PASA - Farming for the Future

Folks wonder what farmers do in the winter time asking 'Do you get to slow down?'  Well, yes and no.  Farmers with livestock may not have to alter their routine all that much. Pigs, horses, cattle, etc. require a similar level of care in cold weather as when the pastures are green and lush.  At Green Gate Farm our pigs and layer flock are cozy in their winter quarters, but since we don't raise broiler chickens in the winter, there is a bit less outside work in that regard.

As produce growers, winter is a time of indoor work.  We inventory seed, design planting schedules and revamp greenhouse and field plans.  And of course, like all farmers, we try to play catch-up with the mountain of record keeping and paperwork that may . . . or may not . . . have been attended to over the busy growing season.  Yes, farmers are still busy during the winter, but the kind of work changes, and the pace is definitely slower.  So in the depths of snowy February, can farmers hope to take a break to recharge their batteries?  We can't speak for all the other farmers we know, but for Leslie and Lars PASA is the answer to that question.

Every February, PASA (Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture) puts on a dynamite, energy-infused, information intensive, workshop-based conference called Farming for the Future.  Leslie and Lars have attended PASA together for the past two years, and Leslie has attended for several years prior.  Held at Penn State in State College PA, PASA offers a massive forum for growers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere to connect, share ideas and experiences, and attend workshops.  The dizzying array of topics includes biodynamic farming, encouraging earthworm populations in your soil, financial management for small farms, and Lars's favorite, draft horse power.

One needn't be a farmer to attend PASA, and there are scholarships to help folks interested in attending.  (Lars gratefully received a scholarship which funded his conference attendance.)  If you want to see what is happening in the Eat Local movement from the grower's perspective and have several days to explore the many ways in which we try to improve our businesses and practices, conferences like PASA's Farming for the Future is the perfect way.  To read more about what PASA is all about and learn more about future conferences, visit www.pasafarming.org.

Eating local, buying local, being local

It seems the label 'local' has become a real catchphrase.  "Think globally, act locally." "Buy local."  "Support your local farmer."  These make great bumper stickers, but when we talk about supporting our local economy or seeking out great local food sources, what are the qualities we are assigning to that magic word 'local?'

For those of us in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, our concept of local is geographically fairly small.  It would be easy to purchase most of our fresh food year round from small producers within 10 to 20 miles from home.  And we can be pretty sure that when we go to the Shepherdstown post office, or the bank, or the library, we will run into the farmers who grow those peaches we love or who raise the pigs for that amazing bacon.  We're all neighbors, and we're all participants in the local economy as well as in our local sustainable food system.

So, what is 'local'when you live in the city, or even in many suburbs?  Local food might be defined as being sourced from within a particular range, usually about 50 miles, but 100 miles is not considered a stretch. That makes sense, since for urban consumers the sources for many products, especially fresh foods, usually are found well out beyond a city's limits. City or suburban dwellers may have access to great local shopping, with neighborhood coffee shops, bakeries, bookstores, etc., yet must look to farmers markets to bring locally sourced produce and meats closer to where they live and work.

Perhaps even more compelling than offering terrific food, farmers markets offer a unique and direct relationship between the farmer and the folks who will be eating the food he's raised. Whether set up in a small town side street or a large urban parking lot, farmers markets are both a market place and a meeting place, a place where there is more than commerce going on.  Farmers markets create their own kind of 'locality,' an interesting set of connections that are established because there is no middle-man.  At your farmers market you expect to pick up your usual dozen heirloom eggs and bag of spring greens, but also you can count on checking in and chatting with, well, your farmer.  What could be more local?