Day 5

Today on my way to school I passed by a community garden like some we have read about in class, but I had never seen before. Across the street from the Carpinito Brothers farm there is a conservation farm Somali immigrants. The land is owned by a local business, and the Ethiopian population has been allowed to grow and use the land for traditional plants so long as they give a certain percentage to the local food bank.

Today in class I was talking about the local food challenge with several people during break, we sort of became a support group of sorts. This made me ask the question “Why is it so difficult to find local produce on a mass scale?” This question would eventually be answered through the readings and discussions throughout the class, but it is still disconcerting that local and seasonal foods are not as readily available as the mass-produced mono-cropped vegetables.

I also went to a local butcher today. I was expecting that locally raised a slaughtered meat would be much more expensive then the grocery store, but I was wrong. The prices were very competitive, and even cheaper in some instances.