Sunday, December 27, 2009
Supporting your local Farm
I have always had a fascination with home grown foods and it's no wonder with a little bit of inspiration from others I got my own hands dirty. Nevertheless farmers are struggling to keep their businesses and way of life above water. Fortunately, for them the home grown revolution and organic eating has gone viral. But their still seems to be a huge gap for revenue that could be generated coming from the local farms into our kitchens. If I had my way I would have our Public schools purchase local food from our farms and institute an intern program for aspiring chefs to provide healthy meals for our kids. Ok this is my 2 cents, probably there are many holes in this way of thinking for it to work effectively, but the good idea fairy just couldn't keep quiet. Nonetheless, I found a great website to support local farms in your area . I was surprised by the number of local establishments in my area that provided everything from honey and canned goods to free ranged birds and cattle. But with all this said, I am glad to see the increased interest of city folk wanting to eat more healthy. Hopefully, this all transforms into tangible evidence that supporting locally grown is here to stay
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7 comments:
YES! What a great idea - to have schools buy fresh local produce! Not sure where you are, but in Chester County, PA, a lot of the local markets have special areas for locally grown produce.
Rodeo Princess- Thanks for commenting. Im in GA and im very familiar with PA. I love communties that support locally grown produce. My first example of that was at Pikes Street Sea MArket in WA. Ever since I exeperienced that I was hooked. I just really think that it would be a win/win situation for all areas if schools were to adopt that, because the not only will kids be recieving the best of nutrtion, it will stimulate the community, create more interest in farming, which is endangered presently and provide oppurtunites for people who are at the proverbial "Y" in the road to take on new skills. Hopefully one day:)
There is an initiative called FarmToSchool which is attempting to put farm fresh food on the tables at our local schools, but they are coming up against a pretty sturdy brick wall.
The problem is that the school lunch program is heavily subsidized by the Federal government. As such, the schools are kind of limited in what they can purchase locally, and they're kind of stuck buying what is provided to them through the commodities program. Here's a wikipedia article on the program.
I agree, though, that it's encouraging to see how many individuals are declaring their independence from the Industrial Food Chain and starting to support local farmers. Like you, I grow part of what my family eats, but we're also huge supporters of our local farmers market and the plethora of farm stands and farm stores in my area.
Wow Wendy!! That is awesome. I checked the website and I support this 100%. I wasn't aware that some schools and communties are doing this. I know politics and bids takes precedence over the health of our children and communties. I remember growing up in Jersey City going to Private school, we had pretty good food but when I moved and finally ended up in public school; Oh boyy "WHAT A HOT MESS!" I have to keep a look out for things like this in my area so that I don't miss my chance to support it. Thanks for the link
I'm from the UK and I'm finding a lot more people are interested in fresh, local produce but few are really being proactive about finding/purchasing/supporting.
However, it is certainly going to be one of my main focuses for the coming year and fortunately my boyfriend is very passionate about this too!
Have an awesome new year x
K Fulton- thanks for the comment. I think your dead on with how many people support it with thier hearts but fail with action. I think it all balls down to convience. If it seems like work than most people are like "the hell with it" But for us in the "know" we know that everything good comes from hardwork. But I really think alot of things are going to change in the near future. Because people who have been growing food locally and in thier backyards have a whole new demographic of younger people who actually think it's hip to be apart of the locally grown organic movement. I would almost think that there are many more children being introduced to healthy lifestyles and eating local organic food than a decade ago. I could be wrong. But it still does not hide the fact that the interest is there. K- Fulton I wish you and your boy friend a happy new year!!
ATW - exactly! It is mostly convenience. We are fortunate that there has been this major drive for "healthy, organic produce", it's a shame that it has to be some craze amongst celebs before people really start notice but at least the message is getting out there...
I don't know many people that have started growing their own foods so i think it's probably why it's took me a while to figure out how it'd would in a town but I'm working it out, making space for pots and such. Even just growing my own herbs for teas and strawberries for jam I'm finding a lot of enthusiasm for!
I hope it is something more people find a passion for...
Happy new year to everyone!
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