Our class visited a local farm Saturday. With this trip, we received more of the
practical side of how people farm the land. Greg, the owner, showed us around the barn. We saw the miniature horse
and quarter horses and sheep. We walked three
more steps and boom! There are the draft
horses. They were so tall and muscular. Using draft horses wasn’t an idea that crossed
my mind to make farmers less vulnerable to oil prices. To give us a farm tour, he brought those
draft horses out and hooked up the cart. We
got the full farm fragrance when one of the horses showed us where manure came
from. Greg didn’t bat an eye and easily
avoided it when setting up the cart. He then took us all over the property to
show us the baby pine trees he recently planted to the moveable chicken coop
all the while giving us little nuggets of insight.
Greg said something very important
during his tour: “We get them with the eggs.”
Look at the difference between the eggs in the bottom picture (Store-bought left, local right). He explained it further saying eggs aren’t
extremely profitable so he uses them as a gateway for customers to feel
comfortable and satisfied in order to make bigger purchases like half of a hog. If his customers consider buying locally
produced eggs and taste the difference in his eggs’ quality from the mass
produced food commodities, Greg’s customers might rethink other food choices. What if it’s not rethinking food choices but
actually thinking of food choices?
Documentaries like
Fresh and
Food, Inc. empower us to change the food
system through our purchasing. Can the actions
of conscious consumers really change the food system? Are we as consumers ready to accept this
responsibility?
Our class visited a local farm Saturday. With this trip, we received more of the
practical side of how people farm the land. Greg, the owner, showed us around the barn. We saw the miniature horse
and quarter horses and sheep. We walked three
more steps and boom! There are the draft
horses. They were so tall and muscular. Using draft horses wasn’t an idea that crossed
my mind to make farmers less vulnerable to oil prices. To give us a farm tour, he brought those
draft horses out and hooked up the cart. We
got the full farm fragrance when one of the horses showed us where manure came
from. Greg didn’t bat an eye and easily
avoided it when setting up the cart. He then took us all over the property to
show us the baby pine trees he recently planted to the moveable chicken coop
all the while giving us little nuggets of insight. 
Greg said something very important
during his tour: “We get them with the eggs.”
Look at the difference between the eggs in the bottom picture (Store-bought left, local right). He explained it further saying eggs aren’t
extremely profitable so he uses them as a gateway for customers to feel
comfortable and satisfied in order to make bigger purchases like half of a hog. If his customers consider buying locally
produced eggs and taste the difference in his eggs’ quality from the mass
produced food commodities, Greg’s customers might rethink other food choices. What if it’s not rethinking food choices but
actually thinking of food choices?
Documentaries like Fresh and Food, Inc. empower us to change the food
system through our purchasing. Can the actions
of conscious consumers really change the food system? Are we as consumers ready to accept this
responsibility? 
You are exactly right. It isn't rethinking our food choices, but actually thinking about food choices. Before this class, I just bought what was in the store and happily ate it. There was no thought, just what 'you do' for food. I can say for the first time I am actually thinking about my food choices.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you took a picture of the eggs! I was amazed at how different they looked. This just goes to show how truly unconnected we are with the foods that we are eating.
ReplyDelete