Tape #222 - Community Food Systems

Before that she was Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Marketing and Regulatory Mission Area.  She is a former Home Demonstration Agent, a former elementary teacher, a food service supervisor.  She was Director of Nutrition Services in Tennessee.  She is now responsible for a $40 billion that’s billion nor million operation.  As a matter of fact she is responsible for 2/3 of USDA’s entire budget.  She’s responsible for some programs that you're very familiar with, food stamps, women, infants and children supplemental food program, school lunches and breakfasts, summer food programs, commodity distribution, child and adult care food programs. 

 

And in addition to all of this she had the time to nurture two wonderful successful children.  Her son is a Howard MBA candidate and her daughter is a professor at Florida A&M University.  We are so proud of Shirley Watkins and I'm sure that you will enjoy your interaction with her today.

 

[Applause]

 

Cheryl thank you so much for that wonderful introduction and it’s certainly is wonderful to be sharing the podium with you this afternoon.  About 10:30 this morning I got a call.  I had a plumbing problem, those of you who have houses know that you sometimes have these little problems and I had a plumbing problem at my house and I got this call and said you need to be over at the Sheraton Omni Hotel for a presentation and I thought ok, very good, as soon as the plumber gets out of here, I'll be on my way.  And did get here in time to hear Tipper Gore who did a super job and made us all proud and I'm delighted to be here with you this afternoon.

 

I want to share a few things with you, but before I do that I wonder if we could just go around the room and you introduce yourselves and then we'll get started on community food systems and what this is all about.  Why don't we start here and tell us your name and where you from and what you do.

 

[inaudible - not using microphone].

 

Joe Blackburn use to be one of our school board members when I worked in Memphis.

 

[inaudible - not using , microphone]

 

Oh this is wonderful.  You just can't believe how excited we all are to see this many women in the audience who are doing so many diverse agriculture kind of issues on a daily basis.  This is really just fabulous.  So I don't know if I'm going to be able to add anything to this or not, but I'm going to do my best.  And I think I'll read to you what we're suppose to be doing.  It’s a model of providing networking and partnership development among all segments of the food systems to provide safe nutritious locally grown food.  Many of you might be interested in knowing that while I indicated that I was asked.  We may want see if you can turn down the speakers if there are speakers on the wall, Laura, good.  Very good.  Shut it off.

 

One of the things that I kind of just glossed over earlier is that I was called this morning and said would you come in and do this and I readily said yes.  But we had a young lady from India who was suppose to do this session and she was unable to come because of some sanctions that are currently existing in her country.  So she was unable to come.   So I'm really pinch hitting for this session and we're to do a model of providing networking and partnership development among all segments of the food systems to provide safe nutritious locally grown food and I repeat that so we all have some idea of what we're going to be talking about.

 

I know that many of you are in the organic food marketing and producing area and I don't think we're going to necessarily talk about that today, but if you do fee free to ask any questions.  Cheryl indicated to you that I was at one point since I been at USDA in marketing and regulatory programs.  But what I want to start out by doing today is to look at what some of those food systems are and perhaps identify some food systems so that we all will have some kind of common idea as to what a community food system is and where we would have some opportunities. 

 

For us in this country the Secretary of Agriculture has as one of his priorities a food recovery and gleaning opportunity.  And that is to make certain that no people in this country go hungry.  And as a result of Secretary Glickman’s initiative, we have the first food recovery and gleaning summit last September which pulled together people from a variety of organizations all over the country.  And doing so people were able to network, find out what they could do in their local communities in the way of developing some kind of community food system to provide foods to people who were in need.  And that ended up being a very very exciting opportunity.  And what people were able to do is to say ok, there are some opportunities in the farm after all of the crops have been harvested that the farmer can harvest, there’s still food left in the field.  So what do we with that field and how do we make that available.

 

So the extension service works with the farmer and notifies someone in the community who may have a food bank or soup kitchen and they provide those fresh fruits and vegetables to them.  So it means someone has to go in then and harvest what’s left in those fields.  And that’s where the community spirit has come together where people will decide gee there are 15 or 20 of us and we can get together and go out and harvest this food.  So it’s perfectly acceptable food but has not been deemed satisfactory in the local market.  It does not meet all the specifications for the market.  But it is good quality food and can be used.  For instance, a cucumber or zucchini squash may be this long, well that may not be acceptable.  The standard for a zucchini squash may only be five to six inches long or it may be seven to eight inches long.  So it’s nine or ten inches long then it’s over matured and would not be acceptable in the market according to the standards for a zucchini or for a tomato for instance.  If it has a blemish, it may not be acceptable in the market place, but would be acceptable as far as general eating and food preparation.  So it’s still a good product.  So that product then is harvested and it is given to the people in the community.

 

That’s one of the things that has been extraordinary successful.  There’s millions of people in the United States who are going hungry.  And this is one way of providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  The other opportunity is where you have over manufactured products where manufacturer like Kellog with cereal or Quaker with oatmeal or with rice or with bread.  Where they have over produced in the manufacturing process.  That manufacturer then will notify an organization such as Second Harvest which is a large nonprofit organization that provides food to needy people, to soup banks and soup kitchens, food bank, soup kitchens and they will provide that excess food. 

 

Second Harvest collects it and then ensures that it is transported to soup kitchens and food banks.  So that is a way of using foods that otherwise would not be used.  If it is a produce house, a produce house may have more than they're capable of selling on any given day and produce is very very perishable.  So they will provide all of those food items that are left at the end of the day to a food bank or soup kitchen and then those foods can be used.  That is another way of providing product, and it is a part of the food system.

