If you think I am high maintenance, you should meet my chickens! – Katie Myers-Griffith

One of my high maintenance hogs

This year, my husband, children and I moved to a different farm. In the spring, we got a new flock of peeps. I have made my own term of endearment for them…”peep-nerds”. I chose the barred rock breed because they are supposed to be docile, hearty, and low maintenance. My “peep-nerds” are not docile, not so hearty, and definitely not low maintenance.
I also invested in a herd of meat goats, Myotonic breed aka: Tennessee Fainting Goats. They also were given a term of endearment “goatie goats”. This particular breed was chosen due to their resistance to parasites, their small but strong bodies, and their low maintenance grading. My goatie goats are pretty strong, and are very resistant to parasites, but low maintenance – not so much.
I have now come to the conclusion that I raise high maintenance animals no matter what the “books” say.
My peep-nerds run to my car when I pull in the driveway. They demand fresh bread in the morning, and wait on the porch for me to deliver the goods. They prefer me to sing country music and want peep-treats all the time. I have created monsters!
My goatie goats cry when it is cold outside (they have a wonderful barn, but figure if they cry I will bring them some fresh grain). They only graze on the best of the best grasses, and prefer their hooves trimmed with a golden hoof trimmer! Oh…and they like me better when I wear my Ohio State University coat?  Buckeye fans, I guess.  I won’t even tell you about my inside cat, “Queen Size”, boy, have I created a monster in that cat!

Anyway, raising livestock is not easy and no matter what the books say, animals are not low maintenance.  They are high maintenance.  They require good care, fresh water, and food at the least.  I wish my high maintenance peep-nerds would lay golden eggs, but they reward me for my dedication to them with wonderful, orange yolked, fresh brown eggs!  The goats reward me with not having to mow a few acres…soon they will fill the freezer too.

This holiday season if you have the urge to present a friend with a gift of livestock, please gift them to a high maintenance type of person like myself.  Someone who will sing to them, spoil them, and treat them kindly in their life.  If we serve animals in their life, they will serve us in their death!

The new Peep-Nerd Resort & Lodge

Jet Lag Not Included – Exotic Eats in Northeast Ohio

Heather Roszczyk, market assistant

Exploring new foods is one of the great pleasures in life, and travel is one of the most pleasurable ways to do it.  I’ve been very blessed with a great many travel, and thus unique food, experiences in my life.  I’ve eaten crepes in Marseilles, blood pudding in Galway, and schnitzel in Vienna.  In Barcelona, my husband John and I fell in love with pintxos – tiny, speared bar snacks eaten while standing and paid for by the number of toothpicks left on your plate.  In Guangzhou, I was the only member of our work group to brave the pig ears and blood soup (really, quite tasty!)  And on a cross-country drive several years ago, John and I detoured a couple hundred miles to St. Louis solely for BBQ.

With our first baby arriving any day now (not to mention the reduction of discretionary income that comes from buying a house – who knew?) I fear that it will be a while before we’re taking any exotic trips.  Fortunately for us Northeast Ohioans, there are plenty of delicious ethnic foods available at our fingertips each and every day.  For the price of a short drive to Cleveland and surrounding environs, you can immerse yourself in the smells and flavors of another culture.  Think tender haluski; steaming bowls of pho; tangy-sweet cannoli; crisp falafel; and – yes – even excellent sushi.

And while you might not associate farmers’ markets with far-flung cuisines, you can in fact support your local farmers and businesses while satisfying your craving for ethnic eats.  At Countryside Farmers’ Market in Howe Meadow alone, you can find hand-cut ravioli, homemade pierogi, Asian greens, Greek pastries, European-style cheeses, and so much more.  This Saturday, Asia Services in Action (ASIA) will even be doing a cooking demonstration to teach customers about ways to use their Asian produce.

So who needs that jet lag, anyway?  Until we have enough pennies saved for our next vacation, we can take plenty of exotic trips…right here at home.

Farmers’ Market Joy #267: Unusual and new-to-me foods

Beth Knorr, Market Manager

Back in 1998 when I worked on a farm for the very first time, nearly everything was new and exotic for this suburban girl.  Swiss chard, kale, purple potatoes, and oh my land- kohlrabi!- were all new to me.  I had never seen half the stuff I was helping to plant, weed, harvest and pack.

One of the wonderful things about farmers’ markets is being introduced to new and interesting items.  Items that we may have eaten in the past and have just fallen from favor, or some truly new items from other cultures that we have rarely or never seen except in a specialty store.  It’s fun to experiment with them, and to see if we like them enough to incorporate them as a regular part of our meals.

