Making
Politics Palatable
By Jill Wendholt Silva, quotes Mary Hendrickson
Kansas City Star
June 22, 2005
Online at: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/columnists/jill_silva/11949772.htm
A decade of
activism brings more local food to the table
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On a chilly Sunday night in February, members of the Kansas City Food Circle huddle at Emily Libla’s rambling Victorian home. In addition to apples, popcorn and organic potato chips, Libla offers her guests a plate of homemade brownies. But these are not just any homemade brownies. They contain free-trade organic chocolate and locally grown and milled flour from Soaring Eagle Farms in Edgerton in Johnson County. Long before most consumers ever dream of eating their first tender stalk of asparagus from Wood Mood Gardens in Higginsville, Mo., or a sprightly salad of spring greens from Catherine Pavicich’s Home Grown Vegetables in Kansas City, Kan., a dozen or so kitchen-table food activists are already planning their annual Farmer’s Expo, a one-day indoor market held at the beginning of the growing season so farmers can connect with consumers. The Food Circle is the offspring of the Kansas City Greens party and the Unitarian Universalist church, both groups that emphasize the interconnectedness of the environment, economics, politics and health. Credit for much of the vision for and early planning of the group goes to Ben Kjelshus, the 82-year-old founding member of the Kansas City Greens and a former Unitarian Universalist minister. After several promising workshops and expos in the ’80s, the group formed an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization in 1994. As with any grassroots campaign, the Food Circle members ponder how to best spread the word about the upcoming Farmer’s Expo with limited funds. Radio spots on the public radio station affiliate are only $50 to $60, although radio has never been a big draw for the group. “That’s because you had it on Rush Limbaugh!” someone teases. The room erupts in laughter, but when the levity dies down, Craig Volland, a snowy-haired, 60-something environmental consultant who once ran against former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver in an effort to gain attention for underdog social causes, interjects a bit of PC wisdom. “Actually, a lot of people who listen to him want pure food as much as we do,” he says. After a decade of community outreach, the Food Circle has rejected the notion that interest in organic and natural foods is a red or blue issue. Just as people from across the economic and ideological spectrum are looking for new ways to relate to their food, liberals are joining with conservatives to champion the family farmer and organic foods, currently the fastest-growing segment in agriculture. The Food Circle’s mission is to educate the public about the environmental and health dangers of industrial-scale, petrochemical-dependent agriculture. To change the system they work to increase the demand for regionally grown food from farms within a 120-mile radius. Their ultimate goal is to help small organic family farmers with a commitment to sustainable agriculture stay on their land. To connect farmers with consumers, the group plans annual expos. The markets have attracted between 1,000 and 1,200 people. In recent years the group has expanded its outreach with a second location north of the Rriver. The group also answers a hot line and publishes a producer’s directory. The 2005 edition of the directory contains contact information for 46 local farmers, along with instructions on the “nuts and bolts” of buying local, such as farmers markets, community-supported agriculture (CSAs) and buying clubs. “The Food Circle is very grass roots — probably the most grass roots thing I’ve ever been associated with,” says Volland. Ahead of their time Kjelshus had grown up on a farm. He also had a master’s degree in social work and was working as an energy planner in the Kansas City planning department. Always keenly aware of energy issues, Kjelshus maintains that shipping food an average of 1,300 miles from field to fork not only reduces the safety, health, nutrition and biodiversity of the food supply but also affects the economic self-sufficiency of a region. “The cost of energy is a big part of the cost of food,” he says. “The more ready we are to have food grown in our region, the better off we’ll be. It makes all the sense in the world.” By the mid ’90s Mary Hendrickson was studying alternative food systems when she decided to write her thesis on the Kansas City Food Circle. “I was totally intrigued,” says Hendrickson, a professor of rural sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “Lots of groups focused on sustainable and organic, but there was no group that wanted to talk about people’s relationship to food.” Hendrickson discovered that members of the Food Circle were concerned with a host of issues, including how far food is shipped, the humane treatment of animals, the plight of rural communities, the use of chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides and hormones, and land use issues for farmers. “They were really ahead of their time,” says Hendrickson. “They are one of the first groups in