My only day off work this week, aside from the one filled with preschool parent duties and dance class, I was hoping to get out of the house and do a little exploring with the girls. And this time, the weather cooperated. I knew a few local farmers markets had opened for business last week, so I did a little research and found one in the next county over was open this afternoon. Knowing that we had a small drive ahead of us, I looked to see what else might be in the area that we could enjoy and found a store with mostly local goodies and the farm where we get our milk and yogurt were all within a few minutes drive. We ate a quick lunch and hopped in the car on our adventure.
I set a goal last summer to visit any of the farms where we get our meat, dairy, and produce. My goals are not just to check out the conditions for the farmers and animals, but to get to know the people that we get our food from. I want my children to know that their favorite yogurt comes from milk, which comes from a cow...not a picture of a cow, but that cow...that one, right over there! I want them to see that their creamy potato soup comes from ingredients found in a local dairy, early spring gardens nearby, and ham from a pig farm just around the corner. I want my girls to be aware of their surroundings and not take food for granted.
As I was reflecting this winter on what I actually wanted to get out of simplifying my life and living local, I came to a few conclusions. I want to be as self sufficient as I can be. If I were cut off from all supermarkets one day, I want to know that I would survive without difficulty. I want to know that I have friends that can provide me with the meats and dairy that I can't produce myself. I want to have the skills needed to grow and utilize fresh produce. I want to be able to both mend and create. I want to focus more on my family and less on what we think we need.
When presented with the challenge of buying local foods in upstate NY, which doesn't provide a lot of fresh produce for the winter months, I decided on what was most important to me. After wrestling with the lack of fresh tomatoes on my salads and what to do when my girls asked for bananas and grapes for snacks, I set myself a goal. Anything that is found locally at ANY point where I live will be purchased when it is locally grown and in season. I splurge on bananas, citrus fruits, and a few other treats that do not grow regionally. But, I do try to buy these when they are naturally at the peak of their season in the nearest place they can be grown. What I found, in the end, is that there are plenty of other goodies to add to the winter salad greens (grown in greenhouses regionally), such as stored walnuts, beets, local cheeses, and now in early spring I'm adding overwintered carrots and onions. I found that an apple tastes better in fall when it is fresh from th orchard. I found that I never knew what asparagus really tasted like until I tasted it fresh picked from a nearby farm in spring. Bland, mealy tomatoes are not missed one bit.
My other goal is to learn more about the processes that get my food to the table. Most farms that we have visited have let us walk through the pastures and meet the animals, peer in at baby chicks just born, or steal a glance at the way yogurt is made.
Back to today. The farmers market, as you might imagine, was limited. Very few vendors headed out after this cold week, but we met with each one and found some gems to bring home. At one stand we got golf ball size yellow onions for only a quarter. We scored big on fresh processed bacon at another. One local farmer brought seedlings, which were great to see after my disasters of late. I bought a cinnamon basil to pot on the porch.
We then headed to Gems Along the Mohawk and grabbed up some locally produced peanut butter, cinnamon apple BBQ sauce, and mustard. I made a mental note of all the other goodies there for future visits.
Our experience at Maple Hill Creamery was great, too. In spite of the "road closed" sign, we barreled through and found the farm with no trouble. We learned about the processing of the dairy products and what some of the future plans are for the family farm. We were able to drive just to where the cows were out to pasture near the dairy barn and got a glimpse of the farmer on his tractor. The girls yelled "thank you" to the cows out the window as we drove slowly by.
I don't claim to be a fully converted localvore, but I have found my goals to be easily attainable, and enjoyable. Most of the farmers who supply us with our food recognize us and many know us by name. No one should be detached from food. It sustains us. We should learn where it comes from, what happens to it as it travels its path to our plates. We just need to be more aware.
If you got this far through my post...I just have one question for you...
"If our current food system were to collapse and the supermarkets no longer were able to ship in the foods that they typically carry, would you know what to do for food? Would you know where to go? Would you be able to survive on your own? Would you survive?"
