Growing local

The virtual New Bedford Farmers Market is open from

Saturday to Monday, with deliveries on Wednesday. Check it out with the Source What’s Good app.

Growing Local By Steven Froias

Afew weeks after shutting down their weekly Farmers Market at the Unitarian Church in downtown New Bedford due to the coronavirus crisis, Coastal Foodshed, the organization behind the market, released the stunning news that they would com mence home delivery of locally grown goodness.

As worries about the nation’s food sup ply grew during the awful weeks of April, the online announcement wasn’t just a bit of relief from a cascade of bad news. It seemed to signify something deeper: that, at least on a local level, the unfold ing catastrophe was being addressed in a meaningful way by people with (pardon the pun) roots in the community.

Coastal Foodshed’s growth as an or ganization and its popular New Bedford farmers markets fulfill a dire need in our society even in the best of times. It estab lishes a crucial connection between local agriculture and local consumers.

Now, it is digging deeper not only to sustain that connection but also to strengthen it through an ordering portal on sourcewhatsgood.com and home delivery to house-bound South Coast residents.

Nationally, the news carried ominous warnings of the dangers to corporate-run agribusiness, with its dependence on vulnerable and often exploited migrant workers. But these same stories only solidified the respect the New Bedford farmers market has in the community and the value it brings to our society.

Two people who have long understood that value are Adam Davenport of the Marion Institute’s Grow Education pro grams and Steven Rittenhouse, a farmer and operator of Steven’s Farm Stand in Rochester (learn more about the Marion Institute at marioninstitute.org). Both have an inherent understanding of the larger issues involved with securing a sustainable local agriculture model into the future. Growing knowledge

“Grow Education has been working in one of the most food-insecure popula tions in Bristol County (New Bedford), to educate youth about fresh and high-qual ity foods, local agriculture, and sustainability,” writes Davenport.

“The Southcoast Food Policy Council, a new program of the Marion Institute, has a mission of connecting and improving all aspects of the South Coast food system. Currently we are leading daily meetings to respond to food security needs across the South Coast due to Covid-19. Our long-term vision will be to connect and strengthen every member in our local food chain to build resilience, economic

For many, it was a welcome thunderbolt out of the blue heavens.

success, and public and environmental health.”

Rittenhouse recalls that, “I’ve always had a love for farming. It started when I was really young, but I thought it was im possible to make a living at. So, I always farmed as a hobby. Growing up I had a vegetable garden and some fruit trees, chickens for eggs, and goats for milk.

“Then when I went to college to pursue a career, I took a sociology class called ‘Food, Famine, and Farming’ that really opened my eyes up to all the problems with modern factory farming – from pol lution, to chemicals, to soil degradation.

“It was at this point I started researching more, and found these smaller farms that were taking a step back from the mono culture and commodity style of farming. Instead they were growing a wide variety of food and selling it to their local com munities. I knew that’s what I wanted to do, and how I could make a difference.”

With Steven’s Farm Stand, Rittenhouse has taken an entrepreneurial approach to achieving his local agriculture goals. He was a member of the Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) winter cohort group this year and is also part of a summer CSA share program (you can learn more at ste vensfarmstand.com).

Tastes good, is good

Both men cite a plethora of benefits local agriculture brings to our lives today – from environmental to economic, to nu trition and just better tasting food.

“Nutrient and chemical runoff goes di rectly into our waterways – hurting the entire ecosystem,” says Davenport. “This puts a strain on environmental and public health, as well as the long-term viability of natural resources used as the foundation of our economy.

“Because of their growing methods, this whole system lacks resilience. An (alltoo-often) extreme weather event or a political stunt could risk the supply chain of our food system. Some think more chemicals and GMO crops are the answer – some think building resilient systems that support local economies is a better alternative!”

Rittenhouse certainly agrees. “Smaller local farms have less land to fertilize and can better manage their fertilizer inputs,” he explains. “A larger monoculture farm may use one fertilizer blend for their whole field because it is more cost ef fective and easier to manage. This is a problem for large tracts of land because the land composition itself will vary even over an acre – not to mention hundreds of acres. This could lead to more fertilizer in certain areas than what is needed which will run off into the water ways causing pollution. You don’t normally see this with local, well-managed farms. The local farms I have seen take really good care of their soil. They treat it as well as they treat their crops.”

Additionally, “I also feel it helps the local economy. I find a lot of the people who buy from me, I end up buying from later on or using their services. It really seems like the money stays in circulation in this area.”

And then there is the quality of local produce, which anyone who has shopped at a South Coast farmers market proba bly already knows.

“You can’t beat the taste or quality of local produce!” says Rittenhouse. “A su permarket cherry tomato doesn’t even come close to the taste of one fresh off the vine.”

“Local produce is also more nutritious… fruits and vegetables begin to lose their nutrients 24 hours after being picked. We pick daily for the markets we sell at so our produce is maybe six hours old when our customers get it. Compare this to grocery stores, where it may be a couple days be fore they even receive it, and then it will sit on their shelf for even longer.”

The bottom line – especially at this time of crisis – is that a local, sustainable food chain is the best prescription for the future.

“Why are we letting our taxpayer fund ed subsidies go towards giving everyday Americans a lower-quality and lesshealthy food item?” sums up Davenport. “Local farmers don’t get the help from subsidies – and they take the extra time and effort to care for their land, which is the future of their and their families’ livelihood.”

Steven Rittenhouse says that one of his favorite quotes is “despite all our achieve ments we owe our existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.”

Six inches of dirt never meant as much to the South Coast as it does right now.

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