Buying local

We received our first produce delivery yesterday from Rise ‘N Shine Farms near Chattanooga and is it ever good! They brought strawberries, lovely bunches of lettuce, baby bok choi, kale, 2 bags of sprouts, arugula and a big bunch of radishes. We’ve already eaten 1 basket of the strawberries . . . I made old-fashioned shortcakes and topped them with a little whipped cream. It just doesn’t get any better than this!

I used recipes from the Scott Peacock/Edna Lewis cookbook The Gift of Southern Cooking. It is one of my absolute favorite cookbooks, and not just because I love Southern food. Edna Lewis should have been declared a national treasure and hopefully some day will be as appreciated for her contribution to the American food scene as Julia Child, Alice Waters, and James Beard. From her books I learned the glories of lard (yes, lard) and I now make the best biscuits, pie crust and cornbread ever. I render the lard myself – it’s easy – never buy the nasty stuff in the buckets at the grocery store! She also made her own baking powder – also easy – and it’s an incredible improvement over the commercial product. I would not have believed it would make such a difference but it truly does. I’m going to start a page listing favorite cookbooks and posting recipes . . . I do believe we are what we eat and it’s worth the effort, time and money to get the good stuff.

I also buy our meat, chicken and eggs from River Ridge Farms. Dave Waters drives into Chattanooga once a week for delivery, so it’s not inconvenient. I don’t even look at the stuff in the grocery store any more. It’s not just about health, although that’s important; it’s also about the impact of factory farming on the environment and the humane treatment of animals. We aren’t vegetarians (yet) but I decided that if we were going to eat meat it would come from animals that were at least raised in a humane environment and fed healthy diets . . . no steroids, hormones, antibiotics, etc. Until I did some reading I didn’t realize that feeding cattle grain is not only inefficient use of that food crop, it actually makes the cattle sick and makes them breeding grounds for e. coli bacteria. Grassfed (or pasture-raised) is better for us, better for them, better for the earth!

The challenge is to make this food more affordable and more widely available,and to educate people about the advantages of eating locally and organically, whenever possible. Books I’d recommend to start with are Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and any of Michael Pollan’s books, especially the latest one, In Defense of Food. Now go eat something good form a local farmer!