Imagine seeing green as far as the eye can see. That is the picture Joe Cardinal here at This Old Farm, Inc saw when he visited a Texas farm specializing in leafy green production. Leafy Spinach was being cut at 7 miles/hour and blown into the back of a clean and sanitized dump truck. That dump truck was then traveling to a nearby processing center or Food Hub to be triple washed and sanitized. We at This Old Farm are working to bring a similar image to the landscape of the Midwest. Wouldn’t we all like to see green right now? While we may choose to hand harvest or hand sort our greens, we are working to scale up our specialty crop production in Indiana to bring local foods to the forefront of everyone’s mind. 80% of Americans buy lettuce greens which was a $2.2 Billion dollar industry in 2005. Why not buy lettuce mixes from a local Midwestern farm returning that revenue right here to the state? The obvious answer is right out our door in white powdery form, yet the growing season is right around the corner.
We at This Old Farm make an effort to help others gain access to healthful, locally raised food, but not without the support of area farmers and omnivores alike! From Farm to Fork they need the support of all interested in ensuring a Good Food community and network into the future. Each month, they sit down with 1st and 3rd generation farms alike looking to raise Good Food as part of the alliance of farms. If you are a farmer of produce or livestock or an agricultural representative that works with farmers, they need you to join them on Monday, February 17th at 10:30am. The meeting will be located at the Parke County Extension Office in Rockville, IN. Please RSVP at (765) 324-2161.