Last weekend I had Sunday Brunch at Tara Firma Farms, the farm where most of the food TMOTH (The Man of the House) and I eat comes from.  The brunch was a fund raiser for Tara Firma Institute, a non-profit which is being started to provide education about the farm and sustainable growing practices.

We were served a tasty, locally grown meal including pastured eggs, sausage and bacon.  We sat on hay bales.  The other guests at the meal were varied and interesting to speak with.

The speakers at the brunch were Tara Smith (owner of the farm) and farm activist, Joel Salatin.  Both were articulate, amusing and very passionate about their topics.  They were preaching to the choir.  Everyone there was there because they believe in the importance of having locally grown, sustainable, real food available.  If you are interested in viewing the talks, the event was videotaped and can be viewed from the Tara Firma website.

It’s an unfortunate fact that most people don’t give too much thought to what they eat.  If they did, the Standard American Diet (SAD) would be very different.  My friends and acquaintances view my dietary shift and interest in nutrition as an eccentric phase.  I am a proud low carb Paleo Locavore.  It’s not a diet or a phase.  It’s a life-style that evolved as I passed through a series of changes.

Joel Salatin mentioned in his talk that as more people begin to change their behavior, eventually a tipping point is reached and that behavior then becomes the norm.   I do my part trying to change the behavior of those around me by feeding them delicious locally grown foods, or by inviting them to join me at the Farmer’s Market.  One thing leads to another.  Eventually, bit by bit, person by person, we may reach the tipping point that makes food grown locally by family farmers a hot commodity.

It’s not easy to make a living farming.  Tara Firma Farms was started three years ago.  Tara Smith said that the farm is currently feeding more than 600 families.  This year is the first year that they are breaking even.  If we want to have locally grown, sustainable food available on an ongoing basis, we need to vote with our dollars.  We need to request locally, sustainably grown food items from our local grocers and restaurants.  We need to let the commercial establishments in our area know that we want to buy these kinds of products so that they will begin to carry them.