Amadou Diop, pictured in the yellow shirt, speaks with rural landowners about opportunities around integrating longleaf pine restoration into their farming practices. (Photo credit: Flickr BrianLucy)

African-American landowners still control a significant portion of the land in the southeast (more than in any other part of the US), but most of them have not yet been able to fully benefit from their land-based assets. Minority and other underserved rural landowners typically lack the knowledge to manage their forests and market the full value of products and services that derive from them. This is in part due to their limited awareness and access to available public and private resources.

The field day addressed these challenges by informing landowners about opportunities, programs and services around longleaf pine restoration and by connecting them with the resource providers. For many participants, this was the first time they heard about longleaf pine and the available cost-share programs for restoration through Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency.

The church meeting room was filled with over a hundred landowners from three states. Jakin is at the apex of where southwest GA, southeast AL and the FLA Panhandle come together. It is also just a few miles from the Apalachicola River, one of the most biologically diverse river systems in the U.S. with headwaters above Atlanta. 

Our event provided a mix of presentations on longleaf pine restoration, Farm bill programs, and carbon markets, as well as a sumptuous southern homestyle lunch, and outdoor time looking at new longleaf stands and the integration of grass-fed beef rotational grazing systems and pine straw harvesting.

Landowners from Florida, Alabama, and Georgia gathered to learn about longleaf pine systems, which are naturally more resilient to climate extremes than other southern pine species due to their ability to withstand severe windstorms, resist pests, tolerate wildfires and drought, and capture carbon pollution from the atmosphere. (Photo credit: Flickr BrianLucy)

Longleaf pine has a storied history in the development of the South. As the dominant native pine of the region, its high-quality wood was used in both residential and commercial structures, including homes across the country and U.S. naval ships. Longleaf forests also provided a variety of other economic products including turpentine, pine straw, and recreational hunting habitat. Unfortunately, overcutting and replacement by short-rotation pine species or agricultural crops has greatly diminished the extent of longleaf pine. It once covered more than 90 million acres across eight states along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, but now is found on less than 3 percent of its historic range.

This loss has had huge impacts on the region’s wildlife as many unique species of plants, insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles are associated with healthy longleaf pine ecosystems. A serious investment in longleaf pine restoration will both protect native biodiversity and help the South better prepare for global warming while increasing climate resiliency in underserved communities.

The 1.5.0 cafe at the University of North Carolina serves food sourced locally, including grass-fed beef, cage-free eggs, organic produce and sustainably-harvested seafood. (UNC)

Sometimes, the grass is really greener in your own backyard. Since Campus Ecology ran its first case studies on local and sustainable food back in 2003 (see St. Bonaventure and Warren Wilson College), the phenomenon has blossomed, due to increased awareness and the popularity of fresh, local food among students.

In fall 2003, Western Washington University (WWU) began to explore opportunities to purchase foods locally by partnering with Bellwood Acres Apples. Located in the same county, Bellwood affords WWU the opportunity to sell apples and fresh pressed apple cider during apple season from early fall through early winter. According to director of business development, Lisa Philbrook, “Over the last two to three school years we’ve made local purchasing a focused effort with everything from liquid dairy and ice cream, to donuts, to a wide range of vegetables, to sushi, to packaged cookies, and more.”

There is no standardized definition for what counts as “local,” but the school attempts to purchase from the closest supplier available, whether that be within their own Whatcom County, their neighboring Skagit County, within the state of Washington, or neighboring states when necessary.

However, the bigger issue is that colleges and universities require large quantities of foods to accommodate their students and dining locations. “In order to serve items in our dining locations on campus, we generally need a very large volume of any given item,” Philbrook says. “Some small farmers or producers may not immediately be able to meet our volume needs -so we are working to plan ahead with them to meet our needs as they are able.”

Philbrook also mentions insurance policies can prove challenging for small farmers who may be willing to sell produce. “The University has insurance requirements to protect the safety of the campus community, so some small growers and producers may not be able to meet this requirement on their own. That’s where working with a distributor or a cooperative of some sort can be of benefit.”  She explains that since all vendors must have liability insurance, some farmers have joined larger groups such as Grow Washington, a worker-managed cooperative organization which is able to arrange for insurance coverage and makes smaller farms viable food sources for WWU.

WWU accredits its success largely to striving to build strong relationships with local farmers and co-ops and dedicating acreage for upcoming growing seasons. Philbrook also notes that “Communicating to our ‘customers’ on campus which items are coming from local vendors through a wide range of types of signage and marketing communication efforts,” has been instrumental. 

“Year by year we’ve tried to grow our program with local vendors; it’s a progressive effort. Take it one step at a time,” Philbrook advises. “We’ve been able to make progress and we’re really excited about that.”

On the east coast, UNC Chapel Hill shines as a leader in the movement toward local purchasing. The university has been increasingly involved in sustainable practices in past years, including programs to compost, reduce water wastage, and go trayless in dining halls. More recently, UNC began to focus on purchasing products locally. In 2009, approximately 20.7 percent of foods purchased at UNC were locally grown, raised, or processed.

“It’s our goal to purchase locally whenever possible,” says R.J. LaPorte, marketing coordinator of Dining Services. In the event an item cannot be purchased locally, the university tries to purchase organic, fair trade, or otherwise environmentally-conscientious products. UNC’s latest initiative is a retail endeavor known as 1.5.0.- a campus eatery that features locally-sourced food including grass-fed beef, cage-free eggs, organic produce and sustainably-harvested seafood. The name stands for the Carolina Dining Services’ definition of “local purchasing,” which includes items purchased within a 150 mile radius.

Before implementing their own local foods program, however, colleges and universities should be aware of other logistical challenges including delivery, price, and community support of local foods. Since local foods potentially come from a variety of sources rather than from one distributor, communication and coordination of deliveries can be challenging. Additionally, while local foods are not necessarily more expensive than other foods, organics can cost 20 to 30 percent more and grass-fed beef can cost around 75 percent more than regular products, according to Scott Myers, director of Food and Vending. This may prove another challenge for facilities hoping to incorporate these types of foods.

UNC is lucky to be amidst a community of what Myers terms “sustainably-minded” people who support local food purchasing, making the implementation of such endeavors as 1.5.0. easier. LaPorte and Myers also attribute some of the programs’ success to free advertising through listservs of environmental student groups and networks, and several student articles highlighting local food purchasing in UNC’s newspaper. Additionally, UNC’s dining facilities label foods that are purchased locally and offer farmers markets and “green specials,” where meals are produced from locally-purchased products. These efforts in dining halls serve to spread awareness about local foods and help students make a connection between locally-purchased products and great quality and taste.

LaPorte and Myers advise other schools interested in initiating local foods programs to arrange a meeting with a group of administrators and other key faculty, staff, and students to plan and set clear goals for the program. They suggest starting small-not with a retail endeavor such as 1.5.0., but by offering local foods in salad bars at the diner to begin to increase awareness and support, and to take small steps from there. 

According to LaPorte, “Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.  They are happy to see a fresh, local, and chef produced food option located in an in-line retail dining location.”