08.11.05
A Meditation on Frustration
Eating locally is being a pretty big challenge here in Arizona. Supposedly we are an agricultural state, and we could potentially grow food all year here, but we import SO much of our food. I’ve decided not to let it get me down, because this Challenge has been allowing me the opportunity to explore the available resources, and talk to people about local food.
My friend J of the Chickens (pictures soon, I promise!) has attempted a similar personal challenge in previous years. He says that one of the problems is that the state and local governments here are not really focused on supporting local agriculture in a way that would give growers incentive to keep food in the state. There is much more money in, say, exporting lettuce from Yuma to New York City.
The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm that I participate in had some irrigation problems earlier this year, so the crops that would normally be available in August are not available. That was a pretty big blow to my whole plan. I also found out that a different farm had decided to close. I can’t remember exactly what the problem was (I’ll post if I can find the email), but ultimately the grower couldn’t make it economically viable to continue.
I could list more problems that I have encountered, but I think I’ll discuss some of the interesting finds and positive aspects of my participation in the Eat Local Challenge.
I managed to find out that there are several vegetables that are in season during our HOT HOT HOT summer months. My CSA farmer, Kelly, emailed this information to me:
The veggies that are in season right now are all squashes and zucchini, winter squashes (like spaghetti squash, acorn squash, butternut squash), okra, cucumbers, eggplant, black-eyed peas, all melons (watermelons, cantaloupe, french melons, canary melons, honeydew, etc.), corn and basil. Tomatoes and peppers are technically also in season…but, mine tend to burn this time of year since they’re completely exposed in the fields. So, I usually just keep the tomato and pepper plants alive this time of year and wait for the weather to cool a little a then start harvesting from them again.
Kelly runs Desert Roots Farm in Queen Creek, and has provided me with lots of great veggies over the last year or so. I didn’t realize how much I enjoy her veggies and how much better they are than grocery store veggies, until I had to go on a CSA sabatical because of my early summer travel plans. And now that I have to wait until the end of August… I’m dyin’ here! Really though, it’s just an example of how dependent we are on a variety of factors, some of which are not within our control.
Next: Sandwiches in the Southwest
jen said,
August 12, 2005 at 8:10 am
I read that article about the farm closing too - and the thing that struck me was that they were going to close up shop in AZ and move to Maine … definitely tells me something about Maine’s acceptance of small organic farms vs. Arizona.