November 1st marked the official start of the 7th annual conference of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), a dynamic convergence of hundreds of individuals, from farmers to urban community activists, concerned with the food that is making its way onto our plates and into our bodies. Community food security, as defined by the CFSC, is "all persons obtaining at all times a culturally acceptable nutritionally adequate diet through local non-emergency sources." How to achieve this effectively through coordinated participation across diverse sectors of society is the focus of this year's conference in Boston.

Just as the challenge of achieving food security is tremendous -- conference participants are finding -- so too is the potential that exists and the headway that has already been made. This could not have been illustrated more powerfully than it was though a series of pre-conference tours which took place this past weekend, setting the scene for the main portion of the CFSC conference. The following is an account of the first pre-conference tour, which took place on Saturday, November 1st.

Finding Food Security in Western Massachusetts

This trip out to Western Massachusetts highlighted innovative measures towards food security in an area endowed with abundant natural resources and breathtaking beauty. Yet, this area is suffering the loss of industries and the dwindling of small-scale family farms that have traditionally formed the backbone of its economy. Anne Cheatham of CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) -- an organization dedicated to promoting and sustaining agriculture in Western Massachusetts -- orchestrated and led this trip.

The first stop on our tour was Nuestras Raices (Spanish for "our roots") in the city of Holyoke, MA. Paper mills once provided the majority of jobs in this city made up of mostly Latino immigrants, and their closure has caused the local economy to suffer, fueling gang violence, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and other challenges faced by the Holyoke community. Nuestras Raices is a grassroots organization that tackles these challenges by promoting economic, human, and community development in Holyoke focused around urban agriculture. They have eight full-fledged community gardens with involvement of over 100 families and two additional gardens dedicated to their youth gardening and leadership program. Through this program, older residents, many of whom are from rural Puerto Rico, pass on knowledge to the youth, giving them gardening skills and connecting them with their roots. The youth then go on garden as well as manage a farmers market that enables urban gardeners to market their produce within their communities at an affordable price.

After meeting with a number of youth and adults involved with Nuestras Raices, we headed into the country where we spent the remainder of our day. Our first stop in the country was the Food Bank Farm in Hadley, MA, run by the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. The food bank, working through its distributing agencies, collects and distributes a tremendous amount of food (nearly 7 million pounds a year), and serves 13% of the region's population.

The farm is a means of increasing the amount of fresh produce that the food bank is able to distribute. In growing for the food bank, the farm managers focus on vegetables that are in high demand and/or that are not being gleaned or donated from other sources. All the produce is grown organically. A particularly impressive aspect of the farm is that it is not grant-dependent and is able to cover its own operating costs through the running of a community supported agriculture (CSA) project.

CSA members are also able to purchase a number of locally produced value-added products during CSA distribution, including, we were excited to see, bread from El Jardin Bakery (a project of Nuestra Raices). Roughly half of the food grown on the farm goes to its CSA members, and half to the food bank. The food bank further supports local food systems and accesses fresh produce through its commitment to use 30% of its funding from the MA Department of Food and Agriculture for purchasing from local growers.

Finding "Flayvor" at Cook Farm

Following our visit to the Food Bank Farm was a visit to Cook Farm, a five-generation dairy farm that started in 1902. Beth and her husband Gordon run the farm with several of their children, and despite the challenges they face as small-scale dairy farmers, they hope to keep the farm in the family for years to come. Committed to sustainable practices, they grow their own feeds and raise their cattle without hormones or antibiotics. An exciting new development at Cook Farm is the recent opening of "Flayvors of Cook Farm," a farm shop/restaurant named after a special cow at Cook farm named Fayvor.

After a terrific lunch followed by homemade ice cream sandwiches and a tour through Flayvors restaurant and farm shop, our group headed to the Seeds of Solidarity Farm in Orange, MA. Seeds of Solidarity is both a working family farm and a nonprofit education center. The energy behind it all are Ricky Baruc and Debbi Habib, a dynamic couple that epitomize the concept of thinking globally and acting locally. After going on a pilgrimage throughout war-torn countries of the world, including Iraq, a number of years ago, Debbie and Ricky decided that they would not contribute any further to petroleum wars, and this decision is reflected in both their roles as farmers and educators. According to Ricky, "Food security is all about addressing our oil addiction -- we're all about post fossil fuels." Rather than rely on heavy machinery to till their land, Deb and Pete use a fascinating method of laying down cardboard and straw which gets broken down by worms, leaving the soil ideal for planting.

Our last stop before heading back to Boston was to Cider Day festivities at a nearby orchard, New Salem Orchard and Preserves in New Salem, MA. Cider Day is one many special events supported by CISA "to get people out to the farms, meeting the farmers, and understanding why it important to support them," according to Annie Cheatham. As part of cider day activities, participants were able to assist in apple cider making, sample a number of apple-based treats, and enjoy displays of local craftspeople.

After having our fill of freshly made cider and caramel apples, learning about the rich history of the New Salem Orchard (which contains all sorts of interesting apple varieties and has some apple trees that are a hundred years old), and getting a last glimpse of the beautiful landscape surrounding us, we headed back into the bus to Boston, attempting to digest all that we had learned about food security during one amazing day.

Please stay tuned for additional reports from the Community Food Security Coalition Conference over the next few days.