{"id":7811,"date":"2016-06-03T20:17:10","date_gmt":"2016-06-03T20:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/?p=7811"},"modified":"2016-06-03T20:17:10","modified_gmt":"2016-06-03T20:17:10","slug":"local-food-alliance-is-working-toward-a-sustainable-food-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/03\/local-food-alliance-is-working-toward-a-sustainable-food-system\/","title":{"rendered":"LOCAL FOOD ALLIANCE IS WORKING TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY JEFF BACON<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Blaine County\u2019s Local Food Alliance is on a mission, and what and how you eat is in their sights.<\/p>\n

Started in 2013 as a way to pull together the myriad agencies and organizations that work with and for sustainably produced food in the Wood River Valley, Local Food Alliance actively recruits disciples, finds better ways to educate consumers on the benefits of regionally produced food, and connects them to the farmers who produce it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways, Blaine County is considered a food desert,\u201d says Ali Long, the organization\u2019s executive director. \u201cDespite the fact that we are surrounded by agriculture, 95 percent of the food we consume in this county is produced thousands of miles away. Weather, economic and political conditions create unstable and unreliable access to fresh, nutrient-dense food, free of pesticides, chemicals and additives that cause serious health problems. Our goal is to help the county grow its capacity to produce its own clean, nutritious food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using a model of a \u201cbackbone organization\u201d from Stanford\u2019s Center for Social Innovation, Local Food Alliance coordinates and facilitates numerous local organizations that have recently collaborated to lay the groundwork to assess the county\u2019s current local food system. \u201cThe Blaine County Food Assessment \u2013 now called the Blaine County Food Council \u2013 is an important initiative to identify resources and gaps in our current food system,\u201d adds Ali. \u201cNow that we have some good, basic information, we can begin to fill existing holes and build a trustworthy, reliable and resilient source of food for the Wood River Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds easy enough. If a significant number of people want locally produced fresh food, and there are companies to provide it, what could go wrong? During a recent visit to the Wood River Valley, farmer, advocate and speaker Joel Salatin noted, \u201cOur government is consistently in our way. No matter how many people want these kinds of local options, government regulations and restrictions hamper this kind of trade. Their goal is to make it easier for the large, corporate food producers and restrict the smaller, local version. It\u2019s a frustrating reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So what can be done to help change this current reality? According to Ali, it\u2019s pretty simple. \u201cGet to know our farmers and grow something \u2013 anything \u2013 yourself. Our growing season isn\u2019t as short as it seems, and there are plenty of innovative techniques to extend it and expand the bounty. Local and regional food systems are a powerful and reassuring way to address individual, community, economic and environmental health. Gardener, canner, cook, eater or composter \u2013 we each play at least one role. Make an effort to understand how to \u201cvote with your fork\u201d and leverage these roles toward powerful solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be on the lookout for information, events and opportunities to engage with local food. \u201cLocal Food Alliance publishes monthly newsletters, hosts screenings, and uses our website and social media to keep the community current. People tell us how empowering it is to have this information,\u201d Ali notes. \u201cThe more people and organizations we can connect with this movement, the better its chance for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Bacon is the Hailey Chamber of Commerce\u2019s membership director. For more information, visit www.haileyidaho.com or call the Chamber at (208) 788-3484.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY JEFF BACON Blaine County\u2019s Local Food Alliance is on a mission, and what and how you eat is in their sights. Started in 2013 as a way to pull together the myriad agencies and organizations that work with and for sustainably produced food in the Wood River Valley, Local Food Alliance actively recruits disciples, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chamber-corner","8":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}