The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association farm tour was this past weekend. I visited four local farms with my daughter. We had a great time feeding and petting the animals and learning about sustainable agriculture.
My daughter Sophia
Although there are many reasons to buy food from local farms, here are my top three reasons:
1) Taste - Produce fresh from a farm simply tastes better. The onions are so sweet you can take a bite out of them and the cantaloupes are so juicy you need to eat it over a sink. After spending this summer eating farm fresh tomatoes I can't even bring myself to buy them the grocery store. The taste just doesn't compare.
2) Variety - Many of the local farms raise animals and grow produce you can't get in supermarkets. Cherokee purple tomatoes, rosa bianca eggplants, and Muscovy duck are a few of the unique foods I've enjoyed from the Wake Forest Farmer's Market this year.
3) Health - Studies have shown that grass fed beef has 40% more Omega 3 fatty acids and 50% more conjugated linoleic acid than traditional corn fed beef. Eggs from pastured chickens have twice the vitamin A and five times the vitamins E and D than conventional eggs* found in supermarkets. There is not as much evidence that local produce is healthier, but it is typically fresher. Studies have shown that the vitamin and mineral content of produce begins to drop as soon as it is picked from the ground so there is likely a benefit from eating food that hasn't sat on a shelf for a week.
Although these pigs are free to roam the woods in
90 plus degree weather they prefer the shade!
Vollmer Farms in BunnIf you'd like more information about local farm please email me or check out one of the following websites:
Eat Wild NC - Listing of local farms and what they produce
Turtle Mist Farms - Pastured and grass fed livestock and eggs plus fresh, seasonal produce
Vollmer Farm - Pick your own berries, a farm stand open daily, and "The Back Forty," a farm themed autumn amusement park
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