Hi! In response to your question, I grow a lot of my own vegetables, flowers and herbs, during the growing season. I’m not interested in finding a CSA at this time. I am a one-person household, so it would be wasteful for me, although I could see how a CSA would be great for couples or families with children. I have neither the need nor the income for food from a CSA. And, in case you are wondering, I don’t do a lot of freezing or canning of things from my garden. I’m trying to learn to live with the fact that there will be an abundance of fresh produce and herbs in spring, summer, and early fall, and a less abundant period during the winter. I dry some of my herbs and freeze pesto, but mostly have learned to live without tender herbs such as parsley, basil,and chives, during the winter.

I wasn’t writing about myself in the previous post, so much as writing about others who do not have the resources (particularly time and money) to obtain all or most of their food from small farmers. I agree with Lucy. While I’m not an advocate of raw milk, the food production system as it currently operates is not one of that will change any time soon due to consumer demand for more humanely raised meat or for more locally grown food. The industry is too entrenched and the systems too large and complex to experience rapid change. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope I am.

The best food in the world is food you grow, the second best is food from people you know.

Industrial organics is not what we think of when we think of organic food. It is just a new way to grow industrial food.

What we need is a return to local and regional foodsheds but this is hard to do what with more and more laws and regs from the USDA and state Ag depts that hinder the farmer from making a living (this is really true with farmers trying to provide raw milk to customers right now) and the fact that the infrastructure for local/regional ag is pretty much been destroyed by industrial ag.

The good news is there are more and more people opting into the local/regional food idea and good things are happening.

Just out of curiosity have you checked to see if there was a CSA program in your area? I wasn’t aware of the one in this area until I found the following website

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

I don’t have the confidence that market forces will determine whether CAFO’s survive. The food industry that supports CAFO’s and other large-scale farming is too entrenched in both state and federal government for there to be large-scale change anytime soon. Meanwhile, the air we breathe and the water we used is being damaged daily.

Furthermore,for many people, it is just not realistic to choose to drive to an organic farmer to get turkey for Thanksgiving or to join a cooperative to get organic vegetables. Living sustainably is not simply a matter of “getting priorties straight” and/or making “tough choices.” It is often a matter of having resources–namely, time, money, and information–to make sustainable choices. I applaud those who can make those choices, and I do what I can, but it is not nearly enough. (Sorry for breaking my own rule, yet again!)

For those of you interested, I would recommend Joe Salatin’s book Holy Cows and Hog Heaven - The Food Buyers Guide to Farm Friendly Food.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I agree with your point: ultimately it is the market that will determine whether CAFO’s stay or go. I can only think that once people come to understand the circumstances in which their families’ meals are being bread, they will choose to avoid CAFO meat and dairy products.

I am just one of many who use KEMPLOG to keep up with the latest CAFO news each week. I appreciate the consistent clarity with which the information is presented and the thoughtful insights.

So thank you, Mr. Kemp, for taking the time to put together and maintain this blog. I, too, am a vegetarian. Vegetarianism and veganism do seem to be a growing trend in this country, particularly within the last 5-10 years.

Whether we eat meat or not, we all can and should think about where our food comes from and make good choices for ourselves, our families and our environment. Also, a person who wants to make a difference can help without becoming a vegetarian/vegan: for example, if everyone would just cut their CAFO meat consumption in half, billions of animals could be spared from factory farming–and the result would have a great effect on the industry.