 

In a grocery store, as an example, if there is bread left in the grocery store and its day old bread, well rather than it going back to a day old bakery, it may conveniently go to someone like Second Harvest or a food bank or soup kitchen. 

 

We also have an organization in Florida called Farm Share where they collect all of the tomatoes or potatoes in Florida and many times it’s tomatoes.  Millions of pounds of tomatoes that cannot be used in the marketplace and then Farm Share will ensure that those products go to a soup kitchen or food bank and that is distributed.  Often times it may be given to our women, infants and children’s program which is then providing some fresh fruits and vegetables to the WIC program where they would not have it otherwise.

 

Those are pretty much the food systems.  Those of are some of the kinds of programs that are available and that we are doing in this country.  And since this is an international opportunity and a sharing session, I'm going to ask that you share some of the models that you are currently doing in your community and that will give us an opportunity to provide at the end of this session models so people can take back to their community where they may be providing various community food systems and some kind of partnership and some kind of network opportunity.  So if you would like to share some of those now, I will be glad to try to pass this microphone around so that we can have access to the recorded comments that you would have and things that are happening in your various communities. 

 

When you talk about partnerships and networking that’s the only way we're going to be able to survive.  We recognize at the Department of Agriculture and governmental entities will not be able to provide food and food systems for people in this country.  That we have to form partnerships with people.  So we formed partnerships with the Grocery Manufacturers, with the various organizations representing farmers, so that we can build comprehensive and total community support and partnership.  So we recognize that we can't do it by ourselves.  So we need farmers to work with us.  We work with all of the farm communities and all of the different organizations and we started making certain that we are working across agencies inside the Department of Agriculture.  That hasn't always been the case.  We haven't always worked together as USDA, as one USDA.   But we are beginning to do that and it is wonderful to be able to go to your partner in USDA and say to Jill Long Thompson, Jill I need your support and help as we work with rural communities. 

 

How can we form some partnerships and who is it we need to network in your agency.  And go to the Farm Services Agency and say to those people who have all of the connections with farmers around this country and say to them, how can you help us?  Can you help us with farmers markets, can we provide more farmers markets across this country and have access to those fresh fruits and vegetables with small producers?  Can we form cooperatives?  Do you have some money that can help us form cooperatives so that we can have good access to quality fresh fruits and vegetables.  And the answer is always yes and we'll be delighted to do so and it is wonderful forming all of these partnerships and working together.

 

So why don't we just let you start talking about, Katherine, you want to share some things that you've done.  I know you probably done some things with some schools in getting schools to have community farmers markets.  Would you like to share that with the group?

 

Thank you Under secretary.  It’s a real honor to have you here and I guess what I'd like to talk about is the fact that our program is based in the Sheriff’s Department.  It was started as an effort to employ and train people mainly young men of color in San Francisco and cities throughout the country and with the help of the USDA as I mentioned, we've put together a manual that we distributed throughout the country that says basically how we were able to do it, how the sheriff’s department was able to get into the business of employing people after they left the jail.  How the sheriff’s department was able to get into the business of feeding people, getting food to the soup kitchens, getting food to senior centers and children’s centers and working with local programs to provide food for people who are welfare.  And again with the help of the USDA this manual has gone all over the country, its on the Internet.  And what I am hoping is to continue to work with the Department of Agriculture and other agencies to really publicize organic agriculture as a way of employing people in our cities.  Thank you.

 

With our program mainly the sheriff’s department funds it, provides half of our budget.  The rest of it comes through grants.  I do a lot of fundraising mainly with foundations.  We just got a grant from the Kellog’s Foundation.  And what I'm hoping to do next, is that I'm hoping to have, I spend a lot time in the last couple years going throughout the country talking about our program and what I'm hoping is to be able to bring women and other people from wherever they are to visit us in San Francisco, see our program and then go back to their communities.  I spoke to a woman at lunch from Zambia and she is interested in coming and spending some time with us and learning our organic agriculture which is very important in developing countries.

 

In terms of information for our program, I'm sorry our website is new, I don't have the address, but it is the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department and its San Francisco, California 94101. 

 

[inaudible]

 

Well the program actually has three parts.  One is where prisoners are actually serving a sentence.  While they are serving a sentence, they're working as voluntarily as much as you can if you are in jail to grow food for the soup kitchens.  It’s an organic farm, it’s ten acres.  I started it in 1982.  It’s still there.  The jail itself was a functioning farm which was started as a WPA project in the 30's and we began growing food for the local soup kitchens because what happens a lot in cities I think is that food banks get stuff that’s too old to be used and what we wanted to be able to provide organic vegetables to local people.  But also I wanted a way for prisoners to be able to give back to the communities that they hurt.  And so growing and working on the farm has really been a way to do that.  When they're released, they can then go and become employed working in our program.  They start at $7.15 an hour, they work 32 hours a week.  They're employed doing a number of things, one we are planting all of San Francisco’s street trees by a contract that we have with the City of San Francisco.

 

We're soon to be working in San Francisco’s neighborhood parks because many of our parks don't get the kind of attention that our main park gets and so we will have people that were drug dealers working in the park, cleaning up the parks and also providing a deterrent to people to come to the parks and use the parks for that reason.  But again the spirit of giving back.  We've just developed in the last couple of years because I was trained at UC San Cruz’s farm and garden program.  We have developed a market garden and we're growing food that we sell to high end restaurants, to the farmer markets.  What I intend to do this year is start a farmer’s market that’s based in our housing project as well as continue to sell to restaurants.