Since its inception, our farmers’ markets have offered some varieties of vegetables that are ‘unusual’ for the American table, such as Pac Choi, Mizuna, Komatsuna and edamame (although now edamame, I would argue, is a staple!)  But recently you may have noticed our newest booth at the market bursting with new-to-us items that incite excitement as well as trepidation.  Bitter melon, Yu Choy Sum, Small Gai Choi, Fuzzy Squash and Tokyo Bekana are items Asian Services in Action (ASIA) are bringing to the market.  Many of these items elicit a “How cool!” which is quickly followed by “How do I cook that?”  In these instances, web searches are infinitely helpful, including the mind-boggling number of food blogs with recipes.

Here are a few nice websites that often have recipes for these unusual items:

White on Rice

Just Hungry

Globetrotter Diaries

What other local items do you find unusual and/or exciting? And how do you find ways to cook them and incorporate them into your family’s meals?

Slow Start for Farmers’ Markets Give Way to Summer Bounty – Beth Knorr

The 2011 Countryside Farmers’ Markets, while off to a somewhat rocky start, are in full swing now. The farmers throughout Ohio had one of the roughest springs in memorable history.  Rain and cool weather that continued through May prohibited growers from getting into their fields to plant. Many are still playing catch-up, and most consider themselves about a month behind. Several farmers noted that even those items they did manage to plant between rain drops were slow to grow. All this created a noticeable decline in the amount of fresh produce for the first month and a half of the summer market season. Finally now as the summer crops are beginning to roll in are we seeing fuller tables at both of our farmers’ markets.

Noticeable exceptions to the empty-table syndrome were those vendors with high tunnels on their farms. The high tunnels alleviated weather-related risk for several of our growers, enabling them to have bountiful market stands even through the severe weather of the spring. To show more growers the benefits of these low-cost structures, Countryside Conservancy is partnering with Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA) to provide a workshop this fall that will share techniques with specialty crop growers interested in adding or better utilizing high tunnels on their farm, as well as provide information on advanced techniques
for the established grower.

We are happy to be at Howe Meadow again this season, and also to be in a new, urban setting for our weeknight market at Highland Square. Our Saturday market is every Saturday through October 29th from 9-12, and our Highland Square market is held on Wednesday evenings from 4-7pm through September 28th.

The farmers’ markets have had several new happenings in 2011, including our Waste Not program, which Sage discusses a bit more below, as well as our first ever Pie Contest and Apron Fashion Show. The pie contest was a huge hit, and we can’t wait until next summer to see what market customers will cook up for us to try. Other fun special events scheduled at the market include our Annual Tomato Tasting and Salsa Smackdown featuring the chefs from The Greenhouse Tavern; we’ll also be hosting a Taiko concert at the market on September 24; and finally, our annual Halloween Celebration (complete with caramel apples for kiddos wearing costumes) will take place on our last out-door market day on October 29th.

We hope you’ll come see what’s growing, and enjoy the happenings at Countryside Farmers’ Markets!

Our Kitchens and Food Waste – Sage Culley

After reading American Wasteland by Jonathon Bloom this past Winter, I felt the definite disconnect in homes these days when it comes to food waste. I don’t necessarily think families intend or want to waste, but many just don’t know how to make the most of the foods they purchase. As I made my way through the book, I began looking at my own waste. I quickly realized that most of my waste was food waste. As a result, I started composting. I was able to reduce my weekly curbside garbage pick-up to once a month!

I began to wonder, what if every home composted? I started asking customers at the farmers’ market if they composted. And, to my surprise many did. Which prompted the question, what other things could we do to help reduce household waste? One thing that came to mind was to reduce the waste from spoiled leftovers. Which I discovered was a common problem for many American families, while watching my nieces & nephew for a few months.

I decided to use my brother’s kitchen as a laboratory. I rolled up my sleeves, grabbed a trash can, got comfortable on the kitchen floor and decided to do a refrigerator dump. I discovered containers filled with leftovers from dinner, Chinese take-out, a container of mushroom soup I dropped off several days ago, uneaten because they were forgotten about. I found spoiled fruits and vegetables in drawers, with fresh fruits and vegetables stacked on top from a recent shopping trip. Could any of this be saved? How could I help? After a fun filled evening of chucking food, I decided to continue the experiment. I hoped to find out why they thought there were so many leftovers and spoiled, uneaten food in the refrigerator. The general consensus was that the waste was caused by not knowing the schedule for that particular week, buying what they “thought” they needed at the market, and the finicky eating habits of the kids.

