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! The value of knowing your local farmers during a pandemic/ crisis!

 
pollinator
Posts: 278
Location: Italian Alps, Zone 8
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I think we can all agree that the current pandemic situation is an absolute tragedy.
However some good does come out of it: people realising the value of their small local farmers.
Eggs and fresh veggies have been very hard to come by in the supermarkets these past weeks. Whenever a new shipment of goods come in, these products are the first to go. So unless you want to stand an hour in line to be the first to go into the supermarket when the new products get in, there’s not much chance of getting these products these days. we would usually get these products on the local farmers markets, but those have been cancelled as well. Eggs and fresh vegetables are the main ingredients to our diet, so this obviously was a bummer. However, my husband and I have been fortunate to be friends with some local farmers in our village and thanks to those relationships we have been able to get fresh eggs and vegetables delivered to our doorstep. Delivery service to your doorstep of fresh local produce instead of pizza, what a time to be alive. (I’m not kidding, I think this is really nice idea, and something some of you who have a farm may be able to implement in these trying times).
People who would normally not consider buying their products locally, are now seeing the benefit of their small local farms, and I suspect the local farms will be one of the few people to actually benefit from this crisis, with a new stream of customers.

Then there’s another thing. The government recently signed a bill prohibiting all non-essential businesses to the survival of the nation to be open. (This ofcourse is sad for those non-essential businesses). But local farms were among those businesses deemed vital to the nation’s survival. It is nice to see the acknowledgement of the value of small local farmers to the health and well-being of a country in legal writing. Let’s hope that when the crisis is over, the government will remember this little fact when considering new laws that might impact the sector!

Just wanted to drop this positive note here.
Stay safe and healthy!
 
gardener
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Location: Cincinnati, Ohio,Price Hill 45205
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I called my farmer friend to see if he had some chicken scratch.
I needed some and I wanted to swing some cash his way, knowing that his usual farmers markets were closed.
Turned out he is selling strait from the farm  now, with his own building and everything.
He has become an  outlet for all kinds of small scale producers.
When I went to pay him for the scratch, he waved me off, told me to take it.
I ended up buying even more honey and cornmeal than I had planned.
Then I helped him mill some logs on his wood mizer, man that was good fun.
 
master steward
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Location: southern Illinois, USA
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It just makes sense to try to get along with your neighbors.  And yes, some neighbors are potentially more beneficial than others.
 
Last year, this tiny ad took me on vacation to Canada
the permaculture bootcamp in winter (plus half-assed holidays)
https://permies.com/t/149839/permaculture-projects/permaculture-bootcamp-winter-assed-holidays
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