In article <481b5c52$0$30521$4c368faf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, Persephone
wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:46:03 -0500, Charlie wrote:
>
> >On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:40:50 -0700, Billy <wildbilly@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>You need to find Community Sup****ted Agriculture (CSA) in your area.
> >>Organic is insufficient, if it isn't local (100 miles: definition
> >>varies). Throwing a load of organic produce in the back of a truck to
> >>get contaminated by the previous load, and let it bounce for two days
> >>while getting to market, isn't going to improve it. The problem isn't
> >>just industrial food production but also industrial food distribution.
> >>This is where places like "Whole Foods" break down. They ****p from
> >>central warehouses, which means that they have to buy in huge lots,
> >>which gives them economy of scale, and also guarantees that the
produce
> >>will be the same from store to store. None of the above guarantees
> >>freshness. Fresh food is more nutritious and it tastes better. This is
> >>the basis for "locavores" (people who eat locally grown food). At a
CSA,
> >>the food will be fresh and you can look the grower in the eye and ask
> >>how it was grown. Not only does the food taste better but you are
> >>sup****ting a source of better food for the whole community.
> >
> >To find one near you, amongst other things.....
> >
> >http://www.localharvest.org/
>
> We are blessed with FOUR farmers' markets in Santa Monica,
> Wed, Sat and Sun. They are very strict about locally grown produce
> only, and have gone more toward organic in recent years.
>
> Problem is, areas like Santa Monica that have educated, relatively
> affluent consumers (all except moi!) have access to plenty of fresh
> produce, whereas the very areas that desperately NEED fresh produce do
> not have farmers' markets, and until very recently did not even have a
> major supermarket chain. The people had to buy at convenience storees
> that have high prices and low-quality, unhealthful processed foods.
>
> I have racked my brain for years trying to figure out what it
> would take to get residents of poor and minority areas to get
> their act together and bring in farmers' markets. Obviously the lack
> of security is a factor, as is the lack of consumer education. It's
> easy to argue that these factors can be overcome, but it's not so
> easy to put oneself in the place of people that have been down
> so long, they don't know how to organize. Tragically, what inhibits
> investment, inter alia, is that black and brown are at each other's
> throats in the deadly gang wars that have paralyzed these areas,
> killing innocent babies and children just standing on the street or
> coming home from school.
>
> Persephone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Central_Farm
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/06/south_central_farm_shut_down.php
There was a wonderful garden in South Central L.A. on unused property.
It was the largest community garden in the U.S. and served a low wage
community of color. The owner, Ralph Horowitz, sold the property to
build an industrial park even though the Annenberg Foundation said that
they would match the sale's price. LA Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa said he
regretted the outcome and that he had made multiple appeals to the
developer to accept the farmers' offer to buy.
In 2003, the city of Los Angeles changed the area's official name from
South Central Los Angeles to South Los Angeles, hoping to blur
collective memories of violence and blight, because the name "South
Central" had become almost synonymous with urban decay and street crime.
It would appear that education, income, or ethnic origin has nothing to
do with enjoying good food. The power establishment in LA had a vital,
prospering community and they chose to kill it. The Rev. Wright is right.
--
Billy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7WBB0svwMdY&feature=related
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