Hey there,
Serious question:
Where would you get food if the grocery store didn’t have any?
It’s unpleasant enough to think of a world without toilet paper, but most people never gave a thought to their own food supply-chain until very recently.
You can stock up on some things, but not everything keeps.
Let’s talk vegetables.
If you have ever encountered such an animal as a ‘Silly Farmer Billy’, you know that I think people should eat their vegetables. That doesn’t change during a pandemic.
In fact, veggies become more important during disaster situations.
Your body desperately needs the life giving micronutrients, especially when you’re counting on your immune system without the illusory safety net of ‘modern healthcare’.
Frozen food is only as reliable as your home freezer, and your local electricity utility. Canned vegetables lack severely in those nutrients. It’s mainly just wet dead plant biomass (but still better than nothing).
Want to know what your best bet is for high quality vegetables in good times and bad?
Local farmers.
Hey! Remember us?
We labor and toil.. working in the high sun in summer.. as well as the sharp wind in winter.. dirty and soar, braving the uncertainty of both the climate and the market.
.. I guess it’s not exactly that hard for me. Microgreens production is more like ‘white collar’ farming, so I’m being a little dramatic.
But honestly: Life is really that hard for traditional farmers.
It’s even more difficult for farmers who are trying to use methods that are organic, sustainable, and/or ecologically sound.
Please don’t leave them hanging.
They need you.
And you need them.
If you’re reading this, then you are probably a part of the proverbial ‘choir’. I probably met you at a farmers market, where you frequent in order to get better food and support local farmers and artisans.
But farmers markets as we know it are on hiatus!
What’s the answer?
Join a CSA.
Many local farmers offer one.
Some deliver, while others offer pick-up. Some have extra benefits like community events on the farm or very fulfilling volunteer days. Some even feature ‘you-pick’ extras like flowers and fruit.
Most require dues up front at the beginning of the season (now), and this is important because farmers are usually broke. It's not the best business from a capitalistic perspective. They need that start-up money to buy fertilizer, seeds, labor, etc., and they can't grow your veggies without those things.
You obviously know that I offer a very flexible CSA Membership program, but let me encourage you..
Join a traditional CSA.
Sign up. Get great veggies every week during the growing season. Be happy. Be a good neighbor.
So.. stop what you're doing.. and google "CSA Program near me". Find a local farmer, and just take a look at what they offer.
Go ahead, I'll wait.
And if they aren’t a good fit, due to location or some other reason, then take a look around and make a relationship with a local farmer who can consistently take care of you.
What I’m about to say is dead serious:
You are not guaranteed have access to the foreign produce at the grocery store.
That might go away.
And if you don’t support your local farmer, then she will go away, too. Don’t let that happen.
We’re here for you.
So be here for us!
Talk soon,
Silly Farmer Billy
Your Personal Microgreens Grower and Entertainer