Monday, December 05, 2011

Sustainable Farming: apparently it's not just for wackos

When we decided to make the move to the boonies from suburban sprawl-land, we weren't all that granola.  Or crunchy.  Or whatever adjective means "likes natural stuff".  We wanted to give our kids a new perspective on how life could be lived, but I wasn't ready to spend extra money on organic apples.  Chickens?  You bet.  Actually trying to grow enough food to stock a root cellar?  Sistah, please.

But living in a place like this does something to you.  It makes you want to know more.  It makes you want to preserve and nurture what's here.  It makes you want to celebrate the incredible abundance that exists in nature and not do crazy things like feed animals things they weren't meant to eat so that the dollar menu at McDs can still be the dollar menu.  It makes you start watching....sustainable living documentaries.

I know, I know.  It's all crazy like.

The first one we watched was Broken Limbs: Apples, Agriculture, and the New American Farmer.
It's narrated in first person by the son of an apple farmer in Washington and chronicles his research into a new (but old) model of small farms, ones that sell direct to the consumer and don't try to "get into" Wal-Mart and aren't concerned with competing against the prices of Chilean apples.  We all really enjoyed this one, even the  big kids.   To see actual farmers right now who own their little plots and are able to actually make their living off of them was really inspirational.

Then Netflix got smart and started suggesting others for us, and we said "Yes please!".

So it was on to Ingredients: The Local Food Movement Takes Root.
This film included interviews with restaurateurs and chefs who are willing to seek out farmers who engage in healthy, sustainable practices so that the food in their restaurants can be as healthy and delicious as possible.  Seeing the actual farms and 'talking' to the actual farmers who supply them was so enjoyable.

This is when I really started getting enthusiastic- not only about supporting local farms and sustainable practices, but perhaps someday being a local farm with sustainable practices.

Okay, film #4: To Market, to Market to Buy a Fat Pig.
Obviously this is a PBS production and it was very kid friendly.  They traveled all over the country and visited farmers' markets in several different states.  Indoor, outdoor, just food, not a lot of food- all sorts of places.  This one didn't move us, but it was fun to see all the environments that people can assert their food choice freedoms.

And then.  Oh friends....then we watched the grandfather of all food industry films: Food Inc.
I am not exaggerating when I say I cried during this film.  Not at the terrible conditions of the animals on the factory farms (although they were terrible) or at the additives in fast-food meat (although those did make me gag).  I cried at the plight of the big farmers who are essentially held hostage by the enormous legal budgets and protections of Monsanto.

Yes, some of them got themselves into that mess (don't sign a deal with the Devil, folks.  Just don't.), but it doesn't mean my heart doesn't break for them as they well up in front of the camera.  And others who refuse to deal with Monsanto are hunted down and sued for things like patent infringement (they hold the patent on gmo soybean seeds, ya know!) and defamation.  They're forced to spend all their savings in court fighting this company only to come out losing their farms in the end.  The only way they can get out of this mess, now, is if there is enough demand for non-genetically modified foods that they can go back to growing things the "old fashioned way" and not have to use Monsanto's magical seeds anymore.  We, the consumers, need to vote with our dollars.  We are the most powerful people in America and don't let those BIG guys scare you into thinking otherwise.  Even Wal-Mart stopped carrying milk from Rbst treated cows because their customers demanded it.  Let's keep making our demands heard!

Or maybe we can grow our own food.  Maybe we can can raise our own livestock.  Maybe we can say "Hey, time and talent are my two biggest blessings.  How best can I put those to use in a way that makes other people's lives better?"

And we have been saying that.  Over the last few days, it's almost all we can talk about.  One of the many blessings of a real winter is that it forces you to think.  You can't just run out and start planting things willy nilly and carting in goats and doubling your flock of chickens.  No.  Just...think.  Research.  Make lists and charts.  Make phone calls.  Do math.  Oh yes, do math.  Visit local farms who successfully sell to the public.

I don't know exactly what's going to come of all this, but I know it's no accident that my husband and I both feel very strongly about pursuing things further.  Because whenever people say "Someone should do something about this" I always think "Maybe that someone is me.....".

