As 2017 winds down, we’re nearing the 8th anniversary of this website and we remain hopeful that more of our users and readers in the new year will take the step (1) to participate in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm or (2) commit to shopping for their food at a farmers market with the goal of developing a relationship with a particular farm or farms committed to agricultural methods that are good for the land and the economic vitality of a particular local community.
Our mission statement spotlights these concise words of the Kentucky farmer and writer, Wendell Berry, Every time you make a decision about food, you are farming by proxy. And we share Berry’s praise for people who have not given proxies to the corporations to produce and provide all of their food. Joining a CSA farm or developing a relationship and familiarity with a particular farm that sets up a stand at a farmers market are two excellent ways to join the growing good food movement.
And participating as a member of a CSA farm or by weekly shopping at a particular farmers market can also result in a feeling of belonging to a community. Moreover, to be able to pinpoint on a map where much of your food comes from provides a rootedness that too few Americans in our modern society of consumers can experience.
A Christmas gift received last week, which prompted this pondering, demonstrates the community building aspect of shopping regularly at a particular farmers market. A collection of loved recipes from really good home cooks in the Saranac Lake, New York community, who give thanks to the farmers of the Saranac Lake Village Farmers Market, were put together by the Adirondack Green Circle for a Farm 2 Fork Festival in the mountain town in upstate New York’s Adirondacks. Printed on sturdy index cards, they fit easily in a recipe box or an index file card box (the possibilities for something unique to hold the cards can be found on an Etsy page that has a surprising range of options).
This project of the Adirondack Green Circle can be an inspiration for other local food communities, rooted in a farmers market or a CSA farm. Nourish the body with good food and wonderful recipes and build community while doing so!
(Frank W. Barrie, 12/29/17)
