Life on an organic farm is...tough, but worth it, especially after watching Food Inc :)

Flocks of cars traveled down the gravel driveway to Maplewood this evening for “NOFA-vore.” NOFA (North Eastern Organic Farming Association) of VT hosts these get-togethers every so often in the summer, at different organic farms throughout the state. So this evening, Maplewood got its chance to shine. NOFA sent its portable pizza oven ahead of time, as we finished up washing vegetables that we harvested this morning for pizza toppings. A mix of our CSA members, Hannah’s relatives, and NOFA members attended the event to eat the mouthwatering pizza (with toppings including beets, yellow squash, ground beef, broccoli and green onions, all from the farm) and receive a tour of Maplewood conducted by Hannah and Eric, all before the rain came! Susie made scrumptious cupcakes, and fun time was had by all. :)

The hot, muggy days of summer we’ve been longing for, have hit us fast these past couple of days. Weeding out in the field, with the sun beating down on our backs leaves us all just lookin’ and smellin’ somethin’ wonderful, not that any of us are taking more showers, ha ha…..We worked hard at finishing up weeding the cabbage rows in the field, so that they looked presentable for tonight’s big event; hopefully it didn't go unnoticed! We dreaded going out to pull out all those awful ragweeds...

Our potatoes unfortunately have been struck with some type of blight. Over night it seems, dozens of plants dwindled, leaves have shriveled up and their green colors have quickly turned to a distasteful brown. Hannah’s sister, Heather, who owns H&B, a nursery in Highgate, said that her potato’s experienced the same blow at the same time. Something’s in the air...

Yesterday, after a quick wash off in the pond, Ellyn, Eric and I headed down to the “Big City” of Burlington to watch Food Inc. at the theater. Not surprising, I highly recommend going to see this movie! The documentary didn’t touch base on all effects of the industrialized food system, but it defiantly informed viewers on the corrupt ways of factory farms and corporate control over our meals. Factory raised meat chickens, for example, grown in CAFO’s (contained animal feeding operations), never see the light of day. They live jammed packed in these facilities and the growth hormones they’re given cause their breasts, for instance, to rapidly expand, for more meat, while their bone growth can’t keep up. This leaves chickens falling down after a couple steps because they can’t walk. The health impacts to consumers, and factory workers, as well as the damaging environmental impacts of these factory farms are so dense it would take too long to go into on this blog! So I would suggest seeing the movie, as the documentary makers can explain it better than me!

One part I found interesting though, which I’ll share to you all, is people not wanting to spend a lot of money on food. Organic food, inevitably is going to be more expensive at the grocery store; as the labor put into growing organic food exceeds that of conventional food, not too mention it takes more time to grow. We’ve all been raised in a culture that wants food cheap and fast, but why? It doesn’t make sense that we don’t want to spend a lot of money on the one thing, besides water and shelter, that our bodies needs to survive! We buy the nicest cars our budgets allow, the best running shoes, granite countertops; so why be frugal with the food you’re putting into your body to sustain your life? I’m not saying that all conventionally grown food is horrible and going to kill you, we’re all going to still want to order a greasy pizza every so often and get an ice cream. But I can testify, and Ellyn as well, that after eating an entirely organic diet here on the farm, when we eat non organic food off the farm, we defiantly feel the difference in our stomachs afterwards! Well that’s my rant for the day….just think about it if expensive organic food is turning you away.