Food for Thought

• What is local?
• Where's the turkey?
• What, no green bean casserole?
• Dinner Discussion Cards (free download!)

What is Local?

For purposes of simplicity, the Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign defines local as "grown in Puget Sound or Washington state." But there is a lot of thought being given to this question in some circles. Here is some food for thought on the subject. (The following passage is excerpted with permission from a forthcoming study on the local food economy by Dr. Viki Sontag on behalf of Sustainable Seattle.)

• A dairy farmer in Skagit County, two counties north of Seattle, direct markets farmstead cheese. For the farmer, Seattle is the local market of any size.
• A restaurant on this side of the mountains sources grass-fed beef from ranchers on the other side. Development pressures on land in the Central Puget Sound area make raising grass-fed cattle more costly here.
• A baker buys honey from Oregon because they can get the quality they want in the quantity they need.
• A small, independent distributor based in Seattle buys olive oils from small, local producers in Italy. The distributor has strong ties with the producers through visiting them over the years.
• A grocery store changes what it labels local by season. In winter, local is Northern California.

For households, defining local is about what foods to eat according to taste, knowledge, know-how and (sometimes) principle. For one household, local may be the equivalent of fresh, healthy and organic. For another, local may be concern over how much oil is consumed in transporting food. And for another, it may be allegiance to community.

The examples above point to why defining local is a somewhat contested issue. What's local for a household is often informed by competing intentions. What's local to a business often depends on what's economically at stake in terms of sourcing or selling. But for households and businesses concerned about food system sustainability, local also defines the possibilities for developing relationships that serve to restore the land and regenerate community.

Such relationships, though keyed to economic transactions, are multi-dimensional. They encompass trust, friendship, shared values, resource sharing and more. They take time and effort — because they are as much about what goes into relationships as what can be gotten out of them. And they require experiential knowledge of the needs particular to place.

Ownership plays a part in how many define local because it shapes the nature of a business' relationships. Local owners are thought to have the same interests as the communities in which they are located. Yet, local ownership, although probably a determinant of community mindedness, may not be the reason why a business adopts a relationship-based business model. In other words, local ownership is not sufficient cause for a business to practice community building, but local owners are more likely to do so.

Distance is also a factor in forming relationships. For example, a business will be hard pressed to make direct sales (without aid of the internet) to customers who live 300 miles away, much less 1,500 miles away. So local may be defined by the location of those with whom it is possible to maintain relationships. One definition for local that came up frequently in the course of the study is "a day's drive". Others define local as what's closest to home.

These definitions bring into play the subjective sense of local. What is certain is that there is no fixed center to local and that often what is geographically defined to be local is comprised of many overlapping locals from a community perspective. We might call the community perspective of local "place".

Place signifies shared values arising out of shared experience. As a descriptor of identity, it has a strong influence on what is considered local. For example, food marketing programs are often built around regional identity. Think Washington apples, Puget Sound Fresh, and Pacific salmon.

Place also refers to the value we hold for our natural environment. In the case of food, place most directly concerns farm land but place is also the sense of belonging within an ecosystem. A sense of place is important in cultivating responsibility for caring for the environment in beneficial ways.

Finally, place is also defined by shared ways of living. With food, place can be contentious. The rural-urban divide that exists in Central Puget Sound, as well as many other places, can create some strong differences of thought, but there are also common interests. Michael Pollan has suggested that the Farm Bill be renamed the Food Bill so we can all see what's at stake in crafting policies that support sustainable food and farming practices.

Regarding business sustainability, the significance of place is this: Although community-based businesses share practices in common with environmentally-conscious and socially-responsible companies, that is, what are commonly referred to as "sustainable businesses", localization theory says that community-specific relationships and values figure significantly in the creation of sustainable community economies.

To summarize on what defines local, the meaning emerging from this study is that local is largely a matter of relationships rooted in place. By far and away, relationships are what the businesses themselves say defines local for them.

Where's the Turkey?

Consolidation and regulatory changes throughout many sectors of our food system have resulted in loss of economically accessible processing facilities for many small and mid-scale livestock and poultry producers. While we might want a 'local' turkey this Thanksgiving, they are hard to find because there is currently only one USDA inspected poultry slaughter facility serving the entire Puget Sound region and only a few WSDA approved facilities on area farms. So, if local turkey is on your list this year, order early from local farmers. Visit www.pugetsoundfresh.org for a list of local poultry producers.

What, no green bean casserole?

Green bean casserole is a staple on many Thanksgiving tables. Green beans require temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees to grow. In our area, that means September is the latest that green beans can be harvested. You'd have to travel at least 1200 miles to Southern California to find temperatures warm enough to harvest 'fresh' green beans in November.

Eat Local for Thanksgiving Dinner Discussion Cards

Download (2.5MB PDF) a set of cards with fun facts and discussion questions to trigger some lively conversation at your Thanksgiving dinner table. After all, whether you celebrate with family or friends, good conversation is a fundamental ingredient that can make coming together at the table a community-building experience.