Jenny Goodwine is a 21 year old, born and raised in Champaign-Urbana, IL. She is employed at an environmentally-driven, open and democratic co-op, called Common Ground Food Co-Operative. She is currently a Junior, Social Work major at the University of Illinois, who is extremely interested in non-profits or direct practice with clients. She is very interested in local food movement and organic farming – she even worked on an organic farm two summers ago. She is hell-bent on eating well, fresh, unprocessed foods – mostly plants. She is a former bacon-lover turned vegetarian, and soon to turn vegan. Jenny is inspired by simplistic lifestyles, a desire to be self-sufficient, and live on a need basis.
***
1. What is your definition of sustainability?
Simply, sustainability to me is living in such a way that can sustain healthy environmental, animal, and human life for the present and future.
2. What do you do to maintain a sustainable lifestyle? Do you think you live a sustainable lifestyle?
To live a sustainable lifestyle means to consider the greater implications of every action you do: driving your car, throwing your pop can away, buying things with excess packaging, and to realize the result of all of those separate actions added up. I'm sure that I could live a more sustainable lifestyle - we all could; but I think I do an admirable job, and I hope to gradually develop as an ever-more sustainable person. Currently, I am a die-hard recycler (who admittedly picks up pop cans and plastic during my walks); I avoid driving cars whenever possible, and have a personal goal of never owning a car (I rely on my own two feet, or my own two bike tires!); I almost exclusively wear used clothing - whether hand-me-downs or thrift store items; I occasionally hold "Clothing Swaps" as well as "Free Stuff Swaps" where my friends bring any unwanted clothes or other household objects, and we simply trade. Reusing clothing and other items cuts down on what we would otherwise have to buy at the store (which involves a consumption of resources to create those new things, to create excess packaging, it may use up gas to drive ourselves to the store, and also uses up our hard earned cash!). I compost all of my organic material in something called a vermicompost pile - a bin that contains worms that eat the food I dump in there (this prevents all my uneaten food ending up in the landfill, where it gets so compact that there's not enough air to even decompose our food). I do other small things like bring my own bags to the grocery store, and I often explicitly ask for no bag if I buy something at a retail store (Today I walked out of TJ Maxx with two bras in my hand - no bag).
3. Tell me about your work at a food co-op.
I work at one of the most satisfying jobs ever because my value of sustainability is upheld on a business level. I work at a wonderful grocery store called the Common Ground Food Co-op, which specifically sells organic, local, and natural foods. It is food cooperative, and many food cooperatives tend to have very similar values - not the least of which, and indeed one of the most important, is maintaining a high level of environmental sustainability. The ways in which we practice sustainability is aplenty, and we are constantly actively seeking new ways to become more green. By principle, we do not provide new plastic bags for customers; instead, they can use the ones we've collected in the "recycle grocery bags" bin, or bring their own. We compost everything, and give that compost to local farms who use it to enrich their soil. We buy our various equipment from environmentally friendly distributors. Perhaps one of the most important ways that we encourage sustainability is the food itself: nearly all of it, save a couple of items, is certified organic (anything not organic is "natural" - which is an official label put onto foods that must be upheld to certain healthy standards, as well). Organic basically means that no artificial fertilizers or pesticides were used by the farms when growing the food, which keeps our land and bodies healthy and free of harmful chemicals. Furthermore, the co-op also buy as many products from local businesses and farms as it can, which has COUNTLESS benefits: it greatly cuts down on the amount of fuel it takes to bring the food to us; it puts money back into our local economy; it supports the business people of our local community; and finally, our produce is fresher, tastier, and plain old looks prettier as a result!
4. Do you buy food locally? Where? What do you buy?
YES, I buy food locally! The best place to buy locally is from your local farmer's market! Urbana, where I was raised and currently live, has one of the best, most community-oriented, and most delicious farmer's markets I've been to. Farmers from around Illinois (thought most are from right around Urbana) meet in the parking lot next to the Common Ground Food Co-op every Saturday morning from May to September to sell their produce or other locally made goods. The options range from the early-spring options of asparagus, alfalfa sprouts, kale, lettuce, artichokes, and arugula, to the mid-summer options of basil, tomatoes, peppers, corn, and peaches to the early fall options of apples, beets, carrots, cucumbers, or squash.... but the list goes on. You can even buy local cheese, meat, honey, bread, eggs, grains, and flour.
