I have been ignorant but a Farmer is teaching me.

This will be a blog to share stories about local eating and one woman's journey. Like many folks I never gave much thought to the foods. I purchased the weekly groceries enjoyed cooking (family style never with recipes) and ate what tasted "good". Keeping in mind my taste had been informed by chain foods, fast foods, fatty foods and salty. Still love salty!

I always had an awareness that I like fresh vegetables, love summer farm stands and fresh apples and an appreciation for good meats. But generally, I have been driven by my sense of economics and the media "brain training" I received. I thought I needed cheap, variety, quick fixes and certainly those "healthy" easy cook meal options. Now Being CLEAR,,,I still shop at my favorite chain store (begun in New England) and buy "good" deal items. I am feeding a family, the new American economically necessary family of nine. My family consists of adult children home to save money (with grandkids), elderly mother, step child, foster care adult, son who lives across town but cannot make it financially and of course husband. I need deals and I feed lots of people.

But in the last few years this farmer friend of mine, my own organization's unique move into working with local farms and food producers in Maine, and my own LIMITED research, has brought me to a new place and way of eating. This blog will track that journey. Complete with all the realities and honest misgivings and mis-steps. I am NO expert on organic, local foods, health and/or local economies. I am however learning more everyday and hope to spark conversations and ideas regarding eating local and "real" foods (my term). I believe it will be very helpful to me for reflection and learning to keep this blog and maybe a few other folks.

The biggest single lesson I would offer is to find a local farm or cooperative or collaborative and find out if they have a CSA, community supported agriculture, program. CSA shares was a total foreign idea to me three years ago. In my "regular person words" it is a weekly program where you pay the farm or collaborative to supply you with a bag of available local foods. In my year of doing this I would get things I never had tried before which has taught me volumes about foods. It is fun, like a little journey each week. It is not expensive: my share is about 35 dollars a week. My company allows all employees to buy CSA's through payroll deduction (makes it really easy-suggest you speak to your company about this) and I am getting great local foods to use for my family. That would be my first suggestion. It has been a great help to me. Good Luck.