The Rural Voice, 2003-11, Page 22Putting a face on food
In an era where food is endlessly plentiful but
strangely anongmous, attempts are being made in
many directions to put a face on the people who
produce the food
By Keith Roulston
From farmers' markets like the one
in Goderich (above) to Community
Share Agreement gardens to the
Ontario Pork Calendar (right),
attempts are being made to
reconnect farmers and the people
who eat the food they grow.
On the edge of the town of
Goderich, as in many of the
towns that have been
developing as regional shopping
centres in recent years, a huge Zehr's
store beckons food shoppers.
Here near the wine shop and the
flower shop and the drugstore, are a
produce section and a meat
department that would dwarf the
entire grocery stores that served
many of the parents of the current
shoppers. Here on the overflowing
shelves and coolers is a variety of
offerings that most of the world
could only dream of, but shoppers,
including the many farm families
browsing the aisles, would be hard
pressed to tell you anything about
where most of this food came from
— even the country, let alone the
region or the farmer who grew it.
And most don't care, as long as the
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shelves stay full of quality food.
Fifteen miles north and east
there's a totally different kind of
shopping experience. Here each
Tuesday and Saturday during the
summer customers drive up the
winding lane of Fran and Tony
McQuail's farm to pick up the
produce that is their weekly share of
the crop at the family's Community
Share Agreement gardening
operation.
Some do more than just pick up
the produce that they've paid for
before the growing season even
began. As part of their agreement
some take part in the sorting of the
vegetables into the boxes of the
members of the group. In the fall
some also participate in a fall harvest
bee to take in the final harvest, then
come together for a potluck supper at
the end of the day.
Consumers who buy through
CSAs or who visit farmers' markets
make up a relatively small niche in a
huge market for food but they are
part of a worldwide movement.
Early this summer England's
prestigious Guardian newspaper
published a serious of articles that
many farmers and farm leaders
would object to but which sums up
the concerns of many consumers.
"Many of us no longer trust what
we eat," the first article of the series
began. "Food scare follows food
scare while farming lurches from
crisis to crisis. Producers in
developing countries are struggling
to survive. Farmers in Europe are
going bankrupt, despite huge
subsidies. Yet food manufacturing
and retailing are vastly profitable
sectors.
"Pleasure has turned to anxiety as
we spend less time than ever cooking
and sharing meals. Instead, we
depend on processed food which is
routinely adulterated. Multi-million
pound technologies have been
developed to substitute cheap
alternatives for real ingredients.
"These packages of convenience
are brought to us by the cheap labour
of a hidden army of migrant workers,
both here and abroad. Like invisible
servants, they wash our salad, pack
our beef, prepare our takeaways.
"The system that now feeds us
requires the extravagant consumption
of fossil fuels for transport and
packaging and degrades the
environment. It has industrialized
livestock with inevitable cruelty and
disease. We are paying a high price
personally, too. For the first time in
generations, medical experts warn,
we face the prospect of our children
dying of disease before us. Obesity