When the farmer's market is not in season, I buy my local supplies from the Common Ground Food Co-op. All year round, the co-op sells that same locally made cheese, honey, grains, flour, meat, eggs, and bread that you can buy at the farmer's markets! Even in winter time, some produce from local farms is available, such as root vegetables which can be kept in root cellars all winter, and some local farms have green houses which can grow some leafy produce in winter, such as spinach and sprouts. Though still early in the season, the co-op currently has local kales, lettuces, sunchokes, asparagus, napini, spinach, and sometimes basil. The local foods come mainly from Blue Moon Farm in Urbana, IL; Tiny Greens farm in Urbana; Triple S farm in Stewardson, IL; Moore Family Farm in Watseka, IL, and Prairie Fruits Farm in Urbana (the last one is our local goat cheese farm!). The co-op even sometimes carries produce grown in the gardens of locals! While it's not certified organic like most of our goods, it's naturally grown and very much local!
The best part about buying locally is that you know where your food is coming from. If you go to farmer's markets, you can meet the farmers who grow it, you can ask them questions, you can become their friends, and you can visit the land where it's grown. In a word, you can know your food is safe.
5. What is your favorite food?
BEETS! I used to haaaaate them, because I thought they only came in a can. But I had my first roasted beets last summer, and it was out of this world. They taste so earthy, so delectable. Mmmm. It really depends on how you prepare things - everything is better when it's fresh, AKA not from a can!
6. How do you feel about the term organic?
I like it! In all of its senses! But it's especially important in regards to how food is grown. The use of fertilizers and pesticides releases toxic chemicals and metals into the soil and onto (and into) the food grown on farms; furthermore, agricultural runoff causes these toxic chemicals to seep into our rivers, lakes, and water systems! So, refraining from the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers is VERY beneficial to our land, our food, our plants, our animals, and our bodily health!
And to be clear, it takes a lot for something to be officially labeled "organic" in stores. There are very strict regulations that farms (and companies that sell food labeled as "organic") must abide by in order to be deemed certified organic. For instance, the land itself must have been fertilizer and pesticide-free for three years prior to certification. It also takes many years, much money, and extremely detailed record-keeping in order for farms to be certified as organic by the USDA. As a result, small farms often cannot afford to pay the fees or go through the entire certification process, even if they meet or exceed the rules.
7. How do you feel about CSA?
I just recently learned about CSA, and immediately after, I bookmarked the website which talked about Urbana's local CSA chapter! Because those who decide to support CSA buy a share at the beginning of each season, it ensures that the farmers get a stable wage that's not dependent on how good or bad the weather ends up being. It's an excellent way to support farming as a much needed and appreciated occupation, and to really make it a community-driven and supported enterprise. Furthermore, CSA farms often employ sustainable farming methods; they provide recipes for the food that you can get each week; you get produce for slightly cheaper than farmer's market prices; and again, it supports the local economy, as well as small farms!
(more info on urbana's CSA here: http://www.prairielandcsa.org/whatisacsa.html)
8. Tell me about freegans!
I don't know anyone that's a self-proclaimed freegan, but from what I understand, it's a lifestyle for those who do not want to participate in the capitalist, consumer-driven economy because they think it is wasteful, evil, or they simply can't afford it. As a result, they live only off of things they find for free. For instance, instead of buying food at the grocery store, they will "dumpster dive" - that is, seek out food that has been thrown out in local business's dumpsters to eat! I am guilty of doing just that (especially at the local bakery!).
(see http://freegan.info/)
9. What is the effect of being a vegetarian on the environment?
can i just give you this website that explains it really well? it's pretty succinct and clear.
http://www.lettuceleaf.org/help_the_environment/
10. What are your tips for normal college students (like me) on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle?
Waste not, want not! Buy second hand. Compost food. Decline grocery or retail bags. Bring your own bags to the store. Have clothing or "stuff" swaps with friends. Unplug your phone or computer chargers when you are not using them. Buy locally. Walk or ride your bike to get from place to place (this is especially easy as a student!). Enjoy your town's farmer's market. Eat less meat, eat more vegetables. Recycle. Buy a reusable water bottle and fill it with tap water instead of buying big packs of water bottles. Buy and use less things that are "disposable." Buy less that has excessive packaging. Buy less things in general. Instead, share with friends. Borrow from friends. Lend to friends. We don't always need to go out and buy something brand new when we need it; it uses more and more natural resources to create a new thing. Try and borrow! Use the library instead of buying new books. Go outside. Take a walk. Find ways to enjoy yourself away from technology. Think critically. Live critically. Live by example, others will follow.
