Sailing the Grain: Local Food Transportation

[GreatWhite]

In the community I live in, in British Columbia there is a movement towards locally grown and produced food. Our sailing club has joined forces with a local grain coop. Grains have been grown for community members who want to have there food grown for them locally in a sustainable way.
Why grow grain and truck all of it to a huge distribution network thousands of miles away to have it repackaged and shipped back? This process involves paying most of the cost of the food to the fuel companies. With a different model the farmers get all the money. Local bakers and the local brewery are donating supplies for the sailors.

Instead of shipping the food by truck we can use the lake waters and our sail boats. The distance covered will be about 50 Nm each way on Kootenay lake. It should be getting some nation coverage here in Canada. Standby for links. I will be sailing all weekend but I will report back on Monday.

[sailingdog]

Cool...falling back on sail for transporting food.

[Delirious]

Hmmmm. Wonder if we can do that with grapes to the wineries on Cayuga Lake?

We have a similar movement at home. It's called a "garden" and we plant "seeds" and shoot the animals that venture near for 'meat". It may eventually catch on.

[N0NJY]

We have a similar movement at home. It's called a "garden" and we plant "seeds" and shoot the animals that venture near for 'meat". It may eventually catch on.

When I was kid we did that. Now that I've grown up and have continued (against my will) to live in cities... I just want to say that these damned cities frown on me shooting "meat" in my yard for some reason.


Damn them

[Delirious]

Yeah. They shouldn't build those cities so close to where prople are trying to live.

There's always trapping and snaring. ;-)

[Valiente]

There is still apparently an economic case for "micro-shipping" in Polynesia. Yachts that can live without the dining area for a week or so can make a few bucks or trade on the goodwill of shipping some light freight or mail island to island.

[xort]

Being in the Detroit area, I could load a car or two aboard and sail them to Buffalo! Cool. Or guns, we gots lots o' dem.
Grandpa used to run whiskey across the river from Hyram Walker (Canadian Club) to his speakeasy in Toledo

[Barquito]

Taking this one step further. Are there any sailing ships still around that would actually be suited to hauling a lot of stuff (or stuffing, or cranberries, or turkeys...)

[sailaway21]

Seasonal work or are they going to iceboat it in the winter? Sounds like a great deal except that shipping costs make up less than five per cent of the cost of most commodities. 'Notherwords...there's areason they ship all that grain to storage silos. I'm trying to find farmers who grow their food in an unsustainable way but having little luck. Have these Canadian farmers converted from unsustainable farming to sustainable farming and, if so, what were they doing while practicing the former? I've got a couple of friends in farming and they'd do almost anything to get out of it, thus explaining my interest in unsustainable farming.

[eMKay]

Oh how I wish it was 1925, then I can smuggle booze from Ontario in my little homemade PDRacer. I always wanted to be a rum runner.