“Everyone is jumping on the local-sustainable-organic bandwagon, and we are trying to counteract that by having a label that really signifies actions and encourages people to ask questions,” says Farmers Guild executive director Evan Wiig, explaining the ideas behind the Guild’s new Follow the Rooster campaign.
“This whole project came out of conversations we were having with those businesses that were taking real actions, like calling farmers, arranging partnerships, and really going the extra mile but not getting recognition for it because Safeway now has ‘local food’ all over its ads,” he says.
Safeway’s idea of “local” is indeed a flexible concept. Here in the Golden State, it usually means the produce was grown in California. That sounds OK until one is reminded that California grows about half of all fruit, nuts, and produce grown in the United States, period. And we mostly do it in the Central Valley, a good few hundred miles away from Healdsburg.
But when we at SHED say “local,” we mean: Grown within 10 miles of our store; 50 miles, max. We mean meat that comes from sustainably raised and humanely harvested animals here in Sonoma County. Cheese that comes from the milk of North Bay dairy cows, made with yeasts natural to our environment. Flowers grown on nearby land. Herbs from our own HomeFarm and other adjacent plots. Places you could bike to without much trouble. Actually local.
Follow the Rooster is a social media campaign designed to highlight local businesses like ours which truly purvey area foods and those consumers who make constant effort to support them — and their farmers.
“The food system is a two-way street,” Evan says. “It’s the responsibility of the consumer to support providers and businesses that are sustainable and support local growers. We want to recognize the consumer for taking that action.
“But,” he continues, “we also have an interactive map where businesses can take a step towards a healthier food system by adding a new farm to its menu, or committing to using whole animals from local ranchers. The idea is that everyone can see who is really taking steps to support our farmers in tangible ways.”
Along with Strauss Family Creamery, we are glad to sponsor Follow the Rooster. We plan to host an event for the campaign in our upstairs Grange on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 5pm, and hope you’ll join us.
Evan’s idea with the map is that when someone wants to grab a sandwich or have a nice dinner, they’ll check to see which local businesses are working with area providers to supply the comestibles for their plates, and choose one that does.
The idea with consumer pledges — which vary from promising to join a CSA to frequenting the local farmers’ market to going in with friends to buy a whole animal for the freezer — is to inspire all of us to make more sustainable choices each of the three times a day we’re fortunate enough to eat.
“This is a way to say, ‘I’ve taken a very specific action. This is the menu that lists the farmers that we support. This is the CSA I belong to,'” Evan explains. “The intention is to give farmers a voice and give recognition where it’s due. When I hear of a place that’s really going out of its way to recognize and support local farmers, I want people to know that what they’re doing is different than 99 percent of other restaurants.”
That’s a concept we can easily get behind. After all, it’s a concept we already employ.
Because #FollowtheRooster is social, be sure to use that hashtag liberally on Facebook and Instagram to meet like-minded folks and learn about other businesses that are involved. We’ll see you behind the tail feather!