U is for Uncommon Ground

Uncommon Ground (locations in Lakeview and Edgewater) is the creation of Helen and Mike Cameron.

I met Helen at the Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) roll-out party for their Healthy and Humane Farms Funds grant project, and found that Helen is just about as passionate about local foods and sustainable farming as we are at CVSF.

Uncommon Ground now hosts a monthly meat CSA  drop off at each location. In May, CVSF will provide meat for a Slow Food dinner that will raise money to send delegates to Terra Madre this fall - hopefully Beth and I will be two of thos delegates.

As you can see our community continues to grow!

I is for Illinois Local, Food, Farms, and Jobs Council

Local Food Lobby Day in Springfield

Awareness and demand for local foods continues to grow across America. However, as is often the case with new trends, peoples' longing to know more about the "where?" and "by whom" of their food began on the coasts with the mid-western states lagging behind.

This Illinois' local food movement picked up the pace in the late nineties as Angelic Organics farm grew into one of the largest and most iconic CSA's in the country and nationally know chefs like Rick Bayless committed to sourcing from local farmers.

Things really took off in 2006, when Debbie Hillman of the Evanston Food Policy Council, approached then State Representative Julie Hamos (now IL director of Health Care and Family Services) about the concerns her urban constituents had about food and farming issues. From this initial discussion, legislation was drafted (titled the Illinois Local and Organic Food Farms and Jobs Act), and a statewide coalition formed to press for it's passage.

I joined the effort at the behest of Kendall Thu an anthropology professor at Northern Illinois University who had joined our CSA the previous year. I joined conference calls with local food proponents from throughout the state, called my representatives, and spread the word to all our farm contacts to support the effort. In 2007, the act passed and the Illinois Local Foods Farm and Jobs Task Force was formed.

The task force spent a year working on a comprehensive document to present to the legislature that detailed the state of local food in Illinois and recommendations for building the local food economy in Illinois. In 2009, the report generated follow-on legislation establishing the Illinois Local, Food, Farms, and Jobs Council.

I have served as a council director since 2010.

Chicago Honey Co-op

Again this departs from the A-Z format (wait no it doesn't - it's my "C"), but I want to wrap up  the Terra Madre thing. (Also, Michael Thompson is part of our farm's community - which I'll be posting about today as well.)

Terra Madre - Short essay #4

Please describe 1-2 experiences, if any, that highlight your relationship to the Slow Food or Terra Madre networks. If you have not previously interacted with Slow Food or Terra Madre, please tell us how you or your organization might build a relationship with these networks.

Michael Thompson is a founder of the Chicago HoneyCo-op.  He vends honey and beeswax products at the same market our farm does. I’ve gotten to know him well over the past seven years – from the market as well as running into each other at various local food and farming functions through the Chicago region.  Michael has been a leader in local foods, biological diversity, “slow food,” and urban agriculture for decades.

In 2008, Michael and his partner, Sydney, attended Terra Madre as delegates.  When I asked him about his trip, he told me: “Jody, I generally don’t put a lot of stock in the phrase ‘a life changing experience,’ but I have to tell you; it (Terra Madre) changed my life.” Ever since that conversation, I’ve wanted to be a Terra Madre delegate.

B is for Butcher

Okay, we run a meat CSA - that's community supported agriculture. (If you're new to this and would like to learn more our farm and CSA visit us at Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm. If you'd like to find a CSA in your area got to Local Harvest. If you're in Chicago, visit The Local Beet.)

Raise our animals in ways that nurture their true natures. We're mindful that their well being is dependent upon us, just as our sustenance is dependent on them. It is a relationship grounded with respect and reverence.

But, to become the nourishing goodness that goes into our monthly shares, their lives must end. We take great care with our animals and work to ensure that the same care is taken when they become meat.

Luckily, we have a fantastic  butcher who does his job as thoughtfully as we do ours. His name is Scott Bittner.

Scott runs the only buthcher shop in the state of Illinois that can do certified organic butchering for red meat animals (beef, pork, lamb, goat). Although we are NOT a certfied organic farm, this is important to us and our customers as it means that only organic methods and ingredients are used in the processing of our meats (no MSG, added nitrates etc).

Bittners (Scott and his wonderful staff) are an important part of our farm's community, and we appreciate all they do!

 

F is for Farm Bill

Every five years or so, national food, nutrition, and farm priorities are debated and set with omnibus policy and appropriations legislation know as The Farm Bill.

And, the process is already under way as the fiscal year 2011 budget debate rages with a government shutdown barely avoided this past week.

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting more about the current and upcoming Farm Bill debates and sustainable agriculture issues an priorities and ways YOU can get involved. For now, here's a run down of the current Farm Bill.

The farm bill encompasses a lot!

There are currently 15 titles in the Farm Bill:

I. Commodities – wheat, feed grains, cotton, rice, oilseeds, peanuts, sugar, and dairy. Direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, and marketing loans. The government also supports commodities with purchases of dairy and marketing quotas and import barriers for sugar. $8.3 billion per year.

II. Conservation – farmland conservation, preservation, and protection. $4.8 billion per year.

III. Agricultural Trade andFood Aid – Agricultural exports and international food assistance programs. $400 million per year.

