In the national debate hurricane Katrina has triggered over emergency preparedness, one element shouldn’t be overlooked, experts say: the availability of food, set aside by government authorities as well as individuals and families. Unfortunately, few communities and households have more than a couple day’s worth of food stockpiled.

The problem can be summed up in "food miles". Most of the food we purchase in grocery stores travels great distances to reach Alaska, which means the State is overly dependent on outside sources and shipping methods for foodstuffs. Food miles is a growing concern of governments, businesses, community planners, and environmentalists, to name a few. What’s becoming clear is that locally-grown food is superior in many ways.

In Alaska, it used to be that much more food was locally produced, and in most of the U.S., all food was once local. But unprecedented changes in the global food system have lead to a growing worldwide concern, followed by keen interest in how improvements to local food systems can support our health, communities, economy, and environment.

Concerns stem from a number of issues including:


1) Lack of locally-produced food and growing distance between producer and consumer (food miles)

Early in the 20th century, most food was still produced close to home. Urban homemakers tended gardens, canned vegetables and fruits. Nowadays, food consumed in the developed world travels enormous distances. To illustrate, the estimated distance a conventional head of lettuce travels from farm to market is 2,500 miles. We’ve become a product of convenience: The typical American prepared meal contains, on average, ingredients from a least five countries outside the United States; Average time spent preparing evening meal in United States in 1954: 2.5 hours; in 2004: 6.5 minutes. Studies also show that the more ‘food miles’ that food travels from farm to plate, the less nutritious it is.  

2) Declining health and nutrition

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), one in three US children born in 2000 will be a diabetic. In Alaska, 37,000 have diabetes and 30 percent of those cases go undiagnosed. What’s more, the increase of diabetes is directly linked to several controllable factors, including diet.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) unhealthy diet, together with physical inactivity and tobacco use, are among the key preventable risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Sufficient daily intake of fruit and vegetables could help prevent major NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.

3) Increased food bank use

Food banks in Alaska and across the country are seeing increased demand for their charity services. At the same time, they are seeing fewer donations of money and food. According to the Garden Writers Association, sponsors of the Plant a Row for the Hungry program, an estimated 30 to 40 million Americans go to be hungry every night.

4) The high[er] cost of living

Alaska residents carry burdens in ways that differ from the rest of the United States. According to Economic Trends (June 2005) three Alaska cities are among the nation’s 20 most expensive, and the State’s distance from larger markets and population centers makes it likely that costs will always be marginally higher in the 49th state. In remote communities, food costs can reach $200 per month for a family of four with elementary school-age children.

Rising oil prices and the real cost of food

The high cost of living is due, in part, to the high cost of food. Rising oil prices give the issue of food miles new importance. Transportation costs account for and estimated 20 to 50 percent of the cost of produce, depending on where you live in the state. A study at Iowa State University found that produce trucked to Des Moines from states outside Iowa used up to 20 percent more fuel than that grown locally.

The environmental connection is obvious. The farther produce is trucked, the more oil is burned. Fossil fuel use contributes to global warming. In Japan, the government is studying how a reduction in food miles could help it comply with the Kyoto Protocol.

Is Alaska a Third World Economy?

Terry Chapin, professor of ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Institute of Arctic Biology (IAB) stated in the July 22, 2005 issue of the journal Science, summed up the States situation this way, "Alaska has many of the properties of a third-world economy. An extractive economy subject to changes in the world economy, tremendous amounts of natural resources, diversity of cultures--and we’ve got the money and the wealth to solve the problem if we know what to do," he said.

Why a state food policy?

The State of Alaska would greatly benefit by developing a viable food policy as a key area of municipal planning and policymaking. Such a policy would engage individuals and organizations to consider how the production, processing, distribution, access, consumption and waste management of food impacts our lives. This can, and has been achieved in other areas, at no increase in unit cost of food items. Plus, there is the benefit of people having access to fresh and more nutritious food.

At first glance, a number of decisions related to the food system appear to be outside of the jurisdiction of local governments. Yet a surprising number of food-related issues do, in fact, fall within local government mandates. For example, land use decisions, grocery store access, and disposal of organic waste.


SOLUTIONS

The good news is that the State of Alaska does not need to re-invent the wheel. Successful programs are in place around the world in places not unlike Alaska, as described below.

Finland: A positive case in point

Finland resembles the shape and size of California, and is situated between the parallels of latitude 60 and 70ºN. One third of the country lies within the Arctic Circle. It is the  northernmost country in the world to have an active commercial horticulture industry. The winters are cold and the average growing season spans 110-145 days. There are around 8,000 horticultural businesses in Finland, most of which are family-owned. Sixty percent of the value of horticultural production is grown in greenhouses, while 40 percent is grown in open fields.

Local horticulture provides secondary benefits

Horticultural production, while seasonal, provides a significant source of employment, especially in sparsely populated areas. Finland’s strategy is committed to providing safe, dependable, economical and high quality food for its residents. The objective is for Finland to continue to produce foodstuffs which contain levels of pesticides significantly below the maximum levels set by the European Union.

Benefits of a statewide food policy

By the State of Alaska adopting a viable food policy, state residents would experience multiple benefits including social, economic and environmental solutions to urban and rural challenges. A viable food policy established by the State, would help determine and implement:

-- How to educate and encourage individuals and families living in both in urban and rural communities to grow their own food;

-- How to provide Alaska’s most vulnerable populations with nutritious and affordable food, thereby improving their quality of life;

-- Ways to encourage community planning toward development of greenhouses and/or hothouses, farmers market and distribution centers;

-- Where it is feasible to develop local and larger scale agriculture efforts, from raised beds and container gardens, to cultivation in greenhouses and in open fields;

-- How to further support the local food economy;

-- Avenues of  financial resources such as private, state, and federal funding, grants and loan programs;

-- Whether food packaging and food waste destined for the landfill is diverted to make compost.


To summarize…

There’s nothing like a natural disaster to inspire governments to re-examine emergency preparedness. To be sure, government authorities must be ready to handle the challenges of where to house evacuees, stocking those locations with enough food, water, and other supplies, providing evacuation services for those in need, and steering efforts to rebuild.

Yet the bottom line, experts agree, is that greater self-reliance on a community and individual level is the best form of insurance. The "teach a man to fish" adage holds true here. The State of Alaska has a perfect opportunity to show the rest of the country how local and regional food systems supports Alaskans’ health, communities, economy, and environment. In effect, like Finland, saying, "If we can do it in Alaska, you can do it anywhere!"


Who is Marion Owen?
A resident of Kodiak, Alaska since 1984, Marion Owen is a columnist, master gardener, business owner and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul. She teaches agriculture classes through the University of Alaska Anchorage at Kodiak College, produces the award-winning radio show called the UpBeet Gardener and conducts keynote addresses and seminars for organizations and small businesses. Marion can be reached at: