I just ate my first tomato off my very own vine in a late lunch salad. Cooking in the slow cooker on my kitchen counter is a pork roast purchased from a farmer only 3 miles from me….HOW MUCH MORE LOCAL CAN YOU GET?
All morning the aroma of the roast has whifted through the entire house, downstairs and up….and it is all meat aroma…no seasonings, no gravies, no anything except water and pork. I just sneaked a tiny…yes, yes, I’ll say that… a tiny, little bite. It was a monumental mistake! Now I am going to have to keep myself soo, sooooo, soooooo busy, so I do not return to the lovely little pork roast…the darling porky roast that so subtly calls my name.
This evening I will make a call to my new favorite farmer to thank him for allowing us to purchase Abby the pig in the first place.
This has been one of the slower reads than I have had in a very long time. Normally, I would finish a book in a day or so, but I have been working on this book for over two weeks now, which means I am racking up some hefty late charges. Our little library was able to find it for me on Interlibrary loan, so that means it cannot be re-checked.
Several times while reading, I have thought to myself, “this would make a great post”…but then I would not stop to actually write the post. Today, something I read made me think of a post from Anita at Prairie Dreams about a couple who were planning to live off-grid and eat locally. She and I have had discussions about how it is somewhat difficult to eat locally in our area partly because there are few CSAs near and mostly because farms in our areas are monocultures of corn, wheat, or soybeans.
I wish to share a paragraph from chapter 13 (my favorite number, by the way) of Michael Pollans’, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, titled The Market, “Greetings from the Non-Barcode People”. “The supermarket wants all its lettuce from Salinas Valley, all its apples from Washington State, and allits corn from Iowa. (At least until the day it decideds it wants all its corn from Argentine, al its apples from China, and all its lettuce from Mexico.) People in Iowa can eat only so much corn and soybeans themselves. So when Iowans decide to eat locally, rather from the supermarkets, their farmers will quickly learn to grow a few other things besides. And when they do, they’ll probably find that they can give up most of their fertilizers adn pesticides, since a diversified farm will produce much of its own fertility and its own pest control.”
Throughout the book, Michael Pollan paints vivid imagery of our food chain and its journey to our table. He explores Pokey Feedyards in Garden City, Kansas to view the feedlot process of mass producing beef, which is then counterbalanced with a stay at Polyface Farms in Virginia. Given the choice betwen the two, I choose “clean meat” from Polyface.
I was just reading my friend Anita’s great post, Off Grid, Part-Time at Prairie Dreams about a family who is going off the grid and eating locally for a one month trial.
When I began thinking about eating locally or growing my own food, I found inspiration at Path to Freedom with their 100 Foot Diet Challenge. My garden is small and actually looking like it may never produce ANYTHING, so I feel a bit defeated at the moment.
Here are the specs for the Urban Homesteader/Path to Freedom 100 Foot Diet Challenge….
If not from BACKYARD, then Locally produced (PTF’s addition) If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.
In the past, Anita and I have shared our concerns over not being able to find much locally grown produce available for purchase. We hope that soon the Farmer’s Market will be able to assist with this dilemma, but I began thinking about an alternative for future seasons after I left a comment on her post. What if Anita and I cooperated with each other…with a backyard C.S.A.? We live within 20 miles of each other, so that would certainly meet the 100 Mile Diet requirements. What if we found just two more backyard farmers who were interested in the same?
I don’t quite have the logistics of how this might work, but it is definitely something to think about for when Anita is moved into her house and has her garden growing. Do you think I should have asked Anita first, before putting her garden up for barter?
This past week, I have had several different blog topics rolling around in my head. Most of those thoughts have been about food…either the growing of, the shortage of, the cooking of, the harvesting of, the preserving of, or, yes, the genetic engineering of…..OUR FOOD!
These thoughts have prompted a couple of movements for me. I requested Michael Pollan’s books, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, , In Defense of Food, and A Place of My Own, from our local library. As I have begun to read, I have been wishing I belonged to a book club with members with whom I could discuss my readings and thoughts. DH has been kind enough to oglige, but it would be nice to hear what others have to say.
On another path, I attempted some solar cooking last weekend and hope to share my failures with you soon. Because of those failures with a home-fashioned solar cooker, I purchased a new one from The Peddlar’s Wagon at Path to Freedom/Urban Homesteaders. I am excited about the possibilities of not heating up the kitchen and still being able to prepare a meal.
What brought me to all of these thoughts about food and has me attempting action on those thoughts? First was the Path to Freedom Sustainable Food UCLA Lectures hosted on YouTube. Part four was just recently uploaded and now we are waiting for the Q & A video to be released. In Jules Dervaes’ lecture he mentioned Deborah Koons Garcia, the wife of Jerry Garcia, who is the producer of The Future of Food Documentary about, well, the future of food. Immediately searching YouTube for Garcia and the future of food, I found several videos from which to choose. DH and I listened to Mrs. Garcia on a radio show broadcast, as she talked about the history of the documentary and her journey with food.
This radio broadcast is a bit longer than most YouTube clips…but you will gain so much info for a small investment of your time.
Introduction to The Future of Food…
The Path to Freedom Sustainable Foods UCLA Lectures began with Part One……
I had not written a post, because I was not certain what I, as an individual, could say about the mess that we appear to be heading toward. My head is reeling from everything that I am learning. Today, at Prairie Dreams, Anita posted an entry about farmers being thrown out of the Food Shortage Summit in Rome and though Rome is on the other side of the earth, I know that we are all in this together…farmers, consumers, and unfortunately, large agribusiness corporations. As Jules Dervaes often speaks…it is time for a HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION. While our backyard and patio “farms” will not head off world hunger, it might just make a difference in our own household.
I encourage all to “do your own research” and take some baby steps toward sustainability. That is all that we can all do….each take baby steps toward a success.
The Dervaes Family will be on tonight on ABC at 11:35 PM EDT. This story was filmed last week at the Dervaes Institute and Path to Freedom. The Dervaes are role models to many on the build to a more sustainable life. Living on a city lot in Pasasdena, California, they raise most of their own food, as well as enough vegetables/fruits to run a thriving fresh market delivery business on 1/10 of an acre. Their accomplishnments are amazing!
Edit: Well, it was definitely worth the wait! Makes me want to go out and rip up my yard :).
Second Edit: For those that missed it, Path to Freedom states that it will be on youtube soon. See below….
