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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Foodsheds and Food Circles - The Fertile Crescent Concept for Bioregional Food Security

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Foodsheds and Food Circles - The Fertile Crescent Concept for Bioregional Food Security
  • Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:15:59 -0500

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 18:20:40 GMT -0600
From: Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS <GALE-SINEX@AE.AGECON.WISC.EDU>
To: sustag@beta.tricity.wsu.edu
Subject: info leads: foodshed concept

Howdy, all--

This is a reply to Tom Akin on the foodshed concept query he passed
along from Fred Kirschenmann and augmented with his own questions.

We have a bunch of work going on here at UW-Madison and the Center
for Integrated Agricultural Systems on this topic. I'm writing to
share a few highlights of that.

1. CIAS sponsors a monthly Regional Food Systems Seminar that has
brought diverse folks together to explore topics like the economic
impacts of changing diets to meet USDA food guidelines, the
feasibility and impact of regionally reliant food systems, various
alternative and value added marketing projects taking place in the
upper Midwest, and more. We are still in an exploratory mode
(meaning we not only have more questions than answers, we're still
formulating the questions), but some interesting perspectives have
emerged from this seminar. John Hendrickson is the coordinator of
this seminar. You can reach him via e-mail as

jhendrik@macc.wisc.edu

He is the keeper of much of the Center's information traffic on this
topic and can also refer you to UW-Madison researchers and contact
folks and Madison-area and Wisconsin/Upper Midwest collaborators on
this work. Steve Stevenson, CIAS assistant director, is also deeply
involved in foodshed activities. He is at:

stevenson@ae.agecon.wisc.edu

2. A few suggestions on readings. Prof. Jack Kloppenburg (UW-Mad
Dept. of Rural Sociology) and John have authored a paper called
"Coming Into the Foodshed" which lays out a framework for foodshed
issues. John can give you more details; I don't know whether it's
available in other than draft form at this point, but John can tell
you, or you can dink Jack at

kloppenb@ssc.wisc.edu

Jack has a number of graduate and undergraduate students involved in
foodshed research, as well, and has taught seminars on the topic.

3. Community Supported Agriculture, community gardening/urban
sustainable agriculture, farmer's markets, alternative
value-added/direct marketing, and development of seasonal/regional
restaurant menus are several of the areas that the Center has had a
strong interest in and/or supported research and other activities on.
I can offer further leads if you have specific questions.

4. Here are suggestions for readings that we've found useful in
thinking about regional and seasonal food systems issues. I'm
knocking this out quickly on a Friday evening, so it isn't perfectly
edited format-wise.

Kate Clancy. The role of sustainable agriculture in improving the
safety and quality of the food supply. /Am J of Alt Ag/ 1:1, 11-18
(1986)

Kenneth Dahlberg. Regenerative food systems: broadening the scope
and agenda of sustainability. In Patricia Allen, ed., /Food for the
Future./ NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1993, pp. 75-102

Harriet Friedmann. After Midas' feast: alternative food regimes for
the future. In Patricia Allen, ed., /Food for the Future./ NY:
John Wiley & Sons, 1993, pp. 213-233.

Arthur Getz. Urban foodsheds. /Permaculture Activist/ VII:3:26-27,
1991

Joan Dye Gussow and Kate Clancy. Dietary guidelines for
sustainability. /J. of Nutrition Education. 18:1-5, 1986

Marcia Herrin and Joan Dye Gussow. Designing a Sustainable Regional
Diet. /Journal of Nutritional Education/ 21: 270-275, 1989 (good
biblio)

Interfaith Hunger Coalition. /Seeds of Change: Strategies for Food
Security for the Inner City./ Los Angeles: Interfaith Hunger
Coalition, 1993

Brewster Kneen. Distancing: the logic of the food system; Going
shopping; and Industrial food. Chapters 3-5 in /From Land to
Mouth: Understanding the Food System./ Toronto: NC Press Ltd.
(Sorry I don't have the newer edition on hand to update this.)

David Orr. Prices and the life exchanged: costs of the US food
system. In /Understanding the True Cost of Food./ Washington, DC:
Institute for Alternative Ag, 1991, pp. 1-13.

Toronto Food Policy Council. /Developing a Food System which is Just
and Environmentally Sustainable./ Toronto: TFPC, 1993

There is much much much more...but this'll give you a start.

5. Prof. Sally Leong, UW-Madison Professor of Plant Pathology,
organized and continues to be a guiding spirit behind a foodshed
working group here in Madland. She is at:

sal@plantpath.wisc.edu

This group engages researchers, food and hunger activists, people
with interests in sustainable ag., farmers, and many others in a
variety of foodshed-related issues.

Hope this gets you started. We're finding it an incredibly rich and
complex area of inquiry.

Peace--
Michele

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Michele Gale-Sinex
Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
Agricultural Technology and Family Farm Institute


Date: Sat, 1 Apr 1995 10:43:15 -0500
From: Jennifer L. Wilkins <jlw15@cornell.edu>
To: tjakin@pssci.umass.edu
Cc: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, sustag@beta.tricity.wsu.edu
Subject: concept of a "foodshed"


>Fred Kirschenmann, an organic grain farmer from North Dakota, spoke
>this past week at a Northeast Region SARE Ch. 3-sponsored
>conference on sustainable agriculture. He touched on the subject
>of local agriculture, local food security and the concept of a
>"foodshed" (conceptual equivalent of a watershed). Could someone
>point out further reading on the "foodshed" concept?
>

The first place I heard about the concept of a Foodshed was in 1993 at the
Association for the Study of Food in Society/ Agriculture and Human Values
conference at The Penn State University in the following presentation:

Hendrickson, J. A. 1993. The foodshed: Heuristic device and sustainable
alternative the food system. Paper presented at the "Environment, Culture,
and Food Equity", organized jointly by the Agriculture, Food and Human
Values Society, the Association for the Study of Food in Society, and The
Penn State University, College of Agricultural Sciences, June 3-6, State
College, PA.

But Hendrickson credited Hedden with coining the term in the early 1990s!

Hedden, W. P. 1929. How Great Cities Are Fed. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co.

I would also recommend Hamm's work since he addresses the ever-important,
but all too aften ignored issue of carrying capacity (for humans!) -

Hamm, M. W. The potential for a localized food supply in New Jersey. Paper
presented at the "Environment, Culture, and Food Equity", organized jointly
by the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, the Association for the
Study of Food in Society, and The Penn State University, College of
Agricultural Sciences, June 3-6, State College, PA.



>I would appreciate examples of projects that have increased
>consumer awareness of the importance and benefits of local/regional
>food production?

I am in the process of developing a food guide for the Northeast which will
have a series of fact sheets about the benefits of eating locally and how
to achieve a more local diet in an area with significant seasonal
variation. This guide, poster, plus supplementary materials will be
available by the end of September.

Much of the information provided is supported by data we gathered through a
survey of Northeastern consumers as to their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs
and practices with respect to local foods - awareness and use of winter
vegetables, perceived attributes of locally-grown foods, comparison with
imported foods, connection between purchases and local agriculture,
barriers to eating locally, etc, etc, etc. Results are being prepared for
publication.


What's the best way for the getting the message
>out?

Good question - we're working on that, too!


Jennifer L. Wilkins, Ph.D., R.D.
Senior Extension Associate
jlw15@Cornell.edu

Ishmael knows.









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