 

Well actually being a part of the Sheriff’s Department I was very fortunate because the Sheriff’s Department did a [inaudible] study and also when the USDA did the “how to” manual they included the finding of the recitizen’s study and found that people do not return back to jail at the same rate, because it’s pretty obvious that people are in our jails because they need a way to employ themselves and what we do is we is we teach them work skills.  That’s the other basic thing that we are doing.  They are learning how to work, how to get up in the morning, how to work with others, but also how to work within the community.    Thank you.

 

Thank you Katherine.  When Katherine mentioned that it came to mind that I had visited a farm in Arizona where the prisoners where the prisoners were actually gleaning the fields in Arizona and providing those foods to food banks and soup kitchens and they were notified by the extension service when it was time to come in and harvest the food.  So there’s lot of partnerships that you can develop.  Is there someone else who'd like to share some things that are going on in your community.  Ok.

 

I'm Margie Frankenbach I am from the Iowa Illinois corner of Missouri near on the Mississippi.  Want to tell you about Come Share which is a program by their newsletter says is nationwide and in some other countries as well.  It is a volunteer program.  And I participate, I bring a check for $15 each month and for that I get a box full of about $30 worth of groceries. $14 goes for the food, a dollar donation which provides gas money for the folks who meet the truck.  We're operating out prairie land share in Springfield, Illinois where there are two paid staff people who buy the very things she was talking about, produce that is a tad bit too large.  And in that box of $30 worth of groceries we get frozen protein and we get fresh produce.

 

The very things that folks who are being assisted through food banks are probably not getting.  In our rural area food banks mean the can goods that folks bring to church on Thanksgiving and Christmas and they're usually non-perishable kinds of things and this is just the extra and it comes at the end of the month, almost the end, the last week anyway so that people are out of money.  And it operates on volunteers.  Our group operates on gray hair power because everyone else is working at that time and they're retirees who get the boxes, go to Quincy and get the truck unloaded and unload the big boxes and break them into family size units.  But I'm sure I could probably get an address for you if you're interested. 

 

Marge I'm glad you said that because we're going to start a list around for you to print your name and address and if there are materials that we hear you say that you'd like to have we can make up some packages and send those to you.  We think that might be interesting for us to share, want to share. 

 

I have more of a question than a solution and maybe you Ms. Watkins or someone else in this group can help answer the question for me.  One of the difficulties that we have in the group that I represent Practical Farmers of Iowa.  We have a lot of small farmers that are trying to sustain their own ability to stay on the farm and continue farming, in other words they're trying to sustain their communities and their livelihood and having a real difficult time and as you talk about these programs, I'm wondering are there any models for us getting that food that we're producing right back into our local system. 

 

In other words, like in our community providing food to the school program.  The school program has feed the children in our community but that food is coming in from all over the country.  Can we some how get our local food right into our own community?

 

Susan that’s a wonderful question and I'm glad you asked it because we do have a pilot project that started in North Carolina and we are expanding that to Virginia and we've gotten a request to move to Michigan with the effort.  And what we're doing is connecting the local farmer in rural areas with the school so that the local farmer can provide to the school produce in a I guess for a lack of a better work in a usable fashion so if it’s chopped lettuce they're looking for, chopped cabbage then we're working with that local farmer to not only provide the cabbage but finding a processor that they can do a cooperative with that would it in the reprocess manner that the school is looking for. 

 

Just so you all are aware of an initiative that we have, we are working with the Department of Defense who is providing fruits and vegetables, produce products to school districts around the country.  One of the reasons we went to DOD, the Department of Defense was because they have the best method of transportation and delivery.  They have the best delivery system.  So they are buying from local farmers now in North Carolina through a cooperative and these are small and limited resource farmers and they formed a cooperative so that they could sell to DOD.  One of the problems with just selling to schools is school is only in session nine months and if you're lucky there is a summer feeding program.  And they like foods in different formats.  So you need to be able to provide it that way and then the farmer needs to be able to have an outlet for his or her products at sometime when school is not in session.  So how do you do that other than through DOD.  So we found a wonderful opportunity.  So what we can do is to start looking at various sections around the country and maybe Iowa is a place where we would want to go to work our small farmers and help connect you to DOD and help connect you to the schools.

 

Because DOD is also providing to Veterans hospitals, they're providing to their own installations as well as to prisons.  Katherine talked about prisons, so DOD provides to a lot of installations as well as to schools and on Indian reservations.  So we have lots and lots of outlets, so we just need to make sure that DOD connects with that local farmer and that’s something that we've been able to do, excuse me, so we will be glad to.  I want you to contact Lee Powell.  Lee Powell is at the Department of Agriculture and works with us and why don't you just call 202-720-7711 and ask to be connected to Lee Powell.

 

Hi, my name is Sue Butran and I work with Hefer project and I have I guess a problem and some questions and could use some assistance.  Often when I come to these things, everybody is talking about fruits and veggies, but I work with limited resource minority farmers who are raising cattle, they're raising hogs, they're raising sheep and they need some serious help with their marketing.  At the same time Hefer project also has an urban initiative in the city of Chicago and we're working with Brennie Green, we're working with Robert Taylor homes and what we have there are limited resource consumers.

