Everyone benefits when supporting local farmers
Kennebec Journal - 5/31/2009.By Doug Harlow – In December 2007, the editors at the New Oxford American Dictionary announced that their "Word of the Year" was "locavore," an expression meaning someone who eats locally grown food. For those of us omnivores who eat just about everything, the idea of consuming fresh, locally produced vegetables, meats, breads and fruits appeals to our sense of place, taste and nutrition, area marketers say. So what better place to achieve all that than at a local farmers' market? |
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Children plant carrots and democracy
The Capital Times (Madison, WI) - 5/29/2009.By Margaret Krome – As important as Michelle Obama's arms are to news reporters, the children helping plant and maintain the White House vegetable garden have an even more compelling story. They may be planting democracy along with carrots and lettuce. At the Northeast Farm-to-School conference last week, children, teachers, farmers and school food administrators described every kind of project imaginable linking children directly with food production. |
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Organic dairies watch the good times turn bad
New York Times - 5/29/2009. By Katie Zezima – RANDOLPH CENTER, Vt. — When Ken Preston went organic on his dairy farm here in 2005, he figured that doing so would guarantee him what had long been elusive: a stable, high price for the milk from his cows. Sure enough, his income soared 20 percent, and he could finally afford a Chevy Silverado pickup to help out. The dairy conglomerate that distributed his milk wanted everything Mr. Preston could supply. Supermarket orders were skyrocketing. |
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Instant virtue: go to a farmers’ market
Kennebec Journal - 5/29/2009.Editor Opinion – There's a lot of talk these days about the politics and environmental cost of the food on your plate. Eat food that's trucked to Maine from far away – even if it's organic – and you're being naughty because that food takes lots of fossil fuel to get from there to here. Simply put, the minute those organic California tomatoes buckle their seatbelts for the cross-country ride, they lose their environmental virtue. |
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