That ignited Karlen and her colleague Judy Wicks, whose White Dog Cafe had been a socially innovative, community-conscious force in the local food scene for decades. Together, through the White Dog Cafe Foundation, they created Fair Food in 2001.
At first, Karlen's work consisted primarily of connecting local farms that supplied White Dog Cafe to a larger market of restaurants and stores. This business-to-business direct marketing approach was overwhelmingly successful. Today, Fair Food works with hundreds of small to midsized farms, supplying restaurants, colleges and hospitals.
Most recently, Fair Food has partnered with the Philadelphia School District to supply 26 public schools with locally produced, sustainable foods.
Over the last 20 years, sustainable food has become a widespread movement that's raising public awareness and concern about where food comes from. Karlen, her army of volunteers and a supporting cast of full- and part-time workers are at the forefront of Philly's food revolution. The Fair Food Farmstand occupies 750 square feet of prime real estate in the Reading Terminal Market where a cheesesteak joint once stood.
"Why is it so expensive?" is perhaps the most frequent question Karlen hears. Her response: "Farming is like any other profession. The food at the supermarket is artificially inexpensive because of the way it is produced . . . It's complex and hard for people to understand. You may get it for a cheap price . . . but we're paying a higher price in degradation of the land, fuel, illness" and more.
I agree. How many times have we seen salmonella outbreaks and other food-borne illnesses cause devastation and in some cases death? We're paying very high unseen costs that we're just beginning to understand.
