ThereÕs a growing trend towards eating locally sourced produce, and why shouldnÕt there be? After all, local food is far healthier than produce that is sourced from far away. Unfortunately though, most food items in the US are picked a good week before they find their way into the supermarket shelves, and they also travel a good 1,500 miles to their final destination. This is enough time for produce to lose nutritional content, and the safety of the preservatives needed to ensure that they can make the journey have been at the receiving end of much debate.
All of this has been made possible due to the subsidization of large scale food production and low cost of transportation, which only increases carbon emissions required to get the food from one place to another. These practices also do a lot to discourage local producers, all the while getting food that is more or less unhealthy onto your tables.
These pressing issues surrounding the importance of local foods is why organizations such as Tidal Creek Food Co-op and Feast Down East exist. Feast Down East is committed to creating a fully integrated food system, which means that they help local farmers to connect with restaurants, grocers, schools and hospitals.
FDE has quit a few programs in place that help them to help the farmers. The Farm to Chef Program for instance, helps farmers and chefs create working relationships that are beneficial to both.
The SENC Foods Processing and Distribution Program launched by FDE helps the farmers find and deliver their products to restaurants, grocers, schools and hospitals.
Besides helping the farmers find a local market to sell their produce in, the FDE also helps raise awareness about the importance of buying locally grown produce via their Feast Down East
ÒBuy LocalÓ Campaign. There are certain advantages to be enjoyed by doing so Ð a sustainable integrated local food system can help you access nutritious food affordably, while also ensuring that you help to preserve the local farmlands, and natural wildlife reserves.
So, if you want to learn how you can be part of this movement, then the Feast Down East/SENCFS 5th Annual Conference at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington is an event you will not want to miss!
The conference will be held on Friday, Feb 6th, 2015. You can register for the conference by clicking here. For farmers, food buyers, and members of general public, price per ticket is $13.28. For guests representing Government and Civic Agencies, price per ticket is $35. Speaker, sponsors and vendor registration, entry is free of charge.
Register soon! The price of registration will go up to $20 for members of the general public and $45 for representatives of government and civic agencies on the day of the conference. It is highly advisable that you get yourself registered as soon as possible.
Beginning at 9:30, the conference will cover a plethora of topics such as the business of farming, how can farmers sell more, how to increase foot traffic at a farmerÕs market and solar energy for farms, among others.
There will also be 4 micro workshops for farmers conducted from 2:15 to 3:45, these will include Basics of GAP Certification by Trish Tripp, Decoding the Farm Bill by James Robinson, Food Modernization Act Update by Jared Cartes, and finally SNAP Access for FarmerÕs Markets by Mike McCreary.
The conference will provide plenty of networking opportunities for farmers, and local businesses such as grocers, representatives of schools, restaurants and hospitals, so be sure you are there! See the Feast Down East website for more details and information about their cause.
