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I get this a lot as well from friend sand family - I like spending time on BYC because here folks actually GET IT.
I am a member of a food buying club that works directly with several farmers, and get raw milk and cheese and some veggies that I don't grow there, and have the farmer's market for other stuff. I do still have some stuff I get at the store - I don't usually have a big enough harvest of garlic to last the year (I like garlic), and I buy oil and flour at the store. Trying to reduce where I can. I like growing/producing or buying directly from someone else who grew or produced my food...
- Ant Farm
Why isn't "because I want to and I am able to" ever good enough? Quit making 'us' so defensive!
That food buying club is interesting. Not sure if there's anything like around close by.. too much urbanization.
another pet peeve- building tract homes over fertile farmlands.. almost all the local wheat fields and orange groves I know of are completely gone.
It grew out of a desire of a lot of folk to get raw milk from the farmer without him getting fined for it. Raw milk rules/regulations are always a bit odd from state to state. Here in Texas, you can buy it directly from the farmer, but there are some weird rules about the transaction being at the farm itself (In Georgia, you have to sing something saying it's for your pet!!!). Now we as a food club prepay for the milk, and it's a group purchase. While we're at it, there's other stuff as well - local cheese, local mushrooms, veggies, meats of all types, bacon, pork belly, etc. form local ranchers, and some fermented foods and locally produced cleaning products. All without the drama of the friggin' farmer's market (which gets a bit crowded with dogs and strollers for my taste when I want to get in and out with my shopping list - yes, I'm a cranky biddy...)
It's wonderful to have a source of fresh raw milk form Jersey cows for yogurt and cheesemaking.
- Ant Farm
Yes! So glad someone else cannot stand farmers markets! my eyes get tired from all the eye rolling lol
How did you find out about that service?
I previously got raw milk from this farmer by word of mouth (an informal group of us took a delivery of it once a week in the city - he did it as a courtesy). He got fined for it, and so couldn't do the delivery any more, and a young person decided to apply herself to starting the food club, and here we are - it's called The Farm Connection. It's sort of awesome. There's a membership fee balance (so you can technically say you have "prepaid"), and you preorder everything by 8am on Monday morning, then pick up Monday afternoon or Tuesday. Members volunteer during pick up. It also serves as a method of selling for some folks who make fermented foods, natural cleaning products, kombucha, kimchee, etc. They have specific partnerships with specific farms, including my favorite egg and poultry farm (young couple/family - they were the ones who turned me on to Naked Necks for meat and eggs), where I got eggs/chickens before I had my own chickens. I still get my turkeys, geese, or muscovy ducks from them, and they sell chicken feet in case I don't have enough in the freezer.
It's really neat - glad I joined. Previously the way we did the raw milk, it was in the grey area so I didn't tell anyone outside the group, and indeed, the farmer got fined. Not fair to him, so we arranged this instead.
- Ant Farm