The People We Meet

I can't tell you how many people I meet working in a grocery store. I meet a bunch. What I enjoy the most is watching their shopping habits and answering their questions. It is in this way that I have found many more people are turning to whole foods.

To our family, whole food is a must. In fact, it is the main thrust of what we do here on our farm. We are trying to provide our family with foo that is fit to eat, and sell a bit here and there. But, I find that many people are becoming fed up with the factory farms and are looking for an alternative. Frankly, alternatives are hard to come by in our area. We would like to fill a small portion of that immense hole.

Another interesting thing I find is that of the people in the "whole foods" category, are also greatly self educated. Most have some sort of higher education, sure, but they tend to read anything they can get their hands on. They want to know about their food and , thus, read about food and where it comes from and how to get better food. They know that the FDA is not necessarily our friend, nor is the USDUH (USDA). That the government is not necessarily out to protect us little folk.

It is this kind of person that will be our (the small farmer) loudest voice in government to help stop legislation like the NAIS or get laws repealed or changed. The major contributor to this is that these folks who want food fit to eat go out and find it, are willing to pay top dollar for it, and build relationships through it, don't want to loose their right to purchase these products. Many of them go to great lengths to get whole food and will fight tooth and nail to keep their right to do so.

The best part of that is that this ideal transcends party lines and social status. That is another thing I have noticed. It is not necessarily the affluent people looking for better food for their families. Many people that the government would label as "below the poverty level" educate themselves and search out sources for the thing they need, as well. One good reason for this is that many can't afford health insurance nor the medical bills, so they insure themselves by eating healthy. They know the dangers of genetically modified food and pesticides and chemicals. They can't afford to run to the doctor every time they get sick. We fit into this category, which is why our goal is to feed ourselves first.

I enjoy talking to people and listening is a big part of communication. Just look around and listen and talk, you'll notice these things. Then, as a farmer, find a way to serve their needs. The key word here is serve. Stay small and let your neighbors do the same thing. I would much rather see a million smaller producers than three gigantic ones changing the very DNA of our food. Think about it.