 

Now Interstate 55 runs right from Jackson, Mississippi right into Chicago and I know the federation of southern cooperatives are taking fruits and vegetables.  It would seem to me that there would be some opportunity here to set up a cooperative at Robert Taylor or at Cabrennie Green and connect our limited resource producers.  Because let’s face it everybody tamer.  And protein is an important source for our children. 

 

I don't know how to have this happen, but I think that’s something here that’s worth considering.

 

I bet we have some ideas in here.  We might be able to help you make that happen.  Kathy wants to add a solution.

 

I don't know that I have a solution, but we were out here last year for the first summit and Illinois won an award for the harvesting hope and we've developed a variety of ways of getting surplus food to those who need it and it doesn't go to waste and it does go to people who are in need.  Now you mention protein.  In southern Illinois we have a lot of hunters who like to hunt for trophy only and we have produce processors who will process that meat and then provide it for people. 

 

We have limited resource farmers  who need [inaudible]

 

That's a very good point and one of the things you may want to do is contact Agricultural Marketing Service.  I know that Mike Dunn has asked the Agricultural Marketing Service to look for new ways of working with small and limited resource farmers and how you can help them do cooperatives so that they could process some of those food items that could be sold to USDA.  So you may want to contact Enriqueo Figero, he is the Administrator for AMS.  Now we can give you our number again and you can call our office and we will connect you to Enriqueo so that Dr. Figero would be able to look at what you're doing and I know he has looked at some minority farm operations to see how he can connect them to the purchasing opportunities at USDA. 

 

I work in wholesale alternative marketing.  I actually met you before at Agriculture Outlook Conference, I don't know if you remember me standing up and telling the suits off, alright there you go.  I was wet behind the ears then.  I'm still a little bit wet.  But Enriqueo is way up on the food chain from where I am, but if you try to send me some information as well I can try to help direct it.  Because once things get in the, I hate to admit this, sometimes in south agriculture building, sometimes things have this tendency to sort of get lost and so anybody that is interested in trying send it to Enruque Figero and do that, but also try to send me a copy.  I'm not doing the international stuff.  So I'm doing domestic work.  Anybody that's interested in finding out where some resources are, we're putting up a direct marketing web page and one of our concerns is the small producers.  I talked yesterday to people from Nebraska and you don't have many direct marketing options if you are stuck, I'm sorry, out in the middle of Nebraska.  You don't have your farmers market, you don't have those resources.  So we're working on putting up a web page, I'm working on a bibliography that would help you maybe with some specific issues.

 

I'm more than happy to give out my card and my e-mail, but you got to let me know that you need me to send you those things and what you're interested in.  So send it to Enrique Figero, but try to send me something as well and see if I can help out.  My phone number is 202-690-4077 and I have cards to give out as well.  My name is Claire.

 

Sometimes during this program leave time to talk about the cola drinks that are part of the school system.  I come from a small town and I have friends in the city who are very concerned about all the cola drinks that are out there and I hear that they are more fruit drinks coming in and they're going to add caffeine to them.  And if you're going to have healthy food and you're going to drink it down with cola drink that have caffeine in it and more in coming in, there's something wrong.

 

Now you're from Canada.  The problem is everywhere.  So it is an international problem, it's just not a problem in this country.  We do have to address that someway and I'm glad you raised it in here, which helps me to do some things I know we need to do. 

 

I'd like to piggy back on Sue's comment about -- Diane Kauffman from Wisconsin.  Piggy backing on Sue's comment about protein growing protein.  I also in one of my other lives coordinated and did a newsletter for the American Pasture and Poultry Producers Association and that organization and the people in it are very much interested in producing good chicken at home , processing it at home for a local market.  And a major problem for us is the regulations surrounding processing on farm.  And there's many states have either more restrictive regulations than USDA does.  We need some serious help with that issue.  It's a major issue for every state in the union.  And we need some help.

 

So all it's all products, the processing.  Ok.  We had a question or concern from tell me your name again. Because I can't pronounce it, I'll mess it up and I don't want to do that. 

 

Thank you, I'm Trifina from South Africa, Northwest Providence.  I'm working for the Department of Agriculture there.  And as I said earlier, I'm the coordinator for women in agriculture.  It's a new office that we have and we are more interested in processing because our women have a lot of projects especially in vegetables and fruit, but we don't have all these things that you have here.  We don't have food systems, we don't have cooperatives for women so I think I'm going to learn a lot from this.  But I was just wondering how do you start?  Do you do it, is it an initiative of the Department or is it a state thing, how do you form partnerships?  Where do you start?

 

That's an interesting question.  Someone want, is it Veronia from Trinidad.  You want to talk about forming partnerships and cooperatives.

 

Yes, what I think you should do is get a group of women and come together.  You don't really need a cooperative.  That's what we did.  We are group of seven women who came together to do food processing.  And we did not form a corporation.  Right now we are producing, we are selling to all of our local supermarkets.  We have a lot of demand for it in our country so unfortunately I'm not doing export.  We are providing self-employment because we are asking the farmers to [inaudible].  The young people that have no jobs.  There is a lot of land in Trinidad own by their parents.  We are going to buy it [inaudible].  We do recycling of bottles.  Get the bottles, bring it to recycle.  We have self-employment like.  The school children  get the bottle, bring it for us, they make money for school.  So we are helping somehow in the community.  What I have done before I left Trinidad, I got in touch with some of the farmers, they grow bananas and I told them I said you always have over plus.  Any time you have over plus just drop for me, I'm going to take it to the soup kitchens.  They decide yes that would that, but I did not have time to collect because here I am.  So when I go back that is something that is going to be taking place when I go back to Trinidad. 

