Comments on: Panhandle Fresh: Group Markets Local Produce http://www.northescambia.com/2009/03/panhandle-fresh-from-walnut-hill-to-wal-mart-group-markets-local-produce Local News for Molino, Bratt, McDavid, Century, Walnut Hill, Cantonment Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:25:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Darryl http://www.northescambia.com/2009/03/panhandle-fresh-from-walnut-hill-to-wal-mart-group-markets-local-produce/comment-page-1#comment-8166 Darryl Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:29:18 +0000 http://www.northescambia.com/?p=7102#comment-8166 For farming this appears to be the future; a mixture of locally sourced meats and produce and some shipped in product from the corporate ag industry. It provides better product, gathered closer to maturity while giving the customer the freshness they desire. The current farming model developed in the seventies when Nixon's Ag Secretary said to "get big or get out" has the unfortunate effect of nearly killing the small farms that supported communities in a much more direct manner. Charlotte has small and large farmer's markets all around city and surrounding towns and it is getting larger and larger. As we learn of the problems of large feed lots for cattle and hogs, the problems with produce geared toward long shelf life instead of nutrition, and the improvement in all the meats and produce when farmed in what is now called organic, but in reality was traditional farming until we pushed them out for our current agri-business model that is focused only on quantity. So now we have eggs higher in bad cholesterol, cattle and hogs given too many antibiotics to stave off infections mainly from being crowded into feed lots, and the list goes on. Anyone interested in reading about some of the issues involved in this farming debate should read "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen. For farming this appears to be the future; a mixture of locally sourced meats and produce and some shipped in product from the corporate ag industry. It provides better product, gathered closer to maturity while giving the customer the freshness they desire. The current farming model developed in the seventies when Nixon’s Ag Secretary said to “get big or get out” has the unfortunate effect of nearly killing the small farms that supported communities in a much more direct manner. Charlotte has small and large farmer’s markets all around city and surrounding towns and it is getting larger and larger. As we learn of the problems of large feed lots for cattle and hogs, the problems with produce geared toward long shelf life instead of nutrition, and the improvement in all the meats and produce when farmed in what is now called organic, but in reality was traditional farming until we pushed them out for our current agri-business model that is focused only on quantity. So now we have eggs higher in bad cholesterol, cattle and hogs given too many antibiotics to stave off infections mainly from being crowded into feed lots, and the list goes on.

Anyone interested in reading about some of the issues involved in this farming debate should read “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollen.

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