Farm Fresh

Mariah Strongin, New Milford, CT.

During quarantine you may have heard people saying to support or promote local businesses and restaurants. This is something I wholeheartedly believe in and have been doing myself.

I am not a business expert by any means, but I am aware that it is a difficult time and that some businesses won’t see the other side of this quarantine.

As I am currently in the woods of Connecticut surrounded by local farms, I wanted to share the benefits of farm fresh ingredients.

A Reason to Go Outside

During these times especially, it is important to get some fresh air and take a walk. Doing so has many benefits for your overall health and a great way to accomplish both is by shopping at your local outdoor farmers market. Not to mention you won’t have to wait in a line surrounded by people in masks at your grocery store, which can be very stressful!

Farmed Produce

Produce you buy at farms are current, so to speak. Like trees, flowers, and everything that is gardened or farmed, all of these things are seasonal. You will notice however that you can always buy anything you want in a grocery store, in season or not. Most likely it’s imported and full of preservatives — how else would it have a shelf life after all that traveling?
Things you will notice about farmed produce vs store bought produce is that nothing is the same size — it’s also not oversized. It goes bad sooner as there are no preservatives (like wax on apples) and the produce taste so much better. Fresh and delicious.

Non-Vegan

Have you ever noticed the difference of farm fresh eggs? The yolks tend to be more orange. This is because of how the animals are treated, fed, and how the eggs are sanitized after the fact for shelf life.

It is the same for meat. Have you ever heard, you are what you eat? If you don’t know what your cow has eaten, you won’t know what you have eaten either.

How do you feel when you are stressed? Imagine an animal being under constant stress in a cage or small indoor barn instead of having freedom of movement and eating in a huge field of greens such as we imagine animals being on a farm (not how they are treated in industrial farming with no room to move and aren’t loved or cared for in a proper way). Do you think this makes for good meat? I don’t and I am a total meat eater.

Overall, there are less nutrients lost when you buy farm fresh ingredients. We can only absorb so many nutrients of the food that we eat, so putting food in our body with the fullest nutrients is beneficial to our health overall. Buying farm fresh you literately take them from the farm to your home, and you support local businesses. Nothing can beat the taste of something home grown.