From Asheville's Citizen Times today comes a terrific article on the benefits of knowing where your food comes from as well as the cost of buying locally. Here's a quote:
“People are so disconnected from farms nowadays that they desperately want a relationship with a farm,” said Jamie Ager, who with his wife, Amy, runs Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, where their meat operations have enjoyed annual growth rates of about 20 percent since they started eight years ago. “It's almost like an innate thing — you need to have this relationship with the land, and we help provide that relationship.”
I think this may be especially true for those of us who spend their days in front of computer screens. The idea of working with land - or working with people who work the land - is so very appealing that it becomes part of the benefit of the food itself. Sort of the reason that Simple, Good, and Tasty exists, come to think of it... The article goes on to discuss the idea of buying local meat as well as produce, and the different in health and taste when we buy local food and sustainable food.
