Taking back our food system

WE Americans are fortunate to be living in a country where there is ample opportunity to take plenty of things for granted. We look in our refrigerator and exclaim, "Oh, we're out of apples. Better go down to the store and pick some up." Do we pause to wonder, "Who grew these apples? Where and how were they grown?"

Judging from the rapid growth in organics and farmers markets, many of us do care about where our food comes from. But do we have a food system that reflects these values?

During the 20th century, our society migrated from the country into the cities. In 1900, 40 percent of our country's population farmed. In 2000, only 2 percent were farming. One consequence of fewer local family farms is that the average grocery item we buy today has traveled 1,500 miles. We are becoming more and more disconnected from our food and the land and people that produce it. This is costing us and it is threatening our food security.

Washington state is one of the most bountiful producers of food in the nation but we don't reap all the economic benefits we should from our agricultural system. Take apples — we are the largest producer of organically grown apples in the country, and yet, there is no packing or branding of organic applesauce occurring in our state. The majority of our fruit is sent to other states to be retailed or processed. Or it is juiced, mashed or pulped, and then sent to another state to be packed.

Because of the way our current food system is structured, the majority of the value of a product is realized first by the retailer, followed by the branding and marketing companies, then processors, brokers and transportation. The farmers get what little is left.

Consolidation and mergers in the grocery business do not help matters either. In 1980, we purchased half our food through about 20 grocery chains. Today, just six national chains dominate the grocery business and recent reports indicate The Kroger Co., which already owns Fred Meyer and QFC, may swallow up Albertsons. This has a ripple effect throughout the whole food-supply chain. It takes corporate farms to supply corporate grocery and mega-food chains. These corporate chains demand low prices, which leads to the importation of cheaper food produced with agricultural methods that can be likened to strip-mining.

Corporate agriculture and mega-grocery chains have turned the food business into big business, complete with an army of well-heeled lobbyists who know how to make sure that national and state policies support their interests.

It's time to take our food system back. The production and commerce of food should be as much about the health of communities and land and people as it is about money. I believe the Puget Sound region can build a food system that promotes vibrant local communities where farmers and consumers are connecting, and taking responsibility to care for the land and each other.

This local food system will achieve balance by fulfilling the economic, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of local communities while supporting the long-term health of the land and people.

The good news is that this is not a pipe dream — it is happening. An alternative local food system is emerging and it can grow if more of us take a stand in support of local family farmers by making conscious food choices. It is getting easier for Seattle-area residents to find local, sustainably grown food at farmers markets, by purchasing shares in a local farm's harvest through a Community Supported Agriculture program, and by shopping at locally owned grocery chains that do a better job of sourcing local products.

But it is still not easy or accessible enough. Many communities in Greater Seattle do not have farmers markets and plenty of farmers in our state would like to tap into local markets but don't have the distribution systems — the trucks, the warehouses — to get their products to the urban and suburban consumers. It is time to rebuild those systems, open up more farmers markets, and get more people in our community eating healthy, locally produced food.

In a recent poll, 70 percent of Washingtonians indicated they want to support local farmers and were even willing to pay more to do so. By working together, by improving the connection between farmers and communities, and by shopping wisely, we can preserve the heritage of healthy farmland that sustains us and our rural neighbors.