The Quad-City Times ran a great opinion piece last Sunday written by Dan Carmody. Mr. Carmody lived and worked in Iowa, eventually moved into economic development in Rock Island, Illinois, then Indiana, and now works for Eastern Market Corp, a non profit local public market in Detroit.
The city of Davenport is trying to decide what to do with the Freight House building, part of which is used by the city’s most successful farmer’s market. Mr. Carmody has a wonderful vision for how Davenport could center a local food system around the Freight House. I’ll quote a few paragraph’s from the opinion piece, but encourage you to read the whole article.
The local food movement is not just about farmers markets. It’s about recalibrating the system we have developed to feed ourselves. Encouraging more local production and the direct sale of food from producer to consumer is a great start, but food systems’ other key components — processing, distribution, retailing and education — all need to be reassessed and modified to become more local, sustainable, viable and equitable. Local food system work is about the greenest thing a community can do.
He then gives specific examples of what could be done by Davenport at the Freight House to meet these goals. He also emphasizes the collaborative effort necessary to create a hub for a local food system, suggesting that the City of Davenport partner with Augustana College, the county extension services, and the Quad City Botanical Center. The type of projects he proposes would be appropriate to any city in Iowa developing a local food system.
He also makes that point that conventional agriculture and economic developers are skeptical of the local food movement, while local food activists sometimes advocate revolution rather than evolution. Both sides need to work together to gradually move towards a more environmentally sustainable, economically viable system.
The success of the microbrewery movement demonstrates that this approach is both feasible and economically advantageous.
He concludes his article:
Collectively, we cannot feed ourselves only from local sources any more than we can continue to affordably feed ourselves on a system that requires 10 calories of energy for each calorie of food produced.
We must evolve a more sustainable food system as a way to deal with higher energy costs and a food system that encourages the consumption of healthier food as a way to deal with the higher health care costs, otherwise our economy will collapse.
Developing the Freight House as a local food hub can provide the regional forum which is needed if the Quad-Cities is to become a leader in the transformation of food systems.
We must evolve a more sustainable food system as a way to deal with higher energy costs and a food system that encourages the consumption of healthier food as a way to deal with the higher health care costs, otherwise our economy will collapse.
Developing the Freight House as a local food hub can provide the regional forum which is needed if the Quad-Cities is to become a leader in the transformation of food systems.
For those of you in the Quad Cities area, mark your calendar for Wednesday, August 25, 2010. Mr. Carmody will be giving the keynote speech “Beyond Farmers Markets: Building Local Food Hubs” at the Iowa Downtown Summit at the River Center in Davenport.
Alta Price is a physician practicing Pathology in Davenport, Iowa. One of the original Deaniacs, she stays involved with Democracy for America, Iowa, and the Quad Cities. She advocates for quality, affordable health care for all, primarily as a volunteer with Progressive Action for the Common Good (Health Care Reform Issue Forum). She is also getting active with PACG's Local Foods Initiative. E-Mail Alta Price
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