Yesterday's storm spared our gardens. We are so thankful...but the North Texas area was not so lucky. We will all need to join together in prayer for everyone affected by the storms and reach out and do everything we humanly can to offer up fresh foods from our gardens to them, as well as life supplies. These things we take for advantage everyday, are such items like fresh water, food, or clothes.
If you are able to offer help with the clean up maybe you can form a group to go to the neighborhoods that were damaged and offer a litteral hand in the clean up effort. We are talking here at Hummingbird Farm to see what we can offer to our North Texas neighboring cities.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Downfall of Dallas Farmers Market
The news I have been reading on the the demise of the Dallas Farmers Market due to evident miss managment just makes me sad. This is a Dallas area landmark that had stood the test of time with many consumers depending on the produce there.
My opinion of the downfall is just what a customer of mine told me. The produce is predominately not locally grown. She went on further to say when you can by fruit at the market in the winter months, you know it isn't from Texas! Even from South Texas.
I hope this is a wake up call for smaller farmers market to police their attendents and verify that they are growing it. We have a farmers market here that has been around for many years and most of the sellers are resellers of produce purchased from the Dallas Farmers Market commodity sellers from Shed 4 and outlying buildings.
I am not saying these commodity movers are not a neccessary part of our food supply, but to advertise these as locally grown is just not honest!
My opinion of the downfall is just what a customer of mine told me. The produce is predominately not locally grown. She went on further to say when you can by fruit at the market in the winter months, you know it isn't from Texas! Even from South Texas.
I hope this is a wake up call for smaller farmers market to police their attendents and verify that they are growing it. We have a farmers market here that has been around for many years and most of the sellers are resellers of produce purchased from the Dallas Farmers Market commodity sellers from Shed 4 and outlying buildings.
I am not saying these commodity movers are not a neccessary part of our food supply, but to advertise these as locally grown is just not honest!
Local produce more healthy and cost less!
With fuel cost rising for whatever the "real" reason is....to eat local is more cost effective as well as more healthy. Small farms that produce vegetables, fruits, eggs and meat do not have the overhead commercial farms do, they practice more organically and do not have the transportation cost added on to the consumer. If a consumer goes into a grocery store in North Texas before May and finds items like watermelon or cantaloupe, corn or tomatoes These are NOT locally grown. More than likely they are out of Mexico or Chile! On top of that they will have been possibly gassed, raised in greenhouses, even hydroponically not grown in the sun and dirt.
So if a family grocery buyer seek out local producer through real farmers markets or at local small farms the benefits are numerous:
1. supporting local agriculture
2. not ingesting unwanted chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, hormones, steriods)
3. not having to pay a mark up for the distributor, big box store, and transportation cost
4. providing family with more healthy truly fresh food
So if a family grocery buyer seek out local producer through real farmers markets or at local small farms the benefits are numerous:
1. supporting local agriculture
2. not ingesting unwanted chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, hormones, steriods)
3. not having to pay a mark up for the distributor, big box store, and transportation cost
4. providing family with more healthy truly fresh food
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