FSEP & Vermont Food

[Victoria]

Hello All,

It was nice seeing so many of you at the FSEP Conference yesterday. I
felt the conference was really great. Good information and I got to
catch up with so many of you that I don't have enough time to see as
often as I'd like.

A few notes that I wanted to call to your attention. FSEP has a few
new reports on their website that may be of interest to you. They
presented findings from a report titled "Supply Chain Analysis" that
is not yet on their website, but check back soon. I can't tell you how
excited I am to devour all 85 pages! :) Another report that I noticed
when checking on their website it called, "Investigating Opportunities
to Strengthen the Local Food System in Southeastern Michigan".

http://www.fsepmichigan.org/

If you're interested in 3rd party certification programs check out
EuroGap. I don't know much about it, but it was new information to me
so I thought you may be interested.

I've also posted a file you may enjoy titled, "Got Local? The State of
Local Food Production and Distribution in Adddison County". Addison
County is in Vermont, which had a lot of model local food programs.

Overall, the message that came out of the conference to me is that all
the biggest thing everyone in the food system supply chain needs right
now is community. The old model of simply creating a business plan in
a vacuum and doing market research are not going to bode well for any
food company just starting out. It's a lesson that a very successful
entrepreneur told me years ago and I've tried to follow, but it seems
to be more important in this sector than any other I've seen. Hal
Davis, one of the founders of the technology that allows you to
"write" a check online, told me if an entrepreneur doesn't tell
everyone he (or she - my bias) knows about their idea they are sure to
fail. You never know where your resources will come from." I'd like to
take it one step further. In this world of global business, people
want to know the person they're doing business with. We've all been
snookered by XXXX corporation that has no customer service and we
can't get answers from. Sometime let me tell you about my experience
with Nextel! I believe we're going back to the days of a handshake -
the days of building relationships and holding each other accountable.
I do not choose to live in a flat world. I want my world to have
people, places, and things that make my experience on this earth
unique.

Here's a poem to underscore the need for community and relationships.
Hope you enjoy it!



"The Low Road"
-by Marge Piercy

Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.

But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.

Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen makes a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.

It goes on one at a time,
It starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
-by Marge Piercy