3rd Annual Urban Farm & Food Fair

I had the opportunity of attending the 3rd Annual Urban Farm & Food Fair on September 21st. The rain held off long enough for me and a friend to enjoy the variety that Baltimore has to offer in its urban food system. I learned so much and was able to get some excellent resources for my masters thesis/professional project. Some of the event exhibitors included: 

Big City Farms
Compost Cab
Farm Alliance Baltimore
Friends & Farms
Future Harvest
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future Aquaponics Project
Real Food Farm
Slow Food Baltimore
University of Maryland Extension's: Growing Healthy Habits
University of Maryland Extension's: Master Gardeners
University of Maryland Institute of Applied Agriculture
Whitelock Community Farm

AND I may or may not be featured in this Baltimore Sun article.

Food, An Urban Issue?

Placing the Food System on the Urban Agenda: The Role of Municipal Institutions in Food System Planning

This article focuses on the validity of food systems being included in the planning realm. In my mind food systems have always been an integral part of planning; however the authors point out that historically food has not been included or categorized as an urban issue, rather one for rural and/or regional policy. Because food is always available, not always equitably but available nonetheless, urban dwellers and policy makers haven’t been forced to make the food system an urban priority.

Whether the produce comes from down the road or five states over, it still gets to the grocery store, but what about the urban people going hungry? Just because food is still on the shelves doesn’t mean that ALL can afford it. Food costs rise because of the supply chain used to get it to your dinner table. Food logistics is a huge part of the food system and a major reason the current food system is inadequate. 

Even now, in 2013, someone (a fellow planning student I might add) who read this blog asked why I would include a post about Food Logistics, a website and magazine completely dedicated to information on the food supply chain. Beyond regulation of food safety and security, food is the only basic necessity that is basically left in the hands of the private sector. There’s no “Department of Food” centrally or locally that is making sure that we have the most efficient means of acquiring one of only a few essential things we need to sustain life; air is free and water is regulated. Just because people aren’t dying of hunger and children’s’ bellies aren’t swollen with emptiness, doesn’t mean we have a system that works. 

Planners should be taking the urban food system into consideration when comprehensive planning. Pointing out food deserts without looking at other aspects of the food system or providing solutions and alternatives is useless. 

Source: Kameshwari Pothukuchi and Jerome L. Kaufman. Agriculture and Human Values. 16 213-224, 1999.

What's Your Food Reality?

 

As I was reading McMillan's book she mentioned that she belongs to a food co-op, works from home and is able to spend leisurely days cooking if she so desires. She is single and can spend as much or as little on food as she wants; this is her food reality. She goes on to talk about how her food reality would be different if she had a family AND was in a different tax bracket.

This got me thinking about my current food reality; I previously shared my food reality growing up (read it here). Like McMillan, I'm single and although I work outside the house, I only work part time so most days I get home pretty early. What that means is that I can have 3-hour, 3-course meals on a weekday if I so desire. I don't have to worry about feeding a family (no picky or close-minded eaters) and I can experiment with different foods. I am a foodie who loves international cuisine and world flavors. 

Most of the time I will sacrifice convenience to save money and get the best bang for my buck. I go to several different stores all over the city and buy only what's on sale at each location. I might add that my graduate research assistant salary is rather limited, but because I live to eat as opposed to eat to live, so I allocate a healthy (pun intended) budget for food. I took a survey somewhere online a few months ago that asked, "Do you spend more money on clothing and shoes or food?" I thought long and hard about the question (I answered the question quickly, but thought about it for some time after). All of my friends, Instagram and Pinterest followers know that I'm a shopaholic that loves shoes more than anything, but even with my bursting closet I know that I spend more money on food. I can go months without buying an article of clothing, while I have to eat everyday!

For the last 8 months I have been dedicated to staying away from processed foods. Making everything from bread, muffins, and granola bars to salsa, sauces, marinades, and condiments. But as I continued to think on my food reality, I realized that it was different when I worked and went to school full time. I had a very strict schedule, working from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, then school from 6 to 9 Monday through Wednesday and then again Saturday morning. I tried to cook multiple meals on weekends for the following week, but that didn't always happen with other errands to run and other chores to do. Not to mention doing homework. I didn't have hours to do anything let alone cook. I ate what was available to me. 

The only grocery store near me at the time was Sav-A-Lot. The prices are are great but the fresh produce section is limited. I bought mostly fresh fruit when it was acceptable and romaine or iceberg lettuce. They also have a pretty good selection of meat; mostly low priced cuts like assorted pork chops, chicken leg quarters, and 73/27 ground beef. To their credit, they do carry boneless skinless chicken breast, pork loin, and ground turkey on special so I would stock up during those times. Without the luxury of time (mainly to get to the grocery stores, but also to cook), I settled for what was around and made special trips to a Walmart Supercenter in Baltimore County. I'd stock up on things that were quick and easy to prepare. I bought ramen noodles, frozen fries and frozen vegetables, banquet dinners, canned soups, snack crackers, applesauce and fruit cups; all processed, all fairly unhealthy. I knew that my choices weren't the healthiest, but I felt trapped by my time restraints. That was my food reality and I'm so glad it has changed. Whats yours?

The American Way of Eating

Tracie McMillan is an award winning journalist who decided to go undercover for a story on the American food system. The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table is her book detailing her experiences working in the fields of California, stocking produce in a Detroit Walmart, and running food in a New York Applebee's. McMillan challenged herself with living on just the wages she received from each job. She survived each experience through the kindness and generosity of  the people who hold those very jobs everyday. 

I'm only on chapter two but so far its an interesting and insightful read. She writes, "Seeing good food as luxury lifestyle product has been so deeply embedded in our thinking about our meals that barely notice it." I hadn't thought about it before but its so true. She goes on to talk about growing up in a house where apart from Sunday dinners, weekly meals were composed of processed foods like canned soups and hamburger helper. Similar to my upbringing with a single mom who worked long hours and still wanted her daughters to participate in extracurricular activities, when we weren't eating fast food, we were eating anything we could find in a package; Pop Tarts, frozen waffles, and Toaster Strudels for breakfast, Lunchables, canned tuna, and packaged meats for lunch, and Banquet meals for dinner when we got home too late for a cooked meal.

On weekends, we had big breakfasts with eggs, sausage, biscuits, Belgian waffles, grit, home fries or fruit and Sunday dinners were chuck roast with potatoes and carrots, roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, gumbo with rice, or hearty stew. With pizza, spaghetti, and casseroles we'd eat salads made of iceberg lettuce. We had vegetables with every meal but they were frozen or from a can; we ate fruit cups with heavy syrup and thought nothing of it. It was a special treat to go to the farmers' market for fresh fruits, vegetables, and handmade snacks. We didn't eat this way because we didn't know any better, we ate this way because it was readily available to us. In our minds the freshest produce was for people of leisure; people who had time to browse the grocery store three or four times a week. People with that kind of time were usually well off. Even now when I make non-processed meals and post pictures of them on Facebook or Instagram, I still get a few "that's fancy" comments. I guess in order to change our diets, we have to first change our minds.

Food Logistics

Just Google searching food and transportation, I found and joined FoodLogistics.com last week. Food Logistics is the only publication dedicated to warehousing and transportation solutions for the food and beverage supply chain. The website and magazine offers, not only news and current events in the technology, transportation, warehousing, safety, and sustainability of food logistics, but also best practices. It is a helpful resource for food service manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. I receive = email updates with the latest in food supply chain news. So far I've come across some really interesting stuff. I'll share the best topics I find with you all!