locavore

Wed, Jan 13th, 2010

By: Lamar Clarkson

 

Over the past decade, as the public has increasingly embraced the idea that food is best grown locally and sustainably, we’ve made the opposite assumption about our cultural institutions. Witness the “Bilbao effect,” recently declared all but dead in the New York Times. Smitten with the success of the Guggenheim’s outpost in Bilbao, Spain, we’ve come to believe that any city dissatisfied with its growth and tourist traffic need only follow a simple formula: Commission a big-name architect to design a bigger, flashier museum building, then wait for the tourists and tax dollars to come pouring in. And so we set to work turning culture into a cash crop, sowing boldface names and marble bricks like soybeans and corn.

Here's another post to help you localize your Thanksgiving -along with the rest of the year of course! I've discovered three very useful data searches.

Find What's Fresh & In Season in Your Region:

The NRDC has compiled a plethora of data on crop types, regions, and growing seasons. All of this information as been put into a searchable database so that you can look up what is in season when and where. Additionally, you can see what is available in other neighboring regions.

A Tasty New Documentary...
...About Returning Home to Our Food Supply

Lynn Gillespie, executive producer of Locavore: Local Diet, Healthy Planet is challenging all Americans to step up to the plate…their dinner plate that is.

Lynn produced the film with the intention of bringing awareness to the local food movement. She states that it’s our duty as Americans to support our local economies, to take part in the health and wellness of ourselves as well as the health of our future generations.

The film takes an empowering and educational stance, demonstrating how going local improves the health of all, from personal physical condition to the country's economy.

Check out this film about the growing local food scene in Northern Colorado. It was produced by another Colorado BALLE network, Be Local Northern Colorado with the Northern Colorado Food Incubator.

It's no surprise to me to see this diagram of the organic food brands that are now owned by major food companies like Kraft, Heinz and Cargill. It is, however, disappointing.



Want to find local food producers that are still locally owned and operated? Take a look at these resources: