Ya Gonna Keep Yourself Closer to the Farm?

This old WWI song, first performed in 1918, keeps going through my head lately:

How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree?

But moreover, how you gonna keep us out in the burbs after we’ve experienced the farm? Following the farm visit, we all have been consumed by farm related literature, fiction and non. 

I started listening to Animal Vegetable Miracle in audio-book form, which is read by the authors, and using the book as a ready reference backup. It is written by Barbara Kingsolver with separate factual insights by her husband, Steven Hopp. Her then-nineteen year old daughter Camille also shares her perspective on their one year venture to sustain the family on locally grown food. Even Lily, the youngest member of the family and budding poultry expert, shares her experiences. They began as part-time summer season residents and finally exchanged their more full-time desert lifestyle of Tuscon, Arizona, with all its arid wonders, and relocated to a verdant little valley permanently. At first they lived in a rustic log cabin before moving into the farm house on the small farm that Stephen had owned for more than 20 years. Along with the move to rural Appalachia they made a family pact to live a more responsible existence and reduce their carbon footprint.

  

 

 

I winced when I heard the eye-opening statement by Steven is “That here in the U.S. we consume about 400 gallons of oil per citizen, about 17 percent of our nation’s annual energy use, for agriculture." He goes on to say that "Each item in a typical U.S. meal travels 1,500 miles from the farm for processing, packaging, storing, and refrigeration before we go shopping and prepare it for your dinner. About 1/5 of the oil used is from seed to harvest but the balance is in food transportation.” His revelation was just as staggering in print when I consulted the book to make sure I had the facts straight. He goes on to add that:

“If Americans would make the conscious effort to replace just one of our meals per week, any meal, we could save over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.”

 

The idea of an “eating locally sustainable food” pact intrigued me. But as I drove to visit my daughter and listened to my book, I decided to allow myself a fifteen minute side to trip to a favorite market close to her home. When I flew through those whooshing doors on my timely mission, right before my eyes, it hit me. As happened to Kingsolver while preparing her grocery list in the book, I would be not be purchasing prepared foods or snacks, fresh strawberries (at this time of year for my granddaughter?)… No pineapple, no oranges, no bananas, no apples. Most of the vegetables displayed in my fresh market would be absent from my list and I began to feel the weight of this family's conviction. I then bargained with myself. I would need to prepare, like Noah, and “put by” local things before taking on such a challenge. Could I be strong enough to do this? Would the rest of my family be willing? I made a date with myself to check out the local farmers market and see what is locally available this time of year. The whole existence of our food blog would be in jeopardy. No cooking all those recipes to see if the author is as good a cook as  a writer.  I ran out of time and left the store about hundred dollars poorer.

As I read on, both listening in my car and reading from the book at home, I learned about investing in the time it would take to grow the asparagus I had purchased on my guilty trip. It would be three years from sowing seeds until the plants would produce a crop. Even then the season would only last for about 2 weeks before allowing Mother Nature to be able to store enough nutrients in the roots to insure next year’s harvest. But I also learned my efforts would be rewarded for about 20 years of the tender green shoots if I treat the plants right. I learned patience. Later on the book causes me to pause and reflect on my father, who also was a Molly Moocher described in the chapter by that name.

I yearned for the past, when in my late twenties, I did tend about a quarter acre in garden for my family of five. We grew a great deal of our own food, if not entirely. Doubt crossed my mind and made my heart sad to realize my suburban neighborhood with its rules and shady back yard would not yield the same bounty, not to mention my age has nearly doubled. I’d be lucky to get one ripe anything with the way the squirrels have ravaged everything in the past in my yard. I figured they needed to eat too. I have tried adding vegetables to my beds and borders with very poor results and could not afford the amount of soil amending it would take to produce results, in either time or money.

The book continued to confront my conscience and I will investigate more free range options for meats. Even though it costs more, I agree it seems worth the price to know the animals lived a healthier life, as long as it lasted, before finding their way to the dinner table. I am haunted by the mental image of the more than a thousand “commercially raised” chickens that could be living in my laundry room (according to Steven, 1,152 in a 6 by 8 room to be exact). Along the way, as I read, I continued to learn, was outraged and ultimately inspired by this family to check local resources and explore options for growing more of my own food successfully. I am revisiting my attempt to do some raised-bed gardening by the square foot.

On my next trip to the farmer’s market I will be looking for ingredients that are local for preparing the many recipes found throughout the book. I am also in awe of some folks I know that do live in this fashion. Along with the other Lit Chicks, I have purchased a CSA food share which will support local organic agriculture. We will be volunteering to help when we can with the farm family that is producing the food. I hope you will read the book, be inspired and make an effort to support your local farmers as well. 

Visit to Learn More:

Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle website

 

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How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)
Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking Said his wifey dear Now that all is peaceful and calm The boys will soon be back on the farm Mister Reuben started winking and slowly rubbed his chin He pulled his chair up close to mother And he asked her with a grin Chorus (sung twice after each verse): How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm After they've seen Paree' How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway Jazzin around and paintin' the town How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery They'll never want to see a rake or plow And who the deuce can parleyvous a cow? How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm After they've seen Paree'	Rueben, Rueben, you're mistaken Said his wifey dear Once a farmer, always a jay And farmers always stick to the hay Mother Reuben, I'm not fakin Tho you may think it strange But wine and women play the mischief With a boy who's loose with change Chorus (sung twice after each verse): How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm After they've seen Paree' How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway Jazzin around and paintin' the town How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery Imagine Reuben when he meets his Pa He'll kiss his cheek and holler "OO-LA-LA! How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm After they've seen Paree'?