Local food movement growing

Local food production is one of the most important elements of a sustainable community. Since we are situated in the Mojave Desert, most of our food is grown elsewhere and that needs to change. Fortunately, the local food movement is well underway and gaining momentum.

Ciara Byrne and Kim McQuarrie started Green Our Planet (www.GreenOurPlanet.org), a nonprofit educational and funding platform focused on green projects. Their hard work and dedication has led to the establishment of more than 60 school gardens in Clark County.

Thousands of kids now enjoy learning in outdoor settings while growing local food. Some even participate in their own farmer’s markets.

Taking it a step further, a group of teachers teamed up with local horticultural experts from Garden Farms to adapt math and science curricula so the lessons can be taught in outdoor teaching gardens. The Hands-On STEM Curricula K-5 is now available online at www.Lessons.GreenOurPlanet.org.

Another great group, Great Basin Permaculture (www.GreatBasinPermaculture.org), is a nonprofit organization founded by Peter Frigeri, Jessica Pendez and Tiffany Whisenant. The group has a working demonstration garden that illustrates the concepts of permaculture, especially adapted to our desert environment.

I love its vision statement:

“A sustainable Las Vegas is flexible and dynamic, complementing the rhythm of the city with the cycles of the surrounding Mojave Desert. Just like the indigenous people that lived in the Vegas Valley, we cultivate life in the desert by harvesting and conserving our most precious resource, water. Sustainable Las Vegans embrace the resources that are abundant, like sunshine and edible native plants, and adapt to create new patterns of behavior that contribute to a lively and resourceful culture.”

Great Basin Permaculture produces some worthy educational and networking events. The most recent was the fourth annual Mesquite Pancake Breakfast.

The group harvested bean pods from mesquite trees growing throughout Southern Nevada. The beans were ground into flour and used to make some of the most delicious pancakes you’ve ever laid a lip over. They were enhanced with locally made toppings including my favorite: prickly pear syrup. Mmmm-mmmm good!

Everyone enjoyed sharing the great food, live music and lots of stimulating conversation about the exciting possibilities for creating a more sustainable, resilient local community.

The event was held at the permaculture demonstration garden located within the Vegas Roots Community Garden. The garden is a marvelous nonprofit facility run by Rosalind Brooks, a remarkable woman with a great vision: “to produce fresh food, build young leaders, create neighborhood connectedness and opportunities for contribution, and promote healthy bodies and minds.”

Based on my experience there, she is succeeding!

There are ongoing cultural and educational events so be sure to view the schedule on its website at www.VegasRoots.org.

One more organization to check out is the Food Hub Strategists for Clark County (www.facebook.com/FoodHubClarkCountyNevada), a group of local citizens including the energetic Rick Passo, focusing on the awareness and adoption of urban agriculture. It’s a great source of information and ideas about local food production. The possibilities are very exciting and especially suited to meet the unique challenges of our desert environment.

Whether you surround your home with an edible landscape, grow vegetables in the garden or want to learn more about getting involved in the many options available, I encourage you to check out each of these organizations and the people behind them. They are part of the growing local food movement in Southern Nevada, an essential part of the sustainability puzzle. More and more pieces are fitting together thanks to them.

Steve Rypka is a green living consultant and president of GreenDream Enterprises, a company committed to helping people live lighter on the planet. For more information and links to additional resources relating to this column or to reach Rypka, visit www.greendream.biz.