From Philly to a farm: The adventures of two urban transplants learning to live in a 150-year-old farmhouse in Germansville, PA.
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There's been a lot of dialogue recently about the current approach to eating: the importance of understanding where your food comes from and the pitfalls of industrial farming. It's good discussion to be having, and it really resonates with me now that we live on a farm. Over time we've gone further and further from our food source to the point that it's now something shrink-wrapped, pre-seasoned and stocked on a refrigerated shelf. We've completely lost our connection with the very things that provide us sustenance.
We have 20 acres, five of which are currently being farmed by a local farmer growing potatoes and wheat, among other things. Right across the street I can watch them dig up the potato field and then wander over and scrounge around for some of the tubers that were left behind. But each year a bit more of that farmland disappears, and small farmers – faced with low-prices because of competitive pressures from agribusiness (or shall we say large-scale, industrialized, vertically-integrated food producers) – are forced to sell out to developers with deeper pockets.
One of the things that I've been pondering since we moved to the country is how we can make use of the land that we now own. One of the reasons we bought the place was to save this small piece of land, to keep it out of the hands of developers. It's terribly idealistic – at some point we could probably add substantially to our retirement by selling off and subdividing the land – but it just wouldn't feel right. In fact, we're in the process of selling our development rights to make sure that doesn't happen.
So what's my point? Somehow it would feel really great to resurrect this land, make it our own, and help to connect people with the food that they eat. To make a working farm that provides great local produce or some really high-quality chèvre. All you have to do is read this article. This woman is my hero.
I'm pretty sure my wife thinks I'm nuts. Do you?
Comments
Seeing as how your hero is a Vermonter, you might be interested in this article in our local newsweekly about a local eating challenge:
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2006/eat-here-now.html
In fact, the whole paper last week was about eating locally. You might want to check it out at www.sevendaysvt.com, google search "local" and "vermont fresh"
Posted by: Annie | July 20, 2006 01:56 PM
I don't think you're nuts. In fact, I think a lot about the same things, especially with so many people getting cancer and having other health problems. I think that a lot of it is related to what people eat. Do you know what's in some of that stuff?? And not even fast food; things like margarine, cereal, and cookies have some nasty chemicals in them. It's not healthy... I've been making a point the past few years to buy organic and all-natural products whenever possible. I don't grow my own veggies or butcher my own meat, but I try to make choices that are as close to natural as possible. I think that people really need to start examining the choices they make, since we have become so out of sync with the natural world.
I babbled on more than I intended to, but this is a pretty hot topic for me. So many people don't realize how much their choices affect themselves, their children, and the earth... I've found that the website www.newdream.org provides some useful info about assing what is important, simplifying your life, and making good purchasing decisions. Check it out :)
Posted by: Di | July 12, 2006 12:43 AM
I think the more we return as closely as possible to working the land the better off we'll be. I say that as someone who's less connected to the land than you are, but based on some observations I've made (I won't bore you with the details), I think that the more directly our activities relate to our survival, the more meaning our lives have. A corollary is that we are less susceptible to boredom and depression. Another corollary is that there is less potential to harm our planet.
I could go on and on. This is one of my soapboxes. May you succeed in doing the best important things with your life.
Posted by: Lillian | July 11, 2006 09:52 PM