Mobile Meat

Exciting news! San Luis Obispo County in California is taking their mobile meat slaughtering facility on the road.

The processing of meat has become a huge bottleneck for producers wanting to access markets with eaters primed and demanding natural, organic, grass-fed, and humanely raised meats. It's a really exciting development, one that will help circumvent the disadvantageous regulations of the USDA for animal slaughtering. As it stands, you have to truck your animals all over the place (many times out of state), just to get them killed and processed. This mobile truck will travel to various farm sites, do the kill in an USDA inspected "facility" and move on.

This is great news for both farmers, ranchers and eaters.
With the price tag of ~$150,000, everyone is going to want one.

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Press Release – For Immediate Release April 28, 2009

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA - The Central Coast Agriculture Cooperative (CCAC) will host an exclusive Media Event & Press Conference to reveal their Mobile Meat Harvesting Unit this Wednesday, April 29, 2009. The event will be held at Gold Ridge Farms in San Luis Obispo, California. Monterey Ag Land Trust will be honored for their gracious donation of the Mobile Meat Harvesting Unit. Distinguished guests for Wednesday’s event include Representatives from the offices of: Supervisor Adam Hill, Supervisor Bruce S. Gibson, Supervisor K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, Congresswoman Lois Capps, Congressman Sam Farr

CCAC is a non-profit association of family owned farms and ranches from Northern Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Southern Monterey County. Farmers participating in the organization will now have additional opportunities to sell their local meats by way of the CCAC’s mobile livestock harvester. The mobile unit is designed to give ranchers quality meat harvesting services and provide consumers with local food products. The unit consists of a tow vehicle and 28 foot-long trailer equipped for the on-farm harvest of beef, sheep, goats and hogs with USDA inspection. This unit supports and elevates the economic viability of small-scale farming in our area while strengthening our local food system. Supporting local foods have become more relevant than ever. Many states are incorporating their own Local Food Bills while consumers are recognizing the need for county funded Buy Fresh, Buy Local programs.

Understanding the importance of locally grown foods has transpired into a larger community concern. A program such as CCAC’s directly addresses those concerns.

Contact: Deb Garrison, CCAC CEO
Email: info@debgarrisonconsulting.net
Contact: Amy Sage, Event Organizer
Email: amy@englishsage.com

HR 875 is Hot

So hot that it's *still* blowing up my inbox. I too forwarded the email claiming organic food would be banned and warily received ten emails per day crying,"wolf! wolf!" I have to say, the ongoing reaction to this bill is a good sign.

The massive interest and viral emailing showed that 1) people really care about small farmers and organic food, and 2) there is no concerted organization ready to garner all of this interest from the public. Thus far it has been led by concerned citizen x'ers. I have been calmed by my organization that this bill has some worrisome inclusions such as an inability to buy seed out of state, that would affect family farmers. Your calls will show that they care. This bill will not ban organic farming.

However, the proceeding bills that are coming up, are far worse. National Animal Id program and other mandates in the name of "food safety" are a real threat to small scale producers and would effectively put them out of business just like the tomato harvester did way back when in the history of California's agriculture evolution.

There are a few organizations working nationally to address sustainable food & eater issues, they include: Organic Consumers Union, Center for Food Safety, Organic Research and Farming Association and Food and Water Watch (foodandwaterwatch.org). . Food and Water Watch was the only one to come out with some public statements that were timely, although others are now getting up to speed.

There is also the newly revamping Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (SAC) whose opinions I am defaulting to regarding the HR 875 "hysteria": http://sustainableagriculture.net/

Here is a legitimate potential reason for the scare from SAC's organization's policy guru Ferd:
"there is an increasingly common feeling among the public interest community here that all the hysteria on the internet and blogosphere about the DeLauro bill is actually an industry funded attempt to use libertarians to discredit (a) the tougher bill and (b) the sustainable movement; don't know whether to believe that or not, but it would be an ingenious win-win strategy from their vantage point"

To keep up to date with various policy issues, check out the Civil Eats Blog for the latest and greatest: http://civileats.com/

Lastly, if you're calling Washington, tell them that you don't want the Whitehouse garden to have to represent genetically modified crops too. Apparently, Crop Life, the PR arm for Monsanto is pressuring Michelle that the garden has to be "democratic." Of course they would want their plants there. Perhaps only if they're covered in plastic wrap so that they don't contaminate the organic standards of Michelle's kitchen garden.

The movement is moving!

