well, anyone who has read the “about” section of this blog must know that part of the impetus for starting it was a growing concern on my part about my food supply–that is, the source of the food i purchase, cook and feed my family with.
So I am definitely juiced by this article from Gourmet magazine. Thank you to friend Lorrie King for fowarding to me. The news nuggets are:
- a sharp increase in small farms since 2007. These farms seem really small…as in less than $1000 in sales (is that annual?)
- further concentration in large farm production (so now only 125,000 farms produce 75% of our agricultural production). As Michael Pollan noted, our food diversity has shrunk to only four major sources including soy, wheat, and corn. We subsidize these crops and as a result they end up as the basis of cheap, processed food. These large farms are largely involved in the production of these staple goods.
- and an increase in the number of woman farmers (or farm operators). The article seems to indicate that the women farmers may be related to the rise in small farms.
Who knows, speculates the author? Maybe more women are takin gup the cause of a nutrional food source for their families and local communities. Women of the US, unite! Really though, maybe these women and men who have taken up growing fresh, diverse, local food can serve as more and more of our local food supply.
Inlets's Weblog 
It is interesting to read these statistics. You know, I’ve been thinking lately how it was normal for our grandparents’ generation to grow their own food. During WWII, they were known as Victory Gardens. Wikipedia has a great description for them. I’d love to try growing a few heirloom tomatoes on my balcony this summer. If I had a patch of land, I’d definitely grow a variety of heirlooms. Not that I have a green thumb at all but it would be fun to try!
I don’t know much about heirlooms but i do know about tomatoes….they love sun and water and that’s all they need to grow with fiendish intensity. Sounds like a great idea. You will always have that fresh plucked smell too. Keep me posted!