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Local Food

Why do we value locally-grown food?

 

The greatest advantage to buying your food locally is the benefit of trust, of knowing your farmer. When you know the farmer that grows your food, you can build a relationship of trust and friendship. They say that you are what you eat, and the food you feed to your family is a big part of what determines their physical health. If you want a contrast between health and sickness, look no further than the source of your meat. Most confinement chicken operations will not allow cameras inside their chicken houses because they know the result will be bad press and a poor public image. If you come to Crane Crest Farm, or most local farms, we are delighted to show you around. We are proud of the way we raise our animals, and we know that when you stop by, you will see why our meat is so healthy and delicious. There is a foundation of trust built between farmer and consumer. Your family is the most important thing in your life, and trusting the source of the food you feed them is no small matter.

 

Buying locally-grown food also helps create a cleaner, healthier, more vibrant community. I would liken such a community to Robin Hood in some ways. Not that we’re literally stealing, but we are keeping more of our community’s money in the community instead of allowing it to accumulate in the pockets of a billionaire in Arkansas or some CEO on the east coast. Tyson counts on your dollars every week. They give you their salt-bathed, nutrient-deficient meat in exchange for your money. Small farms like Crane Crest Farm also count on your dollars. Although you pay more for our local pork or beef or eggs raised on pasture, the difference is immense. Your money stays in our community, paying me directly for my work. The food you get is delicious, has a full nutrient profile, and was raised in a way that supports the health of the people, the animals, and the land. When you make the decision to buy local food instead of buying from the grocery store, you are choosing to support members of your own community (and your own health) instead of the national corporations. When you buy our food, that money goes to buying organic feed from a grain roaster in Beaver Dam. It goes to fixing our vehicles at Jim’s Service Garage in Alto. It goes to my parents, whose house we are buying. While everyone has some expenses that can’t be kept local (gasoline, for instance), we can choose how much of our food budget stays within the local community. 

 

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