Director’s Corner

efforts to build new food systems. watershed-as-foodshed ideal.

That insight seemed straightforward But I am far from feeling fatalistic
enough at the time, coming as it did after about this situation, and believe instead
three intensive days of studying the sever- that the merging of food and water health
al aspects of “Finding Your Foodshed.” in our minds, and daily lives, offers a
But I have not been able to get the idea solution we might not have anticipated.
out of my mind since, and it continues to The key is to insist on implementing
stimulate my thinking. an attitude with respect to food in our
There certainly was a time when own communities that is the diametric
watersheds everywhere provided their opposite of the “out of sight, out of
own needs for nourishment and recycling mind” tendency of conventional food
of the specific nutrients required to sus- systems. If we insist on eating only food
tain life. With only minor exceptions this from sources that are very much “in
would have continued even into the time sight,” using methods that are truly
when humans roamed the planet, as “mindful” of the resources involved, we
waterways served also as the major living can begin to reverse the disturbing trends
centers and transportation routes. that we have lived with for so long.
Watershed = Indeed, life as we know it was once
attached to free-flowing waters wherever
The scope of such an effort would
have to cover a broad range of situations.
For instance, beginning with an insis-
Foodshed they could be found.
Here in ridge-and-valley central Penn- tence on obtaining as much food as pos-
sylvania, even the first human-construct- sible from one’s local watershed makes a
By Brian Snyder, Executive Director ed roadways did not change the fact that lot of sense, beginning for many people
for most people, their sources of food and with nourishment coming from their
socialization existed between the ridges. own backyards. Developing local associa-
tions that connect the ideals of good
E very year as we prepare for our next
Farming for the Future conference, we
work hard to develop a theme that will
There are still many people in this part of
the country who live in one end of a val-
ley and vacation in the other.
watershed and foodshed management
should be a priority. Communities served
serve as an organizing idea. Then we pick But of course, the situation with our by such groups could develop specific
our keynote speakers according to some food has changed dramatically over the goals for achieving benchmarks in terms
aspect of the theme, and work extra hard years. Mountains themselves are no of both water and food quality available
to have them understand what we are try- longer considered obstacles to the road within their immediate vicinity.
ing to achieve. builders of the modern era, and anyone Further afield we will need to assure
Not uncommonly I’ll have keynote wanting to map out a foodshed would ourselves of the growing health of our
speakers say to me after giving their have to do so according to the rivers of larger water/food-sheds by implementing
speeches that they really “had no idea carbon-burning traffic rather than those standards and best management practices
how significant the PASA conference that carr our life-giving water. Truth is, that can be adhered to by participating
really was,” sometimes wishing they had even much of the water for human con- farmers and verified publicly. We could
put more time into preparation. This year sumption comes by highway now. do this by combining PASA’s regional
we had the very pleasant experience of an With this change has come a multi- Buy Fresh Buy Local programs and our
opening keynote speaker, Raj Patel, who tude of problems, including especially the new strategic partnership with the Food
absolutely nailed the intent of the theme flagrant disregard of watershed health in Alliance of Portland, Oregon, to bring
in his remarks, and a closing speaker, most aspects of life. It’s troubling that sustainable certification to the Mid-
Bern Sweeney, who was so moved by the production of food for shipment across Atlantic region.
conference itself that he actually reconfig- the country often occurs with indiffer- It may be impossible to restore a situ-
ured his remarks on the spot. ence regarding the local water source, ation in our world where watersheds and
Bern, who is a highly respected spe- perhaps quite predictably. foodsheds are literally one in the same.
cialist on watershed protection, knew we There are other problems that have But all of the true advancements made by
wanted to explore the analogy between come about due to our new “rivers of the human race to date have resulted
how a watershed functions and how we concrete,” including food safety issues, from our ability to utilize metaphorical
might conceive of and support a “food- the spread of both animal and human language, very often inspired by nature,
shed.” He inserted into his slide presenta- diseases, invasive plants (notice all the to bring meaning into our lives.
tion an image containing the title of this Spotted Knapweed along the interstates!) The idea of life-giving water flowing
column, “Watershed = Foodshed,” and of course global warming. In fact, through our communities, used as a way
explaining that he suddenly realized this one could jump off here and talk about of understanding the importance of con-
was the natural state of things in any how our financial, healthcare and even necting with our sources of bodily nour-
wholly undisturbed ecosystem, and is governmental systems have been nega- ishment as well, is a metaphor whose
perhaps a worthwhile goal for our future tively affected by a diversion from the time has indeed arrived. n