let’s Grow Act of 2012, which aims “to support sustainable agriculture activities in American cities, promote urban farming, eradicate hunger and improve access to healthy food. There are a number of interesting provisions in the bill, including “virtual farmers markets” so that, as Fudge says in a blog posting on Cleveland.com,

[F]amilies will be able to access fresh and nutritious foods through schools and other places that are easy to reach in their own neighborhoods. This measure increases the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in school meal programs and promotes expanded use of SNAP (food stamp) benefits at farmers markets. It assists local corner stores with offering a broader selection of fresh produce.

Particularly apropos to the CFI, the Act proposes to expand the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and will offer grants to create and expand community gardens. A summary of the Act is available here.

Good on you, Rep. Fudge!

Unfortunately, the land is not yet an inviting place for little vegetable seeds to germinate and put down roots. Because it has been managed as a lawn, the site has not experienced the abundant growth and death of a variety of plants. There are not enough worms and microorganisms living in it. If it had been managed as a meadow or copse, dead grass and leaves would have fed the soil ecosystem over the years and the soil would be richer as a result. For now, the soil at these gardens is still clumpy, a pallid brown instead of a healthy black.

Farmers work the hungry earth

I knew that the first thing we needed to do was re-establish natural anabolic soil processes — and we needed to do it quickly. Spring is here and people are passionate about their tomatoes, which they want to get in the ground by the last frost date, traditionally considered to be May 15th. This meant that we couldn’t just mulch the soil with dead plant material because it would take too long to break down. We needed plant material that had already been digested.

One of the most important things that an asset-based, permaculture oriented community organizer does is to find ways to make one problem the solution for someone else’s problem, ultimately resulting in a self-sustaining system. As I sat pondering how I could do thus, I thought of my friend Linda Wachenschwanz.

Decades worth of cow manure had been building up and breaking down in her family’s barn, and was now blocking easy access to the stalls. This is a common problem for farmers around here: cleaning barns is a lot of work, and small working-class families struggle to get the right economy of scale their farm needs. There are never quite enough hours in the day or hands to do it all. However, if Linda’s problem was moved to the Eastside Community garden, exposure to the rain and earth worms would turn it into soil almost instantly. Linda’s barn would be clear for cows, and our tomatoes would blush with pleasure.

Badger, Linda and our team

As if on cue, I got an e-mail from Alpha Phi Omega, offering their carte blanche services to CFI for an afternoon. They are a giant service fraternity at Ohio University, and I saw my opening. Twenty-five of their people, most of whom play on OU varsity sports teams, met me by Tailgreat Park at noon. We grabbed their recycling bins on the way out, as I couldn’t get my hands on enough spare buckets to haul manure with such a massive crew.

When we arrived, Linda was completely blown away. Looking over our team, she shouted “The Lord really came through for us this time!” and laughed really hard.

Football players and cross country stars pitchforked two pickup truck loads of composted manure. They were certainly stoic about getting dirty. Some of them had never before been on a farm, and were intrigued to meet live chickens. I felt both elated for their experience, and a little sorry that they had to get their sharp looking gym shorts soiled. Cow poop is not usually part of their favored aesthetic. I hope they wear the stains with pride, because it was great work that they did.

A manure-moving grin

The appropriate response to the Grace which Linda and all of us feel in this work is gratitude. Although the source of the help we need is unpredictable, it always appears when we make our needs known, and offer our aptitudes and attention to whoever needs it.

Grace happens even more readily with a catalyst. This time, it was me, because I could see how to turn two problems into two solutions. This is why Community Food Initiatives exists: We hold the space, the intention, to support our community so everyone learns to better meet their own needs for food by helping each other shoulder the work.

The Bob Stewart Band

When I arrived, the Bob Stewart Band was just getting down to business. As folks trickled, then poured, in, the band filled the room with wonderful, upbeat music, setting the stage for a great evening. In my usual preferring-to-see-than-be-seen way, I headed to the back. It afforded me a good look at the incredible cross section of the Athens area that came for the celebration: farmers, educators, students, townies — all united by a passionate love for feeding our fellows with delicious healthy food.

Athens is delicious

Speaking of delicious, healthy food, there was a great deal of it to be had. Salad, dip, soup, pasta, cornbread, chili, and dessert — the choices were almost bewildering, and a tremendous showcase of local ingredients. (I was particularly happy to see several dishes highlighting ramps. Mmmmm, ramps.)

It was obvious folks enjoyed the food, as there were quite a few serving dishes scraped clean by the end of the night. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The colors of real food

Next up, came the speakers. At this point, I realized that I had gotten everything backwards: what had seemed the back of the room was, in fact, the front. This worked out well, however, as it afforded me (and my camera) a great view of the proceedings.

