Get him going on the local organic food movement, and John Peterson will talk about two things. One is vegetables, the other is highways.
There is a connection.
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“I was up north of Chicago at an auction a few years ago,” said Peterson, founder of the Angelic Organics farm outside of Rockford. “A vegetable farmer was selling off his equipment. The other buyers were reminiscing about how that stretch of highway used to be all vegetable operations. This farm was the last one to go out of business.”
Peterson supposed that particular strip of farms supplied vegetables to Chicagoans for generations.
“Why did the local production stop?” asked Peterson, about to answer his own question. “Because of the incredible interstate highway system in this country. It actually became cheaper to grow most vegetables in California and transport them here.”
The trade-off is those vegetables, even organic varieties, can come with plenty of “food miles.” Freshness is a matter of perspective–and how effectively each distributor moves the fruit and vegetables to us.
We have all bought fruit or vegetables, for instance, that never seems to ripen or reach full flavor because it was picked too early.
In contrast, Angelic Organics provides a weekly box of organic produce to its customers from mid-June to mid-October promising that most of the vegetables will be “hand-picked within 24 hours of its arrival in your neighborhood.” Angelic has pickup points (typically someone’s home) throughout the city and suburbs.
Angelic Organics will supply organic vegetables to some 1,000 Chicago-area families this season. Customers pay upfront “shares” of $480 for 20 weeks (check out www.angelicorganics.com). The operation covers 25 planted acres.
The prepayments help defray the costs of planting and assures an income base for the farm. It is the largest community-supported agriculture farm (known as a CSA) among roughly 1,000 in the country.
CSAs are one way to buy locally grown organic produce. Another is to frequent a farmers market with goods from regional organic farmers (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa). There are about 50 farmers markets in the Chicago area and 2,800 around the country (the national number is up 63 percent since 1995). Some farmers markets are better than others at offering organic and locally grown produce.
You can also find local organic produce at natural groceries and health-food stores. Deb Longley, owner of Greenleaf Natural Grocery on the city’s North Side, said her supplier for weekly organic boxes going to 200 families is always on the lookout for locally grown organic produce.
“He has been talking to Amish farmers in Wisconsin and apple growers in Michigan,” said Longley, whose name I misspelled in last week’s column. “I have been talking with a group of southern Illinois farmers about supplying some of our potatoes this season.”
Nonetheless, it is difficult to consistently buy local organic produce.
A major reason is only an estimated 1 percent to 2 percent of organic produce bought by Chicago-area residents is grown regionally.
Organic produce is an established and growing market in this area and throughout the world. Experts say $25 billion in organic food will be sold this year, but that only represents 2 percent of entire food supply. The key statistic is the 20 percent growth of the organic food market each year.
That’s what is getting the attention of companies such as General Mills, which bought Cascadian Farms brand, including its flavorful line of frozen organic vegetables and side dishes.
Jim Slama sees the local potential for organic farming. As president of the environmental public relations firm Sustain and a leading natural-foods and lifestyle activist, he imagines urban rooftop gardens and suburban vacant lots becoming part of the local organic food supply. He envisions retired farmers renting their land to organic growers. What he sees most of all is boosting various local economies in the region.
“We can provide safe, healthy and delicious food,” said Slama, who has started the Local Organic Initiative (www.localorganic.org) to bring together growers, distributors, retailers, government officials and consumers. “And we can create jobs, build local economies, reduce transportation and environmental costs, provide food to underserved communities and support family farms.”
For his part, Peterson sees happier rides along his local highways.
“I just love driving down the road, seeing people growing organic vegetables,” he said. “We can never have enough of that.”