Heading Down the Driveway
I had a great time during my whirlwind trip to St. Louis for the Farm Aid 2009 concert. I arrived home happy, tired, determined to personally become much more involved in the fight against corporate factory farms and support of small family farms, and more grateful than ever to live where (and how) I do.
I also arrived home to find not only all of these adorable faces (that I missed while I was gone!) waiting for me, but also an e-mail from one of our new lamb customers (and a fellow food blogger) telling me how much he is enjoying the custom butchered whole lamb he recently bought from us ('What great flavor and texture!!') as well as a comment on my kitchen garden blog from someone who saw my post about building our low-tech, low cost homemade greenhouse and said, "I never thought I could have a greenhouse without spending thousands of dollars. Your greenhouse gives me hope. Thanks!" Encouraging words like these really mean a lot.
Looking Toward the Front Field
I'll hopefully be sharing my experiences at Farm Aid 2009 soon, but in the meantime, I think Neil Young had it right when he told us during the concert that each of us has the power to change things by voting with our dollars:
"Just buy the right food. Read the labels. [Our food system in this country] is a big complicated mess. Support family farms—they're too small to fail."
I Was So Happy to See Franny, My 2009 Bottle Baby (Whose Story I Haven't Told!)
If you missed the live Farm Aid 2009 concert broadcasts, it's not too late to watch it. DIRECTV's The 101 Network will be re-broadcasting the concert in HD, commercial-free, and surround sound four more times—click here for more info. And the Farm Aid webcast brought to you by EternaGreen will be up for free on the Farm Aid site through this week. After that, it will move to the FarmYard—Farm Aid's members-only area where you can watch this year's concert as well as past shows.
What is Farm Aid? Farm Aid is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land. Over the past 24 years, Farm Aid has raised nearly $36 million dollars to support programs that help farmers thrive, create and strengthen connections between farmers and eaters, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture, and promote food from family farms.
Want to get involved? Find out how you can take action here, become a Farm Aid member here, learn more about the Farm Aid community here, connect to the land and each other at Homegrown.org, or follow Farm Aid on Twitter here. And if you have $5 and 15 seconds to spare, text FARMER to 90999 to donate $5 to farmers through your cell phone. (The charge will show up on your next cell phone bill.)
There is good food to save and no time to waste.
© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the critter loving, homebody foodie farm blog where somebody around here just gobbled up nearly a pound of quick and easy roasted brussels sprouts for dinner. (Fortunately they were the main course.) Recipe coming soon!
Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteWow... your driveway looks so timeless and romantic! I'd love to walk down it!
Aww, Franny is so cute! Please share her story soon! :-)
Thank you Susan, for doing what you do! If we're not careful the small farms that symbolized this country will be a thing of the past. I support my local farmers by purchasing all of my meat from them. This is not a chore--it's a pleasure and a priviledge, and one that I hope will continue to be possible.
ReplyDeleteWow, I feel like I missed alot! I'm so happy you had a great time and I can't wait to hear all about it.
ReplyDeleteAnd tell me about Franny! She is just so adorable.
Welcome home. As the girl in the ruby shoes said, there's no place like it.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a job well done - we all have to be part of the solution. Support your local growers, and look to see the source of your food....unless you live in Alaska (maybe).
ReplyDeleteExcellent work!
Sounds like you had a great time, and what wonderful photos you shared with us. I completely agree that it can make a big difference by voting with our money. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you could by lamb from you directly! How?
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, and I'm so glad you're in the forefront for small farms. I couldn't agree more. I've even objected to our town encouraging massive donations to the conservation center ( where the land pretty much sits untouched), instead of carving out low cost 5 acre farm plots to keep the young farmers in business without having to pay enormous land prices. So far, no interest, sorry to say, and so another rural area loses its connection to farming.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy so very much reading your posts every day, looking at your gorgeous photos and drooling over your recipes and your garden. You inspire me! I have made the 4 hour baguettes twice and they were wonderful. I made ciabatta bread this weekend which was amazing! Recipe was from King Arthur Flour web site. Thanks for doing all you do!
ReplyDeletePlease share Franny's story soon!!!
ReplyDelete