Hello everyone! We hope you had an event filled Memorial Day weekend and are ready to have some summer fun. Here at Pathfinder Produce, we’re here to help you with your produce needs, including the fresh veggies and fruits for your family cookouts, graduation parties, and other get-togethers. We hope to see you at the Village Commons this Thursday, May 30, from noon to 5 p.m.
This week, our Hoop House produce is starting to come in -- all
types of greens for your delicious garden salads! Unless you grow it yourself,
it doesn’t get any fresher!
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| Pathfinder Hoop House Spinach ... just picked! |
Thankfully,
in time for Pathfinder’s Splash Path 5k and other local events, the weather was
pleasant. This past weekend was beautiful too, perfect for our communities’
Memorial Day observances. But more drizzle is in the forecast this week.
Unfortunately
for America’s corn farmers, the lingering wet weather is making this season
tough. In the Midwest, estimates indicate that not even half the corn crop has
been planted and the window for getting seeds in the ground is
closing. Our local farmers have been challenged too: I detect notes
of urgency when I hear our neighbors running their planting equipment from very
early in the morning through very late at night.
As
the farmer fares, so fares the country: If wet weather continues to affect
crops, we will all pay more for processed foods and for many corn-based
products. Any foods that contain corn, corn syrup, HFCS, corn oil, corn
starch, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, ascorbic acid, di-glycerides, ethel acetate,
acetic acid, citric acid and vanilla extract (to name a few derivatives), could
become less available and/or more expensive.
As
most livestock animals are fed diets rich in corn, a bad corn crop will affect
the price and availability of beef, pork and poultry. And even filling up at
the pump will be more expensive, as most of the gasoline we use contains 10%
of corn-based ethanol.
Our
entire ag economy and national farm policy are geared toward monoculture crops
like corn; because of changing weather patterns and pest issues impacted by
rising global temperatures, we are at risk. This blog
post from the College of Natural Sciences, University of
Massachusetts-Amherst lays out convincing arguments for transitioning away from
crop monocultures. The key to stable food systems is to diversify crops, change
Farm Bill policies, and do away with monoculture subsidies. Biodiversity
protects crops from widespread pest infestation and can result in cultivars
that are more resilient to changes in growing conditions.
As
noted on the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization page on the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources:
Local
crop varieties—also known as landraces or farmers’ varieties—can be essential
to the food, nutrition and economic security of many people—particularly
smallholder farmers and farming communities in rural and marginal areas. The
diversity in these varieties can provide insurance against crop failure and
wide cropping windows, while the crop produce may be central to traditional
local cuisine and specific dietary requirements. Furthermore, these diverse
varieties are an important source of locally adapted genes for the improvement
of other crops.
Despite
the wide recognition of the importance of local crop varieties and the role of
farmers and other crop maintainers in sustaining them, the enabling environment
to advocate their continued cultivation has been eroded, partly due to the
promotion and widespread adoption of high yielding uniform varieties. Many
diverse local varieties have therefore been lost along with the knowledge
associated with their cultivation and use.
While
a supportive legal framework for the sale of seed and cultivation of local crop
varieties is lacking in many countries, there are activities that can help to
enhance their value and sustained use, as well as to support the creation of
new diversity in situ. This may in turn serve to inform and influence the
development of a more appropriate, supportive policy environment.
In
a nutshell, we need to diversify our food systems, eat local and support local
farmers, and get active in how our national farm policies are structured.
Until
next time, stay dry and be well,
Lori
