LAKEPORT – On Monday Lake County's first Local Foods Forum took place, providing an opportunity to gather together people involved in the county's food industry, and propose ideas for better production and distribution of locally grown produce.

Local foods movements are becoming more popular across the country as people return to a desire to eat healthier and know where their food is grown.

The Monday event, held at the Lake County Fairgrounds, featured discussions about the nutritional benefits of buying and using locally grown goods in catering, restaurants and schools, as well as an exploration of how to develop relationships between the farmers, restaurants, schools, and the local distributors and transportation sources needed to get the goods to these outlets.

California Secretary of Agriculture A.G. Kawamura made a special appearance at the event and offered the opening remarks.

He pointed out that locally grown and consumed produce is both economically and environmentally more viable than mass production and shipping goods long distances.

When asked about what he sees as problems for the future of agriculture, Kawamura pointed to water, invasive pests and labor issues.

Dr. Shermain Hardesty, director of the University of California Small Farm Program, explained how that, while most farmers did some sort of wholesale, retail or farmers markets, there also are options for farm-to-institution and farm-to-Internet marketing.

Susan Jen, director of the Health Leadership Network – the group that coordinated the forum – discussed how more children are becoming obese and staying obese throughout life. Once called adult onset diabetes, type two diabetes is now becoming a childhood disease.

During an afternoon roundtable discussion on grower and buyer needs, several local growers spoke of the history of Lake County Agriculture and gave personal anecdotes about growing and working in the county.

Nearly all of the crops in Lake County are specialty crops – for example, walnuts, pears and grapes – and the county has received a California Department of Food and Agriculture grant to promote their production.

The grant is designed to benefit Lake County residents and farmers, and was awarded to Lake County Public Health on behalf of the Health Leadership Network.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .