Talk about hitting the mark at just the right moment.
The $1.65 million investment that Chattanooga's Benwood Foundation is making in developing local food production promises to be one of the more important initiatives in the community's long and rich history.
That's a bold statement, I know, suggesting a program just getting off the ground will be so significant, but this is no misguided, do-good missile being launched. Gaining Ground, the program that will direct the foundation's three-year commitment to locally grown food, is about health, welfare and the local economy.
Add those together, and you get a big result: sustainable community.
Local food production creates jobs, better-tasting and healthier eating alternatives and a communal spirit. Also, as the world population grows and developing countries emerge, global food imports will be harder to come by. Even domestically, some studies suggest, regions will be stingier with food products as demand makes good produce more valuable.
We've seen that happen with oil on the global level and water on the national level. But there's one big difference in food products: They can be produced at home at a quality that exceeds those grown en masse and picked early for shipment.
Until the organic food movement came along, we had almost forgotten that almost anybody can produce food with just a little dirt. We also seemed to forget that quality food, including better-tasting vegetables and meats with no preservatives, is key to a healthy diet.
Add in the obvious factor that homegrown products are going to be more of a necessity for thriving communities, creating jobs along the way, and one can see that the Benwood Foundation's substantial commitment to Gaining Ground is forward-thinking, with strong odds of becoming a long-term difference maker.