Adventures in Local Eating Part 1

For some time now, I've been on what some might call a "local kick."  I think the economy is in shambles, our food system is a wreck, and the world just might be going to hell in a hand basket...as my mother would say;-)  You can't go shopping anywhere without buying something made of plastic, from china, and in poor quality.  Even foods that we have no problems growing here in the US are being imported from places as close as Canada and as far away as New Zealand!!  It just doesn't feel like our country is operating under the values that we were founded.  Everyone is out to make the almighty dollar, and as many as they can...all while sacrificing quality and customer service. 

It's time for a change...and for me, the change started like this:  buy as much as I can in my "local" community.  Now, what is local?  Some define it as their community/town, some as their state, some 100 miles or less, and in some cases an entire region can be described as local.  In New England, we are super fortunate to have lots of smaller states compacted together, and therefore I've considered my local to encompass all of the New England states and parts of New York.  If that doesn't work, I'm at least satisfied with somewhere in the U.S.A.  It's of course easy to do this with food, and during the spring/summer/fall growing seasons.  My shopping trips will become struggles once winter comes I'm sure, but I'm flirting with the idea of canning (stay tuned...I'm sure dysfunction will follow:) and am already researching farms with green houses.

The past few weekends Adam and I have ventured a mere 13 miles from our house in Worcester to the small town of Charlton, MA for some local produce, meat, eggs, and wine.  Charlton Orchards Farm was founded in 1773 and was the first settlement in the South County area.  The 94-acre farm (it once was 300 acres!!) has animals, pick your own fruits, a winery, and a farm stand.  Adam and I are hooked!  The staff is so pleasant and helpful, especially for wine tasting on the weekends.  While the acreage is not the prettiest farm I've encountered, it doesn't matter...it's a working farm so it's functional and efficient! 

Our very first haul:

Handpicked blueberries and raspberries, farm fresh eggs, tomatoes, and wine