Paul and Aurora laying drip tape and planting cauliflower.
Who Exactly Are Your Farmers?
These days, quite difficult to know, really, since the corporation has all but eliminated small family farmers and the majority of Americans buy their produce and meats from grocery stores. We could all name some brands, surely, but actual farmers?
I’ve met all kinds of farmers over the past thirty odd years. Elmer was the Portuguese farmer responsible for the apricots and walnuts surrounding my childhood home in Hollister and the first farmer I ever knew. He arrived every morning in an old red Ford pickup and wore the kind of greasy hats a hipster might fight for. He had dark, creased skin and died not very old at all. I never had any desire to be like Elmer.
Through farmer’s markets and CSA’s, we have become more familiar with some farmers. We at Greenhearts try and evaluate the producers with whom we do business and over the years have come to favor some more than others. A few, far from being personable and collegiate, never the less produce consistently superior products. Others you just can’t help but like and end up supporting out of personal affection. And yet others have enviable energy regimes, compost systems or positive labor practices which recommend them.
When we evaluate what we eat based on who produces it, where and when, and not solely on price, we begin to strengthen the foundation of an upside down food pyramid – a great mass precariously balanced on the shoulders of a small minority.