The Sonoma County Food Action Plan aggregates opportunities for growth in our local food system into four action areas, or pillars, with multiple goals and subgoals under each. Over the next five issues of Made Local Magazine, we’ll be highlighting the pillars individually, not in any particular order.
Pillar 2: Economic Vitality
“People can help small producers and small farmers by being willing to spend a little bit more to support local vendors who are doing good things and working their butts off. We have to start putting our money where our mouth is. We have to start realizing what it costs to produce goods. I was talking to someone about how much my roosters costs; I harvest the young roosters and sell them for meat. And he was like, ‘You sell them for $6 or $7 bucks a pound? We can get a whole chicken for $3 at Walmart.’ I was like, ‘That is wrong for so many reasons! Who is making any money? What kind of situation are the chickens living in or the people working in the chicken barn?’ The way we spend our money is the way we tell the world what is important to us.”
-Sarah Keiser
Wild Oat Hollow Farm, Penngrove
Support local food system jobs and commerce
Encourage institutional purchasing that supports the local food system
Read the entire Food Action Plan at . . .