Time & again, I am brought back to "fresh & Local" being the only way. The only way people will understand the difference in the industrial food that they eat & organic, local, food is to go to the farmers' markets & try some. Farmers markets are always packed. People in spite of their mass market food habits, do want real, fresh food, even if it's only seasonal stars like corn & tomatoes. Then the next season, they'll get to know one farmer's tomatoes are so good, they'll try something else, tell their friends, on it goes.
The same is true for herbs & medicine. Home grown, home made, locally grown & made, this is where there is true value. As people are making this shift to local food, it will inspire more home grown local economies. Trying to then co opt this thinking to the "market" economy is a mistake. Instead, try and get national & local non profits involved in your csa's to sponsor share prices for low income members, such as Roxbury Farm did this year, through the United Way, sponsoring some membership in Harlem. The csa model now has to go to the next level and include more kinds of locally produced goods within the csa umbrella. Many farms & members are already doing this in small ways buying in breads or fruits or dairy from other local farms. If we were to include all the most 'vitally' important goods such as medicine, clothing, & drinking water in such an organization, we could control more of what nourishes us. Blessings, Jane ------ Forwarded Message From: Allan Balliett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 05:59:11 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: fad? The biggest hope is that people like Perry can educate the public to the true value of FRESH AND LOCAL ------ End of Forwarded Message
