Why I'm going to Polyface Farm Saturday

This weekend, I'm taking a drive to Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia. It will take me about 3 hours to get there...and it is NOT  "mapquest-able"! Into the rolling hills of Virginia to the "Farm of Many Faces", to have a tour and lunch with the foremost Grass Farmer in this country, Joel Salatin. I've been to Polyface before, about 10 years ago when I was just transitioning back to eating meat for health reasons after a few years of being a vegetarian. I needed to know where my meat was coming from, how the animals were raised and slaughtered. It mattered. It still does--now more than ever. I was also looking for a local source for sustainably raised meat for my organic catering company, The Basic Feast. I found it at Polyface Farm.  I knew I had found Polyface when the pasture was deep, lush green compared to the burnt out, dried out and gray pasture of the farms that surrounded it. These cows graze on more than 40 different species of plants (what Joel calls his "salad bar").

I will be delivering multiple quarts of my FERMENTED PEACH CHUTNEY and FERMENTED PICKLES to donate to a luncheon for people supporting the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund and Farm to Consumer Foundation. They are non-profit organizations set up to support small, sustainable family farms and their rights to produce REAL food for us...as well as our right to purchase it directly from them. If you care about small farmers and value your right to purchase from them at farmers markets, CSAs and on their farm, DONATE to the cause. Any amount of money helps...for more on FTCLDF, click HERE. To DONATE to the Fund, click HERE. If you would rather donate to the Farm to Consumer Foundation, click HERE.

You know REAL food counts--to our health, our children's health, and to the health of the Earth herself--soil and planet. Let's support those small, sustainable family farmers who do their best to provide us with the best food they can. As Joel told me more than 10 years ago, "I encourage you to vote with your pocketbook."

All the best to you, always!