Untitled Final Feature

Endless rows of corn stretch as far as the eye can see out the window of Amtrak’s 351 Pere Marquette train riding from Detroit to Chicago. The bland, dusty yellow nothingness goes on for hundreds of miles, punctuated by signs warning of deadly pesticide applications.

Much of the Midwest looks like this. Super-sized farms dominate the landscape that used to consist of forests, marshes and fields. A diverse set of animals and plants also populated the countryside a few decades ago. Now biodiversity is threatened as industrial farming devastates more and more of our formerly fruitful terrain. In addition to biodiversity, the safety, nutrition and efficiency of the American food supply is in danger.

It hasn’t always been this way. Before the industrial revolution American farmers used crop rotation and other clever methods of reaping the benefits offered biologically by Mother Nature. Like today’s organic farmers, they would use ground coverings and perimeter plants to attract natural pest predators like wasps instead of marinating their crops with deadly chemicals. Livestock could roam through orchards, providing both weeding services and fertilizer deposits for free. People ate what was available in a reasonable distance from their home, as modern preservatives and genetic modifications for longevity in fresh produce ceased to exist.

As the United States grew, so did their farms. After the Great Depression the fear of starvation was all too real, and any increase in food production was seen as a blessing. The bigger, the better. Variety dwindled as farmers began to specialize in items that were easy to grow and required the least attention.

Today, conventional supermarkets offer consumers significantly fewer choices of produce than a century ago. Crops like apples, tomatoes, lettuce and corn, to name a few, each come in a handful of varieties. In the past, hundreds of different versions of these crops were available, varying in size, color, flavor and more. According to the Rural Advancement Foundation International, more than 90 percent of varieties of each crop became extinct between 1903 and 1983.

Not only is the loss of diversity worrisome for consumers who favor choices in their diet, it endangers the safety of our food supply. Since certain pests are attracted to specific crops, mono-crop farms extending for miles actually encourage exponential breeding among a specific pest population. This multiplies the need for chemical pesticides, which are already harmful enough in small doses. Mono-crop farms are also more susceptible to outbreaks like the E. coli strain in fresh spinach occurrence in the fall of 2006.

Worse yet is the industrialized meat market. Epidemics spread quickly among animals when they are confined to the inhumanely crowded living quarters that are customary to US livestock and poultry production. Cows and chickens must constantly consume unnatural foods and drugs chosen to increase their output of milk or eggs. By torturing animals we end up consuming greater quantities of a lower quality product at a cheaper cost.

In Kalamazoo, consumers have an alternative. Several farmers in the area bring their organic, locally grown goods each Saturday to the Bank Street farmers market. In the summer this service extends to Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. Three farmers at the market have an especially great relationship with Food Dance Café downtown Kalamazoo, who cooks with primarily locally produced foods.

Dennis Wilcox and Genevieve Malek own and operate Blue Dog Greens in Bangor, Michigan, supplying Food Dance with fresh organically grown produce. Wilcox says he got into farming to be a “house husband” and work from home. He farms organically and participates in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a program that allows customers to prepay for produce seasonally.

Pat Smith of Kirklin-Smith farms sells an interesting arrangement of eggs. Each of her birds lay a different egg, some small and round, others long and oval shaped. They run around as they please, in and out of a wading pool in the yard. One likes to lay her eggs on her husband’s workbench, leaving Smith to find and gather them for sale. A dozen costs just over three dollars, slightly less than the price of free-range eggs at a Meijer store.

Scobey’s Produce in Wayland, run by Rose and Bill Scobey, is known for a delicious variety of green beans, sweet corn, onions, lettuce and melons. The beans take a lot of water but yield many per plant, making it worth the expense.

Why make the trip down to the farmers market and buy these local foods instead of simply choosing one-stop shopping? Kalamazoo College professor Amelia Katanski says the food is tastier. “Take the tomato for example. The big farms grow them for thick skin so they’ll travel well. Locally they’re grown for delicacy and flavor.” Others support local farms for reasons relating to environmental protection and the humane treatment of animals. Still others make the switch for health reasons, knowing that the nutritional value is higher in locally produced, organic foods, and that nothing ultimately good can come from deadly pesticides.