“Farm to table” is an expression used by many small farmers, and even larger ones, emphasizing the need for the consumer to understand the food chain and its relationship to how one eats. If one does not realize that animals must be born, grown, slaughtered, and packaged to go from the pasture to one’s kitchen, one cannot appreciate the fragile nature of the food supply system. The same goes for fruit, grain, and also vegetable products as well.
In light of innumerable tons of meat and foodstuffs being destroyed right now, WBKN news reports that some consumers are heading directly to farms to purchase excess food directly from farmers.
Meat processing plants have been affected by COVID-19. Now, some major grocery store chains are limiting how much meat you can buy because they are receiving fewer meat products.
So, when you head out to get your groceries this week, you might not be able to get everything you need.
“Tons of customers, new customers coming through just because a lot of the grocery stores have got a pause in their chain because we don’t use the same suppliers as them,” said butcher Will Lightner.
Giant Eagle is limiting ground beef products and on-scale meat items to two per customer, but those limits may not be necessary for local butchers and farmers.
Lightner’s Fresh & Smoked Meats in Struthers said people have been coming in because they typically have what the big stores don’t.
“Chicken breast and ground beef, like the 80/20 and all of that,” Lightner said.
Most of Lightner’s’ orders have been filled and they think that having two different suppliers has helped.
“In the past, when I call to order something, it’s there and ready to go the next day I need it. Now, we’ve kind of had to play the game of, is it going to be here tomorrow or later on in the week?” Lightner said. (source)
This is a great thing that people are doing. It is a good start.
The next step is to start growing one’s own food and raising animals. Beans, corn, and squash often make for a very fruitful garden. Chickens can be raised in tight (or even secretive) conditions anywhere, and if one does not want to do chickens, meat pigeons are a smaller but excellent substitute, or raising fish in a barrel system.
In the next week, I hope to write a little bit more about raising chickens. As one who has had experience with this, hopefully I can pass some knowledge on to you, so that in light of the very troubling times in which we life, instead of succumbing to circumstances, one might be able to take control over his destiny and make better decisions so when the next- and likely soon by historical standards -crisis comes upon society, you will be ready to weather it.