Lida Farm

Wait, is the local food movement ‘normal’ now?

For a host of reasons, I became a farm apprentice in the year 2000 just north of the Twin Cities. You have to know that at the time, that was a pretty countercultural move. Instead of putting my new college degree to work and starting a career, I stepped into a world filled with dreamers, radicals, old hippies, and people into new age-y stuff from crystals to veganism to primal therapy. Like any young adult I had sought out something edgy, and, in doing so, found a community of really good-hearted and earnest people working to make the world a bit more caring toward other people and the planet.

America at the time (same as today) was racing towards more. More business, more money, more wealth, more development. The Twin Cities were growing fast and I thought that soon every acre of farmland was going to be made into one large strip mall. The solution? Let’s unplug from this fast-moving car a bit and at least change how we eat. Get off the well-worn path to the big box grocery where the only food on menu was cheap, laden with preservatives and pesticides, and mainly benefitted corporations – certainly not the farmers, animals, or the communities wrapped up in the agricultural supply chain.

I thought it was a compelling argument, but, at the time, who was listening? NOT MANY. The message came via messengers who were bunch of weirdos – idealistic college kids or back-to-the-land types who were knitting their own underwear or just smoked too much pot. Impractical idiots who convinced only some other impractical idiots who were already their friends. But, over time, it’s not the message or lifestyles of the messengers that mattered. It was the product. Good food is just good food and when customers got better tomatoes, they wanted more. Over time this little corner of the marketplace grew.

This past week I had a U of M dean in suit and tie tell me to keep up the good work of building local food businesses since it’s part of this larger movement. Man, the local food movement IS now normal. My reflection here at the end of the season is that, even though the movement may not be as countercultural as it once was, the world does seem to have caught up and that’s a good thing.

In the box – LAST ONE!

• Butternut squash: Tan one
• Pie Pumpkin
• 2-3 Delicata Squash
• Yellow Potatoes
• Carrots
• 2-3 Turnips
• A few Shallots
• Spinach
• Garlic
• Napa Cabbage
• Fresh Rosemary
• A couple Rutabagas