Farm to Family Connection - Commentary

FARM TO FAMILY COMMENTARY ---Select commentary from a weekly column by Curt Arens published in the Cedar County News, Hartington, NE

July 2007

Patriotism and Your Dinner Table

Dear Friends,
With the war in Iraq and on battlefields across the world continuing to rage, and with our American soldiers, some local folks among them, continually in harms way, we often try to think of things we can do to show our patriotism, especially this time of year.

As Independence Day approaches, during wartime, it should be more than picnics, ballgames, dances and fireworks. Independence Day should be a time to reflect on what liberty and freedom mean.

Of course, we hear this message every year, during Memorial Day ceremonies, on July 4th and on Veteran’s Day. However, for Americans, particularly for those of us fortunate enough to live in rural America, Independence Day is every day we are able to jump out of bed, to do a job or work a farm, to make a living of our own, to worship at our churches and to educate our children.

In celebration, we can offer letters and items of necessity to our troops in the armed forces. We can offer daily prayers not only for those soldiers on the battlefields, but also for the people of war-torn countries. We can fly our flags proudly and stand to salute the flag and the honor guard when they pass on parade. We can sing the "Star Spangled Banner", "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" at the tops of our lungs.

We can also support our country and the financial and physical health of rural America by purchasing our food from farmers who live in our own locality. Eating locally grown food purchased from family farmers living just down the road is an American tradition dating back to the colonial days, that has only in recent decades been eroded away.

With thousands of new farmers markets popping up across the land recently, including in our own region, and with local fare more readily available on area grocery store shelves than in recent memory, eating locally and supporting the American family farmers in our own region, is easier than it has been in years.

You’ve read this message time and again in this space, but it is perhaps one of the truly "win-win" propositions for local consumers and family farmers as well. Cedar and Knox counties are a paradise for folks looking locally for their food and farm products, because we have more family farmers in our counties raising and selling their wares in our region than in most places in Nebraska and South Dakota.

With farmers market season just heating up, with local farmers markets, including those in our counties and in neighboring counties readily available, it is the perfect time to supplement food that your own garden didn’t produce with food raised by your neighbors.

This simple act – purchasing locally grown meat, poultry and eggs, milk, fruit and vegetables - saves transportation costs, because most food we eat travels an average of 1500 miles to our table. Cutting a little mileage off the food bill is as patriotic as it gets. So supporting local family farmers, the local economy and the health of your own family with local food this Independence Day should be a "no-brainer". With July 4th just around the corner, that is something we can all chew on.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day.