thought for food

Farmer's markets are not small time any more. The USA is experiencing a revolution in local, organic, sustainable food production and consumption; farmers' markets and locally-stocked co-ops and groceries now do over a billion dollars in business annually, and their numbers are growing rapidly.

One of the forces driving this revolution is public dissatisfaction with the purity and integrity of the agribusiness-grown food they get from corporate-owned supermarkets. It seems we've finally figured out that the growth hormones and other fun stuff the ranchers give their steers, making them fat and sexless (the steers, not the ranchers) have the same effect on humans who eat them.

Add to this that the closer to home your food grows, the fresher it is when you get it, and what could be better than produce picked in the morning, cooked and eaten in the afternoon? Even broccoli is a treat for me now, which is something I wouldn't have imagined a short time ago.

There's a short article by Bill Wenzel at Common Dreams that could be a primer covering the basics of the local/farmers' market movement, emphasis on its economic and political implications. As you'd expect, our corporate-owned government favors the big producers at the expense of the small. So when you buy that bunch of locally-grown organic carrots, you're not just getting your vitamins, but also becoming an ad-hoc participant in #Occupy the Food Supply.

So what are we waiting for? Seize the Carrot!!

Top photo: Solstice Farm, Beaver Valley Road, Chimacum, Washington. Bottom photo: "Seize the Carrot" ©2012 by Dave B., Daveb, Horney, and Smeavy Productions.