The recall of over a half-billion eggs in over two dozen states, including Wisconsin, has dominated the news headlines over the last several days. The most staggering fact in this issue is that all these contaminated eggs came from only two operations. I can not bring myself to even call these egg producing giants farms because they function more like a factory than a farm. I just finished listening to the Joy Cardin show on Wisconsin Public Radio on this issue and how we can feed our families in a better and safe way. The basic conclusion: eat locally, eat organically, lobby your legislatures for regulation that favors small farms and KNOW YOUR FARMER. Listen to the half hour discussion here and click on audio archives. The program aired on Aug. 25 th, 2010 with guest Mark Kastle of the Cornucopia institute.
Where do you get your eggs, pork, produce....? As natural beef producers we get questions from many folks as to where we find the rest of our food. We do our best to buy local and organic foods and if our food is not certified organic we know the farmer and the natural methods they use. I will run down the list and give props to the farmers we purchase from, but to find farmers in your own area visit local harvest, or eat wild on the web.
Eggs, Organic bulk dry goods, spices and honey: Kaufmann's country store in south Beloit WI.
Eggs, produce: Walkup family farm in Crystal Lake IL
Produce: Monroe Farmers Market, Monroe WI or the largest farmers market in the Nation on the Madison WI capital square on Saturday Mornings. There is also a great CSA from Scotch Hill Farm in Brodhead, WI
Pork: R Family Farm in Poplar Grove IL
Chicken: We partnered with our good friends in Potosi and butchered our own.
Cheese: Decatur Dairy just one mile from our farm...National Champion Cheese just a bike ride away, I love Green county!
We are not perfect and sometimes yes we do by food at the supermarket. Healthy clean food is a priority for us, so we make it a budget priority as well. If we can not shake the hand of the farmer that grew it we choose organic as is the case in the milk we buy.
In the future we will move beyond beef into hogs, eggs and chicken, but until that time, we will continue to support other farmers with goals very close to our own.
great post jen! i just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver...which speaks to similar issues. check it out if you haven't already. *allison metz
ReplyDeleteThanks Allison, so good to hear from you! Kingsolver is one of my favorites. I read that book as soon as it came out and it has been my gardening bible and really the book that truly lit my fire for issues of food security and local eating.
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