So, what can we do to combat this frustrating problem? A problem that’s costing us money that could equate to a nice vacation at the end of the year? After the refrigerator dump experiment at my brother’s, I discovered the one thing I use in my kitchen that their household did not was the freezer. The freezer is my saving grace when it comes to making the most of my food purchases. For example: When I make a big pot of chili or spinach pie, if by day three I haven’t made a dent in it, I pack it up and freeze it to enjoy later. Sometimes I’ll make a dish, and as soon as it cools, freeze for a quick weeknight dinner later on. This may seem like common sense to some, but I believe the freezer is under utilized in most kitchens. Another great tip, shared by my college friend Paula years ago has saved me hundreds of dollars over the years. Instead of letting the ground meat (you intended on grilling up – but never got around to) go to waste, fry it up on the stove, drain, and freeze it. It can be used for a quick easy meal of tacos or casserole another night.

Another tip shared in American Wasteland, was to be more realistic about when will be actually cook at home. So often, we have the best intensions to cook dinner five or six nights a week, but end up eating out three to four nights a week due to scheduling conflicts or being too tired to cook. If we could all be a little more realistic with our expectations and our grocery lists, we would minimize our waste, decrease the land needed for landfills and ultimately put more money in our pockets.

Staycation – Sage Culley

“What comes to your mind when I say staycation”, I asked my brother? He simply said, “staying at home versus going away”. Of course, I was hoping for a more detailed response. But, that’s all he had since he was exhausted from digging a hole for a pond he’s decided to build in his backyard while on his vacation or should I say staycation. For me, a staycation can be as simple as getting a book off the New York Times Best Seller list and lounging for hours in my hammock. Staycations seem to be the norm these days. With so many families watching their pennies, fancy trips seem a thing of the past. Instead, many have decided to just stay home. But, that doesn’t mean this long-awaited, well deserved time off work/school can’t be FUN!

When I was younger, my dad would alternate teaching summers at Kent State University so we could afford to go to Maine for two weeks the following summer. The summers we spent at home were just as fun as the summers in Maine. And, I think it’s because my parents gave us the freedom to get inspired. My brother & I grew up in the best neighborhood; it was almost movie-like, filled with kids of all ages. On hot, summer nights, we would play hide-n-seek or goose in the graveyard until the wee hours. Which was probably 11pm, but for an 11 year old, it felt more like 3am. On rainy days, we would watch movies or play Monopoly & Risk until all the pieces were gone. The most creative thing we ever did on our staycation, was put on a neighborhood circus complete with animals and talent acts including a unicyclist! Growing up on Verner Road was the best!

As we got older, my parents would take us exploring. Long Sunday drives consisted of eating lunch at a local diner, visiting area zoos, or art and natural history museums. Depending on the artist visiting for the summer at Kent State, there were creative art projects to be made. One summer, we made our own paper, learned silk screening, batiking and even gathered clay at Virginia Kendall for sculpture making.

A staycation can be your way of reconnecting with the world around you. Living in the fast paced age of social media and instant information, who couldn’t use a little “TIME” to enjoy the view? Italians describe this with the mantra “Il Dolce Far Niente” or the “Sweetness of Doing Nothing”.

So, if you are planning a Staycation this summer check out your city’s event calendar for fun things to do. Go visit the Akron Zoo (I’ve heard the jellyfish exhibit is a must see – complete with ones that glow in the dark). Or, plan a camping trip – whether West Branch State Park or in your own backyard. As for me, I’ll be making a lime basil mojito, grabbing this year’s summer read and heading for the hammock.

Nutritionally Balanced Farming? – Katie Myers-Griffith

2011 Food "Plate"

For the few or many of you whom have read my past blog
posts, you know that my nerdy passion is land use.  I often contemplate the relationships between
farming, food, and land use.  I recently discovered
another tool that we could use in projecting farming opportunities; the food
pyramid (or now the food plate).

In the local food movement we often state that we need more
farmers!  We don’t have enough farmers to
even meet the demand.  This is true.  In order to train up a new generation of
farmers we offer classes and workshops and we are attempting to infiltrate the
school systems with farm to school programs – all needed and beneficial
actions.  However, I wondered what it would look like; if instead meeting the demand we looked at the food pyramid
and met the nutritional guidelines.   How would this change our classes, workshops, and infiltration?

