| This appeared in last Sunday’s Herald Leader, the local newspaper in Lexington. I’m very grateful for the article and it’s a subject close to my heart, however, I was a little embarrassed to be the only ‘farmer’ interviewed, since the majority of farmers here have a great deal more experience and wisdom to share. So far I haven’t gotten any angry letters from them so I hope they liked the message, if not the messenger. I’ll be writing more on the subject of local food soon as there are a lot of environmental issues at stake as well, not the least of which is all the fossil fuel consumed (and the pollution emitted) when food travels thousands of miles to your supermarket. And besides, local food just tastes better.
To market we go
Local food is better for everyone
By Sharon Thompson
HERALD-LEADER FOOD WRITER
July’s sweltering heat is easier to tolerate for two reasons: honest-to-goodness tomatoes and sweet, sweet corn.
Sure, we can have tomatoes and corn all year, but it’s only for a short time that we can actually bite into a tomato and have the juice run down our chins. And the smell. A farm-fresh tomato smells like the earth from which it came.
The taste and quality of sweet corn depends heavily on its sugar content, which rapidly decreases after harvest. The best way to taste the true flavor of corn is to pick it early in the morning. But before you do, put a pot of water on the stove to boil. When you return from the garden, immediately shuck the corn and cook it.
Sadly, few of us can experience that awesome taste. The majority of consumers eat food that’s grown far away; the older it gets as it travels to your table, the more vitamin and mineral loss it experiences. According to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, grapes travel an average of 2,143 miles, broccoli, 2,095, and sweet corn 813 miles.
The very best food, no matter where you live in the world, comes from the neighborhood. "Buying local food from farmers in your community — not just the occasional basket of tomatoes, corn or peaches in July or August — as part of your routine can have a greater impact on your hometown, and the world at large, than most of us could imagine," farmer Susie Quick said.
Quick has formed a non-profit sustainable demonstration farm in Midway, called Honest Farm Inc. She’s a cookbook author and former food editor in New York who has appeared numerous times on Good Morning America, Today and The Food Network, talking about cooking and organic food.
"We’re also trying to sustain ourselves by selling the produce we grow," she said. The farm stand, which is open on Saturdays, is at Hurstland Farm on West Stephens Road.
"When you buy from farmers, you’re helping to preserve farmland," Quick said. "It’s that simple. So if you love the scenic black-board-fence-lined byways and pastoral farms with their historic tobacco barns, keep a farmer in business by buying his product. Buying locally keeps your food dollars invested in your town and enhances your own little corner of the world, creating a thriving community, and keeps those fields surrounding your town free of development."
Central Kentucky’s farmers markets are growing to accommodate consumers. The Lexington Farmers Market has satellite locations on Southland Drive and in Hamburg, as well as sites on Vine Street on Saturdays and West Maxwell Street and South Broadway on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Blue Grass Farmers Market is open on Saturdays on Richmond Road in the parking lot at Pedal the Planet and Fast Signs. All of what’s offered for sale at Blue Grass is grown or produced by the vendors.
Central Kentuckians also can buy beef and poultry from local farmers. Congleton Freezer Beef in Woodford Country is "antibiotic-, steroid-, and hormone-free farm-raised beef," Marti Congleton said. It’s sold on Saturdays at the Woodford County Farmers Market on Courthouse Square and from 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays in the parking lot at Falling Springs Recreation Center, 275 Beasley Drive, Versailles.
If you need more reasons to buy locally, go to www.foodroutes.org. The non-profit organization is dedicated to promoting the consumption of local food. According to the Web site, a recent study in Maine shows that shifting just 1 percent of consumer expenditures to direct purchasing of local food products would increase farmers’ incomes by 5 percent.
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