Peterson Farm

Winter is progressing on and with the advent of Groundhog Day we begin to expect perhaps six more weeks until spring begins to show up. As the days get longer and start to warm we hope greens will begin to grow again. Soon we will be planting early season crops and starting plants for summer. And beginning this Saturday (February 7) we plan to make weekly trips to the farmers market.

Which reminds me…

When I was a young boy I used to go with my father to sell our farm products. We peddled up and down the streets of High Point. In those days there was a neighborhood grocery store every two or three blocks. Many of the stores would buy our produce.

The neighborhood stores were owned by individuals that lived in the community. Many times they lived in the same building above the store. Being a part of the community, if someone became sick or was out of work the owner would take some food to the family in need. And the money spent in the stores basically stayed in the community.

Then supermarkets sprang up and the neighborhood grocers gradually closed. The early supermarkets were still locally owned and would still buy our products.

Then came the supermarket chains which are national or international. Ownership of these stores is a huge corporation. Most of the money spent in them does not stay in the local community and may not stay in this country. A corporation is impersonal and cannot effectively respond to community needs. And they will buy nothing from small local farmers.

About the time supermarket chains came along farmers market began to slowly form. There have always been some people that prefer local fresh food. These markets were usually small and seasonal. Those were pretty lean years for local farmers.

But as people have become aware of the negative issues involved in factory farming and commercial agriculture, more and more people are choosing to buy fresh, local, sustainably produced food. Farmers markets are flourishing and are becoming year around markets. And here we are still direct marketing our products to the local community.

Someone has said that when you buy locally produced products from a locally owned business about 50% of the money spent stays in the local economy. Money spent in the ‘big box’ chain stores retains only about 15%. I’m not an economist but this has to be a part of our present economic problems.

There are many reasons to buy local. I recently came across the following at www.organicconsumers.org/btc.cfm (Break the Chains).

BUY LOCAL, ORGANIC, and FAIR MADE:
WHY WE NEED TO BREAK THE CHAINS
1 · Local Community Development
Spent locally, our dollars re-circulate in our communities. Buying locally produced food and natural products helps our local economies more than buying at large supermarket chains and big box stores.
2 · Fair Made-Traded-Grown
On average, farmers receive only 20 cents of each dol lar we spend on food. The rest goes to packaging, process­ing, transportation and most of all, advertising. By buying locally, we assure that local and regional family farmers and coops receive a fair price for their harvest and products.
3 · Re-localizing Food in a World of Climate Change
Today, the average food item travels roughly 1400 miles from farm to fork. Energy-intensive industrial agriculture, wasteful packaging, and long-distance food transporta tion is responsible for roughly 20% of all climate-disrupting green house gases. Buying locally reduces transportation costs and our dependence on foreign oil.
4 · Know Who Does the Growing
Supporting farmer’s markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs are just two ways we can develop our own food culture, and relationships with the people growing our food. When we value our food and the people who produce it, our quality of life as a community grows.
5 · Biodiversity and Food Variety
Locally based organic farmers often grow a wide variety of crops and animals, including rare breeds and varieties not found at supermarkets. Multiple varieties of crops and ani mals are essential safeguards for farmers. They foster biodi versity and taste better!
6 · Wholesome Goodness
Industrial food is bred for cosmetic perfection, long-dis tance travel, and longevity on the supermarket shelves. Locally grown organic fruits, vegetables, and dairy prod ucts can usually be purchased within 24 hours of being harvested.
7 · Nutrition
The nutritional value of fresh fruits and vegetables plum mets the longer they sit on trucks and shelves. Processed foods, sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, and filled with hydrogenated oils, are basic ingredients in America’s obesity epidemic. Local, organic, whole foods are ideal because they are fresh and unprocessed.
8 · Food Safety
Concern about food safety, from Mad Cow disease to dan gerous pesticide residues, is another reason many are turning to organic and local food, which provide a safe alternative to industrially produced food.
9 · Protect the Environment
Local organic farmers are important players in protecting and improving the environment, by building soil fertility, using water wisely, and avoiding dangerous chemicals.
10 · True Cost of Food
Industrial food and farming practices hide or obscure the hidden social, ecological and human health costs of chem ical and energy-intensive agriculture and animal factory farms. The pollution and public health damage resulting from massive toxic pesticide and fertilizer use, sweatshop conditions for farmworkers, water pollution from agricul ture runoff, and billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that mainly go to a handful of rich, corporate farmers, are not reflected in the price we pay at the supermarket checkout counter. Given the hidden costs of industrial agriculture and long-distance food transportation, fair prices for local organic farmers and farmworkers are a bargain.
11 · Community Food Security
Relying on supermarket chains and big box food outlets makes us dependent on a vulnerable supply of food and services. Local farmers, dairies and businesses are more accountable and invested in their community than mega-industrial farms and Big Box chains. A local, diversified food system fosters interdependency, ethical land steward ship, humane treatment of farm animals, and fair wages for farmers and farmworkers—all while energizing the local economy.

Weather permitting, we plan to be at the Piedmont Triad Farmers market every Saturday beginning this week, February 7 from 9:00 until 3:00.

