Interested in Local Food and Farming?

While it may not be likely that you’ve been to an agricultural conference in the past, this just might be the year to do it!

Western Wake Farmers’ Market Manager Kim Hunter and President Juliann Zoetmulder will be among the panelists on Saturday, December 4 at the 25th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference hosted by Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA). They will participate in the “Farmers’ Market Special Series: Starting a New Farmers’ Market” workshop. CFSA’s conference, December 3 – 5 in Winston-Salem, NC, isn’t just for farmers, but for anyone who cares about the food they eat and the local food scene.

This year’s conference theme is “Local & Organic Arrives:  Our Opportunity is Now.”  Local and organic food is at a popularity level that we would have only dreamed of a few years ago.  How do we, as a movement, seize this opportunity and take it to the next level?  Keynote speaker and local food expert Michael Shuman will offer some compelling and provocative ideas.

For the non-farmer, this conference offers plenty of great information. Gardeners, cooks, community food activists alike will find workshops of interest, plus lots of great local, organic food, of course!

Early bird registration ends September 15, so check it out if you’re interested. CFSA offers a Work Exchange with partial discounts for working at the conference, and they need help with many tasks before and during the conference.  If you have questions, are interested in participating in Work Exchange, or want to volunteer at or before the conference, please e-mail Cheryl at CFSA.

Tour Triangle farms

The Eastern Triangle Farm Tour is set for September 18 and 19.

The tour features more than 20 sustainable farms in Harnett, Granville, Franklin, Wake, Johnston and Chatham counties. The farms are open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. both days. Tickets cost $25 in advance per carload or $30 at the farms or $10 to visit a single farm.

For more information or to buy tickets, go to http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org.

The tour is co-sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Whole Foods.

Reasons to Explore Your Local Wineries

The current trend in the “Go Green” movement is to eat local, which advocates eating food grown locally to help support farmers in a “farm-to-table” cuisine.

Sometimes this movement fails to recognize the “drink local” portion of the equation.  However, for those of us who like to have a great glass of wine with a meal, drinking wines from local vineyards and wineries is a worthy cause, too.

By no means should we completely forget about that port or champagne and only request to be served local wine.  However, a subtle change in attitude to begin incorporating these local wineries into our search for great wines makes sense, both economically and environmentally.  Let’s take a look at why choosing wine from a local winery is a good idea.

Terroir – Celebrating Uniqueness

Pronounced tear-wah, this French term is used to describe the terrain in which something is grown.  In this case, the something is the wine you are about to enjoy.  Exploring local vineyards and wineries allows you to know exactly what type of climate the grapes were grown in, which gives you a great understanding of what to expect when it comes to flavor.

The climate and area in which the grapes were grown create the unique flavor of the wine.  By enjoying a local wine with local food, you get the full experience of really living in your area.  Many smaller wineries are trying to preserve a sense of unity and territory, along with the farmers.  When you purchase a local wine, and eat locally grown food, you are helping to sustain your region’s way of life.

Travel Weary Wine

A bottle of wine from across the country – or across the world – may have traveled thousands of miles to reach your table.  During this travel, your bottle of wine had to withstand difficult elements.  However, a bottle of wine you just uncorked from a local winery has fewer miles to travel, perhaps even just across the vineyard.  The further away you go for your wine, the greater the chance of deterioration from the long travels and uneven conditions.  Proper storage is less of an issue when the wine is delivered to your table from across the street instead of from across the globe.

Your Price, Your Community, and Your Planet

Ordering from local wineries can also stretch your dollar.  Generally speaking, local wineries are not rated by top critics, so they go largely unnoticed.  In order to compete with the larger names in the industry, these smaller vintners keep their prices down to get noticed.  Also, since there is not a large shipping cost involved, the consumer doesn’t get the additional charge added into the price of the bottle of wine.

Don’t forget the number of jobs the local vineyards create within your community.  This helps to keep the local economy stable.  Don’t you feel better knowing you’re supporting your neighbor while you enjoy sipping your favorite local wine?

Consider the waste of precious fuel resources shipping a bottle of wine around the world when a perfectly lovely bottle may be waiting for you right around the corner.  Conserving resources is a very large part of the movement to buy products locally.

Giving more of your wine dollars to local vineyards and wineries just feels good.  This will keep your money in the local community, help to provide much-needed jobs, and help you stay within your budget.  Everyone wins when you buy locally.  Why not give your local wineries a little support by enjoying the fruits of their labors!

A Farm for Good

Organic pioneer Bill Dow is first to put land in conservation easement.

PITTSBORO, NC — In the rolling-hill country between Pittsboro and Siler City, Bill Dow’s farm has fresh crops of cucumbers, peppers, basil, parsley and blueberries just coming in.

Just up the rocky road leading into his place, there’s another farm where a fresh crop is coming in: houses. From Orange County to the north and from Wake County to the east, the development pressure is on in Chatham.

Not at Bill Dow’s place, though. His was North Carolina’s first farm to be certified organic. He was Chatham County’s first farmer to make a business of selling directly to restaurants. Now he’s the Triangle’s first small organic farmer to put land under a conservation easement in perpetuity.

Organic farmer Bill Dow is first to put land in conservation easement

“That’s going to have a real big impact,” in keeping agriculture alive in Chatham County, said extension agent Debbie Roos.

“I don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing to do,” Dow said.

Dow, a retired physician, owns 30 acres, a couple of miles from U.S. 64 with woods enclosing the three acres he cultivates spring, summer and fall.

“It’s all I can do, with good help,” he said. The amount of help varies depending on what needs doing, he said. One recent afternoon Dow had five pairs of helping hands at work – one hoeing weeds, two tying squash vines and two setting posts for cucumber trellises. The numbers vary depending on what’s to be done, he said.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/04/564672/a-farm-for-good.html#ixzz0t6clJqF0