Farm Fresh and Range Free Is The New Movement For Foods-Eat Locally

Farm Fresh and Range Free Is The New Movement For Foods-Eat Locally and that is why Michelle Obama is not the only one looking to feed her family freshly picked produce. There is a back to nature movement going on. I have been part of that movement most of my life.

It is sort of like the country western song that came out a while back, “I was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”

If you have ever eaten a free range egg, beef steak, milk or organic vegetables, you will know what I am talking about.

There are no growth hormones in these vegetables or meat or bi-products.

Farmers have been putting growth hormones in your beef, chicken and pigs since the early 50′s. If they are not injecting the animals they buy the food for the animals with it already in the grain. You drink the milk from a cow that gets growth hormones, you are directly drinking growth hormones.

There are small farmers market in large and small cities and towns, across the nation.There is an abundance of locally grown produce, homemade pastries, jams and other handcrafted goods, out there for you to purchase.

There is a growing movement of people turning against industrial farming practices.

You will find stands overflowed with radishes, colorful chard, lettuce, flowers, free-range eggs and fresh herbs, all of which farmers and their co-workers have harvested the day before.

This proponent of the so-called “localvore movement,” advocates that buying locally grown, seasonally available food is both healthier and environmentally safer, than industrially grown food, which may have been produced using harmful pesticides and shipped from across the country.

According to one farmer, Nick Laptham, owner of Sunnyside Farms, buying locally also creates a direct relationship between growers and consumers. This not only gives customers peace of mind, but also holds farmers more accountable.

“We’re responsible for what they’re eating. We know their families and we develop a direct connection and a direct relationship with them,” he said.

Ths ot such a bad thing, with serious food related health scares on the rise and all of the major salmonella outbreaks the U.S has had this year alone.
Baby Boomers should see such accountability is a welcome improvement to our nation’s food system.

Advocates for the farm fresh movement argue that food safety is just one of many benefits to buying locally.

According to Jennifer Fahy, who is the communications director of Farm Aid, fresh produce is tastier and has more nutrients than food that has been picked early and stored for long periods of time. Farm Aid is a national organization that provides grants to family farms in order to support a locally based agricultural system.

ray continues to explain that “Buying locally helps to support local farmers who are more likely to be “stewards of their land. Local growers also have more flexibility than industrial farmers to experiment with different crop varieties, which encourages biodiversity and extends growing seasons.”

According to Ann Yonkers, co-founder of Fresh Farm Markets, “Buying directly from farmers also supports local economies because when you pay a local farmer, the money goes directly into that farmer’s pocket. He or she will then turn around and spend that money in the same community.”

Our nation’s health, economy and the environment have helped to propel the localvore movement in recent years, with more and more people turning to local farms and farmers markets as a viable alternative to the grocery store.

As expected, federal food and safety regulations are catered to an industrial farm system, and are often expensive and unfriendly toward smaller farm operations.

Frey states that, “The recent food scares have also led to tightening food safety regulations, limiting what can and can’t be sold on and off the farm, and how producers have to package their food, a restriction that is especially challenging at an open air farmers market. And, while giant corporations can absorb the extra costs, small farms suffer tremendously from the added financial burdens”

Yonkers suggests that, “Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the buy local movement, is our nation’s deep reliance on an industrial agricultural system, and a population accustomed to having all types of food available at all times, no matter what the season.”

Yonkers would like to see a return to a time when “farmers feed their neighbors, and people change their diets based on what is in season and abundant.”

But food critics question the sustainability of such a system, arguing that small farms simply cannot meet our nation’s food demands efficiently.

Even the smaller farmers agree that farms like his are not equipped to produce our entire food supply, yet.

Reguardless, there’s a much greater role that can be played by smaller farms. That slice of American agriculture is fundamental and really needs to continue to be emphasized and grown as a part of the entire food production and consumption system in the country.

The small farmer needs to be encourage and assisted.

Baby Boomers are not going to be able to buy everything we want to eat from our immediate community. People will always want things like coffee and chocolate, but generally speaking, buying local just makes sense and is healthier.
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Farm Fresh and Range Free Is The New Movement For Foods-Eat Locally” and Eat Fresh.