 

END OF SIDE 1 OF TAPE

 

Someone, ok.  See I really like this because everybody gets a chance to participate.

 

My name is Megan [inaudible] and I'm one of those people that's stuck in Nebraska and it's one thing to be stuck in Nebraska, but I'm stuck in northeast Nebraska.  So I'm really stuck.  When the farm crisis hit in the late 80's I wasn't very big, I'm only 20 years old now.  My family and many other families like us on small farms were really hit very hard by the economic crisis that was going on.  And in order to survive many farms went to vegetable and fruit production to supply our local markets.  And it was something that a small group of people with a common problems and common situation got together saw that as a possible solution and tried it and it worked.  And we still have people in northeast Nebraska that are supplying restaurants not only in Nebraska, but a tri or quad state area based on something because they had a common problem, they had common resources and they worked together from a local area and they expanded.  And so I think things have to start with communication on a local and individual level to start something that eventually will probably turn into a very big and very important thing.

 

[inaudible]

 

Neighbors talking to neighbors at churches, at coffee shops, putting signs up in local businesses and just the communication that happens amongst people.

 

[inaudible]

 

They talked about their problems, somebody said ok we're in this situation and someone found some information and they took their time and opportunities to share it with others by posting a sign, hosting a meeting and eventually once they started making money then it went to ads in newspaper, ads in radios.  Those types of things.  But it started with handwritten run off photo copy sheets put up in local restaurants. 

 

What you're talking about, but now we have the internet.  There are lots of people who are involved in this, this wonderful ideas [inaudible]

 

It started through farmer's markets and cooperative marketing and now it's moved into some processing and even greater cooperative marketing throughout a quad-state area.

 

I'll just mention one quick thing to you that we have facilitated at the Department and that to have round tables.  To send out a notice and bring a group of people who maybe interested in whatever the issue is.  So you sit down and talk about it, if for instance it's how do we involve more small and limited resource farmers in farmer's markets?  We had some round tables to develop ideas for working with the connecting the farmer and the schools together.  So it was a round table of people sitting around talking about just like we're doing today issues that impacted them in doing this.  What did the school want?  What did the farmers grow?  Who could deliver the product?  Did they have access to the schools?  How could they get paid?  Who is going to pay them?  How much was it going to cost to do this?  Was it a bid process?  If it's a bid process how can we bid to the schools? 

 

So I would suggest if you wanted to get community groups together, farmers, producers or community partners, have a round table and sit down and throw out some ideas as to what your concerns are, what you'd like to do, what your goals and objectives are and then how can you get that accomplished and who needs to do it.  When do you want to have it done by, by when.  That has helped us to move all of our projects through when we've had these round tables and it has worked very effectively and we just facilitate them.  Kathy -

 

If we would send you information which your office disseminate that information? 

 

To this group.

 

Anyone that's interested.  We just had either the second or third gleaning conference in Illinois and speakers from all over the country came with their ideas. 

 

We certainly would be glad to share those with this group.  It's small enough and I think we could share some things with you.  So we'd be glad to facilitate that for you.  That doesn't take a awful lot.  So if you have some things you'd like to share, this is one way that we get a chance to interact with each other so we'd be glad to do that.  So if you have information you want to share send it to our office to Liz Lineman.  Liz stand up so they can see you.  She looks the same and she's respond the same.  Quickly.  Ok.  Other questions or comments or suggestions of how we can do a better job with community support.

 

Yeah, I'm from Canada, Yvvone Sinkervich from Canada.  As I mentioned earlier, I'm an organic gardener and I live in the northern Alberta and the closest city to me is an hour away and that city is only 30,000 so my consumers are a long ways away and there's not that many of them.  And one of our problems as far as organic's goes is to educate people to want to buy it.  It seems to me that our food on a normal conventional farming is not good any more, it's unhealthy.  And I think one of our problems is to get people educated, get them to realize that the food they eat locally is much better for them and healthier for their children.  And I'm really impressed with the USDA and how they are actually facilitating but what that really means is they're funding community food systems.  This is real important.  I think it's one of the things missing in our country, lacking a lot.  And I'm going to be going home and doing some work around that, but that to me is the basic issue for us is to educate people that they need to eat locally, local grown food organic grown.

 

Question, issue, concern Joan.

 

I'm Joan Benjamin, I'm from Missouri and I wanted to see if anyone else here had food circles in their area.  In Missouri there is at least three food circles.  One in Kansas City, one in the Columbia area and one in Calloway county and what they do is try and bring farmers and consumers together so that they can develop a local food system.  So they're working on education.  They have pot luck dinners so farmers and consumers can meet each other.  They also have gone out and got grants from the Missouri Department of Agriculture so that they can have conferences to educate people.  They're supporting the local farmers' market and they're also working on projects like putting together a processing kitchen that people can use cooperatively so if they don't have the funds to get the processing equipment on their own they can use it and they're also working to publicize the CSA, the Community Supported Agriculture in the area and the CSA's are even forming partnerships so the CSA that I belong to there's an organic farmer every week we go to a pickup site and he provides produce.  But at that site they've also invited a man that has dairy products and he also is a baker. So he brings all his goods so you can from him at the same time.  Someone else that also has CSAs but raises different products like mushrooms and strawberries they bring their products.  So there is a mix or partnership between CSAs.  But the food circle has been important in trying to bring all these people together.  And I was wondering if they're in other areas?

