We know our farmers.

Me and my peeps!

I'm not sure how I can top the great day we had on Monday!  BigDaddy came home the night before he was due to surprise me for our anniversary. (fyi: surprise visit in the middle of the night = wife heart attack) But sweet nonetheless.

I had planned to take the kids to one of my Happy Places with some friends.  Polyface Farm.  If you are learning about the Slow Food Movement, saw Food Inc, read Omnivores Dilemma or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, you've crossed paths with Polyface.  The Salatins (And Wendy, their PR Queen) are so friendly and I just love visiting.  We went there on one of our "homeschool field trips" last fall and wanted to return in the spring/early summer to try and catch some baby animals.  Since BigDaddy came home early, we got to go as a family. Hooray!

It's vital for kids to learn where food comes from, and the difference between feeding your body junk and good, nutritious food. I won't lie and say we eat healthy all the time, but I do try to follow an 80/20 rule of good vs. junk.  And we are in the process of eating better and better each day.  It's a slow, on-going process, but a process of moving in the right direction.  When the munchkins know we are eating a steak, they know it's from a cow-- not just the meat section in the grocery store.  They know what vegetables look like, even if they know they don't like them.  We try to reinforce the the source of our food, be it an animal or a plant.  I want them excited about food, and knowledgeable about food.  I still cringe at Jamie Oliver's food quiz in an elementary class where the kids didn't know what  vegetables looked like.

One of my farmers! Me and Joel Salatin from last Novemeber.

So back to our day. After frolicking about the farm with baby bunnies and chicks, we grabbed our lunches and I met the crew at Polyface and learned all about ordering.  Yep, you heard me, ORDERING.  I mentioned we were upping our game.  I'm not sure what or how much or how this is going to work, but I got the form, talked to Daniel (Joel Salatin's son) and told them I'm ordering.  Now my food not only has a face (and a happy one at that), but a farmer. He knows me. Knows my name and he knows I'm supposed to make this step.  Creating some peer pressure for myself will force me to eat better.  Lame, I know.  But when other people know what I'm up to, I'm accountable, not only to you, My Loyal Seven, but to my farmer too.

I highly encourage you to meet someone, anyone, in your area that you can buy a food product from.  The Farmers' Market.  A local farm.  A U-Pick berry patch.  Find out about the person behind the product.  I'm embarking on a Know Your Farmer Tour with a friend. Challenging ourselves to not only buy local, eat organic when possible, but to also talk to the farmers whose hard work created what we get to eat.  So get out there, Loyal Seven, and talk to some farmers!  Tell me about it after your done.  Gimme names, products, locations...