Looking for Green America by Bicycle
by Bonnie Alter, London on 06.27.06
“Netjetters” is the name of the contest, run by the Guardian, where the winners get a three month paid trip in return for writing a regular blog about their experiences for the paper. It is quite inter-active in that readers can send suggestions to them about places en route where they should go. This year the theme of the competition was to create a “green” trip, in keeping with the growing popularity of eco-tourism. The winner is a female Londoner who is planning to take the “Great American Road Trip” by bicycle—but with a twist. She is going to turn it into a green expedition, rating each state by how green it is and trying to eat locally grown organic food as she travels. She has already researched the locations of organic farms,shops and markets, even "in states like Kentucky”. She intends to stop off at eco-projects and places of environmental interest as she rides the 4,274 miles between Virginia and California. “My aim is to show that this trip is accessible to most people and that while America's roads may be perfect for gas-guzzling cars and disposable travelling, they don't have to be used that way”. :: Guardian
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Last summer I rode from NYC to Seattle with my husband and had every intention of eating as much local food as possible. I had visions of family farms and cute farm stands across the country. The sad reality is that most of the country is full of feed corn and soy--not good for hungry cyclists! We did stop at every single farm stand we passed and bought as much as we could carry but there weren't many to stop at in most of the midwest and great plains states. Not surprisingly, Western MT, ID and WA were the best for farm stands and markets selling organic, local, natural foods. I was impressed with the number of "health" or "natural" food stores we found out there, even in very tiny towns. For most of the trip though, it was hard just to find wheat bread and natural peanut butter!
I have to take issue with the "even in Kentucky" comment. Kentucky has an active and growing local producer movement - they've even gotten Wal-Mart to buy locally grown broccoli (I know, I know, it's a tiny step) for its KY outlets. The whole state is linked in a producer-market network called Kentucky Proud: http://www.kyagr.com/kyproud/index.htm
I'm not a Kentuckian, but I respect the efforts they are making to raise the profile and economic viability of small local producers.