Organics’ broad appeal
I was pleased to see your story, “The $5 Tomato” [August 1], listing local farms, describing organic methods, and citing the regional food system study undertaken by a UVA architecture class. We are lucky to have organic farms in the area, as well as such a progressive school of architecture.
However, I was disappointed by the art-icle’s characterization of consumers of or-ganics as yuppies following the latest trend, rather than people trying to eat healthily, pro-tect the environment, and support local farms.
Yes, organic food currently costs more than chemically grown food. But that’s only because we aren’t paying the latter’s true cost. The Sierra Club’s website offers these statistics:
– American factory farms use 1 billion pounds of pesticides a year, the runoff from which has poisoned groundwater in 17 states and polluted 35,000 miles of our rivers.
– 72 percent of our food comes from 7 percent of our farms. In 2002, the largest 10 percent of farms collected $14 billion, or 65 percent of federal subsidies; the bottom 50 percent got 2 percent—only $256 a year.
– The average American meal travels 2,000 miles from farm to table.
Agribusiness is not only environmentally toxic, but also unsustainable. World oil production is expected to peak by the end of this decade; the remaining 50 percent of oil supplies will be much harder to extract and incapable of meeting world demand. American agribusiness depends on cheap petroleum; without it, we’ll be forced to adapt as Cuba did after the fall of the Soviet Union, adopting organic farming methods and creating thousands of urban gardens.
Eating locally and organically is not a luxury, but a necessity, if we’re to prepare for our post-petroleum future. Such progressive cities as San Francisco, Bloomington, and Portland, Oregon, have passed resolutions in the past year to prepare for the passing of cheap oil. Ithaca, New York, is a step ahead of them, having drafted a relocalization plan. The plan’s recommendations include securing a local food supply by cutting taxes on agricultural land, training citizens in sustainable gardening, and encouraging the formation of CSAs (community supported agriculture—i.e., farms selling produce by subscription).
It’s time for Charlottesville to wake up. We won’t always have a plentiful supply of cheap food. We need to support local farmers, as well as local grocers. Anyone interested in learning more about eating locally should attend the next meeting of EAT Local, a working potluck to be held at Main Street Market August 30, 6-8pm. Those interested in learning more about the passing of cheap oil should check out Charlottesville Peak Oil at www.cvillepeakoil.org.
Nancy Hurrelbrinck
Charlottesville
Who you callin’ “Bobo”?
I was extremely disappointed and upset after reading your cover article “The $5 Tomato.” I was shocked by a poor piece of journalism, steeped in personal bias, ignoring the most important aspects of local farms.
I believe in sustainable agriculture. I eat locally grown food whenever possible. I visit the farmer’s market on Saturday if I’m not working. I go to the Best of What’s Around Farm for two hours every week to help pick and package produce for their Community Supported Agriculture program. For my time and a one-time payment of $75, I get a half-bushel of fresh, organic, local produce every week for the entire growing season. I don’t drive my Lexus to pick up my veggies—I ride my bike. And I am not alone.
The “Bobos” who buy locally, not because of their principles, but because of their pock-etbooks, are neither the largest nor the most important supporters of local food, and their decision to spend their money on status symbols is not worthy of the cover of C-VILLE. The consumption habits of the wealthy few are not nearly as newsworthy as the decisions that are being made by conscientious citizens that choose to support our community.
Your disdain for the “Bobos” plagues the entire article, tainting any useful information you present. I am amazed and concerned that a local magazine would do such a disservice to its own community. Sustainable agriculture (and this most definitely means local agriculture) is the most important food movement afoot—not just for the environment, but for local citizens and farmers as well. Buying locally keeps money here, prevents the use of extra shipping and packing resources, and connects citizens to what they eat and who grows it.
You run the risk of scaring away potential new supporters with this tirade against upper-class silliness. You harp on the $5 tomato, but I purchased a large, locally grown, organic tomato for 75 cents today at the farmer’s market. If I didn’t care about the organic label, I could have gotten it for 55 cents. That’s a big difference in affordability that you could have explained instead of carefully detailing the clothing choices of your rich representative.
The next time you bite into that wax-covered Chilean apple from the Megamart, know that you could be enjoying a juicy Ginger Gold from Albemarle County for a measly 63 cents.
Heidi Guenin
Charlottesville
Theft: a growing problem
Your feature article in the August 1-7 issue [“The $5 Tomato”] was very interesting in that it highlighted the growing place of locally grown produce in our everyday lives (be they very upscale lives, or of the more ordinary variety). As a resident of the area, I like to buy locally or regionally grown produce at the city market and elsewhere whenever I get the chance.
This year, though, I decided to grow my very own “local produce” in one of the City’s community gardens at Azalea Park. I was delighted to hear that the City offered such an opportunity for those of us who love to garden, but do not own property or are apartment/condo dwellers. At $40 for the year, it was a bargain for a 30’x30′ plot; my boyfriend and I built a fence to keep out dogs, planted flowers, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, beans, pumpkins and cucumbers. All spring we worked in our plot, looking forward to the summer’s harvest. Those of us who rent plots do so for any number of reasons, ranging from simple enjoyment to wanting to provide ourselves and our families with healthy, chemical-free and affordable produce that is truly local.
Unfortunately, we have been able to enjoy only the smallest fraction of our produce, because as soon as things began to ripen, they were stolen from our plot. In conversations with other gardeners, as well as with representatives of the City Parks and Recreation Department, we learned that this was an endemic and recurring problem, that includes not only theft, but also vandalism.
I think it’s wonderful that our progressive City rents these spaces at minimal cost in an effort to promote gardening and increased contact with nature, as well as self-sufficiency and civic involvement. But I think that it is terribly sad that they won’t devote even minimal resources to help ensure the safety of those who rent the plots and to help protect the fruits of our labors.
Fruits and vegetables grown in a city park are about as local as you can get!
Desi Hopkins
Charlottesville
CORRECTION
In our August 1 edition of “7 Days,” we wrote that UVA professor Patrick Michaels “has claimed, among other things, that excess carbon monoxide actually helps the environment.” In reality, CO is a highly poisonous gas—it’s the effects of CO2 (carbon dioxide) that Michaels has questioned (in testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999, Michaels said, “In toto, these findings lead inescapably to the conclusion carbon dioxide is not a ‘pollutant,’ and plausibly argue that it is a net benefit”). We regret the error.