Examples of Building Strong Local Food Communities/Economies

image by Paul O. Boisvert for The New York Times

On some of my many trips to the northeast I've actually had Pete's Greens greens (grown courtesy of Pete in the above photo) as well as some of the other products listed in this recent NY Times article:

Facing a Main Street dotted with vacant stores, residents of this hardscrabble community of 3,000 are reaching into its past to secure its future, betting on farming to make Hardwick the town that was saved by food.

That's Hardwick, Vermont. Which happens to be about 10 miles from some of my best friends who have been setting up their farm/homestead over this last year complete with small hoophouse, chickens, bees, and masonry stove. (hey friends, does this farm have a name yet?! you know which possibilities had my vote:)

Anyway more about Hardwick...

With the fervor of Internet pioneers, young artisans and agricultural entrepreneurs are expanding aggressively, reaching out to investors and working together to create a collective strength never before seen in this seedbed of Yankee individualism.

...

“Across the country a lot of people are doing it individually but it’s rare when you see the kind of collective they are pursuing,” said Mr. Fried, whose firm considers social and environmental issues when investing. “The bottom line is they are providing jobs and making it possible for others to have their own business.”

...

Next year the Vermont Food Venture Center, where producers can rent kitchen space and get business advice for adding value to raw ingredients, is moving to Hardwick from Fairfax, 40 miles west, because, Mr. Meyer said, “it sees the benefit of being part of the healthy food system.” He expects it to assist 15 to 20 entrepreneurs next year.

“All of us have realized that by working together we will be more successful as businesses,” said Tom Stearns, owner of High Mowing Organic Seeds. “At the same time we will advance our mission to help rebuild the food system, conserve farmland and make it economically viable to farm in a sustainable way.”

...

Last month the center signed an agreement with the University of Vermont for faculty and students to work with farmers and food producers on marketing, research, even transportation problems.

...

These entrepreneurs, mostly well educated children of baby boomers who have added business acumen to the idealism of the area’s long established hippies and homesteaders, are in the right place at the right time. The growing local-food movement, with its concerns about energy usage, food safety and support for neighbors, was already strong in Vermont...

And now one of my favorite parts of the article - I'm ready to help start one of these restaurants in the Ann Arbor area:

Here in Hardwick, Claire’s restaurant, sort of a clubhouse for farmers, began with investments from its neighbors. It is a Community Supported Restaurant. Fifty investors who put in $1,000 each will have the money repaid through discounted meals at the restaurant over four years.

“Local ingredients, open to the world,” is the motto on restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows. “There’s Charlie who made the bread tonight,” Kristina Michelsen, one of four partners, said in a running commentary one night, identifying farmers and producers at various tables. “That’s Pete from Pete’s Greens. You’re eating his tomatoes.”

Read the entire article here.

Certainly some good examples in this article of important components to establishing a healthy local food system/community/economy in the US. There are other examples around the world too. Thanks to all of you who are part of what we are establishing here in the greater Ann Arbor area! Others are welcome to join us!