Interview

A few thoughts on the first of my interviews. Two and three coming soon, but we're taking a farm break and going up to some land in Tuckasegee (near Brevard) so things must wait for a much-needed and welcomed vacation!

My first interview was a woman just down the road. I had her draw a map, both ideological and spatial, of her food shed. She included places such as the Food Lion and the Ingles right down the road, the local organic grocery Trout Lily, Fairview's community garden, her own backyard garden, Flying Cloud Farm's roadside produce stand, and Hickory Nut Gap (the meat farm just down the road; the farmer is Annie Louise's cousin). As she was drawing this map, she talked aloud about her food sources.

After the map was drawn, we went through the questions I posted in a previous entry. Cameron talked most about her idea of community. Fairview is a small town in the best of ways: close-knit, with everyone knowing and caring about everyone else. And of course, food plays a crucial role in how this community grows and connects. The community garden brings folks together in the dirt, while potlucks, square dances, and picnics are community events. Cameron talked a lot about how important these food moments were in drawing people together in celebration. She also talked a lot about how wonderful it was to know the folks she gets her food from, on farms just down the road from neighbors she knows.

Cameron's map reflected a really healthy food shed, with lots of sources for local and organic food. This is important to her: she works to preserve farmland with Americorps, and knows firsthand the importance of economically supporting local farms. This sensibility (the close knit community, farmers as friends, her love of cooking, and an understanding of the importance of supporting locally produced goods) absolutely informs her food decisions.