6.02.2010

We know our farmers.

Me and my peeps!
I'm not sure how I can top the great day we had on Monday!  BigDaddy came home the night before he was due to surprise me for our anniversary. (fyi: surprise visit in the middle of the night = wife heart attack) But sweet nonetheless.

I had planned to take the kids to one of my Happy Places with some friends.  Polyface Farm.  If you are learning about the Slow Food Movement, saw Food Inc, read Omnivores Dilemma or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, you've crossed paths with Polyface.  The Salatins (And Wendy, their PR Queen) are so friendly and I just love visiting.  We went there on one of our "homeschool field trips" last fall and wanted to return in the spring/early summer to try and catch some baby animals.  Since BigDaddy came home early, we got to go as a family. Hooray!

It's vital for kids to learn where food comes from, and the difference between feeding your body junk and good, nutritious food. I won't lie and say we eat healthy all the time, but I do try to follow an 80/20 rule of good vs. junk.  And we are in the process of eating better and better each day.  It's a slow, on-going process, but a process of moving in the right direction.  When the munchkins know we are eating a steak, they know it's from a cow-- not just the meat section in the grocery store.  They know what vegetables look like, even if they know they don't like them.  We try to reinforce the the source of our food, be it an animal or a plant.  I want them excited about food, and knowledgeable about food.  I still cringe at Jamie Oliver's food quiz in an elementary class where the kids didn't know what  vegetables looked like.


One of my farmers! Me and Joel Salatin from last Novemeber.
So back to our day. After frolicking about the farm with baby bunnies and chicks, we grabbed our lunches and I met the crew at Polyface and learned all about ordering.  Yep, you heard me, ORDERING.  I mentioned we were upping our game.  I'm not sure what or how much or how this is going to work, but I got the form, talked to Daniel (Joel Salatin's son) and told them I'm ordering.  Now my food not only has a face (and a happy one at that), but a farmer. He knows me. Knows my name and he knows I'm supposed to make this step.  Creating some peer pressure for myself will force me to eat better.  Lame, I know.  But when other people know what I'm up to, I'm accountable, not only to you, My Loyal Seven, but to my farmer too.


I highly encourage you to meet someone, anyone, in your area that you can buy a food product from.  The Farmers' Market.  A local farm.  A U-Pick berry patch.  Find out about the person behind the product.  I'm embarking on a Know Your Farmer Tour with a friend. Challenging ourselves to not only buy local, eat organic when possible, but to also talk to the farmers whose hard work created what we get to eat.  So get out there, Loyal Seven, and talk to some farmers!  Tell me about it after your done.  Gimme names, products, locations...

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love that you do this. I know my farmer is Trader Joe's. :)

Laura said...

I have to say all your talk about food has been inspiring. We just picked up our 100% grass fed beef order from SevenSons last weekend. SUCH tasty burgers! We also joined an egg buying club which delivers eggs from their farm...free range chickens with no antibiotics, no hormones, etc. As far as chicken goes we've been buying from Gunthrop Farms through our local Farm Fresh Delivery orders. I've been googling like crazy looking for a no spray strawberry farm...no luck yet. Keep up the great posts and the helfpful info!

Clint Sellers said...

Awesome post, Lisa.

Lisa Spector said...

Madge- YOU are your farmer ;) aren't you growing more this year?

Laura- Thanks! Glad you get some good info from the posts. Also, do you go to the farmer's markets? Ask someone there who is selling berries if they know where you can go. Sometimes they will let you on their farm anyway, even if they aren't U-pick. Also talk with them about how much they spray, it might only be a bit for fungus.

Clint- Thanks!! We had such a nice time!

Anonymous said...

Yes, strawberries, pole beans, regular beans, lettuce and tomatoes.

ChrisLS said...

Tanaka Farms is a great place near here. I really should go there more. Also, they have a program through Joe's school where they deliver whatever's fresh (either from their farm or another co-op) once a week. Next year I'd like to find another family to hook up with to split the bounty and the cost which is I think $25 per week.

ChrisLS said...

oh, also - love your new summer look :)

Anonymous said...

We tried organic food delivery on our block but the food was not great and not enough for your money. Trader Joe's is good for me.

Jim Doran said...

HOLY CRAP!!! JOEL IS AWESOME!!!!

Nikki said...

You know I am a fan of Polyface! Love all the books too of course...really should be required reading I think. I doubt any of your readers will be local to me but just in case here is my plug for supporting one of my favorite local farms in Skagit Valley-
Fresh glass bottled Milk is a staple in our home from-
http://www.goldenglencreamery.com/index.htm
No hormones and antibiotics in their milk and there's nothing like fresh milk. I won't clog your comments page with all the local farms we visit for our berries and fresh veggies...love our choices here. Plus you can't beat Farmers Markets of course. So glad you are finding all the options out there too Lisa! Such a great area also!

Lisa Spector said...

Madge- organic is almost always more expensive, we've all gotten a little too used to "cheap food" But it does pay to shop around. TJs is great, but I've found that even store organic doesn't compare to local organic.

Chris- splitting with a family would be great, or just take planned trips to Chino Hills for FREE bounty ;)

Jim- I concur ;)

Nikki- you are in a GREAT area. I feel pretty lucky that we are surrounded by so many options! who knew? ;)

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin