TRADING TOMATOES
Two subjects come to mind we would like to share this week. The first concerns our friends at Red Door Family Farm in Athens who suffered a great loss Thursday morning when high winds destroyed their three high tunnels and a majority of the crops within and adjacent. What a tragedy! As we would expect, they already have plans for moving forward and these do not include dwelling on the loss. The rebuild is underway and their weekly CSA shares have been packed as they head to market as usual.
The irony of the situation is that back in May, when we lost our tunnel tomatoes due to a deep-freeze, Red Door was the first farm to insist we come get replacements. No questions asked. Last week we harvested the first tomatoes from those plants. Perhaps now is the perfect time to return their generosity. Our philosophy of doing good deeds and having it come back two fold continues to be exemplified. Their success as an organic CSA is our success as long as we work together getting people to value local food.
The second topic comes from the Tuesday market, where a person walked up to our stand, briefly browsed our products and stated, “Hmphf. I don’t believe in organic.” Not being one to debate in this situation, I let the opinion go unaddressed. Sharing the statement with Mr. Farmer, we both wanted to know what part of being organic is unbelievable to her? Building the soil to prevent pests and disease? Fearing cancer comes from chemicals in our food chain? The price? This woman, two generations older than us, is fortunate to have experienced life before organic had a label unlike our generation. Her blanket statement is hopefully derived from experiences with organics far from our farm.
Buying organics from a local farm cannot be equated to buying organics shipped thousands of miles. You’re helping more than just yourself. You’re supporting a local family that in turn supports the local economy with the side effect of getting more nutritious, chemical-free, non-GMO food. While there are skeptics, we realize there are more supporters. Summarizing everything labeled “organic” in the same group is a simply a lack of research whether you believe in it or not. Spread the word.
On the defense,
Eric & Rebecca