It's Amazing How After Years And Years...

...we eventually instinctively know just what to do!  Okay, we're still working on it, but... having transported Duck to Millican Farms, the mecca of chicken happiness, we have decided we really need to start getting more involved in Brazos Locavores, the local organization which pushes education and involvement in the locally grown foods movement.

This movement has the potential to change the most persistent and pernicious problems facing our health and welfare today; it sounds corny to make such a sweeping statement, but it is true -- low quality food transported too far and sold outside of the local economy rather than within it is sapping the lifeblood of our country.  It wasn't just the small farmer who suffered in the 1980s when the small family farm started to disappear; the local communities which used to be nourished by those farms also suffered.

So, how can eating locally help?

Taken liberally from Brazos Locavores, here is a summary: 

• Food Miles – Most food travels an average of 1500 miles from where it is grown to our plates. Want to help decrease our dependence on oil? Eat local! 
• Knowledge is Power – The current infrastructure of the food system is so vast and complicated there’s no way to know where your food originates. For example, the Summer 2008 tomato scare. How many months did it take the government to narrow down the source of those tomatoes? Too long. Want to know where your food originates? Eat local! 
• Tastes Better and It’s Better for You – Food grown on small, local farms reaches your table faster, which means it was picked at its peak (often the day you purchase it). Want high quality, nutritionally dense food that tastes great too? Eat local! 
• Better for the Environment - Small local farms generally practice crops rotation (nutritionally diverse plants occupy the same growing space in different seasons – tomatoes in summer, perhaps peas in winter)which creates a more rich, nutrient-dense soil, generally with fewer chemical pesticides and fertilizers in our soil, in our water, and in our bodies. Looking for a cleaner, healthier environment? Eat local! 
• Better for the Community – A number of research studes have shown that of every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 comes back into the community. That’s compared to only a $14 return when we shop at a big-box store.

For those of you in the Brazos Valley, please consider supporting the growers and organizations listed on the  Brazos Grows website.  For those outside the Brazos Valley, we urge you to look up your local Locavore organization.  And if there isn't one, start one!

Happy farming!