Diversifying agriculture is imperative for civilization to survive the next century. We need grains and staples, and can be thankful that most of the billions of people on Earth get adequate nutrition. However, it has become clear that we cannot rely on fossil fuel dependent, mechanized and commidified agriculture to meet local food security needs, much less build community well being and resiliency. Energy, climate, war and prioritizing profits are all signaling that we need to change to value more local participatory food production. Trade and fresh tropical fruit all winter are great, but not at the cost of climate instability that takes food from our children.
At this time, the federal government and big ag are neglecting local production. That is where community groups are stepping up to fill in present day nutrition gaps and push us towards more local food security.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this diary are those of the author alone. No other individuals or organizations, including the CCUA or any of its members, funded, contributed to or attempted to influence this report.
The Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture has been contributing to food production in Mid-Missouri for nearly a decade. Over this time, they have built up means to produce locally demanded produce, partnered with food pantries to get fresh food to those who need it most, and worked with hundreds of households to help families grow more in their own spaces. It is a valuable resource for Mid-Missouri, and a model for other communities.
I was thrilled to tour a CCUA location on May 19th with their Toolkit Coordinator, Beth Teska. Here is a video of that visit posted on Youtube.
In this nearly hour long tour, we get to see and hear about a good portion of the CCUA’s work. They have done a tremendous job of not only improving local production, but also integrating their work with community needs. A brief and incomplete list of what they do is as follows.
- Regenerate disturbed and compacted park soil for bountiful fruit and vegetable production
- Partner with the food pantry to learn which produce the community seeks
- Provide same day fresh produce for those who need it most
- Train households to grow more on their own property
- Work with schools on agriculture education
- Host day long programs for school kids
- Build community good will, well being, food security and resiliency
One thing they don’t do is make it easy. It takes hard work to produce our food, especially when we utilize human power for diverse cropping systems, as opposed to large scale, gas powered mechanized field crop agriculture. Those field crops have their place, but are not sufficient for sustainable agriculture. We need more resilient local production systems.
The CCUA’s work has depended on volunteers and donors. Please help them as you can. They have been working on the municipal level with insufficient resources to give helpers as much as they deserve for feeding people.
What we really need is more state-wide and nationally coordinated efforts. A WPA level of commitment to diverse agriculture can go a long way towards fostering security, health and a sense of community throughout the United States. Individual organizations, such as the CCUA, are doing as much as they can to help us thrive to the next century. Today, I am here to recognize these efforts. As a nation, we can do more. So, I am also calling on federal level commitment to evolve and adapt our food production for our changing climates, energy resources and growing communities.
Thanks for reading and watching. I am interested in continuing to visit and report on ag and other community projects. Please send me suggestions on other groups and sites to report on as you wish.