I know you like supporting charities and being involved in service projects.
I am humbled by your generosity and that of others like you who want to help others.
Have you considered the importance of also supporting your local farmers?
Their livelihoods depend on us doing so.
And our lives and society depend on them staying in business.
This is what will give us food security and good health.
Both of which are being threatened more and more.
When I say food security, basically I am talking about having food in our homes to eat.
The Global Pandemic of 2020 woke many of us up. We realized we can’t take it for granted that we can just go to the store and buy food. Remember the empty grocery store shelves?
This is a real issue.
And we know here in the USA, we have a major health crisis.
We’re one of the richest countries in the world, and we’re one of the sickest.[1]
The problem in both cases is we don’t know what REAL food is anymore.
We rely on packaged and prepared foods to feed us.
Furthermore, government and industry dictate what we can and should eat.
We’ve abdicated our health and well-being to industry and authority figures, as if they know more than we do.
Do they?
REAL food is the food that God gave us in the form it was intended to be eaten, plain and simple.
We’ve abandoned the good foods God gave us and replaced them with the foods of modern commerce.
This has contributed immensely to the explosion of the chronic illnesses we see today.
I know it’s more than just food. BUT diet is a HUGE part of our ill health.
We’d be a lot healthier if we raised all our meat outside on pasture, in the woods, as God created these species to live. And we didn’t strip everything of its nutrients, put it into packages, and add some synthetic “nutrients” that our bodies have no idea what to do with.
We’d be supporting a system that is viable, which in turn benefits everyone.
We’d be helping those in need because we’d be supporting a system that provides REAL food and teaches more and more people the value of eating REAL food and enables all to have access to it.
It will make a greater long-term impact than giving money or dry goods to a charity or making sandwiches for McKenna’s Wagon (or a similar agency).
I am not saying we shouldn’t support such agencies. Rather it isn’t the solution to alleviating poverty.
Furthermore, most farm markets accept food stamps. So, you’re helping people in need by supporting a system that aids them in accessing REAL food. Also, farm markets will often give excess to agencies such as Community Food Rescue (another local to me agency).
Here’s a summary of the benefits of shopping locally:
I’ve heard talk of food shortages. And it is possible. But not because we can’t grow enough food or we don’t know how. Rather because of government and industry bureaucracy, monopolization, and control.[2]
They wouldn’t be slaughtering millions of poor chickens due to a bird flu epidemic because we would have healthy birds.
We can prevent this kind of happening if we commit to supporting our local farmers and eating sustainably raised food.
As Catherine Austin Fitts put it:
“A friend of mine said, ‘When we know our farmers, when we have food growing in our backyard, we are less dependent on any larger scale infrastructure and we are ungovernable.’ He meant that we do not need to worry about what is going to happen economically in the bigger picture because we have got what we need or what our family needs.”[3]
You can support local food security and a healthy, safe food system by buying food from your local farmers and encouraging them to go organic, biodynamic or regenerative if they aren’t already.
Be a part of the communities that care about regenerative agriculture and nourishing, local food!
By doing so, you will more effectively help those in need than simply supporting your local charity.
As I said earlier, you’ll be helping those in need because you’ll be supporting a system that provides REAL food and teaches more and more people the value of eating REAL food and enables all to have access to it.
“Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for how you want the world to be.” Anna Lappe
Taking this to be true, I urge you to vote with your food dollar for sustainability! And see your generosity have a greater impact!
* * * * * * * *
TO START:
- Get to know one of your farmers! Connect with that person who grows or raises your food.
- If you live in the DMV, you can access my resource list for local foods here: Bethesda, MD Local Food Resource List
- If you live outside the DMV, contact the local Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) chapter leader in your area: Find the WAPF Chapter near you
- Refer back to my blog “How is your food raised? How might knowing empower you?” to remember what terms mean and what to ask your farmer.
- Pass this blog along to your friends, family, colleagues, health care professionals and the like.
- And last but far from least, register now for my next 5-Week Sugar Detox Class in which you’ll get the needed support to put the above principles of eating real food into practice.
- The next class starts Wed, May 14, 2025. Click here to learn more and sign up.
Thank you for listening and thank you for caring about those around us.
Peace and grace,
Karen
Not-So-Fun Fact.
[1] https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/
[2] Here’s a good listen that goes into what I am referring to when I say government and industry bureaucracy, monopolization, and control. Whoever Controls the Food Supply, Controls the People
[3] https://www.westonaprice.org/podcast/protect-your-health-and-wealth/