Jeff and Jenny's First Farm Drop

How I Got Started As a Farm Fresh Foodie

First it was shop till you drop…now its shopping at the farm drop!  Two years ago, I had no idea what a farm drop was. Then came Weston A. Price Foundation.  A friend of mine, who had just become a naturopath (alternative health doctor) was the first to tell me about Weston A. Price Foundation. We were already eating pretty healthy, in fact I was serving her a lunch of wild caught salmon and feeling pretty smug about it.  But then, when she started talking about raw milk and pasture-raised chickens, I was stumped.  She went on to say that the natural diet of chickens is bugs and worms and poking around in cow pies to find them.  Talk about a foreign concept!  All I knew about chickens was what I had seen on TV, which was that the farmer (or his kids)  tossed  handfuls of corn to the chickens who then pecked it off the dirt outside the barn. And, of course I had heard about free range chicken, but that concept up to then had only meant a well exercised chicken, not a well fed one. And, the idea of raw milk was so totally foreign, that I just let that one go.

It wasn’t until 6 months later, that I read the book, The Schwarzbein Principle, by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, from that book, I learned enough to get me intrigued. Diana’s story is not uncommon. She was a “sweet-aholic” growing up. She developed serious health problems as a young girl. She found her way to wellness, and then purposed to go into medicine to help others avoid degenerative disease.  Today, she is an endocrinologist in Southern California. Her most famous patient is actress, Suzanne Somers, herself a health “guru” who has numerous cooking and health books to her name.

Here is The Schwarzbein Principle in Diana’s own words:

“Degenerative diseases of aging are not genetic

but acquired. Because the systems of the human

body are interconnected and because one imbalance

creates another imbalance, poor eating and lifestyle

habits, not genetics, are the cause of

degenerative disease.”–Dr. Diana Schwarzbein

The most illuminating thing I learned from Diana’s book is that animal fats, in particular, are vitally important in the human diet.  She mentions raw milk as an example of an important health food. It clicked, “Oh, my gosh,” I thought to myself, “this is Weston Price she is talking about”.  Straightaway, I went to the computer and looked for the Weston A. Price Foundation website. Within 10 minutes, I joined. Within another month, I owned a cowshare. Within 2 more months I became a chapter leader. A year later, I became the publicist for the Foundation.

It’s Not What Food we Eat, But What Feeds our Food

This simple concept of the root cause of our modern health issues being diet and lifestyle related, combined with the knowledge that the diet of our livestock and poultry affects the health of our food supply has totally changed my life!

Yesterday, I took my friend Jeff to his second farm drop. He was excited.  Earlier that day, he had tried to convince a friend to investigate farm buying clubs.  His friend was more than skeptical (shades of my first reaction when I heard about all of this). But, in time, seeds of truth planted will reap a harvest of  farm fresh food fanatics. Jeff and Jenny’s first farm drop (pictured above) was to pick up forest fed, rare breed pork from Babes in the Wood. Jeff said that very night, he served it to friends for dinner.  They all loved it.  And, Jeff told me it was the best pork he ever tasted.

Today, Keith, my husband and I buy about 85% of our food from direct farm sources–farmers markets, local farm buying clubs, CSA subscriptions, mail order, you name it.  It has been such a rewarding and eye opening experience.  I care passionately about the interests of the farmers I buy from.  I love the animals that we “sponsor.”  Our patronage of these small (non-factory) farms enables these cows, lambs, chickens and pigs to have a good life in their natural habitat and eating their species appropriate diet. Now, I want to motivate others to explore the benefits of sustainable agriculture.  Making it personal, has taken this abstract idea “sustainable” and made it very practical.  We live sustainably, so that sustainable farms can exist. Become a patron of your local farmers.  You won’t be sorry.  You will be oh, so glad!

How you Can Get Started

Visit the westonaprice.org website and look for Local Chapters.  A volunteer chapter leader in your area can get you started buying from local farms.  Ask for their “source list”.  As for raw milk, visit www.realmilk.com for more information and how to find raw dairy products in your area. If you find it is not available, please see yesterdays’ post, which invites you to notify your Senator and Congressman that you would like them to lift the ban on interstate transportation of raw milk.  This vital piece of legislation, will give struggling small dairy farms a lifeline in this tough economy.

And to Jeff and Jenny, it is my pleasure to introduce you to a fun way to make shopping simple!  I wish you many more farm drops, new recipes and opportunities to share this lifestyle with others!

See my comments in a panel discussion on eating more nourishing foods on The Nourishing Gourmet blog.
This post was entered in the Food Roots Blog Carnival, check it out for more stories about where people get their food!