Down on the Farm

I joined a farm co-op. I'm very excited about it, too. I've been trying to eat more seasonally and locally for a while. It's good for our local community, the environment and our health. I feel like I'm now one more step in that direction. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible to eat locally at 10,000 feet. Then I found Colorado Grown in Buena Vista, CO. It's a cooperative of several farms, and for a mere $25 lifetime membership, you can shop at their store and have access to locally grown and produced vegetables, meats, eggs, honey, raw-milk products, jams & preserves and other fabulous goodies. The store is tiny; essentially, it's a garage. It is only open on Saturdays. I love going down there with my daughter and browsing through the store, while she runs around and plays with the goats, rabbits and pigs.
I discovered the farm in late October, well after the bounty of the harvest. I am really looking forward to next summer and all of the vegetables. They have a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture. You purchase a share in the farm, in exchange for a weekly box of produce throughout the season.) They even have a work-exchange program.
If you are interested in joining a CSA, or finding a farm co-op such as this one, please check out http://www.localharvest.org/ . Local Harvest is a national directory of farms, CSAs, farmers markets and other sources of local, natural foods. You would be surprised at the number of sources in every single state.
I know that I will not be eating 100% locally. Give up coffee? Olive oil? Not a chance. But feeding my family as much local and seasonal food as I can, makes me feel good on a variety of levels. Try it; I think you will like it too.
If you are interested in reading about a family that ate only locally produced food for a year, read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's one of my favorite books of the past year.
As always, thanks for reading!