In many of my conversations with others about food and farming (and just about every other topic), we talk about ‘time’. “I don’t have time” to spend growing food, or “It takes too much time” to plant a seed and wait for it to grow into a mature plant that can be eaten. We talk of time as a commodity that is an entity unto itself rather than our presence in the moment and how we have chosen what to do in that moment.

In this sense ‘time’ is used based on our personal value system. For example: a farmer values growing food, so a farmer has “time’ to grow it because it has priority over other activities during that time. It seems to me, we choose where and how we spend our ‘time’ according to what value we place on the activety.
So if I am not growing or producing food for myself…thank the heavens someone (farmer/hunter) decided they were going to spend their ‘time’ growing/acquiring food so I can eat it. And how do many people in the US reward farmers for their ‘time’ devoted to feeding us? We don’t usually want to pay too much for their food products and we consider a farmers social status to be quite low, even though we literally can’t live without them unles we choose to spend ‘our time’, growing our food, ourselves. Wow! Thinking this through, I just gained alot more appreciation for food farmers, imagining I would have to produce/hunt for food for myself to live.

I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to rain again. The past two days I have traveled over the saddle road from Hilo to Kona and then back again through the districts of South Kona and Kau. I was so saddened by the extreme dryness that prevailed everywhere I looked. The land and the plants seemed to be cast in ghostly gray, as though the color of life had been sucked out of them and left in stillness. I saw a few cows and horses in the dried out pastures and wondered what they possibly could find to eat.
As I came over the crest of Volcano, back to Hilo, it was if a paint brush had colored everything green. I immediately wanted to swoop up all the animals I saw scrounging for the smallest morsel of food, and relocate them to these lush green windward meadows, knee high in emerald grass.

I felt for the farmers and ranchers, who can do little for their crops or animals when the weather turns to cloudless skies and drying winds. For an extended period of time now, this current drought is negatively affecting many areas on the Big Island. How do our farmers and ranchers make a living when the weather gods are not co-operating….and how does that relate to what local food is available for people to buy?

This is the essence of this fall semesters’ research in whosyourfarmer.info
I am going to talk with some of the local farmers on the Big Island, who grow or raise their products and market them at open markets. I will ask them to tell me their story of being a farmer and to talk about the relationship they experience in growing and selling their products directly to the consumer.

I almost feel guilty, and yet so thankful, because as I write this, sitting here in Puna, the sweet, sweet sound of rain is coming down…what we have come to call a ‘real rain’….replenishing my spirit and the spirit of the land.

When I see a sign ‘locally grown’, I’m thinking “in this district”. But that may not be what you think when you see or hear ‘locally grown’, or what the creator of the sign ‘locally grown’, is referring to. Talk to others you know, and ask them where they think something comes from when they hear or see ‘locally grown’. I have this question in my survey, with the choice of answers as: 1) district 2) county 3) state 4) country? So far, people’s survey answers have been across the board. What does that tell us about perception? Labels and terms can be complicated and confusing. We tend to categorize to simplify the process, especially since we have to figure this out every time we go food shopping.

Life seemed simpler back when we didn’t have as much choice or certainly not as much information about the food we buy and eat, as we do today. As I grew up in the 50’s, my family lived in the city. My parents shopped at Safeway for the bulk of items, but there was daily milk delivery from the local dairy (near the city) , weekly bread pick-up from the local bakery (a few blocks away), potatoes were bought from a local farmer ( outskirts of the city) in the fall that lasted us all winter, and sometimes we bought a ’side of beef’ (cut up and packaged) from a local butcher (within the city), that we stored in the freezer. So even then
‘ local’ had a lot of different meanings depending on what item you were buying. I don’t remember any talk of what the dairyman, baker, farmer or rancher put into the milk, bread, potatoes or the beef before we bought and ate it. Most everyone seemed to basically trust that the food we bought and ate was good quality, good value and good for us. I also remember that many items were just not available out of season. It was a big deal to get the first pick of the season when fruits and vegetables became available. The ability to eat seasonal produce beyond the season, was extended by way of freezing or canning the food items.

