Baltimore Eats - OUR COMMON TABLE - June 2006

For most of us born in the last 50 years or so, the image of a typical Baltimore area food market ranges from the old A&P and Food Fair stores of my childhood to the SuperFresh / Giant model we see today - everything under one huge roof. But actually this type of "One-Stop Shopping" is a relatively new phenomenon, barely two generations old.

Before the age of the "Super Market" most food purchased here in Baltimore was grown within a 100 to 150 mile radius of the market. In the 1800's, as Baltimore grew from a post-colonial harbor town into a major shipping port and industrial center, municipal markets sprang up where local farmers, dairies, bakers, and artisan crafters of cheeses and meats sold their wares.

Seven of these locations: Lexington, Cross Street, Hollins Street, Broadway, Belair, Northeast and Lafeyette are still in still in existence today, the last vestiges of that old market system.

While these markets were eventually roofed-over and managed by the municipal government, they had humble beginnings as simple outdoor farmers' markets. Farmers and their families would load their wagons and make their way into old Baltimore town - which actually was not that far away from the farms. In fact, all of our inner suburban neighborhoods, the likes of Pikesville, Hamilton, Overlea, and Cockeysville, were once farming regions. The Baltimore Municipal Markets gave farmers a guaranteed location to sell their products at locally competitive prices, ensuring economic viability.

Just as important, they ensured that wholesome food would be available to the residents of the city. The farmer was only competing with other farmers within the same growing area, who were subject to the same rigors of weather and economy as himself. The city's residents were ensured a reliable source of sustenance; unaffected by international wars, fuel supplies and tremors in the larger economic spheres.

Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, government policy makers deliberately decided to change food production from small scale, local farming, into the food industry - now doesn't that have a cosy sound to it? Well actually, there was a lot of playing footsies going on. The government subsidized the same chemical and munitions manufacturers who supplied the military during the previous World Wars to develop fertilizers and pesticides, primarily from fossil fuels like petroleum and natural gas. The "Green Revolution" was born.

Larger farms, many of which were owned by, or partnered with, corporate food companies, bought up thousands of smaller family farms. Thus began the process of saturating our farmlands with copious quantities of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enable industrial mono-cropping on huge acerages. This was done on a scale unknown and unimagined, by any previous human civilization and utterly at odds with the natural order of the planet's complex eco-systems.

President Nixon's Secretary of Agriculture, Earl "Rusty" Butz, summed up the new government policy with his declaration to the country's farmers: "Get big or get out!"

And so it went. Eventually most did get out, losing their farms and homes and devastating rural American communities. Well, at least it left lots of cheap land to make way for suburban sprawl - now, that's another story! With this new centralized food system, totally reliant on long distance transportation, the age of the factory farm and the supermarket was upon us. As each successive local farm went out of business there was one less farmer-owned food stall at the City's Municipal Markets.

Bombarded with persuasive advertising, the modern housewife was quickly lured into the brightly-lit, ultra convenient, thoroughly modern "Super" market. Our entire relationship with food changed quickly.

Now our supermarkets have gotten bigger and bigger - a virtual food arena. Take a walk around one of these food-a-ramas and see just how many of the items come from anywhere near here. Trust me, the percentage is very low.

The other day I ran down to the supermarket and picked up a few items to make a simple pasta dish for dinner - Oh all right, I got a couple pints of Ben and Jerry's too! My one little bag came to a mere $26 and contained products that collectively journeyed well over 20,000 miles to get to my kitchen. And it was a small bag! I'm not sure about you, but after taking one step back to look at that picture, (and honestly... I'd never looked before), here's the only conclusion that I can come to: This is collective insanity!

So I'm making a vow that from now on the basic ingredients for my at-home dinners are coming from one of our neighborhood farmers markets - or one of the small independent food markets around town. It's not really difficult. There are quite a number of them. (Just take a look at this month's market listings in our Events Calendar!)

Our markets are vibrant and overflowing with wonderful fresh local produce, seafood, poultry and meats, flowers, healthy free range eggs, dairy products from locally pastured herds, handmade cheeses, smoked fish and poultry. I could go on and on... and I will!

Next issue let's go shopping and see what's what, meet some of the folks doing the growing and selling, and meet some of our neighbors shopping. I'll let you in on a little secret: Our local food economy is still around... maybe not what it once was, but it's coming back, and I'm loving it!

If you have any thoughts, comments, or ideas on our local food economy give me a shout at: John@JohnShields.Com