farmer

The farmers’ market is not Safeway, and if you shop the same way at both places, then you’ve been missing out. Look at the fingernails of the people behind the tables at the farmers’ market: They’ve been digging in the dirt, lovingly tending the vegetables laid out before you (although, I’ll admit, they do lack certain bagging skills). What an opportunity to connect with your food–and the farmer who grows it!

At the farmers’ market, I’ve learned about vegetables that were entirely new to me (kohlrabi, purslane, scapes). I’ve learned about different varieties of foods I was already familiar with (you should see all the different kinds of garlic Yael grows), and I’ve even had my mind reopened to foods I’d spent most of my life detesting (peas, beets, asparagus). Yet the conversations have gone both ways. I’ve also taught farmers new ways to enjoy the vegetables they grow, and come back from my travels with new varieties for them to try. The farmers’ market has become much more to me than a place I gather ingredients for a meal; it’s become a place where I gather with my friends.

And, as with any group of friends, it’s hard not to slow down and enjoy myself when I’m amongst them, no matter how rushed or preoccupied I am. When they want to know how their pork shoulder . . . Swiss chard . . . foraged wild mushrooms turned out, it’s tough to let an agenda rule. And it’s a great reminder that these interactions—and the frame of mind they create in me—are what is so precious about the experience. The weekend’s to-do’s will still be there and they’ll get done . . . at some point.

How does all of this help instill a mindful eating practice? Just try it and you’ll see. The cozy feeling of community you feel as you walk away from the market will last all through your meal; just watch how your food takes on more life, both in the kitchen and at the table. When I slice my peach, I see the smile of Gayle from Dry Creek Peach and Produce, and it makes me smile too. When I drizzle honey over the top, I see the earnest joy on the faces of Hector’s family as they prepared to go, en masse, to Italy to represent Sonoma County at the Slow Food Terra Madre event.

Get to know the farmer who grows your food and you’ll be nurtured in a whole new way. You’ll forge a real connection to real food.

As I was a writing a piece about food policy (nothing like trying to wrap-up agricultural policy in 500 words when the Farm Bill itself is 1,770 pages), a clear distinction stood out between a “farmer” and a “food producer.”

To me, and I think to many of us, “farmers” are those who work the land. They’re the ones who get dirt under their fingernails and whose eyes light up when conversation turns to compost. But while that may be the portrait for the people growing your food, it isn’t necessarily the portrait of the people who own America’s farmland or who are producing your food.

Let’s start out with some basics. First, nearly half of the country—over 1 billion acres—is farmland. Yet only 4% of the owners own nearly 50% of that farmland. And according to data from the USDA, there is a very high correlation between sales volume and how directly involved the owner/operators are with the actual land. Take, for instance, small-scale family farms (which make up 90% of the number of farms in the US). Their owners do 70% of the labor themselves. Bump up to a very large-scale family farm or a non-family farm and the number drops to only 19%.

This means that as farms grow into bigger and bigger businesses, the ones who own and operate them are more likely to be managers and marketers and accountants and less likely to be actual farmers. In other words, they move along the continuum from “farmer” to “food producer.”

This week, if you’re curious, Google the company behind the label on your produce or packages and see if you can find dirt under their fingernails.

Tag Archives: farmer

The Face of the Farmer

Distinguish Between Farmer and Food Producer