The Tower Grove Farmers’ Market and Bazaar in St. Louis is not only a community center piece, but a regional one. And the group is candidly joining a nation-wide line of community-minded organizations who are in economic straits and need support.

Understanding that there are many worthy groups asking for assistance these days, the one that organizes the Tower Grove market is asking, in particular, for those who already value what it creates in the St. Louis region — shoppers and friends who stop by, even just twice a season — to consider stepping forward. The support can be monetary or otherwise.

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The 100-mile movement is a local eating experiment whereby you buy food that is locally raised and produced from within a 100-mile radius of where you live.  We have 22 family and friends coming from up and down the East coast from Ithaca, NY to Tampa, and while the family is generally sympathetic to green-living, it required some friendly advice to pull it off. So, I sent an e-mail describing the concept and offering helpful advice, tips, links, etc.

We did our part, ordering a bunch of stuff from our milk man and local farm, Southmountain Creamery. We spent Sunday morning at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market and found all sorts of fabulous greens, yams, “Dr. Seuss” cauliflower, herbs, cheeses and chicken for stock. Once the kids warmed up with hot cocoa and croissants it was a terrific morning all around.

As for the rest of the guests, at first I heard nothing back from my email.

Then a few requests to resend the email.

Finally….

My sister-in-law from Brooklyn jumped in with apple-pear chutney to replace cranberry sauce. She also asked if chocolate from Jacques Torres in Brooklyn qualified. We decided, since one cannot pass up Jacques Torres Chocolate and we’re making a similar exception for coffee, that products with raw materials that cannot be found within a 100 miles (cocoa nibs, coffee beans) can be brought if they are processed locally. So, Jacques Torres is in as is Gimme Coffee! roasted in Ithaca, NY.

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I need all sorts of ingredients to make my meal happen so I went directly to the 100-mile diet resources page to find out if there are any local oil suppliers (there aren’t), honey suppliers (there are) and was happy to stumble upon a local candle maker along the way.

The resources page of this movement’s site, like all good movement sites, lists dozens of other sites on which you as an entrepreneur could promote your products. It occurred to me that if you are in an eco-food or home products entrepreneur, that the 100-mile movement is something you could tap into.

And its not a small movement either. According to Alexa, a Web traffic tracking service, 500 sites link just to the 100-mile diet site. And in fact, its part of a larger movement of locavores. Now were talking about a movement that has hundreds of websites, blogs and articles devoted to it.  So, the question is: is there a movement out there that you can join as a supplier?

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What’s wrong with kids making a few bucks by hawking locally grown tomatoes, melons and zucchini on a Saturday morning? It  — gasp — violates zoning laws and public safety, according to Gregg Manning, mayor of the East Bay area town of Clayton.

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Wait, what was that last one again?

Well, here in this corner of Northwest Florida I call home (and they don’t call it the “Redneck Riviera” for nothing), that’s a discussion that’s been raging this week. Seems a family from Jay, an inland (i.e., far from the touristy beaches) community, recently caught a 100-pound alligator snapping turtle … and decided to eat it.

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That’s good news for locavores in the Chicago area, but, as the Chicago Tribune points out, the local food movement has taken hold around the state and region. That’s not only pointing to some healthy profits for farmers, but also signals a shift in how Americans related to the things they eat. According to the article,

“People are wanting to have some control in this world and this is a chance,” said Abby Mandel, founder of Chicago’s Green City Market. “They get to eat great-tasting, healthful food and save the environment and farmland. It’s a win-win and it’s something they can do.”

Sales of locally grown foods jumped to $5 billion in this past year from $4 billion in 2002, according to Package[d] Facts, the market research publisher. The number of farmers markets has grown dramatically too. Federal officials counted 4,385 markets in 2006; that’s up from 1,755 in 1994.

“Supporting local food and local farmers is one of the hottest trends in agriculture,” said Jim Slama, founder of Sustain, a non-profit environmental group that seeks to connect growers and consumers through a program called FamilyFarmed.org. “Consumers want to trust where their food is coming from.”

Of course, “local” is a bit of broad term, and in the Midwest, where long, cold winters are a fact of life, it’s often viewed a bit more broadly then in areas like Northern California. In the Bay Area, true “locavores” commit to a 100-mile diet: everything they eat must come from within a 100-mile radius. Chicagoans are a bit more flexible, so local can mean statewide, or even regionally.

The Illinois state government is also getting into the act:

A proposed Illinois Food, Farms and Jobs Act awaiting the governor’s signature calls for creation of an Illinois-based local food system. The legislation calls for farmer training and development, improving consumer access to “fresh and affordable” Illinois-grown food, and developing new food and agriculture-related business.

The city of Chicago has also implemented a program called “Chicago: Eat Local Live Healthy” that is designed to “[create] a climate where the production and distribution of locally grown, healthy food is available, accessible and affordable to residents year-round.”

While globalized food production and distribution isn’t going anywhere soon, it’s encouraging to see so many people reconnecting with what’s on their plate. Our ability to disconnect ourselves from the sources of our food is a product of our prosperity: we can afford to buy goods from far-off places, and even have these items picked or slaughtered out of sight. That’s convenient; it also turns food, which is intimately connected with place, culture and community, into a mere commodity. When everything’s readily available, nothing’s particularly special. This has a tremendous environmental impact; it also takes away one element of our sense of self and community. I think you can see that where we buy our food: is it just me, or is a farmer’s market a much friendlier place than a supermarket?

We’re lucky in St. Louis: in addition to the Soulard Market, which is open year-round, there are numerous smaller farmers markets around town regularly, and a new store called Local Harvest Grocery opened recently south of Tower Grove Park. Are the farmer’s markets, co-ops and community-supported agriculture programs springing up in your neck of the woods? If you don’t know, make sure to check Local Harvest.

Image credit: Amy Mingo and Wikimedia Commons (and please note: this image is from a Minnesota farmers market. I went for the idea here…)

Categories: food, agriculture, local, chicago, illinois, midwest

I’m a skeinavore. I only eat foods from within 100 yards.

Now, let's make one thing clear: I would rather not eat at all. Every time I do, I feel immense guilt about the methane I produce. Did you know that the average person produces 2 liters of gas a day? The shame of it keeps me up at night.

But even a carbon-negative person like me has to take in calories. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here to point out and counteract all the wasteful, thoughtless things you people do.

Since I am forced to ingest biomatter, I’ve developed some easy-to-follow eating guidelines with our habitorb in mind. A Carbon-Negative Diet, if you will. So for those eager to learn the secret to staying thin and green, here, in a nutshell, is my diet:

• Things that come from my immediate vicinity.
• Things that died a natural death after a long, happy life.
• Things that I find.
• Things that don't produce methane. The following list of gas-generators is completely forbidden:

• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Onions
• Peas
• Peppers
• Radishes
• Sauerkraut
• Turnips
• Carbonated drinks
• Beer
• Red wine
• Sugar substitutes
• Apples
• Beans
• Dairy products
• Eggs
• Wheat
• Melons
• Apricots
• Prunes
• Olestra

This leaves, basically, hemp, soy, some ancient grains, and Chicken McNuggets®, but only if they fall to the ground in front of me. If every American followed my simple plan, obesity would be a thing of the past. We could curtail our methane production, shut down the cattle industry (indeed, all farming as we know it), and save billions in fuel and plus-size clothing. But of course you won’t. You’ll keep driving your Prius to Whole Foods and enjoying your tasty groceries. Fine; more spelt for me.