One of the issues facing us is how to use the farm in just the right way. It needs to be environmentally friendly, productive to the point ofproviding the funds to support the farm and--well--farmy. One of the possibilities we've been kicking around is organic farming. The products of the farm--vegetables and flowers--could be sold to local restaurants. The residents of the community could have their own garden patches, and could also take part in the larger farming plan if they were interested.
So, we've started to look into how this is done. Of course, we're being careful because we want to avoid fake organics, of the type that American mega-business would like to substitute for the real thing. This is another iceberg whose tip we're just beginning to see, but there's a lot of encouraging material out there. Here's an example of a success story in organic farming. The Rodale Institute has been active in this area for a long time and is a nice resource if you've got an interest.
www.rodaleinstitute.org
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
With respect to "mega organic farming," see Joe Nocera's piece on the first page of Saturday's (7/15/06) New York Times business section about Whole Foods market and their definition of "organic." They're like the high-jumper who sets the bar low, then brags that he cleared it with inches to spare.
On the positive side, though, you guys are in a city, so there's no doubt a farmers' market down there where you can sell fresh produce. Plus, there is a burgeoning restaurant scene in Raleigh/Durham with an awareness of "real" food.
There is a big farmers' market in Raleigh and a growing demand for good food in local restaurants. I like your bar-setting analogy. I see it happening in the supermarkets here. "Natural" milk is appearing on the shelves next to the organic milk of small, independent producers. It confuses a lot of people. It seems to me that "natural" is about as low a bar as you can hope to set for milk. Who produces unnatural milk? Satan's mother, perhaps?
Post a Comment