Hazel Onsrud has been a librarian at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine for about the last five years.
How do you interact with the local food system?
Every day, all the time! At the library we’re really lucky to partner with all these great organizations to help us combat all the bad things in our food system, like food insecurity, but also celebrate all the good things, like regenerate agriculture. We focus a lot on growing food literacy too. When people think of libraries, they often just think of reading literacy, but there’s all kinds. Digital literacy, food literacy, and others!
What do you see as some strengths of our local food system? Weaknesses?
There are a lot of good people working hard to make a better food system. The one that we have now has some pitfalls, but there are some really great humans that are tackling different challenges, like improving access, improving literacy, essentially working to remove barriers to accessing food and actually eating food. We have folks aware and actually working to improve things. That means that someone like me, in my position at the Library, can plug in and help.
There are unfortunately also a lot of weaknesses, but none of them are insurmountable. This is a solvable problem. Challenges that come to mind include the amount of food insecurity in the state, as well as how much food we import outside of Maine. But, like I said, it’s a solvable problem! For folks that can afford to buy locally, or grow their own food, that really makes a big difference. You’re helping the local economy, it’s better for the climate, good for the community. It’s working to help more than one of the weaknesses. We’re always looking for the win, wins!
How does Curtis Memorial Library, as a trusted resource and community hub, play a role to support increased production, consumption, and access to local foods?
First off we have books - cookbooks of all kinds to help folks access information about recipes, how to prepare certain foods, and how to explore the world through different cultural and ethnic recipes. We also partner with existing organizations almost any time we host a program or event. For example, we partner with SNAP-Ed for events and they’ll make snacks using local farmed or gleaned food!
Outside of programs and books, we have a Library of Things. Folks can borrow all sorts of things, tools, cooking utensils, etc. Grinders, choppers, canning equipment, pressure canner, you name it. A lot of these tools can be really expensive, to purchase, to maintain, to store. So it makes sense to be able to borrow one for a bit, and then return it for someone else to use. One of my family’s favorites was a stainless steel dehydrator - it’s a $300 piece of equipment. I could have maybe afforded a lesser-quality plastic one, but with this I was able to dehydrate 2 years worth of apples in an afternoon! We enjoy them every single day as snacks. With clever lending, we can teach folks how to grow food, save seeds, and how to preserve food in different ways. We partner with SNAP-Ed to lead workshops to teach folks how to explore the world and various cultures through food. With books, we often say they either help you engage or escape. But cooking lets us do both!
Speaking of clever lending, we’re also starting up our new Plant Library! Unlike books, plants will actually multiply and make more plants. The possibilities are endless when we think creatively! Besides underwear and germs, generally speaking, the world is better when we share. There are just so many opportunities to improve so many things - from our culture, to the environment, to access.
What's for dinner tonight?
A taco casserole - with lots of olives. Being gluten free and vegan doesn’t have to be bland - our spice cabinet is quite extensive! Using local tortillas, cashew cheese, beans, and some veggies like cabbage or spinach, we just layer all the yummy stuff and put it in the oven. Curries and mole are my happy place - so whatever we have leftover in the fridge goes in there too. We like to garnish the casserole with avocado and vegan sour cream.