A shift from more to enough

Blog #1 Multi-Media Marathon:

Local Produce

According to a Free Press article this morning, small distributors are focusing on getting food to local restaurants, schools and grocery stores.

What: These local distributors are linking the small farms of Michigan with the state’s grocery stores, restaurants and schools.

Why: “About 43% of the $36 billion worth of food that Michiganders consume annually comes from Michigan, according to William Knudson, an agricultural economist at Michigan State University.”

(Why it’s important)

My thoughts: From the information presented in my current environmental studies course at OU, a push for local produce distributors ultimately leads to greater sustainability as a nation.

True sustainability is reaching a point where ‘our’ intake does not exceed our output. With local producers – and essentially buying produce from our neighbors rather than purchasing fruits and vegetables that are shipped across the country from California for instance, everyone can become truly sustainable.

The article Towards True Sustainability: Overcoming Consumerism lists a few ways to push each and every one of us towards sustainability. For instance: implementing the idea of “from more to enough.”

Self-explanatory and effective – we don’t need to produce so much food that it ends up sitting on a grocery shelf past it’s shelf life only to get tossed in the trash at the end of the week because we have “more” rather than “enough.”

With local producers, each and every one of these producers can focus on the population in that immediate area, therefore producing enough rather than too much.

Want more information?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpMQvBElWSM

http://www.freep.com/article/20091115/BUSINESS06/911150456/1318/Getting-Michigan-produce-to-buyers

http://www.weainfo.org/en/art/51/