Mark your calendar - Food Security talk offered by the South Church

January 11, 2008 by Sara Zoe.

As seen in the Portsmouth Herald:

“Oil Before Food” will be the topic of a talk by John Carroll on Sunday, January 20 from 11:30am to 12:45pm in the Sanctuary at South Church, 292 State Street, Portsmouth.

Carroll, a professor of Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire, is a well-known researcher and speaker on topics related to sustainability. He will discuss the fact that in our current system of agriculture and food, we must have oil before we can eat.  More than 98 percent of all the energy contained in our food system comes from oil and natural gas. That includes the 1,500 miles that our food must travel before we have anything to eat.

Without oil (and natural gas) we can’t produce or transport any food. We only have three days of food supply in New England. We depend, therefore, on a steady flow of food into the region to feed people. New Hampshire is no more than 3 percent self-sufficient in food, according to our Commissioner of Agriculture, Steve Taylor. [note from Sara Zoe - our agricultural commissioner is now Lorraine Stuart Merrill]

And while you are marking your calendars, here’s a way to start changing that 3 days food supply/3% self-sufficiency ratio: The Congregational Church of Exeter is hosting a Winter (mini) Farmers’ Market (Seacoast Eat Local is lending a hand to this terrific event) on February 9th in their building on Front Street in Exeter, from 10am - 2pm. 14 vendors will have everything from fresh (fresh! local!) salad greens, to dried beans, to eggs and cheese, with plenty of good, local meat as well.

Posted in author: Sara Zoe, events | Print | 3 Comments »