What it’s Like to Eat Straight from the Farm
I grew up in a different world….a world where all of our food was grown, processed, and eaten on our farm. We planted a quarter-acre garden that produced food from May until October and we raised our own beef, pork and chicken, too. The approach of Food Day reminds me of my relationship to food and how it was formed.
Farming was hard work, but this work came with great rewards. The farm on which I was born was a working dairy requiring major labor from my father, my brothers and me for two hours every morning and evening. Summer work added in the planting and harvesting of crops to feed our dairy and beef cattle and hogs. The remainder of the day was spent assisting my Mom with planting, picking and processing vegetables. My mom, with assistance from several aunts, would can and freeze hundreds and hundreds of quarts of vegetables….lasting our family of eight through the winter until the next summer’s garden produce arrived.
Working so hard for our food meant hyper-fresh food and also that nothing was to go to waste. We daily drank two gallons of milk from the dairy. The cream, skimmed from the top of each gallon, was used in coffee, on fresh pies, in making fresh-churned ice cream weekly, and for cooking.
Lunch and dinner came straight from the garden: fresh peas, beans, corn, asparagus, potatoes, onions, often picked just minutes before cooking (my father did not like to eat corn that was more than 30 minutes from the stalk). I can still taste tomatoes warm from the mid-day sun and corn so fresh that the kernels melted in your mouth.
Our house was on four-acres of the 300 acre farm. These four acres also housed my grandfather’s fruit orchard. Fresh apples, pears and peaches were routinely picked from this area and were included in our daily diet. We also had a mill on the farm that we used to grind corn and wheat into feed for the dairy cows and hogs and fresh flour for home use. EVERY meal included fresh biscuits, fresh rolls or fresh loaf bread using this flour.
These early food experiences formed my present daily habits for cooking and food consumption. I have never purchased frozen vegetables, or a store-made cake or pie. I include a fresh salad in my daily diet. I often make breads from scratch, and I always try to eat foods that are the least processed and as close to the earth as possible. Just last weekend, I made fresh churned ice cream for 20 guests: one gallon of fresh peach and one gallon of chocolate. It was pretty darned good, too!
I don’t know if these food habits will increase my life span….but they certainly increase my daily nutrition and enjoyment of food. My hope is that all Americans, regardless of where they grew up, can enjoy a healthy relationship with food by learning where their food comes from and how it’s grown. That’s why I am thrilled that NEA Health Information Network is participating in Food Day 2012 by hosting an event at the National Education Association (NEA) in Washington, DC. Hopefully this event helps NEA staff and neighboring office workers experience a small taste of what it’s like to eat straight from the farm.