PROVIDENCE
— Meat and fish topped the menu at the recent Farm Fresh Rhode Island's Local
Food Forum.
In
farming jargon, it’s called "local, sustainable protein," or
"strategic protein reserve." But the idea is get Rhode Islanders to
eat more locally raised chicken, beef, pork and fish.
The
primary quandary posed by panelists and members of the audience was finding
ways to convince the public to pay for a higher-priced, healthful food. In the
case of seafood, it’s getting the public to eat local, plentiful fish.
“If consumers don’t know what we do and don’t pay the costs, it’s not going to be sustainable,” said Mel Coleman Jr., a former Colorado cattle rancher and advocate for naturally raised farm animals.
Consumers
should be aware, Coleman said, that it’s cheaper in the long run to buy
sustainably raised meats. Low-priced products, he said, have external expenses,
such as the health problems caused by fertilizers, antibiotics and growth
hormones.
Coleman
and Pat McNiff, of Pat’s Pastured in East Greenwich, said the biggest barrier
to farming is the cost and availability of land. Coleman noted that 3,000 acres
of land nationwide were lost to development each day in 2007. McNiff leases
land because of high real-estate prices. “It’s a huge barrier to farming in the
Northeast.” If we don’t figure it out, he said, the local farm movement “won’t
exist anymore.”
Noah
Fulmer, executive director of Farm Fresh — the organizer of the annual forum —
said the local seafood movement faces its own challenges. It’s difficult to
determine where seafood really comes from and how it is caught. Seafood, he
said, suffers from a remarkable lack of transparency, “and all those lies that
are told along the supply chain.”
Other
speakers noted that consumer demand is strong for threatened fish such as cod,
while most of the plentiful seafood leaves the state. Eating local and abundant
fish such as scup, fluke and squid maintains a healthy stock and promotes the
food system, said Janet Coit, direct of the state Department of Environmental
Management (DEM).
Ken
Ayars, chief of the state Division of Agriculture, said a public-private
seafood marketing collaborative, run by the DEM, is already working to promote
a local, sustainable seafood system. The DEM also intends to establish a Rhode
Island seafood market.
For
famers, Ayars said, the state will continue to support local farmers markets
through the inaugural farmers market conference scheduled for April
16. New products such as butter and cheese will be offered through the
Rhody Fresh label. Other projects include a farming collaborative for Dame Farm
in Johnston. Ayars also noted the explosive growth of farmers markets in recent
years. Despite being a $2 billion industry with 12,000 jobs, only 1 percent of
food consumed in the state is produced locally.
The
lopsided local food system illustrated the potential for growth in Rhode
Island, but also sparked discussion about a need for sustainability. The term
held different meanings for experts and guests at the food forum. McNiff said
it was about allowing animals to improve the food cycle through grazing and
natural fertilizing. His motto: “How do we leave the land better than we found
it?”
Sarah
Schumann, a Rhode Island shellfisherwoman and local seafood advocate, said
sustainability is more than knowing what’s the best fish to buy at the market.
“Sustainability is not about one individual making one choice at one store.
It’s something we all have to do together,” she said.
Jared
Auerbach, head of Red’s Best seafood distribution network, emphasized progress
with seafood. His company connects, collects and markets seafood caught by
small fisherman in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Using a web-based tablet
system fish and shellfish are identified and tracked from the boat to local
markets, restaurants and dinner plates. “This is happening and it’s going to
continue to happen,” Auerbach said.
Fifth-grade
students from the Jewish Community Day School said they were ready to seek
answers and be a part of the local food movement. “I think what they said is
very inspiring,” student Annette Milburn said.
