Even if the price of oil falls, the governor should launch a full-fledged sustainability effort to promote an expansion of farming here and the production of more Maryland food for Marylanders. In fact, all the governors of the Chesapeake watershed should work up a 20-year strategic plan to expand agriculture and environmental education, create more farming opportunities for a new generation of growers, promote more aquaculture and organic farming, and create regional networks for getting local food to consumers.
Bring back the canneries, too!
All things considered, this is a lot more important than planning for the next terrorist attack.
Everyone by now has seen how the cost of oil inflates the cost of food. If we expand the regional supply of food and reduce the use of petrochemical fertilizers and the costs of transportation, we provide our families and descendants with food security. We keep food affordable, reduce our carbon footprint and create jobs.
You're not merely engaging in wishful thinking when you express belief that the "buy local" thing, a nascent movement just a few years ago, will grow and become the new ethos among consumers. This is real. Americans appreciate the wonders of globalization but have begun to see the foolishness and arrogance in the expectation of having kiwi fruit at the supermarket 12 months of the year.
It will take a decade or more to get Marylanders into the swing of this - expecting more regional produce, meat, fish and dairy at their supermarkets; making regular trips to a growing network of farmers' markets; signing up for community-supported ag programs; getting reconnected with the land and the farmers in our midst.
It will take a while for the ag community to reconfigure its business models and for the ag-education system to sell our kids on farming as a career.
But it won't happen without leadership that recognizes a permanent shift in public sentiment and taps into it.
Here's some leadership for you: Bon Appetit Management Co., a California-based company committed to purchasing up to 30 percent of its food products within a 150-mile radius of the institutional cafeterias it operates in 28 states. The company made $55 million in what it calls "farm-to-fork" purchases last year, said Maisie Greenawalt, company vice president.
Instead of a mission statement, the company published its "dream" on the Bon Appetit Web site: "Our Dream is to be the premier onsite restaurant company known for its culinary expertise and commitment to socially responsible practices."
