Do You Know Your Food?

We took a wonderful weekend upstate to visit our local CSA. A CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and it links inner city communities with small local farms to help keep eating local and family farming alive!

It was our farm's open house this weekend and as we drove up to the little blue house off the winding gravel road we saw a community of tents housing all our fellow CSA members set amongst rows of plump eggplant, succulent tomatoes and fragrant peppers.

We started the afternoon with a sunset wagon trip up the mountain to overlook the whole Washington County Valley and then a star studded bonfire to wind down a delicious farm fresh potluck dinner.

My little city girls, though exposed often enough to rural living through their Indiana mamma, counted this as the most exciting memory of their summer! This week they couldn't wait to go down to our neighborhood garden to pick up the share after spending their time barefoot in the fields watching the food grow that we will eat this weekend!

Although the three and a half hour drive seemed simple enough on paper it turned out to be a six hour travel day! Taking the same road that I know my food does every week made me appreciate so much more the work that goes into a simple meal. It also affects my buying choices. Today at the store I had the choice to buy some produce from Peru or from New York and after taking the trip with my food this weekend I understood more the impact of travel on food, freshness and more than anything FUEL!

So the next chance you get, visit a local farm. Get to know the farms in your area through your Farmer's Markets and on websites such as www.localharvest.org

Get to know the foods that are highlighted throughout the season in your area and enjoy learning new local recipes. Revive community and support families and farms close to home. Without us they may not make it and without them, we surely will not.

Good EATS and happy pickings!