Happy chickens come from farms with nothing to hide

(Prologue: I tried to start this blog without prejudice, but, as must be totally obvious by now, am becoming very biased in favor of food I understand. The only thing holding me back from a complete local/organic menu is price...)

If the last post on industrial chicken ranching was a little depressing, my visit to Farmhouse Organics was just the opposite. Chickens were clucking and pecking in a most content fashion out in the open air, eating some feed mix and what assorted bugs and plants they could scavenge on the ground. The most noticeable difference was the amount of space they had compared to the warehouse chickens. Their coop and pasture area wasn't giving off a gag-inducing odor, and overall I simply felt less sorry for them. If I had a group of students or kids, this is the kind of farm I'd want them to visit.

Why? Because the systems of food production and life cycles are much more transparent and easy to connect. A farm which is more dependent on the light, air, water and soil in and around it is a place where the balance between human and environmental influences are more readily apparent. And I believe in transparent food systems and farms because I believe in honesty. Otherwise it's too easy to hide environmental externalities and practices which might harm people as well. Animals and the food that sustains them don't spontaneously occur in warehouses. They live outdoors. They find their own food, and sometimes they get picked off by a sneaky bald eagle. (Eagles are cowards by the way - I've seen tiny swallows chase them off their territory. Even the slightest modicum of bravery trumps the eagle's weak sauce paradigm.) Back to the main idea though.

As our own population expands and our demand for food becomes greater, it becomes increasingly relevant that we know where our food comes from. Whatever is good or bad about our food is going to impact more and more people as time goes on. What we put in our bodies should be out in the open and visible to the general public. I think the question is: How do we make quality food grown with a minimal amount of pesticides, genetic modification and animal cruelty available to more people? Comments welcome...

P.S. Special thanks to Farmhouse Organics for letting me visit - their mission says it all!

"Our mission is to provide our customers with fresh, organic, locally-grown produce. We want to help deepen the connections between our customers, the food they eat, and the ground in which it grows. We want people of all ages to learn - through a personal connection with the farm and farmer - how their food arrives at the table. We believe that seeing the ground where their produce comes from encourages people to be thoughtful stewards of the farm's ecosystem. We want people to see that when we nourish the soil, it nourishes us. By growing seasonal organic produce for a local market, we offer a sustainable alternative to conventional produce grown in far-off regions and shipped vast distances to market." http://www.farmhouseorganics.com/index.html