Nowadays…its a bit different. In the January 2010 issue of Martha Stewart magazine, there’s an interesting article written by Carol Ness entitled ” Fresh Thinking:organic, local, seasonal”. She writes, “…picking out a head of lettuce makes you feel as though you need advanced degrees in agriculture, chemistry, economics, and nutrition” (p 99). There is lots of food terminology to inform ourselves about. I found this article to be helpful in simplifying the explanations and comparisons of the general categories : organic, local, seasonal.
Within all categories the same issues were discussed : Flavor, food safety, cost, environment, nutrition and bottom line. I’ll elaborate more on this article from my perspective at a later date. Meanwhile you can read the article for yourself at the following web address :

http://www.wholeliving.com/article/fresh-thinking-how-to-shop-for-fruits-and-vegetables

I find it interesting that more and more so called mainstream media is bringing us this ‘green’ information about our food sources:
Oprah had Michael Pollan on her television show as a guest last year (April 22, 2009)and also recently (January 27, 2020 entitled ‘ Food 101′). He wrote ‘In Defense of Food” which talks about making better choices by supplying our bodies with healthy nutrition from eating whole food rather than from eating packaged ‘ nutrients’. Author @Google: Michael Pollan has a u tube video posted
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-t-7lTw6mA) where Michael Pollan explains his concepts.

In the January 2010 issue of Martha Stewart magazine, there’s an interesting article written by Carol Ness entitled ” Fresh Thinking:organic, local, seasonal”. I thought this article described the differences in an easy to understand, simple manner making food choosing a little easier for food shoppers to navigate their produce buying.

Its not just the ‘fringe’ health food fanatics concerned about the quality of the food they eat…its becoming of greater interest to mainstream communities to be more concerned with what is in our food and how do we know if it is good for us! There are farmers markets springing up everywhere. People feel they have a little closer connection to knowing what is in the food they buy if it’s directly from the people who farm it or have a connection to the source.

When  farmers  of organic or naturally produced food  get together, it is common for the topic of conversation to turn to “how the consumer should”  learn about, appreciate and be willing to pay a higher price for their food products that farmers work hard at to grow, and make available for market, allowing them to make a livable wage.

While I was talking with a couple of farmers yesterday at Master Chos seminar, our discussion ventured into customer education.  As I recognized  one of the farmers,  who raises goats and sells goat cheese at the open markets, I immediately felt guilty and  apologized to him for my not buying…..a year ago… his locally made goat cheese he had for sale in the Pahoa open market! He looked at me perplexed and I explained further.  I recalled that I had admired the goat cheese product  and had thought it was desirable for me to purchase, but  I had chosen not to spend the money on it.  I remember thinking I could get twice as much goat cheese at Costco. So here I am, a farmer my self and opting not to support this local farmer at that time.  I look back on the year and realize,  even though I knew enough information about the importance of buying local food and supporting local farmers etc. I still had not processed that information to action.  What is it that makes us change our habits or thoughts? When is it that when one has new perspective about something, then a consistent action follows?

In my own situation regarding the goat cheese review, I recognized  a shift from information in my head to   action in my choices when purchasing food to be more consistent with my thoughts about healthy food, when I watched a film by Robert Kenner, called Food, Inc.

Watching Food Inc., depict unhealthy corporate farming practices, was the motivating event that moved me to immediately change some of my food purchasing choices. I was so disgusted with what I saw in the film about corporate food production, that it helped me converge information I already had about raising food in a healthy environment and consuming food that is healthy, to then act on what I already know.
As my friend Andy said,  in a conversation we recently had about this intellect to action process, “  When emotional acquisition of information creates a strong feeling…when it gets you in the gut ( no pun intended), it moves you to new perspectives and  action! ”

I am always amazed as I reflect on the process of my awareness.  Reflecting on the communication process is like reviewing a movie: reviewing events and thoughts that occurred along the way, witnessing pattern development, new information filtering in, a ‘ shift  of perspective ‘, then an  epiphany occurs!

 No longer can I continue in the same way….. I am moved to make different choices, better choices, choices that are more consistent with what I believe and what I value.   Can I call the epiphany “digested information”?

The last part of my reflection is what I recognize as essential components in a healthy learning and awareness process: patience, empathy and genuineness.
Too often, when others don’t think the same as we do, at the same time we do, we experience frustration, disappointment and anger. These negative feelings will only sabotage the convergence we wish to attain. Because I was able to witness my own experience of the awareness process in the goat cheese scenario, I realized how individual this process is. We all have different timetables for how and when we come to make better choices in our lives and in this case better choices in food. So I ask each of us to think about how we can apply patience, empathy and genuineness to ourselves and others in the path of awareness within the transactions of food choice purchases in open markets. Can farmer’s have more patience and empathy with customers who for whatever reason have chosen not to buy their product at that time? Another time they may be ready… and a willing customer they will be. Can food customers have empathy and support genuine farmers… who work hard and care about the food they grow and sell and who desire to make a viable living from their chosen career? Can patience, empathy and genuineness build a more sustainable food-farmer-customer relationship?

Please comment /reply in the section at the end of this post.

Reference

Kenner, Robert.(2009). Food Inc. film, Magnolia Pictures

www.foodincmovie.com