I've been thinking about food a lot lately. People who know me know that I love to cook, love to watch cooking shows, love to go out to eat, and love to talk about it all. I've been listening to foodie podcasts lately and a couple of podcasts have connected my love of food with my work — transportation. The first was a podcast from Good Food, a KCRW podcast that discussed the idea floating around to have the Obamas plant a "Victory Garden" at the White House. They have more than 17 acres on the lawn that could easily be used to plant fruits and vegetables. Imagine the presidential chefs going out to their garden to pick fresh vegetables and fruits for the latest banquet. What a great message that would send. Not to mention the reduction in carbon from reduced transportation.
The second podcast was from my favorite show, The Splendid Table. The weekly show had been following people over the past year who were practicing a localvore diet. They were required to get at least 80 percent of their diet from food grown and produced within 100 miles of their homes.
Connecting the local food movement with transportation natural. A board member of Active Trans recently hosted a cocktail party at his house to link the two and share his two favorite passions: biking and eating local vegan fare.
I've been a member of a Consumer Support Agriculture Farm (or CSA) for years. It is called Angelic Organics and my house is the drop-off site in Logan Square. The farm is out near Rockford, less than 100 miles away. My kids get to go out to farm every year and see where their food grows, meet the farmers, the fields, and learn about farming. The food gets trucked to my neighborhood and neighbors come to my house to pick up a 3/4 bushel of fresh produce each week for 20 weeks during the summer and early fall. Now if I can only get them all to bike with a bicycle trailer or walk to my house instead of driving, it would be something…
Are you interested in hosting your own Foodie/Transportation party at your house or apartment? We'll work with you design it and come out to talk about our work. If you are interested, contact Arline Welty here.
Dang, now I'm hungry.