Rhody Eat Beat

By: Rebecca Long

Posted: 2/15/08

02/15/08 - What could bring together more than 100 people, including farmers, artisan food producers, chefs, restaurant owners, school food service providers, journalists, retailers and advocates from many organizations on a rainy Tuesday in Providence, R. I.?

The reason: a passion for the local foods movement. The catalyst: the Fourth Annual Rhode Island Local Food Forum. The event took place Feb. 5 at Brown University with the goal of "growing the year-round marketplace for local food."

After a breakfast that included local products like Hill Orchard's apple cider, Ken Ayars, the chief of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's Division of Agriculture, reported some astounding statistics from the last year in the local food movement.

More than $300,000 in low-income coupons were redeemed at local farmers' markets. Last year also saw the first artisan cheese produced in Rhode Island since colonial times and the first year-round farmers' market. He also reported that last year, 28 of 36 Rhode Island school districts bought from local farmers.

Noah Fulmer, the executive director of Farm Fresh Rhode Island, explained that his organization has created the Rhode Island Fresh Network to promote awareness of local products. More information can be found at www.farmfresh.org, which lists what local products are in season and where they can be found.

Farm Fresh RI also runs six farmers' markets in Providence that bring together urban consumers and farmers. The newest market operates year-round and is held Saturdays at AS220. In its early stages is a project to purchase a year-round space that would include retail and wholesale space for farmers.

Also discussed was the possibility of a commercial kitchen where upstart or smaller producers could come to make their products and use equipment they might otherwise not be able to afford. The facility could also include classroom and storage space. This space could serve as a hub for the local food economy.

These introductions were followed by a panel, "Farmers and Food Service on Year-round Local Food." As both farmers and buyers, the panel members had insight into the difficulties of a local food economy from both perspectives.

Some of the problems faced by farmers, like Allan Hill of Hill Orchards and Karla Simmons of Simmons Farm, are having a consistent demand for their products as well as a viable method of distribution. For farmers, spending time delivering their goods to various buyers can mean less time spent working on their farm.

Another more surprising difficulty faced by farmers is the problem of donating excess food. Farmers like Karla Simmons have made efforts to find a group to pick up the produce that is leftover from farmers' markets on Saturdays for use at food pantries or soup kitchens. Despite her efforts, she discovered that most of the places that could use this excess were closed on Saturdays or simply said they didn't need her produce.

Those who use local food for their businesses also face many difficulties. Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra of Castle Hill pointed out that buying local produce is a commitment. Although he buys what he can locally and supplements only when he can't find something, he said that for many chefs this may be more time and effort than they can commit.

Mike Marrocco, the food service director of the Cranston public schools, said that for schools, buying local produce is a challenge. For those who operate their own food programs, as Cranston does, the pressure to operate as cheaply as possible creates a problem.

Although local food can be more expensive, the extra expense is not a large percentage of his budget. Out of an approximately $1.5 million budget, he spends about $15,000 extra to buy local produce. In fact, Cranston saw an increase in sales once they began to incorporate fresh local produce into their menu.

So why, despite all these difficulties, do people bother with local food? Beside the environmental benefits, such as cutting down on fuel for shipping, and economic benefits, like keeping money in the local community, there is also an advantage to businesses, restaurants and institutions that want to provide their patrons the best, freshest ingredients.

Cambra explained that local produce is inevitably fresher, because it has not had to be shipped from the West Coast, and it is of higher quality because it has not suffered deterioration as a result of travel.

One way to gain support for the movement is by introducing children early.

The Cranston school department enhances the local food experience for children by bringing its students to the farms that produce their food, and bringing these farmers to their schools. Karla Simmons gets children hooked early with a petting zoo at her farm.

Besides addressing the specific challenges faced by Rhode Island's local foods movement, the forum also provided an opportunity for farmers and buyers to make connections. Thanks to the efforts of Brown Dining, Farm Fresh RI, the RI DEM Division of Agriculture, the Sustainable Food Initiative at Brown, Sustainable Rhode Island and People's Power and Light, who sponsored the event, this year we can look forward to even more locally grown food at Rhode Island businesses, restaurants and institutions.