the nation to express these ideas … People feel like they got disconnected from the food system. They don’t want placeless food or faceless food … The best part of what Food Circle can do is emphasize the farmer relationship.” A food activist is born And it is a theme currently echoed by Slow Food, a movement out of Italy that focuses on fostering a sense of community and a connection to the food system through the act of dining. Chef Jasper Mirabile says Food Circle has been able to introduce him to a host of local farmers who conduct seminars and tasting for the local Slow Food chapter. “Any of the people they bring to us, we try to work with,” says Mirabile. “We use them as a network.” Food Circle, however, focuses more on politics than pleasure. Members tend to come at their mission from various social perspectives rather than a purely gastronomical point of view. For instance, Kjelshus, a former urban planner, predicts an energy crisis on the horizon. Volland is a longtime Sierra Club member. Libla, a member of the Faces of Food Coalition with People for Animal Rights, is concerned about the impact of large-scale factory farms. Rebecca Graff lived in San Francisco through the ’90s where she was an activist working on fair and affordable housing issues before she decided to return to her family farm in Kearney. Despite growing up on a farm, Graff admits farming was never on her radar screen until she became part of a vegetable subscription service. “The lightbulb went off at some point that this was something I could do and go back to the family farm,” she says. Before heading back home, she interned on a farm in New York, where she met Tom Ruggieri, an environmental engineer with aspirations to attend culinary school. Graff and Ruggieri are co-owners of Fair Share Farm. The 280-acre farm devotes five acres to vegetables that they distribute through a 50-member subscription service. New and active members of the Food Circle, Graff and Ruggieri view the group as an extension of what they do. For many farmers, marketing their wares is something they have little time for. “Our job is to grow the best vegetables we can — organically. And that takes up pretty much all the time we would have for marketing,” says Graff. Now in their third year of farming, Graff says they are optimistic about the future. “It seems every day we’re finding more people who are getting interested in local food.” Likewise, farmers with a broad spectrum of social interests are finding common political ground. “There’s everything from the very religious conservative to the very hippie traditional organic farmer (in the Food Circle),” says Graff. “This is the one issue that we come together on.” Staying on message “The mere fact I got 75 people outraged by the current food system is great,” says Kiebler, who works part-time as a liquor store clerk to give him flexibility to work on myriad social and political causes. With little money and manpower, organizing such activities is difficult. issue But Volland is proud to see new members such as Kiebler joining the ranks of aging activists like himself. As he sits at a table drinking juice at YJ’s, a groovy café in the Crossroads Art District, Volland reveals he once ran in a primary against former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver. He got just 2 percent of the vote. But the campaign was worth it as a way to draw attention to the issues he cares about. “I’m convinced the conventional food system is not healthy. I believe there is too much about it that is questionable, and I’m not going to touch it,” he says. Now his once-fringe cause appears to be going mainstream. “There’s really no magic to it,” Volland says. “We’re nothing more than a catalyst. Our total budget in a year is less than $10,000. That’s nothing. We’re just a volunteer organization supported almost entirely by donations.” The days of flying under the radar may be waning, yet over the years the Food Circle has remained true to its grassroots beginnings. “We’ve had a consistent message that has never changed,” Volland says. “Do what’s best for our farmer members.” To reach Jill Wendholt Silva, food editor for The Star, call (816) 234-4347 or e-mail jsilva@kcstar.com Local bread pudding 1/2 loaf Fervere pain de campagne Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut bread into six slices and then cube. Place bread on baking sheet and toast in oven about 30 minutes. Combine softened butter and honey. Beat until it has the consistency of honey butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and spices and continue beating. Add milk and beat until combined. Place toasted bread cubes in a large bowl and add milk mixture. Push down the toasted pieces until all the cubes are covered and allow to soak 30 minutes to absorb the mixture. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Sprinkle the toasted pecans into the mixture and stir. Spoon mixture into a 9- by 13-inch baking dish and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Per serving: 325 calories (46 percent from fat), 17 grams
total fat (7 grams saturated), 74 milligrams cholesterol, 39 grams
carbohydrates, 7 grams protein, 249 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber. Source: Food Circle member Lee Alexander |