Local Eating Challenge Reveals Gaps in Food Sources

As spring turned to summer this year, the Door County 100-mile Food Challenge came to an end for several area residents. A year ago these locavores entered into an agreement with themselves and Sustain Door, Inc. (http://www.sustaindoor.org) that they would increase the sourcing of their meals from growers and providers within a 100 mile radius of the borders of Door County.

Some ate a local meal once a week for the year, while others chose to eat exclusively local foods during the months that the farmers markets in Door County were open. The parameters of each individual’s challenge were self-determined.

Participants were pleased to find many sources of foods in Door County, including our farm markets, many farm stands, fisheries, fruit orchards, honey and maple syrups producers, and local meat producers. Participants reported that their food tasted better and that they were gratified to know under what conditions and by whom their food was raised.

Participants also identified some areas of difficulty in sourcing food locally, and wish to report these to the wider community with the hope that some of the gaps in local food distribution might be closed with local economic development and agricultural initiatives.

Local Food Source Gaps and Recommendations

Gap:  Local consumable grains are limited to wheat and corn. Oats, though grown readily in Door County, are not able to be processed here, and thus are unavailable to the consumer. Other grains such as rye, barley, sorghum, and buckwheat are also not readily available.

Recommendations:  Support the establishment of one or more grain mills which would include equipment such as a huller, to process a wider variety of grains for human consumption. Encourage growers to cultivate a wider variety of grains.

Gap:  Cooking oils are unavailable in Door County and the surrounding regions. Fats are limited to those derived from animal sources, such as butter and lard.

Recommendations:  Support the establishment of one or more oil pressing plants in Door County. Encourage growers to plant, in addition to soybeans, rapeseed, sunflower, etc. as oil crops.

Gap:  Local eaters needed to limit the variety of foods they enjoyed on a conventional diet. Foodstuffs not grown in this climate or only seasonally, and thus not available year around, are lacking from the locavore’s diet. These include citrus fruit, fresh greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, and many other items.

Recommendations:  Support greenhouse agriculture such as is done by some farmers locally (e.g. Amy Stich of Cherrydale Farm), and by other farmers in climates similar or more harsh than our own. (See for example, http://www.ontariogreenhouse.com). Support specialty food production operations.

Gap:  Although many local eaters enjoy working in their gardens and kitchens, growing, preserving, and preparing food, they are inconvenienced by the need to spend an atypical amount of time at these activities.

Recommendations:  Establish certified processing kitchens, possibly staffed by experienced food preservers, which are available for use by local growers for canning and drying of their harvests. (Excellent examples are the Algoma Farm Market Kitchen and the Oneida Nation Cannery.) Support the establishment of and diversification of local food processing operations including accommodations for artisan cheese making, sausage making, bread baking, pasta production, etc.

Gap:  Locavores in Door County find few opportunities to eat out. Although the awareness of the locavore market is increasing among restaurant owners and major effort is being made by some restaurants, the problem of distribution and acquisition of foodstuffs for use in local menu creation continues to impede growth in this area.

Recommendations:  Continue and improve the networking efforts already begun between farmers and restaurant and grocery owners to establish reliable farm-to-table trade. Support development of Community Supported Agriculture operations such as Steep Creek Farm and Door-to-Door Local Harvest (http://www.door2doorlocalharvest.wordpress.com). Encourage membership in and use of online networking resources such as http://www.greenleafmarket.com.

For more information about the Door County 100-mile Food Challenge and Sustain Door, Inc. visit http://www.sustaindoor.org.