Letter to the Editor - Mountain Express, 17 Nov. 2008

The season is turning. The harvest is in.  It is time to give thanks.  It is no coincidence that we celebrate our gratitude with a feast of food.  Food is what brings us together.  Food is the ever-present reminder of our connection with the abundance and mystery of nature.   Knowingly or unknowingly we have been given a feast of knowledge and inspiration from a variety of local gardens in the last week.

The ERC set the table initiating a discussion group about sustainable food systems “Menu for the Future”. Community Rising served an appetizer event at the Community Library,  “The True Cost of Food” that introduced local producers and generated a discussion about the hidden price of factory agriculture.   The Sawtooth Botanical Garden served up Rosalind Creasy, the inventor of the term “Edible Garden”, for a lecture and series of cooking events based on her books.  Sun Valley Center for the arts followed with a main course of Michael Pollan.  Mr. Pollen helped us understand that by eating local, eating less and eating whole foods, we each are voting with our fork to reduce energy consumption, lower carbon footprint, increase health, and create community.  The dessert was a real feast of local foods and community at the Next Stage Theater, put on by Idaho’s Bounty a web based food co-op that connects local producers with markets in Blaine County and Boise.  Over 200 people gathered around great food and wine supplied by local chefs and restaurants.
As an astute official noted at this summers spike in food prices, civilization is only nine meals from anarchy.  We depend upon energy, transportation, and agricultural systems that are vulnerable, brittle and over extended.  Last week’s offerings should fuel our will to build a robust and economically sound food shed that brings more resilience, healthier food, and a more interdependent community year round.  We don’t know what the future brings, but we do know we will need to eat.
 
Dale Bates
Steering Committee
Community Rising