Changing the Outdoor Center to a Local Slow Food System Kelly Miller

1. Changing the Outdoor Center to a Local Slow Food System Kelly Miller Georgia College and State University Environmental Issue in Outdoor Education Current System What about the environment? What is a slow food system? Why not keep it the same? • LAND • The finite quantities of essential elements in soil determine its sustainability for food production. • In order to achieve sustainable and efficient food production, certain soil conditions must be altered in favor of crop production. • The majority of the food that is bought through the Outdoor Center comes from national food organizations such as chain grocery stores. • The bulk items received by the Outdoor Center come from Sodexho, the same company that supplies the college cafeteria. • Why is this a problem?: The average food item travels farther than most families go on their annual vacation. • According to Alex and Dennis Avery, “a predominantly local food system is a recipe for failure and possible famine” because they are susceptible to risks associated with climate, weather, and the environment. • We cannot have a local food system while maintaining food security! • Compared to global food systems, farmers do not have the flexibility and require more land and energy in order to produce an equivalent amount of food. • Its makes more sense both environmentally and economically to produce specific foods in certain areas of the country where they use less of the land and resources. Examples: sugar in the tropics and potatoes in temperate areas. • It takes more energy to grow crops during the winter season in greenhouses than it does to import them. • Each year more land is lost to agriculture: currently 42% of all Earth’s land. At this rate, we will have to convert nearly all of the world’s wildlife habitats into farmland. • Founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy • As an opposition to the fast-food nation, a slow-food system is cooking and living an unhurried life. • Most people think of this term to mean organic foods but it really refers to growing foods in a sustainable way. • Slow food is considered to be good, clean, and fair: • GOOD: “enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals.” • CLEAN: “nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity.” • FAIR: “accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.” www.bizcompinc.com/ • WATER • There needs to be an understanding of how much water is being used in all aspects including: recreation, transportation, and agriculture. • Agriculture is one of the largest users of water. • We need to have an accurate record of agricultural water use in order to manage the available water resources both now and in the future. • ANIMALS • Industrial animal food production has one goal in mind: to convert creatures into meat. These factories are known as concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs. • Advocates claim that it is an efficient way to produce “cheap, good quality meat for consumers” but what they don’t tell you is how unethical and unhealthy they are. The Who • BUYERS • Staff • Students • SELLERS • Local farms • Large businesses • OTHERS • Participants • GCSU • Local community blog.americanfeast.com/2006/08/ Resources Ways to change Carbon Emissions • Distance of travel • More goods are being transported further and more frequently than ever before • Transportation of goods emit 22% of global greenhouse emissions. • Locally supplied meals require between 4 and 17 times less petroleum consumption than meals supplied by food chains. • The distance food is transported is shorter in local food systems and uses less energy for transport. Therefore, it causes less environmental impact. • Load size • Conventional food systems use less energy for food transport when it comes to the size of their load. • Although conventional food travels longer distances than local food, they are more energy efficient because their carrying capacity is much higher. • Stew Hilts &Watkins, Saving the Land that Feeds Us • Avery & Avery, The Local Food Paradigm • Conroe, Community food security- ensuring food access locally • Schnell, Food With a Farmer’s Face: Community-Supported Agriculture in the United States • Wallgren, Local or global food markets: A comparison of energy use for transport • AG WATER PUMPING: A New Program to Evaluate Agricultural Water Use in Georgia • Buol, Sustainability of Soil Use • Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle • Local Farmer’s Markets • Because of food scares in recent decades, many consumers lack confidence in the current food supply. However, local markets provide an opportunity to overcome this. • Easy to find a local farmer: more than 3,500 farmers’ markets in the United States; an average of 75 per state! • Community Food Security • Takes into consideration social, health, economic, and environmental dimensions of the food system. • Puts focus on local and regional food system and develops action around that to ensure a community. • Examples: school gardens, community gardens, local food processing, fellowship kitchens • Community Supported Agriculture • already 1,700 across the nation • Rethinks the relationship between food, economics, and community • For an annual membership fee, local members of the community can receive a share of the farmer’s harvest throughout the growing season. • Most prominent example: organic agriculture What’s the problem? • Energy Use • Our tax dollars are used by the conventional supermarkets to grow process and ship all of their products. • Americans put almost as much fossil fuel in our refrigerators as our cars. • Separation of production and consumption • This is a result of the globalizations of our food supply system. • As a result, traceability of food origins is decreasing. • Consumers are at risk of losing their knowledge of the resource base of production. • Delocalization of food supply • Food production is independent of place and time. • It is estimated that food items are handled 35 times before reaching the consumer. • This can result in a decrease in the local economies and loss of employment. Additional Resources • Therefore, there is no overall difference between levels of energy used for transportation to the farmers’ markets compared with conventional food systems.