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Freedom From Illness—Optimum Choices
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************************************************************************************************************* Food Paradigm Shift, Part 2by Margaret Auld-Louie
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Contact us
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General Information:
info@OptimumChoices.com Location (available by appointment ONLY)416 Plateau Pkwy
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In Part 1,
and ask them
questions about how they are producing it. You may even get to go to the
farm and see where your food comes from. If you are used to buying food
from a supermarket, you have to adjust your expectations about certain
things. For instance, small farmers may want to get their food
containers back so they can reuse them. If they have to keep buying new
food containers, that adds to their cost. That may mean returning things
like jars and egg cartons to the farm, instead of tossing or recycling
them. Also, it can be very helpful to the farmer if you clean the
containers before returning them, instead of expecting the farmer to
scrub out the dried-on food.
supermarkets sourcing from huge, multinational producers, and bringing
in food from around the world, almost all foods are available all the
time. When you buy from small, local farmers, foods are only available
when they are in season. This applies not only to fruits and vegetables
but to milk, meat and eggs. Chickens may not lay in the winter, or not
as much, unless supplemented by UV light. Raw milk and cheese may be
seasonal unless the farmer is able to rotate the breeding of their
stock. Large animals like lamb, beef, bison or pork are typically only
harvested once or twice a year. If you are buying meat in bulk, you will
need to find out when the farmer will have animals available and you may
be required to put down a deposit months in advance. This takes more
planning on your part than running to the supermarket, and you may have
to put out large amounts of money at one time, but the payoff is better
health for your family and a lower cost per pound for meat. And once you
have your freezer stocked up with meat, you will not need to buy any for
several months. Instead, you just go to your freezer to do your daily
“shopping” for meat for the next day’s meals.
sometimes you
will not be able to get the products you are counting on getting. So you
need to either do without or find another source. Do not jump to
conclusions, blame the farmers and get mad at them unless you have all
the facts. Most farmers are trying really hard to meet customers’ needs.
Problems happen in farming and farms go out of business. Crops or
animals can be impacted by droughts, storms, floods, etc. and delay or
reduce what the farmer can produce. Or the farmer may have personal
issues that interfere with tending the farm (caring for elderly parents
or getting sick, for example). Because they are a small farm with
limited resources, they may not have staff available to pick up the
slack when a personal issue arises, like a big corporation would.
sense to be
understanding and supportive of the farmer. Farming has ups and downs.
The farmers are doing their best to produce the products you want, and
if you are supportive of them, they may reward you when they have a
surplus of products. So, it helps to change your mindset from the
“supermarket mentality” of “everything is available all the time”, to
the understanding that food is available seasonally, when the farmer is
able to produce it, and it requires the cooperation of Mother Nature.
And if the farmer is slow responding to your e-mail inquiries, please
realize that this is probably because they are busy tending the farm
rather than sitting in front of their computer. It can take a while for
the farmer
to have time to sit down and compose a response to you.
live, you may not be able to find good sources of pastured
meat, eggs and dairy at these markets. There may be numerous farmers in
your area that sell direct to consumers but they do not go to farmers’
markets. So how do you find them? If there is a local chapter of the
the
way you want them raised. Small farmers may still use pesticides and
herbicides, they may feed
assume anything.
Ask the farmers about how they raise their plants or animals, and do not
buy from them if you are not happy with the answers. You can learn more
about what questions to ask farmers and the optimal way to raise plants
and animals for health from the
become a farmer yourself someday.
educate
ourselves, get a copy of our e-Book, 