We still have some Pasture Raised whole chickens. They are 10% off the regular price while supplies last.

In Pasture Finished Jersey Beef we have fillet, NY strip, rib eye, and sirloin steaks; round, rump, sirloin tip, and shoulder roasts; stew beef, ground beef, beef liver, and dog bones. All steaks and stew beef are 10% off.

Homegrown Pork consists of mild and hot breakfast sausage, pork chops, pork ribs, ham roast and shoulder roast.

Market management has finally given us permission to sell farm eggs per their stipulations. We will have a few dozen fresh, brown, free range eggs for sale. Our laying hens are held to the same standards of highest quality feed and access to forage as our meat chickens. They receive no antibiotics or processed animal protein. As with our other products, the eggs meet our standards of great taste and quality. Supplies are very limited at the moment but the hens will lay more as spring approaches. Prices per dozen are: jumbo $5.00, extra-large $4.50, large $4.00, medium $3.50, small $3.00.

For the past 50+ years our society has moved from its rural roots to an urban economy. We are now two or three generations removed from a direct connection with our food supply. All many people know is the grocery store shelves are always well stocked with food. They have very little understanding of the process required to produce and deliver food to their local retailer. Along the way, this trend has resulted in the loss of a connection with agriculture and a lack of awareness of the issues and implications societal change has created.

One issue is our view or value of the land, the earth, the soil. To many, the land is something to exploit for monetary purposes. It is simply undeveloped and represents a profitable venture be it homeowner or businessman. Some reports indicate rural land is being lost to development at a rate of 2 to 3 thousand acres a day in the USA. Since less than 1% of the population actually farm today, few people see land as a resource to produce food.

Since government programs have subsidized the use of cheap fossil fuels and petro-chemicals to support fewer and larger farms in mono-crop production it now takes about 10 calories of oil to produce 1 calorie of food. Most people are not aware of this nor are they aware there is a better way. The emerging sustainable agriculture movement involves a polyculture of various crops and animals on a single farm unit. The result is low off farm inputs with most energy calories coming from the sun, soil and human labor.

Another issue is a loss of appreciation for the people that work the land and produce food. This may be somewhat deserved by farmers who basically drive a machine to produce one crop. But the knowledge, skill, and management abilities to operate a diversified sustainable low input farm are quite high not to mention the high human labor requirements. It takes more than a country bumpkin to succeed.

Also, few people are aware of the loss of infrastructure to support small diversified farms. There are few processing facilities for meats or value-added products. Food safety laws are designed for large corporations not small local producers. Most farm assistance programs are designed for large operations.

These are a few of the issues our society faces and everyone that eats food has an interest and, in our view, an obligation to inform themselves.

During the month of December we plan to be at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market each Saturday from 8:00 until 3:00 unless there is snow, ice or extreme cold.

We still have turnip and mustard greens, kale, collards, and arugula.

We have all cuts of Pasture Finished Beef.

At the moment, Pork consists of mild and hot breakfast sausage, sweet Italian link sausage, and shoulder roasts.

In Pasture Raised Chicken we have whole chickens, split breast, whole legs, wings, and necks.

Special sale items are Sirloin steak 10% off, split chicken breasts 25% off, mild and hot pork breakfast sausage $4.00 lb. First come first served.

Greetings,

As I mentioned in the Farm News a couple weeks ago, we are planning to be at the Piedmont Triad Farmer’s Market this Sat. (16th). It looks like it will not be too cold. We hope you will come by to see us. More on the market below.

A recent article in the New York Times points out massive problems with the world’s industrialized meat production.

We think this just supports what we have known for a long time – that the current factory farming system is unsustainable. The massive consumption of non-renewable resources, along with environmental and economic damage cannot continue indefinitely. Localized sustainable production uses far less energy. Animal waste can be safely utilized within the system enhancing fertility. Properly managed, animal and crop production on the same farm unit compliments each enterprise while improving the environment. Non-renewable inputs are kept to a minimum. Local markets require less fuel to transport products. Add to that the health benefits to animals and humans. Powerful poisons are not spread into the environment. Generally, antibiotics are not needed. Animals and plants grow naturally. Happy healthy plants and animals produce better food. (Not to mention contented farmers who don’t want your tax money in the form of subsidies)

Local, organic, and sustainable farming is growing for many reasons. Not the least is you, the consumer, supporting it. And we think it will continue to grow rapidly as more and more people become aware of the many issues involved.

Now, to continue with our return to the market for this season. We plan to be at the Triad market Sat. from 9:00 till 2:00. We will have all cuts of Pasture Finished Jersey Beef and Homegrown Pork. (if the processor gets the pork done in time) We will also have turnip and mustard greens along with kale and upland cress. We also have dry field peas.

We plan to be at the market each Sat. (9:00 till 2:00) weather permitting.

We have missed seeing all of you for the last few weeks so it will be exciting to return. Hope to see you there!

By the way, you can now subscribe/unsubscribe to Farm News by clicking on the website listed below.

Blessings,

Peterson Farm