Fire in the Belly: Welcome

There has never been a more exciting time for this work! I eat what I eat — local and organic (or lorganic) whenever possible — because it is the easiest (and most delicious) way to support the kind of environment I want to live in — one that regionally provides for my food needs, increases small business vitality, and values community and a more healthful environment. I'm not alone in my love for lorganically grown food as demand has reached a new peak in eater awareness in the past year.

Local food hasn't been this hot since the Victory Garden days (World War II era) when nearly 20 million Americans were growing their own. In 2007, "Locavore" was deemed word of the year by Oxford Dictionary and Michael Pollen tipped the issue over the edge with the release of his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. This pivotal book exposed many of the underlying disparities and externalities of the food we eat — much to our discontent. Food can be easier to eat if you aren't aware of the production methods that brought it from farms to our forks (check out the book if you don't believe me). Today, the reinvigorated interest in locally grown foods are coming from our inherent desire to be more connected with our food, to trust the food that we eat will be safe, to eat a healthier and more delicious diet, to ensure that good food will be available for future generations, and to minimize our dependency on foreign foods and oil — at least that's the way that I see it.

Definitions: 1. Local Food, n. 1: Food that is produced as close to home as possible for a particular product (ie meat cheese, fish, vegetables, dairy, etc). When purchasing food, seek out sources closest to you for maximum freshness and to support your local food economy. For example in the Bay Area, buy table grapes from Sonoma County or Yolo, not from Chile - available in August. Buy lettuces from the Central Coast/Watsonville area, not from Southern California. Look for foods with origin on them. If it is not listed, ask. 2. Foodie, n. 1: a person that loves food; A person who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink) 3. Food insecurity n. 1: the state of, or risk of, being unable to provide food (to oneself, a family, a nation, etc.). 4. Lorganic (pr. loreganic) n. 1: Food that is both local and organic.

With the price of oil increasing (over $120 a barrel!), local, state and federal governments are starting to nibble around the topic of local food security and access. Contra Costa County just passed a progressive resolution linking the Public Health Department with local farming organizations like the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust. This year, October is Local Food Month and we will be encouraging everyone to eat as close to home as possible and for other counties to pass the same sort of resolutions. Through work in creating the Bay Area Local Food Guide and online searchable database for all things local, I'm finding that by involving everyone in the food chain — from farmer to eater — we are able to improve the economic viability of our farming community. This is an important element in making local food work for everyone as with improved viability, young people like myself will be more inclined to go and give a try at turning dirt into dollars. After all, our system currently works on the value of a dollar bill and has yet to reincorporate social and environmental wellbeing in our indexes of progress.

In the Bay, we just happen to be surrounded by some of the most fertile agricultural fields in the world. You might not know it — but that salad you're eating is likely from Salinas. Those strawberries are under 100 miles away and those snap peas and asparagus, just under 75. Even in winter, we benefit from diverse food availabilities — especially when compared to folks living in colder climes. Despite our huge production capacity to feed our own state, California has become a net importer of food due to a focus on export-based markets that feed the rest of our country and the world. In the entire state, we only have 78,000 farms left and have lost around 6,000,000 acres since 1974 (2002 US Ag Census Bureau). The trend toward purchasing more locally grown food will aid in preserving our access to one of our most important state industries, agriculture.

For myself, choosing local over imported foods is more than just a "consumer" act. It is an act that votes for the type of food system that I personally want to see more of in the world. I want to witness the day when communities are buffered by farms for secure food access, organic and sustainable production techniques are fully utilized and celebrated, and orchards and fields provide open space and biodiversity that we unknowingly need for a healthy constitution. After all, I'm talking about our roots here and reconnecting to them. In the Bay Area, we're not far off from realizing this.

I'm well aware that bananas are not going to disappear from the supermarket overnight or that unripe, tasteless produce, corn syrup processed foods or hormone injected dairy and meat which dominate our store shelves today will disappear next month — the corporations that are running the food show would simply not allow it. It's going to take time and continuous eater support of the kind of agriculture that makes sense for people, our communities and the environment — that of lorganic food. The great news is that it is already working! Each of us are making the choice daily and are increasing the viability of local farms. Some things that you can do to support local food is to join a CSA, ask for local wherever you eat or shop, shop at a farmers' market, plant a garden, sign up for our monthly newsletter, volunteer for an organization working on the issue, etc. Local food resources and more are available at our website at www.buylocalca.org. The choice is ours.

Temra Costa serves as the director of the "Buy Fresh Buy Local" program at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. E-mail her at temra@caff.org and check out the inspiring work of CAFF by visiting their website at www.caff.org.