Why 'home grown'?

I am a strong believer in local, context specific solutions to problems. What works in one place may not in another. This blog 'comes' from Alberta, although I want to put Alberta in a global context. We have unique problems, constraints and opportunities, and I think we need to dialogue more about what we can do to solve our food, health and environmental problems.

These are often tied to our political problems - so this area needs work as well- apathy, monocultures of the political mind (to take a term from Vandana Shiva), mindless consumption, arrogant neoliberal policies that eviscerate our public institutions. I don't really care whether people are on the right or left of the political spectrum, but I do think that more sustained, and informed debate in this province is warranted.

Take, for example, the 100 mile diet. In our region, it doesn't work so well due to the nature of our agricultural producers. I've noticed some people giving up or becoming cynical about the idea of eating local because 100 miles is too restrictive. This is plain laziness, in my opinion. One of my brilliant friends circulated a 280 mile diet that works better here. 100 miles, after all, was an arbitrary choice - why not 280, or even 500 miles?

The point is not to get our knickers in a knot, so to speak, about numbers, but to eat as local as possible as much of the time- to support our producers, to learn about our unique ecosystems, and to foster a sense of place. We should also support small farmers everywhere so that 'local food' doesn't become synonymous with xenophobic consumption (check out Via Campesina for more information on how to do this). Breaking out of simplistic good / evil accounts wouldn't hurt either - corporations are not all bad - we need more evidence about what changes are happening, whose lives are improving and what the consequences are (critical accounts offered by Julie Guthman and Susanne Friedberg are essential) Sound agricultural policies that support sustainable agriculture are also necessary.

Lots to do and talk about!