Food Security in Clark County, Part 3 - Deston Denniston

Once again, I am pleased to bring you the latest installment in Deston Denniston's series of articles on Food Security in Clark County. Here's a teaser and a click on the link at the bottom of this post will take you to Deston's blog and the entire article.

Food Security in Clark County, Part 3

“The history of every nation is eventually written in the way in which it cares for its soil.”
-Franklin Roosevelt

Every farmer knows that the health of the soil is the key to productivity in the long run. Most are aware that industrial practices such as tilling, fertilizing, and bio-cide spraying, lead to the decline of soil health. However, lack of funds and free time to experiment with holistic methods keeps them trapped in negative feedback practices: in order to produce marketable goods, farms must provide volumes which are demanded by produce distributors and market collectives. If the farmer's volume is low, or the price high, these buyers will pass the farmer, and so force his or her hand to commit to practices which are known to be undesirable, even degenerative. The cumulative effects of this trend show up in our riparian zones and fisheries as silt, in our forests and fields as erosion, and in our production units as lower profit margins and losses. It shows up in our children as weak immune systems, and in our elders as cancer. It shows up in our air as pollution from the fossil fuel consumption and in our pocketbooks as a gouge.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Food Security in Clark County, Part 2 - Deston Denniston

I'm pleased to present to you the second part in Deston Denniston's report, Food Security in Clark County. You can read an excerpt here and a link at the bottom of the post will take you to Deston's blog and the entire article.

Food Security in Clark County, Part 2

How will Clark County Feed itself in 20 years?

What employment sector/s will be established to support the population, and how will development be managed so that current trends do not unfold into disaster?

The Clark County Comprehensive Plan 2003-2023, Draft 2004 [1], Chapter 9, lists employment sectors and population of workers in each sector. Curiously, the absence of Agriculture from the plan is complete; 'food' is only mentioned in relation to a few business names, and neither terms are included in any discussion of the counties economic stability and long term vision. The NASS, on the other hand, notes that Clark County was home to over 1500 farms in 2002, and that nearly 3000 people were employed on these farms. If these small farms were a single company, that company would be among the top five employers in the County. 2007 economic data shows that these farms generated $54M in gross product. That this kind of income and employment is written out of the Counties Economic Development plan demonstrates a sad lack of oversite. Those were different Comissioners, so given the current climate, I'll suggest that this matter be immediately addressed and trust the farm community to voice a concern over past patterns, and change them. I'd be happy to act as a point of contact and an advocate.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Food Security in Clark County - Deston Denniston

Deston Denniston has just started posting a series of reports on food security in Clark County over on his blog, Gardens in the Forest. This is some serious writing on a serious subject here folks. If you are someone who cares about food security, local agriculture, Clark County, the health of our community, or the safety of your family this is a must read. It's only too bad that our mainstream journalists have not been so outspoken about these issues. However, to give some credit to our local fishwrapper, the number of pro-local ag articles they've published over the last couple of years has substantially increased. Let's hope that one or two of them read Deston's food security series, pick up the ball, and run with it. This is a subject that we as a community cannot afford to ignore any longer.

Here's a little teaser from Deston's report for you:

Food Security in Clark County
an essay in parts, this being the first, the others above....

Preface

The report "Exploring the Clark County Food System" (1) clarifies in the exhaustive detail the situation and trends of Clark County food systems. They are, in many cases, failing to meet basic nutrition needs. As the recession escalates, these systems are prepared to deliver products which decrease the health of county residents, compound environmental degradation, and ship $700M out of the local economy annually. In other words, these systems will continue, barring some drastic and immediate changes, result in an overall and potentially catastrophic decline in quality of life. The good news is that these trends have leverage points and can be addressed and reversed; jobs can be created, our relative economy can prosper and ecology can be invigorated. The following essay, delivered in multiple installations, will look at current and key Clark county indicators, policy and practices, and follow up with input on strategies and key potentials which will provide opportunity for a halt and reversal of these disturbing trends.

Read the rest of the report by clicking here.

Clark County Food Systems Council Has Membership Openings

Just got this from Jessica Swanson over at Northbank Magazine. Thanks, Jessica!

This is a great opportunity for those who care about local food systems:

The Clark County Food System Council, a citizen advisory council whose mission is to increase and preserve access to safe, local and healthy food for Clark County residents, currently has membership openings. Council members share common interests and beliefs related to creating and maintaining a sustainable community food system. Members represent public health, nutrition and education, food security, waste management, resource conservation, agriculture, food distribution and community leaders.

The council meets monthly on the fourth Thursday of each month from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the CASEE Center, 11104 N.E. 149th St. in Brush Prairie.

Applications will be accepted through April 15. For more information and to receive an application, please contact Tricia Mortell at 360-397-8000 ext. 7211 or email tricia.mortell@clark.wa.gov.