Subscribe now!This year, it seems, is one that will be filled with education. So many people are getting interested in where their food comes from and how it is grown. Films like “Food, Inc.” and books like “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” have got people thinking, talking, and asking questions about their food. Blogs, Facebook Fan Pages, and a legion of Twitterers (or is that Tweeters?) are talking about the issues.
At the farm last week, we were host to two groups of high school horticulture students from the Chester County Technical College High School (TCHS). We discussed what it means to be a small, diversified, sustainable farm. We looked at grafted trees, our intensive gardening system, and our methods of farming in an ecological manner (birdhouses, solar, reusing irrigation tape, soil blocks instead of plastic seedling cells, etc.)
One of the highlights of the day was when the manure hauling tractors went by to spray liquid manure onto our neighbors 80-acre corn field. “There’s ‘big Ag’ for you!” I said. Some of the students were stunned at the sight (and smell) of the operation. Having recently watched “Food, Inc.” in class, one young woman earnestly asked, “So…what we saw in that movie is really for real?”
“Yes, indeed” I replied. “No movie special effects there!”
So, while the TCHS students got a bit of a taste of small scale farming which focuses on safe, ecologically-grown food (literally, too as we had a few Gold Rush apples left from last year to munch on), they were also reminded about the current state of most of our food industry. What a difference!
Many folks are asking for more information – more this year than ever. Next week, I’ll be talking to a class at the Delaware County Night School. The folks there are worried about GMOs, factory-farmed food, and what questions to ask farmers at a farmers’ market.
We’ve also worked with a local MOMs club on these issues, and corporate entities such as ING have worked with us to get information about buying local foods to their employees.
There are fantastic things going on in the world of education. The more we can all get info out there to consumers and potential small farmers, the more people will be able to make informed decisions about the food they eat.
Remember Wendell Berry’s quote: “Eating is an agricultural act.” Indeed. Every time you choose something to eat, you are making a vote for the type of food you want and the type of community you want to live in.
