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food systems 
Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:29:38 AM PST
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An excellent article by Phillip Longman in the current issue of "Washington Monthly" is well worth reading as a primer on the current state of our freight rail systems in America, and for the arguments he makes that freight rail needs to be a major recipient of the historical infrastructure investment package proposed by the incoming Obama administration.
The article begins by mentioning a current project in Virginia, where the state transportation department chose not to expand an existing interstate; but rather is contributing $40 million to assist the Norfolk Southern Railroad in upgrading the Crescent Corridor rail line that runs parallel to Interstate 81, with an eye towards shifting as much freight as possible from the highway onto rails.
Bringing our freight rail systems up to their current technological potential will deliver many benefits to industry across America, and would of course be of great use in maximizing our local, regional and national food systems. The environmental benefits of an upgraded reliable coast-to-coast intermodal transport system would also more than pay for itself over a very short time -
The Environmental Protection Agency calculates that for distances of more than 1,000 miles, a system in which trucks haul containers only as far as the nearest railhead and then transfer them to a train produces a 65 percent reduction in both fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. As the volume of freight is expected to increase by 57 percent between 2000 and 2020, the potential economic and environmental benefits of such an intermodal system will go higher and higher.
Much more below the fold...
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Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 05:44:01 AM PDT
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A recent article from the San Francisco Chronicle doesn't cover any new ground (supermarkets have been abandoning cities for decades, as we all know...), but it brings up a few points I'd like to address. Especially since there's a connection here between this article and a front page post of Jill's from a few days ago.
The simple answer is money. Although Cala is making money, the profit margin for a large supermarket isn't large. Food costs are up, vendors are charging more to deliver products. Wages and insurance costs are rising.
But more than that, supermarket sites are some of the last large real estate lots in the city. Eager developers are making such generous offers that store owners would be crazy to turn them down. No wonder supermarkets are an endangered species in the city.
I can't cite any studies, but I'm pretty sure that we can't eat high-rise condominium developments, hipster lofts, art galleries and boutiques (Hello, the Pearl District! Which is not coincidentally also the site of Portland's first and largest Whole Foods Market). Nonetheless, I'll soon find myself in the strange (for me...) position of defending places like Whole Foods below the fold, in just the introduction to what will end up being an interminable series of ramblings (and maybe even an insightful thought / idea or three...) on what it takes to make urban food systems work.
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Wed Aug 06, 2008 at 04:39:14 AM PDT
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( - promoted by OrangeClouds115)
As someone who loves good food, especially good food grown and produced in a sustainable manner by local growers and producers here in Oregon and SW Washington, I must say that I was quite intrigued when I first heard of this film. A recently released 73-minute documentary from Moving Images directed by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin, "Good Food" is a fascinating and extremely enjoyable film that touches on all aspects of a local sustainable food system. From farm and ranch, to market or distributor, to grocery store and restaurant and on to our forks and dinner tables - "Good Food" focuses on our successful and ever-growing sustainable local food system here in the Pacific Northwest, and in doing so also demonstrates that we can (and must, if we are to carry on as a working society much longer...) do the same everywhere across the nation.
A few variables will change region by region, but in the end there's a basic "Unified Theory of Sustainable Food Systems" that is clearly sketched out here - human scale family farms and ranches working with, rather than against, nature, producing healthy food without destructive poisonous chemicals; either selling directly to the public through farmers markets or through local distributors willing to work with small family farms; on to restaurants who source their food locally and change their menus accordingly with the seasons, and neighborhood grocery stores who take their role in the community seriously by making an effort to support local growers and producers while providing convenient access on a retail level to neighborhood residents.
Loaded with informative in-depth interviews with some of the leaders in this movement in Oregon and Washington, and not to mention beautiful farm and ranch scenes and many, many(!) hunger-inducing moments - "Good Food" is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen on this issue, and is definitely worth a view (or ten...). More below the fold...
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Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 00:45:18 AM PDT
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The one thing that Americans fear most is everywhere, and as a matter of fact we can never avoid it because we need it simply to survive. So that rules out 'foreign terrorists' (apparently pronounced "furrin' terrace", at least according to our dipshit 'president' and his phony accent - but in another context, that sounds kind of like a typical suburban subdivision, doesn't it? Furrin Terrace Heights, Maryland. "Visit Applebee's new metropolitan-area location at the Furrin Terrace Mall!", and etc...), because we don't need them. A lot of Americans fear spiders, but that's not what I'm talking about either. Some of us even fear the number '8', but that's another story for another time...and besides, I don't believe that octophobia is even a recognized psychological affliction (though it should be!), let alone a national epidemic...
The thing I'm talking about is food, and if you'd all be so kind as to allow me to "play doctor" (remember when we were kids!) for a few hundred words or so, I'd like to take a stab at diagnosing the root causes of our National Sickness, and prescribe a few possible cures. Jump with me below the fold...
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Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 02:11:28 AM PDT
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(I'm all for sustainable food systems, as it is clearly not only the future but the right thing to do. - promoted by Asinus Asinum Fricat)
I was pleasantly surprised earlier today as I picked up my favorite (and free!) Portland weekly newspaper, the Portland Tribune, at a bus stop Downtown, boarded the bus to work, and flipped to the middle ("Portland Life") section, and saw a half-page photo of the produce section of my co-op, People's Food Co-op in SE Portland, accompanied by a fantastic article on same.
I promise that's going to be the longest run-on sentence in this diary / essay, and if you'll join me below the fold I'd like to talk a little bit about a place that does food right. With a quick personal flashback first, but you could always skip over that...
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Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 05:17:28 AM PDT
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Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington is an absolute jewel along the Elliott Bay waterfront, right in the heart of Seattle's City Center. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Seattle, it's an indoor market open 7 days a week, every day of the year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The Market hosts numerous local farmers, fishermen, ranchers, bakers, candymakers, artisan craftspeople, restaurants, and local independent merchants selling everything from comic books to antiques to local wines. It also promotes community, and makes it much easier for people in the area to support their local growers and producers year-round.
Indoor public markets were once numerous throughout 19th and early 20th century America; but as we began to flee our towns and cities and settle in the suburbs, private supermarkets eventually replaced many of these places, contributing to the destruction of local food systems in the process. More than a few Public Markets still remain though, and they can serve as an example of one great way to begin to improve our local food systems.
Jump with me - and let's talk about some examples in San Francisco, Salem (OR) and Philadelphia...
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