I know, as an active farming community member, that we really don’t need more dairy goat farms in the area.  The market is almost saturated.  The local goat cheese artisans tell me that there are too many.  Beginning farmers don’t have that inside information.  So, I propose looking at the nutritional guidelines to assist you in the future
planning of your farm business.   Obviously, the first step is a great deal of self assessment, but after
that look at the plate and decide where would you as a producer like to fit into that plate?  As you can see, dairy is a very small portion of the daily intake guideline ~ hence the need for fewer goat dairies.  However, I also know that we are in need of more produce growers and those that are growing interesting foods.  Look at the plate again;  half of your daily intake should be in fruits or vegetables.  Without even knowing that we need more produce growers, I can look at the plate and decide produce would probably be economically beneficial choice.  If we were eating what we are supposed to eat for a healthy lifestyle we are going to
want a variety of fruits and vegetable to meet our needs.  Proteins and grains can be put through the same scenarios.

So, I took the liberty of making a few projections based on population data, what we SHOULD be eating and what this could look like for agricultural operations.

Example

Population of Shreve, Ohio (my town) = 1,598[1]

Daily Servings of Vegetables recommended per person = 4 cups[2]

Daily servings (4) x Population (1,598) = 6,392 cups of fruits and vegetables per day

Daily total (6,392) x Days in Year (365) = 2,333,080 cups of fruits and vegetables per year.

Using two cooking conversion charts[3], I can assume 4 medium apples are equal to 4 cups and 4 cups are equal to about
1 pound.  So just using apples as the sole source of the fruit and veggie portion; the town of Shreve could
potentially consume 583,270 pounds of apples per year!  Let’s cut that in half, and assume every person in Shreve, Ohio is eating 2 cups of apples everyday (see the need for variety?)

The need = 291,635 pounds of apples.  According to the Northeast Ohio Agricultural Atlas, 1 acre of apple trees has the potential to produce 13,146 pounds of apples per year.  Therefore, we need approximately 22 acres of apple trees to feed the very small village of Shreve 2 cups of apples per day per person.  What would this look like for the City of Cleveland or the City of Akron?

To feed the village of Shreve 2 cups of apples per day, we
need 22 acres of apple trees.  In Northeast Ohio, we currently have 2,261 acres of apple trees.  Rough number estimates tell me that in order to feed Northeast Ohio 2 cups of apples per day we need 116,674 acres of apple
trees.  If we cut that portion to a .5 cup of apples per person per day we would still need 29,169 acres of apple trees.

Now to the land use question…where in Ohio do we have an additional 26,908 acres of land available and suitable for apple trees?    Where in Ohio do we have the training capacity to teach beginning farmers to plant,
prune, manage and harvest apple trees?   These questions are posed as opportunities knocking!

Now…onto the other 3 food groups!

---

[1]
According the US Census Bureau

[2]
The newest nutritional guidelines don’t offer blanket serving sizes.  This figure is reflective of what the
author’s intake should be.  An
interactive tool to determine your personal intake level is available at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/tools.html

[3] http://www.barryfarm.com/How_tos/how_many_cups_in_a_pound_of.htm
and http://www.angelfire.com/bc/incredible/weightmeasure.html

Farm Waste ; A Wasted Resource – Katie Myers-Griffith

In 2008, Countryside Conservancy in collaboration with the
Wayne Economic Development Council and the Center for Farmland Policy
Innovation launched the M.A.N.U.R.E. (Manure Agreements, Nutrient Utilization,
and the Rural Economy) project to assist landowner/farmers in Baughman
Township, Ohio in proper utilization of their farm waste.  That particular township, located in Wayne
County is a small township full of dairy farms and hay fields.   As project manager, I imagined the dairy
farmers in Baughman Township to be very excited about this project.

However, as it turned out, smaller scale
produce growers were more excited at the opportunity to get their hands on some
of that manure!  This was an interesting project and has led to a new and upcoming program ManureLink.  ManureLink will operate much like Countryside’s FarmLink, but instead
of matching retiring farmers to beginning farmers, we will be matching manure
producers (like dairy farmers) to manure consumers (like weekend warrior gardeners).  The new program will be in collaboration with the Ohio State University.  Stay tuned for the launch!

If you are in need of composted manure contact me for some informal connections.

