SEQUIM — The teenage boy, speaking with conviction, set the tone Tuesday for a rousing discussion of the farming life.
He was Carson Lewis, 15, a Future Farmer of America, and as he addressed a roomful of Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce members, he pointed the way toward a bright, delicious horizon.
Reciting the FFA creed as if it came straight from his heart, the Sequim High School student began with his belief in “the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.”
Lewis’ finish was as strong as his start. “I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life,” he said, “and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.”
Next up, to further inspire the crowd, was Curtis Beus, a seasoned promoter of small family farms and the Washington State University Extension agent for Clallam County.
Sequim and its environs have lost 70 percent of the farmland that once produced grain, dairy products, vegetables, hogs, sheep and beef, Beus began.
But he said there’s still a good 22,000 acres out there of fertile ground — along with people who want to grow food — so now is the time to put our money where our mouths are, he said.
Branding campaign
Beus is working on a branding campaign for local farmers and local food, and while the effort is in its earliest stage, he envisions a sector of the local economy that’s filled with flavor and good for us in several ways.
And so he reeled off a top-10 list of right things about having small family farms in your county.
• Local food tastes better, since it wasn’t bred to be tough enough for machine harvest and long-distance travel.
• Family farms protect the environment, as small-scale growers tend to be good stewards of the land.
• “Buying locally grown food conserves precious resources,” Beus said, since jets and trucks didn’t have to bring it here.
• “Thriving family farms strengthen rural economies,” by putting people to work and by forming community organizations.
• Buying local lets you learn how your food was grown, and helps you to select safe, nutritious food from farmers you know.
• “Family farms help children learn healthy values; it’s fun,” said Beus, to take them to visit a farm.
• Local farms often protect and promote genetic diversity, which is necessary for the health of our food supply.
• Local farms grow a feast for the senses, whether you’re out for a Sunday bike ride or sitting down to a dinner of local grass-fed beef, Ozette potatoes and fresh carrots, with apple crisp for dessert.
• Local farms keep taxes in check, since farmers and large tracts of land don’t require intensive government services.
• Diverse family farms contribute to the security of our food supply by ensuring that nutritious products will be available in the event of a disaster that cuts off shipments from outside the North Olympic Peninsula.
“We do not know what the future holds,” Beus said. But he believes having land and the people who farm it provides the seeds for future generations.
“Local farms provide security,” so we don’t want to let them slip away, he said.
Isolated, uncertain
Local growers tell him, however, that they feel isolated and uncertain about sustaining their farms.
Although many people want to buy local, Beus added, they don’t have time to go to a farmers’ market that’s only open a few hours a week.
“We need a community campaign. We have to figure out how to get local food to be more convenient and accessible,” Beus said.
“This is something we’re working toward. We want to partner with as many organizations as we can.”
In an interview after his talk, and after applause from the chamber members, Beus added that he welcomes calls from groups interested in this local-sustenance effort at his WSU Extension office.
He can be reached at 360-417-2280.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