A word from our founder

First to speak was the inimitable Leslie Schaller, who reminded us that the CFI was turning twenty this month. She thanked Ronda for her eight years of hard work as the executive director for the CFI, specifically praising her for her, “fierce commitment to food justice for all.” She also reassured us that Ronda wasn’t exactly going into quiet retirement. In addition to growing and selling produce at the Athens Farmers Market and beyond from her Blackberry Sage Farm, Ronda is now on the AFM board where, Leslie noted wryly, “the ruckus has already started.”

Ruckuser-in-Chief

Amid laughter and applause, Ronda took the mic from Leslie. Ronda looked back on the eight years she served as the director of the CFI, nurturing it, “from a small fledgeling organization, to a large fledgeling organization.” Reminding us that food security is a local issue, she was particularly proud that, “community gardening is now a household word.” In addition to growing and selling heirloom beans, vegetables, and fruits, Blackberry Sage Farm was also doing seed saving, one of Ronda’s particular passions.

Ronda introduced the new executive director, Mary Nally, saying, “After a few years with Mary, there will be fewer lawns and more gardens.” She praised Mary’s work with the Health Department, noting that her experience building cooperation between various groups, from citizens to politicians, will be a tremendous asset to the CFI.

The Big Boss

After taking the podium, Mary shared her story, helping us to get to know her better. A Meigs county native, Mary grew up, she said, “a typical hippie commune girl.” Although she lived on the west coast for a while, she said that it was exactly the generational poverty which causes so many to leave our region which drew her back. “We are saving ourselves,” she said, by creating a self sufficient community. “Membership in the CFI means that one feels a greater sense of community.”

After the applause settled down, all present voted on the CFI Board of Directors. In addition to re-electing those board members eligible, two at-large board members were also elected: Charlene King of King Family Farms and local chef, blogger, and documentary filmmaker Barbara Fisher. (Complete disclosure: Barbara is also my wife. And, no, I didn’t nominate her; the results were as much a surprise to me as to her. But now I am happy she will finally be working on the CFI recipe book we’ve been after her to write!)

Paul spins his stories

After the Board election, keynote speaker Paul Linscott spoke to us about life changes. Born in Athens in 1950, he quipped that he’d needed a bulldozer to come home from Sheltering Arms Hospital because the snow was so deep. “We don’t get snow like that anymore,” he observed. “That’s a pretty big change in our lives.” Addicted to cigarette smoke early — “it wasn’t just fuzz on the TV we all sat around, it was smoke” — Paul smoked for 30 years, finally quitting in 1996. When he began gaining weight in 2002, Well Works started offering spinning classes, where he could exercise on a stationary bike. “I got addicted to that, too,” he said. Now he teaches spinning classes at Well Works.

A longtime employee at our local Kroger, he contrasted the typical, conventional processed foods sold at the supermarket with the ever-expanding roster of local and organic foods also available there. “You voted,” he said, “by what you bought, and we set an example for Ohio and the world.”

After he retired from Kroger, Paul gained an enjoyment in farming — even weeding — that he hadn’t had when he was a boy. Now he has a thousand raspberry bushes, and is planning on having a self-pick stand called Poppy’s Raspberry Patch.

Enjoying the goodness

His final message was to remind us that one of the best things we can do is to get folks to eat healthy and work out.

After Paul was finished, Badger Johnson, Milena Miller and Nick Welch spoke about the importance and value of volunteering, and singled out a few of the CFI volunteers for special recognition. The most stirring moment came when Nick praised Donation Station volunteer Doris Stewart for the hours and hours of work, in rain, snow and heat, that she has selflessly shared with the CFI.

Kilvert's quilt

Finally, there was a drawing for a beautiful quilt donated to the CFI by the wonderful women at Kilvert Community Center. Congratulations to Dave Hooker, the winner of the raffle. Then the lovely floral centerpieces, donated by the Hyacinth Bean, were also raffled off. I was happy to win one!

The evening drew to a close as folks pitched in to clean up and do dishes. I was delighted to discover that just enough of Barbara’s pork & green chile white bean stew was left over for me to have a delicious midnight snack.

Thanks to everyone who attended, spoke, brought a dish, cleaned a cup (or twelve!) and helped make the “community” in Community Food Initiatives.

We've only just begun

Still, it was wonderfully sunny, and a dozen vendors were ready for business when the opening bell rang.

Look, Ma, no puppets!

Doris, Nick and SuperSquash were set up at the CFI Donation Station. Even though it was early, and not many shoppers were about yet, I heard Doris ring the bell quite a few times in thanks for the generous donations folks made.

Greens from the garden

Becky from Green Edge Gardens was putting out some fine looking kale, arugula, icicle radishes, micro-greens and mushrooms.

mmmmm....brownies

Michelle and Marsha from Casa Nueva were on hand to share some wonderful snacks, including gluten-free brownies made with locally-grown Shagbark black beans.