Simply, sustainability to me is living in such a way that can sustain healthy environmental, animal, and human life for the present and future.
2. What do you do to maintain a sustainable lifestyle? Do you think you live a sustainable lifestyle?
To live a sustainable lifestyle means to consider the greater implications of every action you do: driving your car, throwing your pop can away, buying things with excess packaging, and to realize the result of all of those separate actions added up. I'm sure that I could live a more sustainable lifestyle - we all could; but I think I do an admirable job, and I hope to gradually develop as an ever-more sustainable person. Currently, I am a die-hard recycler (who admittedly picks up pop cans and plastic during my walks); I avoid driving cars whenever possible, and have a personal goal of never owning a car (I rely on my own two feet, or my own two bike tires!); I almost exclusively wear used clothing - whether hand-me-downs or thrift store items; I occasionally hold "Clothing Swaps" as well as "Free Stuff Swaps" where my friends bring any unwanted clothes or other household objects, and we simply trade. Reusing clothing and other items cuts down on what we would otherwise have to buy at the store (which involves a consumption of resources to create those new things, to create excess packaging, it may use up gas to drive ourselves to the store, and also uses up our hard earned cash!). I compost all of my organic material in something called a vermicompost pile - a bin that contains worms that eat the food I dump in there (this prevents all my uneaten food ending up in the landfill, where it gets so compact that there's not enough air to even decompose our food). I do other small things like bring my own bags to the grocery store, and I often explicitly ask for no bag if I buy something at a retail store (Today I walked out of TJ Maxx with two bras in my hand - no bag).
3. Tell me about your work at a food co-op.
I work at one of the most satisfying jobs ever because my value of sustainability is upheld on a business level. I work at a wonderful grocery store called the Common Ground Food Co-op, which specifically sells organic, local, and natural foods. It is food cooperative, and many food cooperatives tend to have very similar values - not the least of which, and indeed one of the most important, is maintaining a high level of environmental sustainability. The ways in which we practice sustainability is aplenty, and we are constantly actively seeking new ways to become more green. By principle, we do not provide new plastic bags for customers; instead, they can use the ones we've collected in the "recycle grocery bags" bin, or bring their own. We compost everything, and give that compost to local farms who use it to enrich their soil. We buy our various equipment from environmentally friendly distributors. Perhaps one of the most important ways that we encourage sustainability is the food itself: nearly all of it, save a couple of items, is certified organic (anything not organic is "natural" - which is an official label put onto foods that must be upheld to certain healthy standards, as well). Organic basically means that no artificial fertilizers or pesticides were used by the farms when growing the food, which keeps our land and bodies healthy and free of harmful chemicals. Furthermore, the co-op also buy as many products from local businesses and farms as it can, which has COUNTLESS benefits: it greatly cuts down on the amount of fuel it takes to bring the food to us; it puts money back into our local economy; it supports the business people of our local community; and finally, our produce is fresher, tastier, and plain old looks prettier as a result!
4. Do you buy food locally? Where? What do you buy?
YES, I buy food locally! The best place to buy locally is from your local farmer's market! Urbana, where I was raised and currently live, has one of the best, most community-oriented, and most delicious farmer's markets I've been to. Farmers from around Illinois (thought most are from right around Urbana) meet in the parking lot next to the Common Ground Food Co-op every Saturday morning from May to September to sell their produce or other locally made goods. The options range from the early-spring options of asparagus, alfalfa sprouts, kale, lettuce, artichokes, and arugula, to the mid-summer options of basil, tomatoes, peppers, corn, and peaches to the early fall options of apples, beets, carrots, cucumbers, or squash.... but the list goes on. You can even buy local cheese, meat, honey, bread, eggs, grains, and flour.
When the farmer's market is not in season, I buy my local supplies from the Common Ground Food Co-op. All year round, the co-op sells that same locally made cheese, honey, grains, flour, meat, eggs, and bread that you can buy at the farmer's markets! Even in winter time, some produce from local farms is available, such as root vegetables which can be kept in root cellars all winter, and some local farms have green houses which can grow some leafy produce in winter, such as spinach and sprouts. Though still early in the season, the co-op currently has local kales, lettuces, sunchokes, asparagus, napini, spinach, and sometimes basil. The local foods come mainly from Blue Moon Farm in Urbana, IL; Tiny Greens farm in Urbana; Triple S farm in Stewardson, IL; Moore Family Farm in Watseka, IL, and Prairie Fruits Farm in Urbana (the last one is our local goat cheese farm!). The co-op even sometimes carries produce grown in the gardens of locals! While it's not certified organic like most of our goods, it's naturally grown and very much local!