In other waste news:

• Buehler’s Fresh Foods is selling its bagged
  compost.  In 2009, the grocery chain
  began diverting their food waste to Paradise Compost Facility.  You can now purchase the completed
  product.  Thanks, Buehler’s for
  initiating a sustainable food waste model!
• Along with the Countryside Farmers’ Market, the
  Seattle Mariners are striving to be a Zero Waste by setting up stations for
  recycling and composting at the ball park.
• According to Biocycle Magazine Ohio Wal-Mart
  stores have agreed to divert food waste from the stores to composting facility
  Marvin Organics in Lebanon, Ohio

What have you done recently with farm waste, garden waste, or kitchen waste?

Waste Not, want not…. New Program Kicks Off Opening Day at the Market

Waste Not , want not…. by Sage Anne Culley

What does this phrase actually mean? The proverbial saying was first recorded in 1772 but had an earlier, even more alliterative version from 1576, “willful waste makes woeful want.” Many of us whose parents, grandparents or great grandparents grew up during the World War I & II expressed this idiom as a way of survival.  The government depicted this intention through a variety of inspirational posters   posters directing citizens to act with phrases like “Use it up & wear it out” or Save perishable foods by preserving now.

Looking for more current versions of the expression Wikipedia defined waste not as – “If we are not wasteful of our resources (that we currently have), we still have them in the future.”  But my personal favorite in researching was direct and to the point – “Waste and want; save and have”.

More importantly what does this all mean for the Countryside Farmers’ Markets? “Waste Not” is a program modeled after the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture’s,(CUESA) Waste Wise program in California. This program was developed to get as close to zero waste as possible and our Waste Not program has been designed to divert 90% of our market’s waste by 2012. This will allow us to walk the talk of sustainability decreasing the amount of Ohio land needed for landfills while keeping that land available for farming. Waste Not will accomplish this goal by educating you and our community to Buy Thoughtfully, Cook Carefully and Waste Less. As part of the program each market will have a designated “Waste Not” booth with educational materials and tools geared towards recycling, shopping wiser, minimizing cooking waste, composting, and repurposing. We will feature topics throughout the season akin to “What to do with your pumpkins after Halloween” and “Christmas tree’s – How to purchase and dispose of after the holiday.” We’re very excited about the Waste Not program and look forward to the opportunity to be a resource for reducing waste in our communities.

 Our vision…  Some of the things we will be doing in 2011 include;

• Encourage the use of reusable bags for shopping instead of plastic bags by selling reusable bags at the market
• Encourage the use of re-usable mugs when purchasing beverages at the market
• Educate consumers on recycling and composting at our markets. Waste stations staffed with a volunteer will provide information on how to properly discard items purchased at the market. We will also have a staffed information booth that will explain the program offering educational tools and tips for recycling and composting in their communities.
• Our website (www.cvcountryside.org), blog and Facebook pages will be used to feature Waste Not monthly and seasonal items to consider when diverting waste.

Pending continued funding, future plans include working with our vendors to minimize waste, including;  Waste diversion for vendors cooking and serving ready to eat foods at the market; assisting vendors with sourcing recyclable and compostable packaging and significantly reduce the use of plastic bags in 2012 .

WASTE NOT OPENING DAY MAY 14^th , 2011

EVENT SUMMARY

 ***First “250” shoppers with a reusable grocery bag will receive a CVCC magnet***

RECYCLED ART PROJECTS                                                                            

9:00am – 11:30am –   Recycled Art Projects for Kids

Leona from Glass by Leona – Making Mobile’s Out of Old CD’s

Amy Hecky – Making Kites out of Plastic Bags

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR MARKET PRODUCE

Presented by Ms. Julie

9:30am – “Making the Most of Your Market Produce”

• Juicing, using the juice pulp, making broths, canning/freezing, composting & recycling.
• Buying only what you need – Things to consider when shopping at the market

10:30am – “Making the Most of Your Market Produce”

COMPOSTING 101 

Presented by Beth Gatchell, Cleveland Museum of Natural History

10:00am  -  Vermi-Composting 101

11:00am – Vermi-Composting 101

CORN HOLE GAME TEST YOUR SKILLS 

9:00am- 12:00pm

WASTE NOT INFORMATION BOOTH                                                    

9:00am-12:00pm

• Available to answer questions about the “New” Waste Not program & area resources
• Recycle your old or broken cell phones & printer ink cartridges for cancer

Food Fit For Parks – not to mention farming fit for parks Darwin Kelsey, Executive Director

Food fit for parks?!?  What, precisely, could that mean?  Well, it can’t mean any one thing precisely…or always, or invariably.  It depends.  And, it is actually a good example of the realities captured by the title of Dominic Muren’s 2009 book titled Green’s Not Black & White.  Muren explores the pros and cons of several so called green (i.e., environmentally friendly) practices related to issues like food, energy, transport – even shopping!  For food, he asks…Buy organic? Buy Local? Eat less meat? Less corn?  And, his answers always are framed as “Yes…But”.  Muren helps us understand the reasons we should think/reason in certain ways…except when circumstances suggest we might want to think/reason toward a different conclusion. 