Good morning, Mr. Chmiel

I also learned that students from East Elementary came out to the market every other week. Not only do they get to peruse the green goodness, but they will be bringing food that they prepare to share with the staff. Fantastic!

Of course, this is just the beginning. Today was just the first little sprout, but we can look forwards to a long and productive growing season for us all.

In 2010, Lori Gromen and Community Food Initiatives teamed up to start planting groves of edible trees on public property. First, they mapped out where all such trees are currently growing. Then, in autumn 2011, CFI members planted 100 fruit and nut trees. Most of these trees are around town in easily accessible groves. One grove is by the river, near the renovated Sanitation Plant. Another is on the other side of the dog park from the new Eastside Community Garden. More trees were planted in people’s yards. A few varieties, specifically intended for forest gardens, went into the Trimble Community Forest. Mad props must be given to Molly Jo and company at Rural Action for the forest plantings.

The apples, pears, plums, peaches and Chinese chestnuts are grown on standard rootstock and need minimal pruning. While the whole community is invited to pick their fruit as the trees mature, only people who have gotten the okay from the tree’s owners are invited to prune them at this time.

We hope and expect that these trees will produce for decades to come, and inspire more of us to forest garden in our own yards. We believe that edible landscaping can be a fun, healthy and effective tactic in our strategy of increasing self-sufficiency and community resiliency as an answer to poverty.

We are planting at least another 100 trees this autumn! You are invited to contribute your time to dig holes and put the trees in the ground. We also welcome monetary or in kind donations. Trees can be purchased through us from our nursery partners. To keep deer and rabbits out, we need caging for each tree. We use Red Brand, 4 foot tall, 2″ by 4″ welded wire mesh; each 50 foot roll does 16-18 trees. We will also need stakes to hold the fencing in place, and copious piles of mulch. Please contact badger@communityfoodinitiatives.org to get involved.

Fruit Tree Planting from Tatiana Niko on Vimeo.

Have you ever planted a tomato that bore huge, delicious fruits, and the next year when little volunteer tomato plants came up, you expected more of the same, only to get some small, tough skinned tomatoes totally unlike your original plant? That tomato was undoubtedly a hybrid variety, meaning that seed scientists created it by crossing unrelated, inbred parent lines. Its seeds will revert to those parent lines, which generally aren’t very useful in a garden. Hybrid seeds and plants usually include the term “F1” somewhere in their description. This means it’s a first generation cross. If you try to grow a “second generation” from a hybrid plant by saving its seeds, you’ll be disappointed.

On the other hand, perhaps someone you know grows wonderful tomatoes year after year from seeds they save. Those tomatoes would be an open-pollinated variety, meaning their seeds will reproduce true to type year after year. And every year, they will become a little better adapted to the climate in their area, and a little more resistant to the insects and diseases found there, mainly because the plants that grow and produce best are the ones that someone will save seeds from.

An heirloom is always an open-pollinated plant, but has been around for at least 50 years, often for centuries, and usually not in commercial production. Heirlooms have been passed along by gardeners who have loved them. Now, many thousands of heirlooms and other open- pollinated varieties are being lost because seed companies are consolidating, and don’t find it worthwhile to carry the old seed varieties that cannot be patented. So seed-savers all over the world are helping to keep our seed heritage alive.

CFI encourages Athens area gardeners to save and trade open-pollinated and heirloom seeds, not only because it saves money, but also because it protects a precious genetic resource for the future. Seed saving isn’t rocket science, but a little knowledge will ensure success. Seeds from mature tomatoes, peas, and beans can usually be dried and saved with good results, but many veggies (and flowers) need some distance between varieties to prevent cross-pollination. Fortunately, plenty of good, easy-to-understand information is available, and you can always call or email the CFI office with seed-saving questions, and to find out about seed saving workshops.

We’ll be using this space to tell you about upcoming events, but there will be much more. Get to know the staff and volunteers at the CFI, as well as the people and organizations we work with. Since this is the CFI, don’t expect the blog to be dry or prepackaged — we aim to be fresh and vital, a delicious melange gathered lovingly from all around Athens County.

My name is Zak Kramer, and I’ve volunteered with the CFI for about a year now, working with the Donation Station. You probably know me best through my creation: the SuperSquash poster displayed at the Donation Station at the farmers’ market. Most of my work has been at the “other end” of the Donation Station — distributing the donations to Athens County social service organizations. While I’ll be doing a goodly chunk of writing here, I think we all know the limitations of monoculture, whether it’s a farm or a blog. I plan to solicit contributions from our staff, other volunteers, and the folks we work with in the larger community, both words and pictures.

And away we go!