Alternatives: Field-To-Table

Well our Summer heat wave certainly came to a quick stop, the last few days have been gorgeous. Hot, around 26 Celsius, and sunny, I actually had to water for the first time in weeks. At last, today is grey and cool. Rain is in the forecast, now I don't mind the rain but when the sky is grey and the Sun doesn't shine and there is no Rain, it's just frustrating.

Over the past months, I've been focusing on how food travels from the field and not paying a lot of attention of what actually ends up on the table. Today, I begin a look at what we actually eat and how it is produced, but first we will look at a few alternative food delivery systems.

Here in Thunder Bay we have an organization known as the Food Action Network (FAN). FAN is comprised of representative from emergency food preparation programs (food banks, meal providers) community gardens, community kitchens and nutritionists. We've been meetings monthly except in July and August for several years now and as a group have improved the food delivery system within Thunder Bay and have plans for the future.

The good food box is one of the programs that we have included in our long term strategy. The good food box works well for people who live in areas where there are few or no farmers' markets or for people who are unable to get to the ones that exist. The food box can concentrate on organic, non-gmo food, if the participants choose. It may also create a few jobs and help stimulate the local economy.

This year FAN is operating a gleaning pilot project. We have organized three teams which, when the farmers call and tell us they have crops to pick (strawberries, potatoes) will hop on a bus and going picking. There is no charge to the pickers, the farmers would have turned these crops over anyway, so everyone wins. The crops get removed from the fields and the pickers get food for their table.

Gleaning can take on greater dimensions than picking, it can mean food recovery from restaurants and special events. This year the agency that I work for, the Thunder Bay Coalition Against Poverty (T-CAP) is in the process of setting up a special event food recovery program in cooperation with local hotels and emergency food organizations. The idea is to reduce the amount of good edible food that gets thrown out after a special event takes place and divert it to a food program where it will be used. T-CAP's work with FAN has made this program possible.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic