What does small farm matter?

When you run to the store because you forgot an ingredient for dinner, do you ever stop and wonder where your purchase originated, who harvested it (if fresh), and how long it sat on a truck before arriving at your neighborhood store shelf?

If not, can I encourage you to pause long enough to think about your food sources? And, maybe just as importantly, if you stopped buying food from a box store would they go out of business?

Now, think about your local, small farm and the fresh food they provide at farmer’s markets, through CSAs or as a supplier to more specialized grocery stores. If you stopped supporting them, they would most definitely go belly-up. And do you know what they give that few to none of the big store chains have for you:

*a chance to meet your farmer (the hands that planted and harvested your food)

*farm tours so you can see where your food was grown

*the opportunity to support a family run business

*a space to ask all your questions

*possibly farm volunteer days

To say I’m a huge proponent of small, local agricultural farms is the understatement of the century! Here are a handful of some of my favorites:

*Shady Grove Farm-organic produce (CSA and farmer’s market)

*Jamie’s Dahlias-u-pick dahlia farm and cut bouquet farm

*Illiamna Salmon Company-you buy shares of wild caught Alaskan salmon

*Get To-Gather Farm-produce and homemade local foods

*Preserving the Harvest-produce and homemade local artisans

*Gathered Harvest-food delivery service with food from local farms

*Half Moon Farm-raw honey & herb farm

Take the time in your community to scope out where you can find the highest quality food to feed your family!

And, say THANK YOU to your farmer…their work is often unseen, hard manual labor, and thankless. Their work in priceless!

Share your favorite local farm/farmer….

Cheering you on,

Noelle