 

I'm Cellie.  I'm working as nutritionist in [inaudible].  We also  [inaudible] nutrition education and ways and means to serve through cooperative systems.  Our cooperative system is not very strong, but we have imparted education to the ladies and now the ladies have taken up the project.  They are preparing supplementary foods.  They are buying, they're taking the produce from the farm and they're helping in production of supplemental food these supplementary foods are taken by the garment department which they are utilizing for feeding school children.  And same way  [inaudible] we are imparting training on baking and confectionery item so that the Benedosian girls they go back to their villages.  They are starting their own bakery unit which can feed the small children as   supplementary feeding program.  This is just initiative and few years back only we started our require more funding or loaning facility for buying the food processing equipment and heavy equipment so that they can prepare on large scale.  But on small scale they are getting better income and they are utilizing the producers.

 

One of the interesting things about the Department of Agriculture, we may have one agency who is able to provide loans to women, to small women farmers, to farm cooperative.  Another agency may provide the technical assistance and another agency may be able to facilitate getting all of these groups together.  So with all of the agencies working together there is some way that we can provide some kind of support and assistance to you whether its through loans, or whether its through grants or whether its through technical assistance and education.  So there is a way that we can work with you  with USDA in this country.  Linda from British Columbia.

 

This lady up here was talking about food circles and one thing that they have done in British Columbia because our main population is in the Vancouver area and its a lot of farming outside of the Vancouver area, but its not that far.  But there's some small acreages that people have that they wanted to, you know, they're still producing food, but its not a large enough acreage that they can make a yearly income and what they've done is some people have gone together and formed cooperatives and they've had the meetings between the farmer and the consumer and they said to the consumer what do you want us to grow?  What is it that you want to eat?  And what they have done is they've come together and the consumer has paid the farmer up front, half of what the produce that they would get and that they pay the farmer up front so that he has the farmer has the dollars to be able to plant and fertilizer and water and whatever.  And then throughout the year, once a week they come to, the consumer comes to one farmer's place where they have their drop off points and these farmers grow what the consumer wants them to grow.

 

And so they form these partnership and they have also, the lady up there was talking about the beef situation and growers that are producing some small amounts of beef and pork and what have you and they are a limited income and limited resources.  So what they've done they have formed partnerships there to provide the consumer with what they want, grow it the way the consumer wants it grown and they come out once a week or whenever and pick up what it is they need.  And the farmers has the dollars up front to be able to do his planting and then over the year they pay the rest.  And it's proven to be very successful.  They're looking at some more in different areas of the Providence, but you know its small acreages that we have in British Columbia.  We have an agriculture land reserve so there is a certain amount of land that isn't agriculture land reserve.  It can't be developed and can't be used for anything except agriculture.  But there are some parcels that are too small to be a viable farming unit for one person.  So if you got these people working together it becomes very good and profitable.  It keeps the farmers on the land, it keeps the land in production and people, the consumer are getting what they want.

 

It's something that our Minister of Agriculture and our extension services within our ministry have worked to be able to help these producers produce it and get it, you know, provide the technical support and in some cases they have provided some up front dollars to help them get started on this.  And they're looking now at doing some further processing and what we talked about [inaudible], etc.  and that a lot of consumers, we're all busy people and you know, it's easier to pull lettuce out of a bag and stand there and chop it all up, so the needs of the consumer keep changing and these people these producers keep looking at what the consumer needs.  They meet with them on a yearly or twice yearly basis to find out what it is that they want, what it is they require, you know that they're looking for and it keeps expanding all the time because the networking and the word of mouth and the consumer we're buying this from directly from the farmer, we're getting exactly what we want, we're getting top quality, we're getting safe food and this is what we want.

 

So its keep expanding and its gotten to the point now where the farmers are almost, you know, they're not producing enough for the consumers that are looking for this sort of thing.  So this is an expanding thing and I think it's a real win win situation for the consumer and the producer.

 

Very good.  Comment?  Susan.

 

That's the concept that we refer to as a CSA and in this country and I'd be very happy to supply some information for your office to send out.  I think it's a concept that can be taken anywhere in the world and it's something that I believe works easily for women and children to do.  And it keeps families together, it keeps families at home.  It's among my many enterprises on my farm.  It is the one enterprise that makes the most money for us.  And the thing that's so important about it is, I don't have to go to a bank to get that up front money to get started.  My money comes from my consumers and so anybody no matter what your income level is, you can get that money from your consumers. 

 

And one of the key ways to convince those consumers to buy is to take them a box of your vegetables and they'll be shocked at the difference between what you produce and what they can buy in a grocery store or wherever. 

 

Susan, one of the things we've looked at, we've been asked to look at by many people is whether or nor food stamp recipients can participate in that process.  And we're going to take it case by case situation so that food stamp recipients would be eligible to participate and use their food stamps for purchasing in a community supported agriculture as a CSA and I guess we say CSA so fast until we forget kind of what things mean.  And for those of you from other countries that may not know what our food stamp program is.  Those families who are below the poverty level and they maybe eligible for some kind of government assistance in providing nutritious foods, then they receive what is called a food stamp allotment.  That allotment maybe anywhere from ten or fifteen dollars for senior citizens to as much as two, three, four hundred dollars depending on the number of people in a family.  And they have that amount of money to spend for a month.  So some of the farmers has asked us to look at that as an opportunity.  So we are taking it case by case.  Joan -

 

What do you mean case by case?