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29 comments :

  1. i love this! and i am excited too! i grew up with a hippie mom who was telling me this stuff all along....i have seen a few of the documentaries, but i can't watch Food Inc. I will cry. for the animals. and also for the farmers, apparently.

    anyways, i don't know what the solution is but i am glad you are just as excited about it as i am. Something's got to give...

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  2. We watched food inc and then I read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan... changed a lot about the way we eat and shop, although I was changing before that. We raise chickens for eggs, try our best to garden and eat what's in season, raise beef... I know not everyone can do that, but that's what farmer's markets are for! We want a milk cow, too, but that is a ways off still.
    Have you read or heard about Joel Salitin? Another leader in the sustainable farming movement. He's been in quite a few battles with the "food police".
    Anyhow, loved this! Now I have some more documentaries to watch!

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  3. You are preaching to the choir here. Dwij! My brother started it all for me with Michael Poulan's Omnivore's Dilemma. What an eye opener. Since then I have been making small changes and regaining my health along the way. I hear children bickering while making real food in the kitchen some are clamoring for pictures and blogging too.

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  4. Yes, Tommy listened to the Omnivores Dilemma in the car on his way to and from work a couple of years ago. Maybe that's what started all of this for us too! I was raised in a pretty "granola" manner, so this is easier for me than it is for him, honestly. I've never even eaten a Twinkie or a Ding-dong in my life and will happily call fruit "dessert". He hasn't been so lucky :)

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  5. I'm hoping that once we move to where we plan to stay that I will be able to find someone in the area raising grass fed non-drugged up cattle so I can get my yearly supply of beef from a healthy source.

    I used to feed RAWFAB style to my dogs (all real ingredients like people buy, not kibble, that is selected to meet the nutritional needs of a canine system) After all, I cooked for my kids, why not for the dogs?

    My goal is to get settled where my lifestyle choices will be supported by my housing and outbuildings.

    I don't know how much of my own growing I'll do. My time is fairly well filled now. But I do love the healthier greener methods that nurture the land and the animals and nature all at the same time it provides more food that what a single family can eat.

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  6. Love this post, Dweej. I have a little obsession with the food documentaries. Tom wants to run a CSA someday. Someday when we have a farm. LOL

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  7. Ann- yep, we make our own dog food. The kibble was just....gross.

    Nina- I can't wait for you to have your farm!

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  8. Very cool! I think b/c Kyle and I both grew up with mothers who participated in food co-ops (kinda the 70s version of CSAs!), baked their own bread, and followed a lot of "granola" practices, we gravitate towards those things in our life together. But, we also grew up in a big city while all of this was going on, and saw that we could have a lot of the "good things" without living on a farm (honestly, his parents are lawyers, my dad is in sales, and my mom is in education, so they would have been lost on a farm! lol). That said, we have both expressed the desire to "chuck it all" and move to a working dairy farm. But, with #7 on the way, I'm thinking this this probably isn't going to happen any time soon! ;-) But, you writing about it makes me want to start a Catholic farming commune that follows sustainable farming practices. You in??

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  9. http://www.ncrlc.com/

    Ladies, ladies, check them out! There is a real connection between faith and food and the NCRLC gets it...

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  10. I got into the food thing about a year ago, and I will confess that I need a fresh motivation boost every now and then. I will definitely put some of these documentaries on the Blockbuster list.

    (Side note: as I was getting into all of the food stuff and relaying all the gross stuff to my mom and sister, they decided I was the "earth mother" of the family. And, as the "earth mother," my own mother assumed I was going to name this new boy something "leafy." She also told me that she thought I made up the name Cara. Really mom? Really?)

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  11. I watched Food, Inc too and it did make me think. I know I can't be one of those people who can do something (circumstances, where I live etc) but I love that you think you are. Because if there's anyone who can, YOU can. I have faith in you and Tommy!

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  12. So nice to have you aboard the Real Food band wagon. We all join in different ways, but I think it's where God wants us to be.

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  13. Thanks Kelly. I've never been into boxed or processed foods (just the way I was raised) but I was never really concerned about buying locally or seasonally until now. It's a good change!

