Good Food is Everybody's Business
While imagining that the beef they will be eating came from a cow living a happy-go-lucky life, frolicking on lush green pastures until a gentle and painless end, the average American does NOT want to meet their dinner while it is still standing. However, the idea that you could if you wanted, or at least you could meet the farmer who raised your dinner, is not so far fetched.
Behind a cover that resembles so many other “So-You-Want-To-Be-A-Farmer” books, Rebecca Thistlethwaite, has put together a carefully thought out course for entrepreneurs of any age that want to start a business called a “Farm.”
All turkeys – wild turkeys and the broad-breasted white or the dozen or so “heritage” breeds grown domestically today – are the same species (Meleagris gallopavo). Consumers who want pasture-raised heritage breed turkeys are looking for birds that are well cared for, grow slowly, and have flavorful meat. We can support our small, local farmers who are doing their best to raise a good bird and sell it at a reasonable price.
If you want fruit for yourself and not the neighborhood raccoons, do NOT plant a plum tree! Your creative raccoons will elect a “climber” to go up in the tree and carefully pick and drop every piece of fruit to the ground so the “gatherers” can run off with the loot. At least that’s what we think happened when our plum tree was stripped of all its nearly ripe fruit in a single night. On the other hand, the quince was left to its own business.
Mid-September should be the perfect time for a trip along the North Cascades Highway, through the Methow Valley, up and down the Okanogan River Valley from the Canadian border to the confluence with the Columbia River, and back home. This time the perfect weather and lovely views, were marred with smoke from many recent and active forest fires. However your GoodFood World publishers – that would be Ken and me – drove right through and visited old friends, made new friends, and got in a bit of history.
Spring is a tough season to try to subsist on garden vegetables, but it IS possible to do pretty well with salad greens and herbs.
Last Sunday, as we sat down to dinner, we realized that three family businesses were responsible for most of the food on our plates. Here is our “tip of the hat” to these fine folks!
For the past two weeks I’ve gone from a selective omnivore to very selective, teetering in on the brink of vegetarianism. I’m not sure yet which way I’ll fall, but I’ve made a few important decisions to ground me for the time being. One thing is for certain: meat matters. To what extent does it matter? It’s a complex and personal question that each of us must decide for ourselves. If you’re looking for answers, Eating Animals is a good place to start.
