COMMENTARY

Not a farmer, but doing my part
New Farm reader helps her community keep it local.

Posted December 14, 2006

Editor’s NOTE: We serve a diverse audience of readers engaged in regenerative, organic and sustainable agriculture at many levels for many reasons. We want to hear from you about the issues that are important to your life and work, and your vision for agriculture that builds a strong future. We run selected comments from readers in this space. Please tell us who you are, with name, address and phone number for verification. Sending correspondence to us conveys a right to us to publish it as is, or in a form edited for length and/or style. Opinions expressed in this space do not necessarily represent the perspective of The New Farm® or The Rodale Institute®. If you have something important to say about agriculture in a sustainable global food system, please -- speak to us. NF

I am a suburban homesteader in Montclair, New Jersey, raising a family of people and a flock of chickens in my backyard, growing food for the table, and teaching organic gardening to kids and adults. I have opened a tea room and fair trade eco-market in town, serving and selling organic fair-trade tea and food, fair-trade handcrafts and local and seasonal produce. We cook with local ingredients and as much organic as possible.

We work with NOFA New Jersey (www.nofanj.org) and a couple of local farmers. Last week, I visited Valley Shepherd Creamery and brought home delicious sheep cheeses for Montclair. Today I made roasted winter vegetable soup with veggies from farmer John Krueger of Starbrite Farm. I know where my food comes from, and so do my customers. Everything tastes so good. I am almost done with Nina Planck's book—it makes so much sense to me. I am Chinese and grew up eating everything-the Chinese waste nothing...veggies cooked in pork fat, and I'm a pretty healthy person. I am always on your website, and have been a subscriber for a while. Thank you for the stories and the information. Even though I cannot be a farmer, I appreciate reading all the stories and knowing that in my small way I can support and honor their good work.

Grace Grund
New Jersey