To pick up on the discussion that Mr. Kidd started, I'll add this post by the urban homesteaders over at Hen Waller which highlights a New York Times Small Business section article entitled "Why Roots Matter More." What is most interesting about the Times article is that it highlights the dilution of organically-raised food as it becomes more mainstream. As consumers are learning that the organic label does not necessarily mean "local" or even "safe" (as discovered during the outbreak of E. coli found in bagged spinach), they are seeking out food grown locally with sustainable methods, and they are even willing to pay more for it. And, even better perhaps, regional and national producers and suppliers are looking for ways to localize their businesses. I'll let Holly at Hen Waller describe this:

Another important trend Patrick noted from the article is that even national or regional companies are finding ways to go local. Whole Foods is one example, in their positive response to prodding about their exclusion of local producers. Another mentioned is Bon Appétit, a company out of Palo Alto that runs cafeterias and cafés around the country for museums and corporate campuses. They have changed their business model from centralized planning to giving more control to chefs at each location, with an imperative to source at least 20% of the food locally. This is an amazing trend, and a critical one as we move forward. Most of the institutions we have in place to manage our food production and distribution as a society are regional, national, or international in scale. The companies in this article are forging a model for how these larger entities can re-localize.

Combined with the amazing efforts of truly local and small-scale producers it makes me start — start — to think we might find a way out of the mess we’re in.

We can only hope.