IV. Nutrition – Domestic food and nutrition and commodity distribution programs, aka SNAP - supplemental nutrition assistance program. $38 billion per year.

V. Farm Credit – Federal direct and guaranteed farm loan programs. (FARMER-MAC).

VI. Rural Development – Business and community planning and feasibility assessments and coordination activities with local, state, and federal programs, including rural broadband access.

VII. Research – Agriculture research and extension programs including bio-security and response, biotechnology, and organic production.

VIII. Forestry – USDA forest service programs, including forestry management, enhancement, and agro-forestry.

IX. Energy – Bio-energy programs and grants for procurement of biobased products to support development of biorefineries and assist eligible farmers and rural small businesses in purchasing renewable energy systems as well as user education programs.

X. Horticulture and Organic Agriculture – (new title in 2008 bill) Covers fruit, vegetables, and other specialty crops (food) and organic agriculture.

XI. Livestock – (new title in 2008 bill) Covers livestock and poultry production, including provisions that amend existing laws governing livestock and poultry marketing and competition, country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for retailers, and meat and poultry state inspections, among other provisions.

XII. Crop Insurance and disaster assistance – (new title in 2008 bill)

XIII. Commodity futures – (new title in 2008 bill) Covers reauthorization of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other changes to current law.

XIV. Miscellaneous – Other types of programs not covered by other titles, including provisions to assist limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and agricultural security, among others.

XV. Trade and Tax provisions - (new title in 2008 bill) Covers tax-related provisions intended to offset spending initiatives for some programs including those in nutrition, conservation, and energy titles. This title also contains other provisions, including the new supplemental disaster assistance and disaster relief trust fund, and other tax-related provisions such as customs user fees.

What does is Cost?

The estimated 5 year cost of the 2008 farm bill is $284 billion.

An overwhelming amount (97%) of that is spent on four titles:

Nutrition - 67%

Commodity Support payments – 15%

Conservation – 9%

Crop Insurance – 8%

E is for Eggs.

Well, it's mid-April.

The sun is shining, the air is warmer, the grass is greener, and the hens are busier, much busier.
A little over a month ago, we were picking at most seven dozen eggs a week. Short winter days, inclement weather, and the inevitable seasonality of eggs from free-ranging hens not forced into a year round "production model" had imposed its annual respite.

I don't know why, but it's always a little alarming when egg production crashes. Even though it's expected and happens every year, I still wonder if this is the time that the hen's vacation will be permanent. I guess we're not that far removed from the ancients who feared that winter's cycle might not end.

Fortunately, the season has changed and the ladies are done with their rest – we're currently collecting over twenty dozen eggs a day. In addition to laying a bunch of eggs, the hens are GRAZING. With the green and bugs and worms now in their diet, the hens are eating a quarter less grain than they did a month ago, while laying 20 times as many eggs.

Wow!

GRASS IS GREAT!

Also, the yolks are much more orange than they were just a couple of weeks ago. We think this is a good thing. Many satisfied customers and members of our Meat CSA, agree as they rave about our eggs.

D is for democracy

On Wednesday the Osmunds traveled to Springfield for Local Food Awareness Day sponsored by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance (ISA) - http://www.ilstewards.org/.

Over 30 local food advocates from throughout the state converged mid-morning on Pasfield House (http://www.pasfieldhouse.com/) just a short walk from the capitol building. After introductions, Lindsay Record and Wes King of ISA taught us "Lobbying 101." Next, we joined our lobbying team and pored over lists of senators and representatives we wanted to see and plotted our stategy while deciphering maps of the Capitol and Stratton office building.

Fortified by lunch, prepared with talking points, loaded with information packets, and stocked with heirloom seed packets (thoughtfully donatated by Baker Creek Seeds (rareseeds.com) , we walked to the capitol.

Once through the security screening, we were set to spread the word about local foods.

A slight hiccup (and an explicit sign that more citizen lobbying is needed) ocurred when a capital police officer asked "Who's your lobbyist?"

Beth replied, "We're all lobbyists - citizen lobbyists."

"Ma'am, I don't think you understood my question" he replied rather pointedly.

Wes showed him his lobbyist id and quickly smoothed things over, but this dismissive attitude toward citizen participation in government was galvinizing.

We didn't speak with any representatives as they were in session; but we visited each of their offices and left our materials with their secretaries and staffers.

Onto the sentate! We did meet with our 38^th District senator Sue Rezin (http://www.senatorrezin.com/).

Richard Osmund, Duncan Osmund, Senator Rezin, Beth Osmund, Jack Osmund, and Jody Osmund

After a visit to the gallery to watch some of the house proceedings with the boys, we regrouped at the ISA offices.

We hydrated with ice water, had the boys run off some steam in the yard, and enjoyed some quiet after the noisome capital, before heading back to the capitol for our meeting with Lt. Governor Sheila Simon (http://www.ltgov.illinois.gov/).

Our group of local food advocates from throughout the state discussed how Simon could use the bully pulpit of her office to further our efforts to build a local food economy in Illinois.

(Lt. Governor Simon with Beth and Jack Osmund)

(Simon, Deborah Cananaugh-Grant, & Dayna Conner)

(Wes King of ISA pulls out our lobbying materials – including a packet of seeds.)