Farm to Family Adventures: How to Eat Seasonally, Support Local Farmers, and Revitalize Our Environment
This summer my family has a goal to visit as many farms as we can.
In the past week, we’ve eaten fresh ice cream and pet the cows the milk came from.
We’ve squatted our way through strawberry fields hunting for ripe red berries and climbed ladders picking cherries from the tops of trees in an orchard.
We've pulled over by the side of country roads to purchase eggs from handmade boxes with coolers in them at the end of driveways.
Our meals are based around the organic veggies we get each week in the Community Supported Agriculture program we’ve joined.
It’s exciting to figure out what to make with garlic scapes, purple daikons, or fresh herbs and other interesting, colorful, and sometimes dirty fresh vegetables.
I want to eat as much local and fresh food as possible.
My kids want to pick-their-own of every fruit they can all season long from strawberries to apples.
I’ve always loved sustainable farming and food, but right now there is a new urgency to connect with the source of our food supply.
I want my kids to grow up knowing how our food grows, who grows it, and where it comes from.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we relate to food.
For the first time in my life, there have been waiting lines to get into grocery stores.
Certain staple foods have become scarce.
People are coveting bags of flour.
It’s become apparent how easily the links in our food supply chain can be broken.
Farmers have always known this.
Freak storms, extreme weather, unexpected plagues of bugs, and whole crops can be gone in an instant.
Farms are the foundation of our food supply.
Without the farmers growing our food, there would be nothing to shop for at the store or eat at a restaurant.
With the current impacts of the coronavirus, farms have been impacted in a variety of ways. Some farmers have had to throw away food. Other farms have been selling out as fast as they can produce products.
Many farms have had to pivot in their business models.
Farms that relied upon summer events to help pay the mortgage, such as weddings and farm-to-table dinners, are having to explore new options now that group functions are off the menu.
Other farms that catered to restaurants had to repackage and market to consumers as many restaurants, bakeries, and food establishments closed their doors for months, and are just now opening up slowly, and some not at all.
Some farms are opting out of community markets this year and are instead offering farm-to-door delivery services.
However, many farms are experiencing a big increase in customers at farm stores and in CSA programs.
Supporting local farms addresses two of my major goals: prioritizing health and investing in local small businesses.
Eating local fresh food in season is one of the best things we can do to support our health and wellbeing.
Plus, purchasing food direct from regional farmers is healthy for our bodies, families, communities, and planet.
The quality of food available direct from farmers is far beyond what’s available at the store.
For years, I’ve searched out local farms in all the places I’ve lived to be able to purchase raw milk and grass-fed dairy, which is so delicious, healthy, and quite unlike the ultra-pasteurized and homogenized milk at stores.
In many places I’ve lived, the only way to get raw grass-fed dairy was straight from the farmers or farm stands.
It’s been worth it to drive up to an hour each week for my family to have access to raw milk.
I’m very grateful now to have a farm store just 10 minutes away from my home where I can buy it, as well as many other delicious local foods.
We also love to go on our farm adventures and visit new farms, support a variety of local farmers, try new foods, and get to explore the gorgeous countryside.
It feels so good to get to actually visit and see the farms we are getting our food from.
Plus the animals that we are getting our milk from - and yogurt, ice cream, and cheese.
There are so many ways to support local farmers and discover new farms and foods in your region.
Shop at farm stores for veggies, fruits, meat, dairy, plants, flowers, and more.
Join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
Pick-your-own fruits in season.
Go on a farm crawl and spend a day visiting different farms and their stores.
Visit farmer’s markets.
Eat at farm-to-table restaurants.
Shop at a local co-op.
It’s so important to support our local food system.
Fresh food is tastier and healthier.
The longer it takes for food to get from the farm to our family, the more nutrients deteriorate and are lost.
Farm fresh food also has an outstanding flavor that is far superior to grocery store food.
The environmental benefits of eating locally are also huge.
Lettuce and tomatoes that have been grown in California and transported in refrigerator trucks to the East coast have already lost a lot of nutrients by the time they get to the grocery store.
Food from the grocery store has a huge environmental impact due to the amount of energy used to transport it from states away.
When you get to know your local farm culture, you can also choose to support small farms that utilize regenerative agriculture practices that help to restore and revitalize the health of the soil, air, and region.
We need to support our local farms, not just now but ongoing, to create lasting change in our food culture, environment, agriculture, and health.
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