Food For Thought

Recently we were introduced to a great website that supports local, organic and real food. It's a web site that is challenging consumers of food (fake) to stop and think about what they are buying, where it comes from and how much it cost to get there. As simple farmers in the neighborhood, we appreciate people like this who are bent on informing consumers like you and me.

Organic Consumers has started a campaign called Break The Chains.  There purpose is to "focus the consumers' attention on how each purchasing decision can lead to a safer, greener, and more equitable society by breaking the chains of corporate control in their own lives."  OC believes this is done by supporting organic (all our practices at The Simple Farm are organic), Fair Made, and locally produced products and business.

OC answers the question - Why Buy Local or Regional?  
"Today, much of our food, conventional and organic alike is traveling literally thousands of miles from farm to fork. (Did you know that at some farmers' markets - even here in the Phoenix valley - it's been reported that some of those vendors actually bring in food from Mexico, California and other states and sell it as local?  Read here.)  Along the way, food loses its nutritional value, burns fossil fuels, and contributes to global warming. Local foods provide exceptional taste and freshness, strengthen our local economy, and support endangered family farms (like ours at The Simple Farm).

If you'd like to know more about how you can break the chain and take the pledge - go here.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 

Before You Pull out Your Wallet

• Who profits from this sale? (you the consumer, because of the relationship we have with you and you with us, you save gas $ and time and because you actually see the food while often still in the ground and also us, the farmers - because when you support us and buy from us - it says you believe in us. It's also the way we are choosing to become self-sustaining.)
• Are you buying this product from a national chain, or buying locally from an independent business, coop, or family farm? (Hopefully you would answer from the farm in your neighborhood - The Simple Farm.)
• Where was this item grown or made? (on our farm and in our farm kitchen)
• How far did it travel? (not too far - we're the farm in your neighborhood)
• Were farmers' or workers' rights protected? (so far, yes)
• Did the producer receive a living wage? (not yet)
• Is it certified organic or Fair Trade? (not certified - that costs tons of $$$ - but total organic practices)
• Is the company making or selling this item socially responsible? (absolutely)
• Is this product genuinely ecological & healthy? (absolutely!)
• What would be an organic, local, and Fair Trade or Fair Made alternative? (Supporting and buying from The Simple Farm.)