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  14. Sounds really cool! I hope the transition goes smoothly

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  15. It'll definitely be a slow-and-steady process. As we're super low on the funds side and it is winter, we'll have to do a lot of shopping yet.... :) Luckily our garden and our chickens have always been organic, so we won't have to change our "farming" habits at all!

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  16. We've getting more and more into it too. My husband now wants to buy sheep and a couple of cows in the spring. We've had turkeys and chickens in the past and probably will again.

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  17. I grew up very poor, on rice, beans, oatmeal, and powdered milk. (we didn't have a fridge), so processed crap was the order of the day. Not much room for a garden in an LA housing project. I hope to do better by my kids. Can't wait to get to Michigan and plant my garden and buy some chickens. Not gonna happen in the OC, though, so prayers that my husband will let us move. :) Seriously, pray for me, I can't take it here much longer!

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  18. Amen. I've been telling my husband this too. Even if we have to shell out a few extra $$ right now, it's worth it to me to have real food.

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  19. Ah! Yes. At the moment, and since we don't have access to land as we are living in an apartment, this is what I'm asking my husband for for Christmas: http://www.windowfarms.org/ I figure this way, I can grow our veggies at home and go the the Farmers Market to buy meats and such. Also, if they can get 2000 orders, they'll be made in America = heck to the yeah!

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  20. You two, or the whole group of all y'all are so on track. I saw Food Inc and was a nervous wreck about all of it. It's just all so sad and demoralizing. I watched it with my fellow, he has been a let's-ditch-this-rat-race-and-get-ahomestead-fan for as long as I've known him. After watching that documentary I am starting to think his way.

    Have you guys thought about writing a guide to chucking the rat race and getting back to basics? There might just be a best seller in there.....

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  21. We always ate local growing up in Northern Michigan. It was cheap and we had a huge garden. Now there is this HUGE movement and appreciation for organic and local foods which I think is wonderful? Farm fresh eggs, local pork and beef, local veg. It's wonderful and tastes so good!

    I would love a garden so much. With two working adults, commuting and the other there is no time. I'm sad about that.

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  22. You should watch foodmatters on netflix

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  23. Great post Dwija. I was sick enough after watching SuperSize Me a few years back and still can't eat fast food (not a bad thing) years later. I haven't gotten the courage yet to watch Food Inc. although have heard great things about it. We are also incorporating better choices one step at a time. This past spring we started getting our produce delivered every week from a company called Green Bean Delivery and it's great. Mainly organic and local when it's possible. Supports small(er) farms. And we find we eat much more now that it arrives at the door. The kids even eat more since it magically appears in the "big green box" on the porch. Thanks for your post! I'm going to watch that DVD.

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  24. I cook from scratch, or nearly so, most of the time but my food comes from the regular grocery store. There's a farmer's market in my neighborhood and I go buy a thing or two every week to support it, but I can't shop there -- it's far too expensive. When free-range eggs are three times the price of regular eggs, etc., I just can't swing it. Not with two kids in Catholic high school! We have a garden and grow what we can but realistically, it's not much. But if you want to grow an organic garden a great (old, pre-fad) book is "The One Straw Revolution." Another is "Square Foot Gardening." Good practical advice and no preachy, faddy, or impossible stuff. It is not a moral issue and I hate it when people act as if it is -- not that you're doing that. -- Gail Finke

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  25. Thanks for the recommendations, Gail. I'll have to check those books out.

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  26. Another good film (I've heard) is called Farmaggedon. Cheerful sounding, isn't it?

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  27. My husband and one of my kids have recently developed food sensitivities, most notably to wheat, corn and soy. It was a pain at first, b/c all I could think of was all the things we couldn't eat any more. Then as I began cooking everything from scratch we've realized how good REAL food tastes! Going out to eat has lost all its appeal. I've also begun to do some research and have learned that their bodies are probably rejecting these things b/c they've been so modified that they're unrecognizable as food any more.
    As soon as we get a deep freeze we're going to start buying grass-fed beef from a local farm. I figure it's worth the extra expense now, rather than paying for medical expenses from poor health later. It's just a pity that what we call "natural and organic food" is what our great-grandparents called... "food."

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