Here are the topics and links to items discussed Friday on my last day filling in for Brian Wilson on 1370 WSPD:
* Roots of Liberty seminar with Kris Anne Hall at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, in Findlay - American Legion, 120 W. Front St.
* The new movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be filmed in Cleveland. (no link)
* Tracking Ohio's absentee ballot requests - will be updated regularly with the information on how many Republicans and Democrats have requested (not returned) absentee ballots. Spreadsheet tracks by county and compares 2012 to 2008. Contact information for author is on the spreadsheet.
Link to spreadsheet
* Matt Mayer, Opportunity Ohio, was my guest to talk about whether or not Mitt Romney can win Ohio. Matt says yes, but it will be tough...he'll make county by county predictions sometime in October.
Podcast is available here
* Bill Weisenberg, Assistant Executive Director for Public Affairs at the Ohio State Bar Association explained why the OSBA has taken a position against State Issue 2 - the independence of the judiciary is at stake.
Podcast is available here
* Ohio public pay is too generous? Probably, when public sector architecture and engineering jobs pay, on average twice that of their private sector peers. They ear $60.59 per hour in wages and benefits versus $29.37 in the private sector.
Link to story
* It's not as if cigarettes don't have enough taxes on them already, the World Health Organization thinks a global tax on them is the way to go.
Link to story
* Locavores or Loco-vores? Is a strictly buy local philosophy a good thing? Perhaps the "same fundamental economic realities that shaped the development of our globalized food supply chain are still very much with us." When you can't grow items in your own city due to the climate, trade with non-local areas enhances choices and brings competitive prices. Additionally, if everyone focused on buy-local, where would our local exporters send their products?
Link to story
Because we had a lot of people on the phone and the Wine Time segment to do, I offered to print any emails callers might want to send me on the subject. I received the following:
As per our conversation on WSPD this evening. I thought you might like to check out this website.:
http://foodcouncil419.com/. The initial analysis about our Northwest Ohio 'foodshed' was completed last summer. Ken will be in town in October to give us the remainder of his findings and recommendations to build a stronger food economy. Obviously, his study should not be taken for gospel, but it is a contrasting view that I believe deserves consideration when discussing food sourcing. Small actions (one day a week of local food) can have a large economic impact. And just as your local tomato farmer appreciates your purchase, all the Toledo area farmers appreciate loyal customers who purchase their goods.
I'm an avid WSPD listener, from 7 to 7 usually, and I always enjoy when you fill in for Brian. I was hoping to add information and first hand experience, as a grower, to your discussion of local food. This issue dovetails nicely into the discussion you had Thursday about Mike Rowe and the under appreciation for skilled, manual labor. Our skilled local farmers are a classic example of the under-appreciated. Often they produce better tasting and more inexpensive product than can be purchased at the grocery store. This is the best time of year to buy local, because summer and fall produce is in season. If you came to the market this weekend these are a few of the prices you would find:Broccoli $1, colored bell peppers 2/1$, zucchini and cucumbers 3/$1, massive cauliflowers 2/$1 and winter squash $1. Please feel free to stop by the Toledo Farmers' Market (Saturdays 8-2 pm) anytime to meet a few more 'local' Toledo Farmers. I run a small farm, Sage Produce, and sell produce at the market year round. Please feel free to stop by. It is the stall with the purple tablecloths.
Have a great day.
Liz Bergman
Sage Produce
Genoa, Ohio
And this from Point Place Pete:
I’ll listen to these “buy local” folks a little more when the explain to me how I’m going to buy lettuce in the winter, apples in the spring, figs, bananas, pineapples and oranges at any time of the year!
I like choices, choices inspire trade, and trade benefits all of us. On top of that, local growers are growing soybeans and corn… bluntly those items will get old in about a week…
I love my local providers of tomatoes, corn and cantaloupe (the three items I purchase most often from local growers) and would grow more myself if it weren't for a hectic travel schedule, so I'm not opposed to purchasing locally-grown items. I just think that trying to push a buy-local campaign has detriments in the long term that are never addressed - and they should be considered. We would never want to have a strictly buy-imported program for the same reasons.
We benefit from trade with other areas in so many ways that I don't want to jeopardize that with a viewpoint that can be very narrow at times and discourage the free market approach.
Thanks to everyone who called in, emailed and listened!
2 comments:
PP Pete, I understand that people want lettuce and off season stuff in the winter / spring time periods.
However, you can buy ALL of your meat, eggs, poultry, bread etc from local producers...save a lot of money and, in many cases actually SEE the animal or, the conditions on the farm yourself before you buy.
How much food do you consume in a year that you can point out on a map where it came from?
How was it grown, who grew it and , was it filled with antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals along the way?
And, has it's genetics been altered to allow it to grow in poison...and pass it onto you?
I can assure you that being able to shake hands with the person who grew your food and, see how it was grown and, under what conditions, is a nice feeling to have.
It's the next best thing to growing it yourself.
Sepp wrote:
"...being able to shake hands with the person who grew your food and, see how it was grown and, under what conditions, is a nice feeling to have."
But this is an emotion and while a purchase might make you 'feel' a certain way, that isn't enough for some people. This is not to undervalue such aspects as knowing the details about the food you purchase, but if you want a mango, you're not going to get that 'locally.'
I like getting some things locally, but if everyone puts a primary focus on 'local' we may inhibit trade of items we cannot get or produce locally, thus restricting our options and competitive prices.
I support a good mix.
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