for our family of three, its much more cost effective than "gourmet" or "organic" grocery stores such as trader joes, whole foods, and moms. grass fed beef, free range chicken, and pastured pork can be upwards of $9.99/pound, we simply cannot afford that. when you are buying from a farmer you are cutting out the middle man. we save big in this area and pay about $3.50 per pound for our meat. on a whim we decided to order a pig this spring and I can't wait. it also provides good variety from our usual meat and chicken dinner options.
the biggest incentive for me is having more knowledge of where your food is coming from, what a farmers philosophy is, and the environment the animals are raised in. if you live in md/va and want a recommendation I cannot say enough good things about the farmer we order our meat from.
in terms of dairy and veggies, we have been very happy with south mountain but I am hoping with growing season just around the corner that I will be able to buy more from the farmers markets in our area instead of relying on our weekly delivery. it has been a great experience, but I really appreciate the direct interaction with the farmers themselves. also, this year we hope to grow more ourselves in our backyard. we had some success with tomatoes, jalapenos, and fresh herbs last year. for a great book on how to do that, the backyard homestead is a great resource.
to find a local farm, csa, or farmers market in your area, this is a great search engine.
with all of this, here is the reality, not every family is in a season or has a desire to eat this way. take these thoughts with a grain of salt realizing, I am learning as I go too.
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I'd love the info on where you get your meats and other products. We will be looking into it more once we move into our own place. Could you email the info to me?
Yes, Israel and I are interested too. We will definitely use wagon wheel and then order some eggs from fox hollow perhaps? Thanks for the note! We eat a lot so it could get expensive. =)
Jan, do you know of any good farmers markets in the area that you prefer? I tried last year but the timing with working full time never really worked out. Just wondered if there were any you liked.
ruth, I went to the one in the kentlands last year that is on saturday mornings, but because of adjusting to motherhood I opted out and decided that it wasn't worth it. I know that Becca really liked the one in Clarksburg and I anticipate that is the one I will be going to this year. last year it was on sundays.
hey girls! in the mean time...on the sidebar of our blog you can check out the links to where we get our food under the buying local section. I can also email you more specific information as well in terms of what we buy and from where.
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