We Work in Beauty growers are very interested in securing a local food supply for our community. As awareness grows about the flaws of the current system for getting food to the table, which is not at all local or secure, food security has become a hot topic. Popular books recently published such as Barabara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Gary Nabhan’s Coming Home to Eat have brought the issue to the forefront of discussion nationwide.
Many groups have been working on regional food security since the 1990s and their successes have been described in the October, 2007 report by the Community Food Security Coalition. Click this link to download the (1.4MB) Building Community Food Security document which reflects on the successes of projects that have been building local food systems from 1999-2003.
An excerpt from Building Community Food Security:
Across the country, people are working in their com-
munities to increase the availability of healthy, locally
grown food for their fellow residents. Some are
helping small farmers successfully market their prod-
ucts in underserved areas, while others are engaging
urban youth in growing vegetables or learning how
to prepare healthy foods. Yet others are adding fresh
fruits and vegetables to the food boxes that low-
income families can obtain from local food pantries.
Many are developing community food assessments to
document their area’s food resources and needs so as
to help develop local policies to increase food securi-
ty and strengthen the local economy.
