Presenters were really stepping back from the microphone to take a look at the big picture this morning, as stakeholders in the culinary tourism and local food system movement charted the progress thus far and challenges ahead for the gastronomic phenomena that has seen the word LOCAL slapped up against just about everything in the consumer world.

And so it is with mixed blessing that I return from today’s Culinary Tourism Summit at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair. First off, no this isn’t like the Slow Food Movement’s Terra Madre where invite only food connoisseurs rub shoulders with artisanal agricultural producers from the world over. This was, however, a timely event where paid attendees (in my case) could listen in as Ontario’s Culinary Tourism Associations (Savour Muskoka, The Taste Trail of Prince Edward County, etc.) reported in on the year that was, and a number of small producer associations from around southern Ontario faced up about their experiences linking producers with restaurant and institutional buyers in the city. Needless to say, the room was filled with boundless optimism as reports continue to suggest that people are paying attention like never before to what they eat, and tourists are now planning vacations based on where they will eat and what.

So food matters, right?

And if we are entering a new era, if globalized supply chains really are coming to an end, and our society is again realizing the blessed rationality of eating as much as possible within our own food shed, why am I not jumping for joy?

Perhaps it’s because it didn’t feel as though we had solved all the world’s problems in that room today even though at one point we came very close to admitting what the problem is. The discussion was at the intersection of farmer and consumer, the issue, naturally, arriving at price and distribution.

“How do we arrive at a fair price for local food, one that meets the farmers needs and yet competes on price with cheap mainstream (often imported) product, such that more consumers will switch to buying local? Or is there enough added value in the local produce, including local environmental, social, and economic benefits, that the customer won’t mind paying a bit more? Is there a role here for the public purse to make up the difference and compensate local farmers for environmental services that they provide, or should the free market ultimately dictate who succeeds and who fails?”

See where I’m going with this?

We’ve seen now with both the current Global Financial Crisis and the Climate Change Crisis, a need for a not so invisible hand to intervene and attempt to re balance these systems, without which it is quite clear they could completely fail. In the case of the economy, failure wouldn't necessarily mean certain death, but hardships for us all no doubt. Long term climate collapse is certainly not a reality any of us would wish to leave with our children, and likewise the shortcomings of the food status quo.

Well, our food system is failing producers and consumers alike and correcting it will require governments to back local producers (just like we are our domestic banks and industries) to keep them afloat…and they have been. But rather than dishing huge support payments to industrial scale cash croppers, we should be seeding grassroots movements like local food with public funding because this movement embodies the creativity and entrepreneurship that is missing from the entitlement minded “Farmers Feed Cities” conventional agricultural community.

On the contrary, we in the local food movement are working to breach the divide between farmers and cities by bringing fresh food right from our farm into peoples homes and restaurants, as well as bringing school children and their families out to our farms to demonstrate what a positive impact we can bring to our communities by supporting small-scale ecologically minded producers.

Will this be enough, is I guess the question. Will local food ever move beyond culinary tourism and displace the processed/packaged TV dinners and the like from the dinner tables of all too many households? Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like we need to inject a bit more social justice into the culinary tourism / local food movement, which at this point in time seems to be dominated by celebrity chefs, crafty politicians, and well-to-do foodies in search of the next wave in food.

Is local food still about food security, both now and in the future? At what point will capitalizing on the popularity of culinary tourism undercut the goal of sustainable local food?

Again, don’t get me wrong: I AM a proponent of the local food movement. People that can afford it ARE just as worthy of eating good honest local organic food as not so wealthy people, but it would be great if we all could. Barrack Obama WILL BE a great President, hopefully inspiring more people to pull their heads out of the sand and stand up for what they believe in.

But isn’t the only way that real, locally grown, chemical free, and fair trade food will be equally available to all, truly, is if everyone grows their own?

No middlemen to squeeze margins. No transportation; barely a 100 paces for most back yard gardeners. Block by block markets could spring up rather than town to town and communities could almost move to moneyless society by fully embracing the beauty of barter. Geeez, I’ll be the powers that be probably would like this plan…

So let’s all grow our own food. Speaking of which, one of our best customers was out on Friday (again) to help us plant garlic. This is a lady that previous to this summer had grown very little, then grew her own successful garden this year and now, she tell us, she wants to farm full time next year. This, my friends, is what I’m talking about.

And finally, as some of you may have heard Stephen Lewis is speaking at The Village this weekend as part of a regional sustainability conference. I will look forward to hearing from anyone that is able to make it as I will not be able to. Also this weekend Kimbercote is hosting a workbee / workshop for anyone looking to practice a more active sustainability. I believe one of the features will be a permaculture workshop with Guelph’s Brad Peterson…worth looking into.

A reminder that the 21/22/23 of November is the big CSA Farming Conference in Orillia that should be quite worthwhile for anyone with an inkling of interest in food and the following weekend 28/29 is the Green Party’s weekend policy conference at Mansfield Outdoor Centre. I’ll be around both these events, ranting and raving as I always do, but if you are interested check their websites or email me for more information.

That’s it – see you soon.