Farms and businesses in Vermont search for principles of sustainable food

The Town That Food Saved--How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food

Reviewed by Louis Cox

Getting the "real poop" on green enterprises that have been drawing media attention (and hype) to a small town in northeast Vermont was the motive behind this fascinating book, published in 2011 by the Rodale Press.

First, Ben Hewitt got to know the energetic, idealistic, and sometimes egotistic "agri-preneurs" behind a cluster of exciting new business ventures in and around the economically struggling rural community of Hardwick, dealing in organic seeds and vegetables and such value-added farm products as cheeses, wines, and beers. Later he talked to homesteaders, community leaders, and other locals, some of whom weren't sure this experiment in alternative ways of feeding people and providing local jobs has been good for the area or for sustainable food production in general.

Before this, the news from Hardwick has been all about successful efforts to satisfy the growing (mostly affluent) consumer demand for locally grown, organic produce and high-quality byproducts, such as hand-crafted cheeses and yogurts. It is also somewhat of a David-and-Goliath tale of small players who fear and resent the giant agribusiness corporations that now control the production, processing, and distribution of much of the world's food, while sucking the life out of local economies and the health out of land and people.

Industrial farming and globalized food processing are running on borrowed time as non-renewable resources become depleted. But the looming food crisis, Hewitt says, isn't just about the rapid shrinking of the number of farms, farmers, acres of arable land, and many food options. It's about the resulting loss of much of our traditional knowledge about how to raise fruits, vegetables, and livestock on a human, ecologically viable scale.

Alternative food systems are trying hard to fill that gap, but most have difficulty satisfying all four criteria that Hewitt says are at least "steps in the right direction": They must:

1. be economically viable for small producers,
2. be able to feed the local population,
3. run on sunlight/renewable energy, and
4. form a circular flow, in which the outputs of one subsystem become inputs for another, minimizing waste.

The fact is, the great majority of working people in places like Hardwick can't afford $20-a-pound aged cheeses and other pricey offerings of "Earth-friendly" businesses that have sprouted up around them. And many locals don't particularly like a lot of these exotic foods, even when touted as healthier and better for both the environment and the local economy.

But the agri-preneurs forge ahead with their high-volume operations while trying to win sympathy if not cooperation from the surrounding community. Where can we develop alternatives to our currently unsustainable food system if not in out-of-the-way pastoral places like this? they ask.

They also point out that more of the money brought in by their businesses continues to circulate in the local economy and create more decent-paying local jobs, compared to what is spent at the local chain supermarket. Although there are persistent distortions in the way true costs currently are allocated, this campaign to better conserve and utilize the region's human and natural resources is still going to be decided by people's perceptions of what things cost.

Even if the new businesses in Hardwick are organized around unique features of that region and population, there is a chance that the principles they are pioneering will find application in other places. <>

New YM representative believes that Earthcare fulfills Quaker testimonies

Amy Savage of Syracuse (N.Y.) Friends Meeting, a New York YM representative to the QEW Steering Committee, is serving on a subcommittee that awards scholarships to Young Adult Friends needing financial help to come to QEW meetings.

She currently lives in Albany, N.Y., where she teaches Spanish at the post-secondary level. She has co-led worship sharing on Earthcare in her yearly meeting.

Amy says that she has always felt spiritually connected to nature and finds that the Quaker testimonies reinforce her belief that peace on Earth and peace with Earth are the same thing. In other words, "ecological health is public health is spiritual health." <>

QEW has vital outreach resources for you

The vision of QEW is global, but much of its work can only be done locally by you—in your Meeting and community. But if you're relatively new as a QEW supporter, you may not have heard about all the great resources for outreach that QEW has developed over the years for your use.

Whether it's material for a discussion group, First Day School programs, or a display at a Friends gathering, the QEW store has just about everything you need. Do you, or does your Meeting, have these?

Books: Earthcare for Friends; Earthcare for Children, and Caring for Creation—the Biblical Basis of Earthcare.

Booklets: Jack Phillips's Walking Gently on the Earth/ Elizabeth Watson's Healing Ourselves and the Earth/ Bill Cahalan's Awakening to Earth.

Pamphlets: Water Is Life/Slowing Down to the Speed of Life/ Freeing Ourselves from Possessions/ How Eco-Friendly is Your Meeting House?/ Traveling Gently on the Earth/ Human-induced Climate Change/ Friends' Witness on Rapid Population Growth/ Toward Taking Away the Occasion of Abortion/ Seeking Clearness on Childbearing in a Crowded World/ Living Lightly on the Earth—in the City/ Peace on Earth, Peace With Earth/ Healthy Food, Healthy Planet/ and lots more.

DVDs to borrow: The Age of Stupid/ Blue Vinyl/ Build Green/ Designing a Great Neighborhood/ Ecological Footprint—Ecological Accounting for a Small Planet/ The 11th Hour/ Empty Oceans, Empty Nets/The End of Suburbia/The Farmer and the Horse/ Flow/Gasland/God's Gift of Wild and Wonderful Land/The Great Squeeze/ The Great Warming/ Kilowatt Ours/ and lots more.

To order just go to the QEW Store on the QEW website, or contact the QEW office <info@quakerearthcare.org>; 802/425-3377; 173-b N. Prospect St., Burlington, VT 05401.