 

Individual states where the request is made.  So if Missouri for instance made a request or Iowa made a request then the food stamp office would look at that and make the decision so that that state would know that it is acceptable for them to receive food stamp.  So it will be on a case by case basis.  The request would come from the farmer and you would want to make that request I think right now it's going to be through our food stamp office in Virginia and then they could make certain that you made the correct links to that.  Yes.

 

There is another twist on the CSA.  I work with live stock producers, but I'm really working in rural development and community development and human development.  Livestock is a tool for what we do.  It's also called a CSA, but a congregation is supported agriculture.  As many of you are in rural communities, you know that the rural church is a strong asset and the heart of your rural communities and many times if the local pastor says yea or nay, a process will pass or fail according to that.  But if you could look at congregational supported agriculture, the church is there, the parking lot is there, the constituency is there and an understanding of needs of the citizens are there.  So that's something you might want to think about as well.

 

Sue, I'm glad you mentioned that because one of the things we've done is to facilitate the partnerships with the faith based community.  And that's critical.  So the faith based community may be something that you really really want to look at in rural communities, urban communities, regardless to where you are, that church is the focal point for getting a lot of things done.  That might be where you want to bring people together to get your partnership started.  It may be at that church where you want to get that minister to help you with that partnership. 

 

Other questions, concerns?  Ok.  Now we got one back here, Caroline

 

Thank you.  I'm curious about fundraisers for schools.  Because in my Providence we the declining dollars for rural communities some of the things that we do of our local schools have to be done through fundraising.  And our school now has a little program for Thanksgiving weekend where they purchase hampers, vegetable hampers from the local farmers and they use that as a fundraiser instead of going around selling the chocolate bars and the candy.  So we're beating the system.  We're keeping our money in our local communities and I am just wondering if anybody has tried that as a fundraiser.  Or maybe your lucky and you don't have to fundraise.

 

Caroline, we're just like everybody else in this country.  We have fundraisers all over the place.  But you do have in some schools where they sell grapefruits and oranges and a lot of them choose to do citrus fruits for fundraisers.  But to do a hamper at a school obviously coming out of this group we might want to recommend that schools sell fresh fruits and vegetables rather than candy bars.  That's a good one.

 

I'm [inaudible] from India.  In our area to encourage farmers instead of giving chocolates to the children in the celebrations days we encouraging to give fruits in our area. 

 

It might be interesting to have some recommendations coming out of this group.  That might be very very interesting.  Caroline.

 

I should say though that the Seventh Day Adventist schools supports the United States because they import the citrus fruits to sell. 

 

Congratulations to them. 

 

I'm Ann Taylor from Australia.  I've got two points.  One was the quality control of the food that is sold.  Does it have a stamp of quality or is it just the word of the farmer to his consumer.  That's one concern I have.  Particularly in Australia QAs becoming fairly forceful.  But the other thing is I farm with my husband with juice canning peas and often is bypassed.  The whole paddock is left.  And it goes to waste.  But there seems to be an opportunity there to excess provided through the needy.  And it's just certainly something a seed you've just sown to me. 

 

We mentioned that when we first started is that Ann we mentioned how we gleaned products from various farms to give to the needy.  We mentioned a variety of ways that you could do partnerships to provide that excess food because we have so many hungry people in this country.  So that's generally where we are targeting our efforts so that it can go to the needy.  And let's see I can't see your name.  Marsha.

 

Several years ago when my husband and I decided to retire, I retired and he must blinked because I didn't see it because he didn't retire.  And so I found myself at home by myself while he was off working and as a result of that I have always loved to cook and so I started a restaurant in an old historic building in the little town that we live in and the off shute of that was an catering business that I started.  And I discovered that in doing catering we don't have a soup kitchen in our community, but we have a place called valley women resource center and its where mothers can go with their children when they are in a domestic violence situation and things like that.  It's like a transitional house for them.  And I never felt financially able to really help them but by doing this catering, its the same as a church social there always lots of left overs.  And it was all prepared in an approved kitchen by the health department and so I got to where I would take all the salads and stuff that I had left over from catering.

 

I have four kids, but I mean four kids and their families can only consume so much salad.  Pretty soon it's not even thanks mom anymore, its just oh.  But I found that I could take it to the Valley Women Resource Center and they were very appreciative of it and there were a lot of children there so they got -- it's a way of taking care of left overs and being able to provide something that somebody needs.

 

I appreciate you saying that because in rural communities sometimes we don't have access to a variety of things that they may have in large metropolitan areas and we need to see what are the kind of things that we can do in rural communities to help in those rural communities and help people to survive.  And look at all of the systems that are out there.  So that obviously is something that we really need to do.  We talked already about the faith based community and working with faith based communities, but are there some other opportunities for us to provide some access to the foods that are grown so that none of that food is left in the fields.  Can we find some ways to use those food items too.

All right. 

 

One of the things I've often wondered about is hospitals.  Who should eat the best food that can be produced is people in hospitals and I don't know if there is anybody here that provides for hospitals and is there a way we can get it to them?

 

That's a good one so, you know as I have listened to you and listened to all of the comments that you've made.  What we really have is a wonderful opportunity to figure out how do we market our products and how do we get those products to the various customers.  We really are talking about marketing our wares, what we're producing and what we're selling and you know somehow children in this country and all around the world don't always know where food products come from.  They think that the cows milk came out of the carton or the bottle and that's the only thing they know. 

