Food Security
Learn about how southwest Missouri is preparing for the idea of food security and how you can become a locavore, too.
The term green gets thrown around quite a bit. We’re green if we drive a Toyota Prius. We’re green if we take our cardboard boxes to the city recycling plant. But a group in Springfield is going further than the latest fad. The Well Fed Neighbor Alliance is committed to the idea of locally grown food and a community independent from a foreign food supply.
The alliance, started in October 2008 by local gardener Galen Chadwick, is an ad-hoc group of impassioned 417-landers spreading the benefits of a community rooted in a local food base. The group doesn’t ask for or raise money, and it doesn’t rely on a political slant. The alliance relies on donations (like seeds and other materials) and volunteers. The group’s biggest project to-date is the 1,000 Gardens Project. The alliance’s goal was to encourage 1,000 community members to plant a garden by Earth Day 2009, and the group exceeded the goal way before deadline.
Aubrey Taylor, an Ozark resident and mother of three, doesn’t buy into the “go green” hype. She’s lived organically (or as close to it as possible), her entire life. Taylor started when she was just a kid, refusing to eat food that was over-processed or not taken care of. And now, she’s raising her own kids to live organically, too. Taylor buys everything she can from local sources. And she doesn’t buy anything new if she can help it. The family’s clothes come from second-hand stores, and Taylor exchanges books and toys with friends. “Trying to cause as little destruction to yourself or others,” says Taylor. “That’s what I consider green.”
But Taylor doesn’t just practice her eco-friendly lifestyle, she preaches it. Taylor is a member of the Well Fed Neighbor Alliance, an ad-hoc group of organizations and individuals committed to spreading the idea of food security. The Alliance, which began holding meetings in October 2008, is a loose association of dedicated members like Taylor. The all-volunteer staff doesn’t get paid or elect officials, and the Alliance doesn’t ask for money from corporations or spend time raising funds. Well Fed Neighbor is apolitical, and it exists solely on donations (like the $3,000-worth of seed packets donated by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds last spring).
Taylor knew she wanted to get involved with the Alliance after attending a meeting held by Galen Chadwick, the founder of the Well Fed Neighbor Alliance, who shared his opinions on food sustainability in Missouri. “It rang true to me about food security in the Ozarks,” says Taylor. “And how far we’ve gotten away from sustainability.”
A life-long gardener and advocate of locally grown food, Chadwick couldn’t just sit in retirement while he watched Missouri’s increasing dependence on imported food. He gathered his ideas and held a meeting for anyone who was interested, and it grew into the Well Fed Neighbor Alliance. “The basic premise is simple,” says Chadwick. “The people of Missouri can no longer feed themselves.”
According to Chadwick, Missouri’s dependence on outside food sources (think imports from other states and countries) leaves its population vulnerable. The Alliance estimates nearly 2.2 million pounds of food are brought into Missouri each day (based on the statistical consumption of close to 1 million people). Relying heavily on external food providers means Missouri is in a weak position and could fall victim to decision-making that’s out of the state’s control, which could affect how much we’re able to receive. Chadwick uses the severe ice storm in January 2007 as an example. Within days, store shelves were cleared heavily of food, and 417-landers went weeks without power. “We’re living in a time of massive and rapid change,” says Chadwick. “We want to be resilient, and have the ability to withstand sudden shock to the community.”
To do this, the Alliance has two main goals: to reestablish a local food base and to re-localize jobs, which Chadwick hopes to do by revitalizing Missouri’s non-operating farms. Communities working together is a cornerstone of the Alliance, encouraging not only growing your own food, but growing food for others, too. Chadwick yearns for a close-knit community where neighbors share food, a community where everyone pitches in to support each other. Localizing and gaining control of the food supply, says Chadwick, isn’t just a matter of efficiency; it’s a matter of brotherhood.
To help spread the word of food relocalization, Chadwick and Taylor formed the 1,000 Gardens Project, which aimed to plant 1,000 gardens by Earth Day 2009. The results were surprising. Taylor held meetings and free classes to encourage community members to start gardens, and the project hit it’s goal of establishing 1,000 gardens way before Earth Day. Springfield’s Department of Public Works ran out of compost (which gardeners use to encourage plant growth) by April. “The project grew way more exponentially than we realized,” says Taylor. Even though 1,000 Gardens has reached its goal, Taylor is encouraging the project to be an ongoing community event. She still holds meetings and encourages neighbors to take up edible landscaping. “People are ready to live a sustainable lifestyle,” says Taylor. “Springfield has always been that way. It wasn’t hard to persuade people.”
A local food base isn’t just important to the members of Well Fed Neighbor. Several food producers in 417-land have sprouted up to encourage food sustainability. Autumn Olive Farms (2169 N. Farm Rd., Bois D’Arc, 417-732-4122), sells locally raised pork, chicken, turkey, beef and lamb. The animals aren’t fed antibiotics or growth stimulants, and the owner, Kip Glass, mixes his own feed to ensure good nutrition for the animals, which means good nutrition for those who consume them. Autumn Olive-raised meat can be bought at both locations of Mama Jean’s Natural Market, plus the Eastgate location of Harter House and Crab Shack, Inc. in Nixa. Autumn Olive also sells meat (and usually sells out) every Saturday at the Greater Springfield Farmer’s Market.
Pasture Nectar Farm and Mercantile in Mount Vernon feeds farm-raised cows and chickens with fresh grass and clover, producing quality meat, milk, eggs and cream. The animal’s fields are chemical-free and are never fed processed feeds, steroids or hormones. The farm, run by husband-and-wife team Eric and Kathy Vimont, specializes in raw milk. According to Eric, raw milk has a tremendous advantage over pasteurized milk sold in the grocery stores. Pasteurization, the process in which milk is cooked, kills the bacteria found in milk, which our stomach uses to maintain a healthy system. In addition, the process of pasteurization chemically alters the calcium content, and our bodies don’t recognize as much of the nutrient. Pasture Nectar delivers raw milk to customers and sells at the Ozark Farmer’s Market, but Eric encourages buyers to take a trip out to the farm. “Coming out to the farm is the best way for people to know they are getting quality food,” he says.
Buying locally is one of the easiest things every 417-lander can do to encourage local food sustainability. Chadwick, who has been an organic gardener for more than 40 years, advocates for moving beyond “patty-cake” sustainability. “No one wants to change their own lifestyle or comfort zone enough to redress the fact of the matter,” he says. “We think separating glass from plastic is enough, but it’s not.” Chadwick is working to establish the Ozarks Local Cuisine Co-op, where the community can buy and sell locally produced food. “We must relearn how to feed ourselves,” says Chadwick. “And reestablish food sovereignty.”
And as for Taylor, her ultimate goal is a personal one. She hopes to someday move her family to a self-sustaining farm to do her part in feeding herself and her neighbors. She’s even worked with her children’s schools to start a school garden, which educates children on the importance and ease of growing your own food. “It’s vital that we sustain the community locally,” says Taylor. “There’s no reason why we can’t help feed each other.”
