Thanks to our Local Farmer Bill Nunes, who attended the California Small Farm Conference , for providing this insite on how local foods can benefit communities even on a large scale!

March 3, 2008 by Just Anna

The 21^st California Small Farm Conference brought hundreds of small farmers to Visalia to learn from researchers, farm advisors, and other growers. Over thirty workshops and seven day-long short courses at local farms were made available over the term of the February 24-26 conference based at Visalia Marriott Hotel. The California Small Farm Conference is both an event and the organization that plans and hosts the conference, explained the group’s president, Allen J. Moy, adding that the volunteers and sponsors who bring the annual meeting together comprise “a non-profit organization with no office, and no paid staff”.

Dr. Preston Maring, of Kaiser Permanente gave the keynote address on Monday. Maring started the farmers market at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland for the benefit of employees and visitors to the center where he is associate physician-in-chief. Kaiser Permanente facilities now have 30 farmers markets in six states.

A regular farmers market shopper for years, Maring promotes local markets from his belief that “what people eat makes all the difference in the world” to their health. Conversely, he said, “the effects of bad diet go way, way downstream in the health care system.”

The markets provide outlets for local growers and according to surveys of employees who shop the markets have increased fresh produce in their diets. Seventy-one percent said they have increased their use of fresh fruits and vegetables since the opening of the markets at their workplace. Sixty-three percent also said the availability has led them to experiment with at least “a few more kinds of fruits and vegetables”.

Kaiser Permanente is also working to change the image of “hospital food”. The company worked with Community Alliance with Family Farmers to analyze their food system. The results showed that while 10% of their purchases were for fresh produce, there had been no regard for local purchasing or seasonal freshness. “Kaiser Permanente was buying its food out of season and shipping it from all over the place,” Maring said.

Maring credits CAFF and Growers Collaborative with enabling Kaiser Permanente to turn that situation around. Under the CAFF umbrella, Growers Collaborative works to assist small farmers in supplying produce in sufficient amounts to serve institutional buyers. In 2006 Growers Collaborative provided 25 tons of fresh food to Kaiser Permanente. In 2007 that amount grew to 60 tons.

And patients have noticed the difference in food quality, Maring said, “When they get that little fresh peach on their tray… it brings back memories of their childhood.”

The association of Growers Collaborative and Kaiser Permanente has also helped open the door to other institutional users. Berkeley City Schools, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Stanford have all started using local produce supplied through Growers Collaborative.

Maring plans to further encourage the local supply line by expanding the use of local produce into the company’s employee and visitor cafeterias. For employees who don’t have time to shop the markets themselves, plans are being made for a CSA-type service to bring a selection of “the best of the market” to subscribers for a single price.

Maring believes that local growers selling to local eaters provide both an economic and a health benefit, and encouraged growers at the conference to continue their efforts. “What you grow is the fundamental, bottom line, most important factor for the health of our communities,” said Maring.

Dr. Maring also enjoys cooking at home and publishes Dr. Maring’s Farmers’ Market and Recipe Update. Find it on the web at www.KP.org/farmersmarketrecipes

Thanks again to farmer Bill, here are more interesting reports available from the conference ….