 

But what a wonderful opportunity for us to start marketing as women generally who is the best to do this.  Who is the best marketeer?  and the best consumer?  Children and women, we are the best at whatever is we want to do.  So I would think that if we can start using the marketing skills that the major companies use.  We don't have the advertising dollars, but we do have as someone said earlier, we have internet, with access to internet and there is a copying machine at some church or some community based organization or you may have a copier or fax at your home.  You may have to start using some of that graphic on the computer and sending out your own flyers and pulling people together and building that instead of a corporation you may have a group of people coming together and you may form that corporation that helps you.

 

You have a lot of opportunities in some communities where business people will come in and work with you and they'll do it pro bono.  They don't charge you anything, but they want to see you make it because it's a win win situation.  So you also may want to look at who is it in that community that is working in some corporate entity, some big supermarket who is in the produce division would want to work with you and help you to understand how to market your products.  It may be you got a lot poultry people in Mississippi and Arkansas and Alabama.  So it could be that you want to go in and consult with those people.  You're just a little small farmer and you just want know what they do and you know, we can get by with so many things as women. 

 

You know you can always play the dumb woman who doesn't know anything and need some information.  I have gotten by with so much stuff playing the dumb woman because I really don't understand how to do it.  I'm just a little southern girl and I don't understand how to do it, can you help me?  And before you know it, you just have all this invaluable information.  And it didn't cost you anything because you really just really do not understand.  Can you help me?  And before they know it they've just helped you do all kinds of things because they think you're a woman and you really don't know anything.  Well you know a whole lot more than you're going to give credit to.  But if you can get some information from people, information is power and that's really all we're asking for is the information and the know how and you'll put it together with the creativity and ingenuity that women have.  You always have and you'll always will.  Charmaine you have something you want to add from Semonia county California? 

 

Oh I don't know what I would want to say.  I don't really want to say anything.  But I can tell you that the things that are going on in Semonia County with the CSAs are very similar to what you're talking about.  And I came from Olympia, Washington and moved down to California and we had CSAs set up there and I was so pleased to find that we had the same kind of things in California.  But the really -- But another thing we're missing is farmer's markets in California.  I just don't understand that at all.  Maybe its the fact that there's so many people coming to the wine country and they already know where to go and what farmer's to go look up and they know that they can get the products there that they don't need to go to farmer's market.  I'm not sure.  But it was a  real bafflement to me. 

 

And then the other thing, but this doesn't have anything to do with community systems, its just in Semonia country what we're facing is the transition from the agriculture based economy pure agriculture with animals and growing things to growing vineyards.  And that represents a change in the quality of life for everybody, but there.   And some people call it a spiritual issue because you don't have the cows on the hill, you're going to have the vineyards and you're going to be selling the wine bottles and that's fine, but you miss the cows on the hill.

 

Probably some of you understand that the reason that the cows on the hill are being sold is because it cost so much to have water, to have food and to do something with the manure, the environmental issues. 

 

Good.  Sure. 

 

As far as this I think interesting explanation about that what is going on the community level in the United States.  I wonder how this will go with more overall globalization of the American international market system.  Because in this case I think a lot of third world countries are confronted with similar problem food security and they would be glad to survive with the local markets that at the moment I think that with all the international marketing system and globalization they aren't going to ruining their more or less still working small type of community food security systems.  And I'm really amazed to jump into a working group here because you're talking about this small scale more or less food security systems everyone on his own local level.  This is also a discussion which is important for European and Germany but from my country I would say, and its not only in Iran, but in all other African, Asian countries, we are confronted with the problem that we are very much pushed now into the international markets and our ability to produce our own food is going to diminish because of very subsidized wheat or rice that is going to be dumped in our countries and we are confronted more extremely I think with that what  are talking about in this group because there maybe you still have some sort of support whereas a lot of these countries cannot afford to support every household with food markets or CSA, these type of food stamps.  So this would be a problem I think, a very general problem and I think it would be good if we could reflect this problem on a general global level as well.

 

So it is not only a problem of small scale interactions on the American continent, North American continent that worldwide and it absolutely is contrary to the general international globalization policy.  And I think we should do something on that part to have certain kind of safety for people for survivor.

 

You know that's a interesting area because I think one of the things that raised the issue of farmer's markets and working with small  and limited resource farmers and having access in small communities was just what you're saying.  Small farmers didn't have access to global markets and its like how do we maintain our small farms and what is out there?  And many of the farmers didn't know that a farmer's market could be very lucrative for a small and limited resource farmer.  So you also had to let them know that there is some opportunities here for you other than the global markets and people in this country as in every country, every place around the world is concerned with the same thing.  Are we going to have enough food in our communities to feed people? 

 

This has been an exciting opportunity.  It's been wonderful listening to all of you with all of your concerns and issues and ideas.  And I want to thank each one of you for being here with us in this small working group this afternoon.  You've been a tremendous asset, we have your names and addresses and we will provide you with information.  We will share with you any information that you want to send to us at 14th and Independence , Room 240E, Washington, DC we'll be glad to get that information out and share it with you.  We'll be a facilitator of information for this working group.  Why don't you give yourselves a big round of applause.  [Applause]  Have a wonderful time the rest of the session and many of us will be around in here to continue the dialog if you have some other questions.  Thank you so much.