Urban Agriculture

I may have mentioned previously that much of what we eat makes a very long journey from the field where it is grown to the table where you eat it. If we actually had to pay in dollars, instead of environmental impact and other hidden costs, the real cost of this journey, most of us would have a huge food bill.

For example, grocery shopping where I live in Thunder Bay, Ontario, provides an interesting perspective on how far some "fresh" food actually travels before it arrives in the kitchen. Thunder Bay is located on the North Shore of Lake Superior, where we have fewer than 100 frost free days each year. We import much of our produce and in the deep of Winter, this may seem reasonable, but when I see that even in September, the apples on sale are coming from California, I get annoyed. First, how sustainable is this food delivery system and how fresh are the apples? Second, a trip to the local Farmer's Market indicates we have a number of producers right here who could meet our needs. Then, I begin to think, could we produce even more food locally? Well, next week, we will begin to answer this question as we continue to explore the Way Out.

Sustainability cannot be achieved until we are able to design a system that holds a balance, between justice or social issues, the environment and economics. If any one of these three are ignored the system is out of balance and therefore unsustainable.

If a food delivery system is to achieve sustainability, then the more food that is available from sources close to the consumer, the better. This would reduce the distance the food travels, benefit the environment, as well as create local jobs in both production and distribution.

For example, on the local level, community gardens enable people, who otherwise may not have access to land, an opportunity to grow some of their own food. Community gardens not only give people the opportunity to grow their own food but help them to develop community as they do. People may talk with each other as they tend their gardens.

Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) is another way to provide fresh produce in a sustainable manner. People buy shares from a local CSA farm and during the growing season receive weekly deliverys of fresh fruits and vegetables. The consumers and the grower form a partnership and share the risks and rewards.

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