The New York Times had an interesting article titled; Our New Global Garden. In 2016, according to the NYT, 53.1% of the fruit and 31.1% of the vegetables consumed in America came from other countries. These percentages are projected to increase.
What does that mean for farmers and farmland here in the USA? How can we be sure the food is safe? Is it really organic?
Paradoxically, our food choices are becoming both more local and more global. CSA’s, Farmers Markets, and the Farm to Table movement are increasing in popularity. Familiar brands feature the farms and farmers that supply the ingredients.
Can local and global food trends both continue to grow? I hope we will be able to choose local when the future of buying groceries online arrives. I hope the Farm on the menu is actually where the food came from rather than Restaurant Depot or US Foodservice. I hope we can continue to provide our community with fresh healthy vegetables because that is what we want to do with our lives. I suppose we could grow lots of something and ship it to China. But then we would be just another name on a spreadsheet with a price attached. We are not for sale. We are here and we are farming: Locally.