“Food Fit For Parks” is part of a larger 2010 study titled Food For The Parks published by the Institute at the Golden Gate (a program of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy).  And, that study is itself part of a new and larger initiative having the same name – which “aims to help expand the availability of nutritious, local, organic, fresh food in parks nationwide by drawing connections between sustainable service and park values”.  Both the 2010 study and the larger initiative are a response to the emerging awareness that most of the food served in most parks bares little relationship to any of the historic, scenic, cultural, environmental, or public health “values” for which most parks were created.  But, getting “nutritious, local, organic, fresh” food into park food services/concessions faces all the same challenges as getting such food into school and hospital cafeterias, not to mention restaurants, and even homes.  And, such challenges/contexts always confront us with “yes… but” choices. 

Parks, of course, come in all shapes and sizes ranging from just a few acres to a few thousand square miles.  Some are located in or near dense urban populations, others are in remote wilderness settings – think Yellowstone or Mount Rushmore.  Some are close to abundant year round suppliers of all sorts of plant and animal food products.  Others have few, if any, large scale potential suppliers of fresh produce/dairy/eggs within a day or two’s drive.  Yet park visitors arrive expecting to stay a few hours, or a few days – often expecting to eat, onsite, in a variety of venues (grab-and-go, cafeterias, or elegant dining) at “reasonable” cost.  

Parks are almost always owned by “We the People” and are supposed to be managed in the public interest, for the common good (which means often contradictory things to occasionally like-minded people).  In practice, over the years, park owner/operators (i.e., government) have developed elaborate (legally defendable) procedures for selecting and working with private sector “service providers” – of canoes, horses, lodging, and even food.

The bottom line for food service concessioners in parks is – well, the bottom line.  They need to make a profit.  They wouldn’t be offering their “services” in park venues if those venues didn’t offer promising opportunities for profit: A few thousand dollars per year for small vendors in small parks, and a few million dollars for some vendors in a few parks.   All this new talk about “fresh, healthy, environmentally friendly, organic, local” is nice (maybe) but it isn’t an option if it isn’t profitable.  And, making a profit has always been challenging even without these new criteria.  Concessioners are usually required to keep their food prices in line with other local eateries.  And, when they serve fast food, it better be fast.  They better give visitors/customers what they are familiar/comfortable with – even if it is in a sure fire contributor to diabetes and heart attacks.  And, all this has generally meant that concessioners have felt pushed toward sourcing long-distance industrial food, preparing, and serving it using conventional industrial methods – all within the regulatory/inspection/safety constraints of the industrialized food system.

Park food service concessioners will change if/when sufficiently encouraged and enabled by new criteria/standards built into the competitive proposal process used to select and oversee them.  And, that will happen (slowly) as We the People push or follow park administrators in creating such criteria/standards.  The good news (for some of us) is that process, is in process.  On April 14, 2011 (for example) National Park Service Director, Jon Jarvis, announced a major new service-wide Healthy Food Strategy – to provide healthier food options for the 280,000,000+ annual National Park visitors.  His announcement came during a two day conference co-hosted by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.  Discussion there focused on how NPS can best encourage health and wellness initiatives in America’s local, state and National Parks – and how parks can promote healthy lifestyle changes.  Interesting. 

It is hard to imagine such a thing happening ten years ago.  It is a reflection of a very significant cultural change occurring across America today – what is being called the local food revolution.  A decade ago, it was also hard to imagine something else highlighted in Food For The Parks: The Countryside Initiative in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP).  “Highlighted” is a key word here because the great bulk of that report is devoted to describing the challenges associated with finding food service concessioners willing and able to find, purchase, transport, prepare,  sell and serve fresh, nutritious, unfamiliar food originating outside of parks to sometimes impatient visitors staying in the parks.  Because of its unusual nature, CVNP doesn’t even have a park managed food service for general visitors.  What it does have, though,  is the best operating example of “farming fit for parks” in America – the purpose of which is to help tens of thousands of CVNP visitors each year better understand where food fit for parks actually comes from (and its consequences).