The Quest for Milk & Meat

Warning: This is NOT the blog post for all you passionate vegetarians and vegans out there...

As Teri and I have been becoming increasingly passionate about local food, real food, organic and sustainability, and supporting local small farms and farmers, we are moving along a predictable path.  While we manage to grow a fairly bountiful garden in our little urban lot--enough to share, preserve and give us plenty of produce for the bulk of the year, there are some gaps in our little chink of the food chain.  We decided we didn't need a traditional monthly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription, but maybe we could find something that we did need! We've been chatting about wanting to switch to locally grown milk and meat, and we've started our quest to find the right match.

So, we delved into researching the different nearby small farms--what sort of food they provide, how they do it, how they manage their relationships with "customers," etc.  It all seems rather folksy and nothing like how I learned agriculture supply and demand worked when I was a kid.  It's a delightful combination of new school and old school--we're conversing via email and web sites, and we're using new-style terms like "predator friendly" and "biodynamic," but we're embarking on a choice to actually have a relationship with the folks who grow and produce our food.  We may even be driving out to the farm to pick it up!

Now then, we've decided we'd like to make the switch to goat milk, maybe make our own yogurt, and maybe even go so far as to head down that slippery slope of folksy cheese.  We've talked about what a diet of locally sourced meat might be like for us too.  It seems radical and hopelessly old-fashioned all at the same time. We know that we're not going to grow all this food ourselves, but that doesn't mean we have to continue to buy it wrapped in plastic wrap at the supermarket.  We have choices and options and there are farmers and food growers right here in our community who could use our support.

We've been exchanging emails, getting on waiting lists, and trying to find just the right farmer for our scene. Stay tuned for how the quest unfolds...