Farmers’ market musings

Mary Kelley
Sunday morning, and the news preceding Lian Hanson’s voice on
NPR’s Weekend Edition was all about Africa. In Tunisia, a Jasmine
Revolution had spread to Egypt, Sudan, and possibly other countries
in North Africa. Those who were seemingly powerless, are finding a
voice, connecting via Facebook, via twitter, to organize and bring
down authoritarian leaders. There is also the news that Nelson
Mandela is being released from a hospital in South Africa, instead
of a prison, to cries of joy. Africa. Too often, I tune out Africa.
Don’t we have enough to do to keep California afloat? But on this
Sunday I am paying attention, because the night before I learned
that my friend Susan Gannon had passed away after devoting most her
life to Africa.
Susan and I both graduated from UC Berkeley, and we helped each
other through grueling statistics and calculus and classes on the
economics of agriculture. So many numbers crunched, and it all
boiled down to a few very simple truths: There is enough food in
the world for people to feed themselves. The problems lie in the
distribution of food, the manipulations of trade, and the use of
food as a weapon, or as a tool to balance trade deficits. There are
also the problems caused by unsustainable extraction of resources
and pollution. We were warned. Our future would involve decisions
about the scarcity of clean water, energy, toxics, food safety and
security, genetic engineering, and much more. The biggest threats
to people who farmed sustainably were the political threats by the
greedy and the powerful.
After all the studies, the solutions seemed so simple: Keep
local communities growing their own food and feeding their own
people. Susan, who was raised in New York, chose to go to Africa
after graduation. I chose to stay in California. We lost track of
each other until we found each other via Facebook.
A recent graph in Time Magazine, showed the results of a survey
of “What connects you to your community?” conducted by The National
Building Museum. The results showed percentage changes since 1996:
Percent attending weekly religious service – 4%; public library
use, per capita visits + 19%; active Facebook users + 50,000%;
numbers of Farmers’ Markets + 154%
I wish the chart showed the numbers of people attending Farmers’
Markets. The survey only asks if those being surveyed connect with
people in their community when they are shopping, but it does not
break down what kind of shopping. The statistic for the number of
Farmers’ Markets actually came from the US Department of
Agriculture. Who knows how many people actually benefit from
connecting at Farmers’ Markets, while at the same time supporting
local agriculture. I have been asked by numerous people to take a
head count (and that request has not come from board members or
farmers) by standing at the entrance to the market and clicking a
counter. I do not want to do that. The years of quantifying things
are behind me, although I do find it interesting that a chart in
Time magazine supports my gut feeling about what connects us.
I read that the Jasmine Revolution started at a fruit cart in a
small Tunisian town. After a policewoman ordered the fruit vendor
to move his street cart, and slapped him, the young man sought
justice. When he was turned away from the Governor’s office on Dec.
17, he set himself on fire. He died a few weeks later. The
frustrations of the seemingly powerless began to revolt against
authoritarian regimes, and social media connected them.
Susan passed away as all of this was happening. I am not sure
what she did as an agricultural economist, but I know she was the
kind of person who wanted to do justice, and who loved kindness,
and who walked humbly. Susan reminds me that there are Americans
who care how our agricultural policies influence the price of corn
in Mexico, the price of pears in Ukiah, and of the availability of
NON-Genetically Modified seed availability in Africa.
We don’t need any more studies, and analysis, and quantification
to tell us how important it is to maintain healthy local
agriculture. The simple solution is for customers to purchase real
food directly from their neighbors, eat what is in season, look at
the labels in the grocery store, and avoid purchasing food grown in
distant lands and shipped long distances.
Mary Kelley is the manager of the Healdsburg Farmers’ Market.
The market is dormant for the winter.