The best part about buying locally is that you know where your food is coming from. If you go to farmer's markets, you can meet the farmers who grow it, you can ask them questions, you can become their friends, and you can visit the land where it's grown. In a word, you can know your food is safe.
5. What is your favorite food?
BEETS! I used to haaaaate them, because I thought they only came in a can. But I had my first roasted beets last summer, and it was out of this world. They taste so earthy, so delectable. Mmmm. It really depends on how you prepare things - everything is better when it's fresh, AKA not from a can!
6. How do you feel about the term organic?
I like it! In all of its senses! But it's especially important in regards to how food is grown. The use of fertilizers and pesticides releases toxic chemicals and metals into the soil and onto (and into) the food grown on farms; furthermore, agricultural runoff causes these toxic chemicals to seep into our rivers, lakes, and water systems! So, refraining from the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers is VERY beneficial to our land, our food, our plants, our animals, and our bodily health!
And to be clear, it takes a lot for something to be officially labeled "organic" in stores. There are very strict regulations that farms (and companies that sell food labeled as "organic") must abide by in order to be deemed certified organic. For instance, the land itself must have been fertilizer and pesticide-free for three years prior to certification. It also takes many years, much money, and extremely detailed record-keeping in order for farms to be certified as organic by the USDA. As a result, small farms often cannot afford to pay the fees or go through the entire certification process, even if they meet or exceed the rules.
7. How do you feel about CSA?
I just recently learned about CSA, and immediately after, I bookmarked the website which talked about Urbana's local CSA chapter! Because those who decide to support CSA buy a share at the beginning of each season, it ensures that the farmers get a stable wage that's not dependent on how good or bad the weather ends up being. It's an excellent way to support farming as a much needed and appreciated occupation, and to really make it a community-driven and supported enterprise. Furthermore, CSA farms often employ sustainable farming methods; they provide recipes for the food that you can get each week; you get produce for slightly cheaper than farmer's market prices; and again, it supports the local economy, as well as small farms!
(more info on urbana's CSA here: http://www.prairielandcsa.org/whatisacsa.html)
8. Tell me about freegans!
I don't know anyone that's a self-proclaimed freegan, but from what I understand, it's a lifestyle for those who do not want to participate in the capitalist, consumer-driven economy because they think it is wasteful, evil, or they simply can't afford it. As a result, they live only off of things they find for free. For instance, instead of buying food at the grocery store, they will "dumpster dive" - that is, seek out food that has been thrown out in local business's dumpsters to eat! I am guilty of doing just that (especially at the local bakery!).
(see http://freegan.info/)
9. What is the effect of being a vegetarian on the environment?
can i just give you this website that explains it really well? it's pretty succinct and clear.
http://www.lettuceleaf.org/help_the_environment/
10. What are your tips for normal college students (like me) on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle?
Waste not, want not! Buy second hand. Compost food. Decline grocery or retail bags. Bring your own bags to the store. Have clothing or "stuff" swaps with friends. Unplug your phone or computer chargers when you are not using them. Buy locally. Walk or ride your bike to get from place to place (this is especially easy as a student!). Enjoy your town's farmer's market. Eat less meat, eat more vegetables. Recycle. Buy a reusable water bottle and fill it with tap water instead of buying big packs of water bottles. Buy and use less things that are "disposable." Buy less that has excessive packaging. Buy less things in general. Instead, share with friends. Borrow from friends. Lend to friends. We don't always need to go out and buy something brand new when we need it; it uses more and more natural resources to create a new thing. Try and borrow! Use the library instead of buying new books. Go outside. Take a walk. Find ways to enjoy yourself away from technology. Think critically. Live critically. Live by example, others will follow.
***
I was incredibly fortunate and honored to interview one of my best friends, and the person who has taught me the most about living a sustainable lifestyle, Jenny Goodwine. Jenny was the inspiration behind my blog, and why I first became so interested in a sustainable lifestyle.
Thank you again, Jenny, for your help and allowing me to interview you!
Best Wishes!
Julia
