With food prices going up and up it's getting harder to feed a family these days with healthy, affordable meals. That's why the idea of "growing local" is getting bigger and easier. A new website out of Tacoma is showing us how to do it and why, now more than ever, it's worth it.
Claire Kjeld is a dietitian at MultiCare in Tacoma, but today she is more of a proud mom--sort of.
"That's our baby!" She's talking about a tiny pepper.
Kjeld says she is so excited, but a bit humbled too. This is the first time she and her husband are growing their own produce in their Tacoma backyard. It's a work in progress she says, and an important lesson--with great rewards.
"I appreciate farmers so much more. There's a lot of care in preparing these foods and bringing them to us," she says. "But my veggies are really growing so fast! I put the little seeds in there and within a month I had spinach that I could be eating."
Now she's blogging about it on a new site called "Grow Local Tacoma." Joining her are experts and other beginners.
"This is something started in partnership with the city," says Whitney Rhodes who is deeply involved in the project. "It started as a way to promote Tacoma and it is becoming a big hit. People just want to know the food they are feeding they're families is safe and affordable."
Seattle's P-Patch program is already a big player in the community garden world. Tacoma's crew is a bit different--with a pretty diverse background and some growing concerns.
"A lot of the community gardens in Tacoma are heavily done by immigrant populations," says Rhodes, "so you really end up with interesting things growing in community gardens!"
"But with what's happening to the economy," adds Kjeld, "all those things I've been encouraging people to do for so long they're starting to do it out of having to do it."
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, from May 2007 to May 2008 flour is up 55%, eggs are up 28%, bread 16% and milk up 15%.
The stuff in Kjeld's garden are all up in grocery store cost too including beans up a whopping 23%.
With gas prices up more than 60% compared to a year ago, this might hit home says Kjeld:
"Most food, the average distance that it travels is 15-hundred miles to get to us."
1,500 miles that's reflected in our grocery store prices and weighing on the minds of Kjeld and company.
"We don't give a second thought to eating something grown in Chile or China," says Rhodes, "We have no concept of where that tomato came from."
The idea now is to inspire and to educate...
"A lot of people are not going to eat local unless they can do it just as easily as going to the grocery store," admits Rhodes.
And, to make what was once a trend easy, in an economy where every effort is now becoming priceless.
"I love it!" says Kjeld. "I think they taste even better, because I knew I grew it myself!"
Web Extra: How To Grow Local or Eat Local