Locavore was the 2007 word of the year (thanks for the correction, A Siegel). And I, for one, am livin' la vida locavore to the best of my overly-lazy ability.
What does it mean to be a locavore (one who eats local food)? A locavore wakes up in the morning, just like anyone else, puts on her hemp clothes and goes off to face the world. No need for a shower - gotta conserve water, you know. Breakfast? The locavore heads outdoors and munches on her lawn. Dandelion greens are healthy, environmentally friendly, and free! Then it's off to the IHOP with the other members of the commune, bringing pictures of dead farm animals to protest those murderers who are eating bacon...
Yeah... not so much. Locavores are mainstream! Locavores appreciate flavor. They want their tomatoes to taste and smell like tomatoes. They don't want their fruit to come with barcodes on it.
Locavores and others who concern themselves with food-related issues make up quite a presence on dKos. There's also a vibrant non-blogger food activist community in practically every part of the country. I am starting a new blog, La Vida Locavore, in hopes of bringing the blog community and the food community closer together.
Why Food
The issue is as universal and as crucial as energy and health care (and of course, it ties into both). If you add up the amount of energy we use to produce, distribute, and consume food; the amount of health problems we could cause or prevent with food; the amount of pollution stemming from food production as well as packaging; the segment of the economy that comes from food (production, distribution, and consumption)... that's a LOT.
Not to mention trade issues, immigration, labor standards, and practically every other issue we as progressives care about. And we can make inroads on each one of these issues - improving labor standards, conserving energy, polluting less, conserving fragile ecosystems, promoting healthy lifestyles - all by impacting food policy.
The changes that must be made can be implemented on nearly every level, too:
- An individual can start a garden or eat at a restaurant that serves local food.
- A community can start a farmers' market or a community garden or bring locally farmed produce into public schools' cafeterias.
- A state can enforce environmental regulations on factory farms, step up its standards on food labeling, or fund a program marketing food produced within the state.
- The federal government can ban harmful food additives, fund conservation programs and grants for small farmers, or tighten food safety laws.
You may care about federal policy, or you may be mostly concerned with your own stomach. Either way, you can have an impact on our food system and by doing so you can help the environment, the economy, human rights, your own health, and more.
Why a New Blog
Since I've become active in food issues, I've felt I have one foot in each of two words - the blog world and the food world. I've seen a lot of benefit come from bridging those two distinct areas... but I'd like to see more.
You guys know the blog world. We are AWESOME at promoting and befriending candidates who are willing to play ball with us (take a stance on progressive issues, blog here, reply to our comments on occasion, speak at our conventions, etc). We can get the word out to take action, whether it's freeping a poll, calling Congresscritters, or signing up to canvas for local candidates.
Also - we're the masters of communicating in a (relatively) new medium. We know how to speak to one another. We're familiar with various diarists and diary series. Among ourselves, we know who the experts are in various subjects and we know who to trust - whether or not they have official credentials or affiliation with a reputable organization.
What I'm referring to here as the "food world" is a little more traditional. They often come from non-profits, government agencies, and universities. Many have credentials like "registered dietitians" or "masters in public health." Sometimes, they aren't too sure of us crazy bloggers.
Sometimes, also, they might be a little bit timid to dip their toes into our big orange sandbox. For a person who is accustomed to publishing academic papers with pages of footnotes, writing a rant on a blog may seem a little odd. Writing anonymously to a large group of anonymous commenters may also seem scary. Not to mention what they might think about posting a picture of their cats and calling them pooties.
However - they bring A LOT to the table. They know one another, for one thing. Many have authored books or they are quoted in books authored by others. They attend conferences on food (and often speak at them and plan them). They are familiar with more traditional institutions and often they know the ins and outs of lobbying for various reforms in D.C.
What am I proposing then? That we have a lot to teach them and they have a lot to teach us!
Who You'll Find on La Vida Locavore
First and foremost - La Vida Locavore is a home for Kossacks! I wouldn't advocate anyone leave dKos and I don't plan to leave it either. But on days when dKos is liveblogging a major Senate testimony or going nuts over FISA or the latest McCain attack ad... what do you do if there's an important action alert you need to share about your pet topic??
With a new blog solely about food/agriculture/gardening/eating/farming/etc, you can post your diary in both places. If you don't make the rec list here, hopefully you'll get some attention on La Vida Locavore. If you do get attention here, well, all the better.
I think it's important that those who care about food issues do not exclusively "preach to the choir" and staying on DailyKos will ensure that progressives who may have never thought about their food in a political manner will get involved. Simultaneously, making a new blog will call attention to food issues that may get lost in the mix here on dKos.
I've invited a number of Kossacks over to La Vida Locavore... those include Judith2007 (an organic farmer, lawyer, and panelist at this year's Netroots Nation), natasha (one of my mentors on sustainable ag issues), Asinus Asinum Fricat (Ireland's greatest gift to the DailyKos), and hopefully more soon.
Additionally, you'll find foodies who are not necessarily known to us bloggers, but who have made a tremendous impact in their food activism work, whether via community activism or lobbying for national policy. I'm hoping they can educate us while also gaining appreciation for the value the blogs bring to political activism.
What You'll Find on La Vida Locavore
What makes for a good diary on La Vida Locavore? Well...
- The news... a new study that was published, the floods in the midwest, rising food prices, the New York ban on trans-fats, a local school garden that made the paper...
- A story about a personal experience... a conference you attended, a great meal you made, a garden you planted, taking your kid apple picking...
- Thoughts or observations about any topic related to food
- An action alert, whether you are telling us to plant a garden or write our Senators
- How-to diaries... how to start a compost pile, how to get your representative's attention, how to organize a local chapter of Slow Food...
- Any information you want to convey... the history of pesticide use in the U.S., the real story behind the farm bill, why the poor and minorities suffer from diet-related illness more than the rich...
- Book reviews... if it's about food, tell us about it!
- Diaries on non-edible agriculture... it's hard to write about food and rule out topics like ethanol, cotton, or hemp.
So, stop on by, check it out, and feel free to cross-post diaries from dKos over at La Vida Locavore as well.