Haas Sees Locally Grown Foods Offering Environmental Benefits
Georgia peaches, Idaho potatoes, and Florida oranges are all famous for tasting great. Within the state of Virginia, Hanover tomatoes are well-known for their quality. Carola Haas, an associate professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Science, wants to know what makes them so special. Her current project aims to improve the image of locally grown foods.
Haas is collaborating with Nick Rose, a graduate student pursuing an advanced degree in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise (HNFE) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, to provide information for people about how to cook and eat locally grown foods. The project has two primary aims: to help agricultural production and to improve the environment.
Agricultural production in the Southwest Virginia region could eventually become threatened if some trends are not reversed. The project hopes to aid and support local farmers in order to keep their farms producing at high levels. Their green pastures must be preserved, as they are necessary for agriculture. Haas and Rose hope that educating people will elicit more support for protecting these lands.
The project also hopes to improve the environment in several ways. The first of these is by keeping the region’s farms running. Compared with residential and industrial land, areas designated for agricultural use boast greater protection from flooding and improved water quality. Additionally, Haas says, “Many species such as bog turtles, Henslow's sparrows, and bobwhite are declining because of the loss of suitable habitat--habitat that used to be maintained on farms in the area.” Growing foods locally also offers the potential to reduce global warming. Trucks travel from across the nation to deliver foods to area supermarkets, and they burn considerably larger quantities of fossil fuels than they would if they were delivering foods that were grown in the region. As an HNFE major, Rose is also interested in improving people’s diets by persuading them to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Last year, Haas had an undergraduate class within the college create a brochure for students advocating the purchase of local foods. Rose is currently working on expanding the brochure aspect of the project. He is working with several undergraduates to benefit the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market by creating recipes to go along with the local food items sold there. Eventually, the recipes will be combined to form a cookbook that farmer’s market vendors will be able to distribute to customers. Further down the line, the cookbook may be published and sold in stores.
11/25/08