Buy local and simple foods

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begreen

begreen

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Nov 18, 2005
104,666
South Puget Sound, WA
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We've gone relatively simple in our house due to colour and preservative intolerances. Local farms always appreciate local support. That little extra cost for going local (since they don't have the high volume benefit) may just be worth it;)
 
Nice to know where your food comes from and buying locally keeps your money circulating locally in the community.
 
We have a few very proactive local farms in town that started a basket co-op, basically you buy a "season pass" at the beginning of the farming season and you get a basket once a week filled with ripe vegetables and eggs. They are also starting a local meat market (trial phase now) The serving size is rather large and can easily hold a family of 4 all week. You can also buy from the market stands that pop up around town.
 
Local CSAs (community supported agriculture) are popular out here too. They're a great way to go if you don't have a garden or the time for one.
 
There needs to be more Farmers Markets out there.

They're popular in some spots - just not enough yet. Thursdays & Saturdays are pretty good times for them.
 
I hope the farm down the road gets enough clients this year. I'm willing to pay a little more for food with a known lineage…

2015 07 07.JPG 2015 07 14.JPG
 
We're harvesting most of our greens now from the gardens and will be picking cucumbers today.
 
Pretty slim pickings for local food up in northern climes in winter. Basically root crops and whatever can be canned or frozen. There is also economics, local food from local merchants is generally double or triple that of food produced elsewhere in optimum conditions. I go to farmers markets and buy what I can but I know that folks on tight budgets have to forgo them. The local market offers a 2 for 1 subsidy for those shopping with WIC check but the folks I have talked to still cant afford the fresh local produce.
 
Yes, that is a conundrum especially for the poorest people. Often the crappiest food goes to the poorest which is pretty unnecessary considering we throw out >50% of edible foods. Markets in France now are required to give out dated food to charities instead of throwing it away.

The Nearings managed to grow a lot of their own food in VT and then ME during the winter. It can be done with greenhouses. Simple hoop houses will help to extend the growing season quite a bit.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hoop-Houses-Gardening-all-year-long-in-New-Englan/
http://www.seasonalwisdom.com/2013/01/how-to-grow-vegetables-all-year-long-even-in-winter/
 
Being smack in the middle of the largest farm on the planet helps.
Here in this lil' corner of Indiana, local growers leave a table next to the road and a money jar.
I've never heard of anyone taking the money, ever.
A few sellers have mentioned that if an armload of corn or bucket of blueberries goes missing
it's probably for the right reason as the money bucket stays untouched.

We garden which gets bigger every year and have 2.1 acres to grow on if necessary. The rest is wooded
and for firewood and shooting Bambi.

Eating natural really saves on the internal organs that are taxed heavily by chemical additions and pesticides.
 
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I don't have a pic but my neighbor was telling me about a farm stand that had a wood stove as the money bucket, the door was welded shut and the collar was modified to accept money only. The farmer had a dry sense of humor, he had a sign on top of the stove that said "exact change only"
 
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Looked at the fake food article again and noticed that the list of ingredients are many of the ones we identified to avoid ... msg potassium sorbate, food colours, sorbic acid, sodium benzoate, and soy. Soy and it's varieties are in everything ... sunflower seeds and peanuts that used to be safe snacks are now being roasted in soy. Soy lecithin is appearing in more products.

As to northern climes in winter, an Uncle used to farm broccoli and asparagus for northern markets.
 
Mass Burn,
I was thinking of the bread basket phrase that applies to middle America
from the Rockies east to Appalachia. The Great Lakes area here being a bit
more diverse that the corn and wheat dominance of the Kansas/Nebraska areas. Our
area's grow list is incredibly long. These 8-10 states as a whole feed the world it seems.
Lotta area farmers with government contracts.


I thought central Cali was wine country. (which also is a great growing clime for much stuff
to be fair) Just never thought of it as traditional farmland. I know Dairy/ beef is big in the west too.
 
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begreen said:
Yes, that is a conundrum especially for the poorest people.
Click to expand...

Thats what happens when you hike welfare rakes in the cities,,people move there for the welfare. People don't have access to normal grocery stores.
But thats not really the problem. People can buy garbage food with food stamps..and do so even when they have access to good food for less money.

Doritos - $3.50/bag
Chicken breasts - Still $1.99/lb

But it takes work to cook and there inlies the problem. We got a lazy problem, and people need to get to work.
 
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