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Declare culinary independence: Get to know your local farmer

News Channel 8 photo by DAVID KRAUT

Kenneth Der grows organic green beans and royal burgundy beans at Big Bear Farms in Plant City.

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By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2009

Later this week, this nation will celebrate Independence Day.

How will most of us be whooping it up? By cooking the same things purchased from the same grocery stores.

Not very independent, to say the least.

That's not to say that only the same old hamburgers or vegetables are for sale. You just have to know where to look closer to home. Independent farmers growing local crops and raising livestock for harvest are difficult to find, but worth the search.

To spur eaters to plant a culinary flag this summer that will last throughout the year, a nonprofit group called Kitchen Gardeners International is targeting the nation's governors with a petition asking them to eat a locally sourced meal on Independence Day. The network of 10,000 gardeners from 100 countries promotes kitchen gardening, home cooking, and the support of sustainable local food systems.

The group earlier this year successfully used a petition with more than 100,000 signatures to nudge the Obama administration into planting a vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. The garden's planting reinvigorated the national conversation about home cultivation at a time when the sagging economy made the idea seem practical as well as trendy.

Kitchen Gardeners founder Roger Doiron said the Fourth of July petition is meant to "encourage consumers to source local and sustainable ingredients for their holiday meals."

One way is to get to know a farmer on a first-name basis, possibly through purchasing at farmer's markets or a community farm.

The idea of purchasing locally is based in part on environmental goals to reduce the number of miles it takes to transport food from farm to plate. Also, the more familiar people are with their local producers, the more they'll know about how their food was cultivated. That way, they can support those who use the best practices.

"Who knows, you might be able to visit the farm," Dorion says. "If you develop that type of relationship, you'll have more confidence in the product. You want to have confidence in sitting down to eat the meal."

Part of eating locally involves the consumer being savvy about choices.

"It shouldn't turn into a research project," he says. "A couple of lines on a label can tell you whether it was produced locally. It involves asking a couple questions. It's not a bad civics exercise."

The idea isn't to prevent people from eating food from other places. Dorion, who lives in Maine, jokes, "I'm not going to be depriving my boys of Florida oranges."

But his food for the Fourth will come from either his backyard garden — where he grows 50 varieties of vegetables and herbs — or from local suppliers. He lives only a few miles from the ocean, so there could be fish landing on the grill. Clamming is big, too, so there might be a hen clam used in some chowder or littlenecks during the feast.

Then there's that half a pig he bought from a local farmer last year.

"We still have a couple packets of pork in the freezer we might use," he says.

Want to declare your culinary independence? Here are a few local producers you can patronize:

MY MOTHER'S GARDEN
3819 C.R. 579 S., Wimauma
(813) 956-1643
http://mymothersgarden.com

On a farm started by their mother 20 years ago, sisters Kathy Oliver and Susan Bishop have been raising Berkshire and Tamworth hogs for about two years in addition to producing vegetables, fruit and hormone-free, grass-fed beef. (Cattle fed grass instead of grain provide leaner, healthier meat.)

"People are becoming a lot more educated about where their food comes from," Oliver says. When they sell at the farmer's market in Sarasota, "people are really asking where everything comes from and how it's raised."

Their Murray Grey/Angus beef is sold on the hoof by the half ($600) or whole ($1,200). Customers who require their cuts be butchered are referred to the state-certified Hoof N Horns slaughterhouse in Plant City, which charges a fee to cut and wrap.

Pigs, which are raised in large pastures instead of pens, are also sold by half ($300) and whole ($600). The pigs are not given hormones or antibiotics.

BIG BEAR FARMS
7606 Kinard Road, Plant City
(813) 986-1152
http://bigbearfarms.mysite.com

Most local farms have put their land to bed for the dog days of summer. It's just too hot for a lot of crops, and the spring plantings have all been harvested.

The last of farmer Kenneth Der's green beans, royal burgundy beans and rattlesnake beans were sold last week. Most other farms sold out long ago, but he replanted late after the winter's deep freeze killed most of his crop.

He's hoping to have some black-eyed peas and okra as well as Maxabella and Harriet green beans for the Fourth of July weekend, and possibly summer squash. He planted peanuts, too, but those won't likely be grown enough for harvest.

Big Bear Farms started as a conventional farm in 1990, but stopped using chemical pesticides a year later. It's one of the few farms locally certified as using organic practices by the National Organic Program and by Quality Certification Services.

During the rest of the year, Der grows blueberries, elderberries and vegetables. He operates an e-mail customer notification list to let customers know when crops are ready for ordering and picking.

He especially encourages families and schools to bring children to pick their own.

"They need to know that food does not come from a tin can at Wal-Mart," he says.

DEHOWA FARMS
12741 Belgreen Drive, Spring Hill
(813) 376-1837
www.dehowafarms.com

DeHoWa Farms is a three-neighbor cooperative that raises grass-fed, grass-finished Black Angus cattle without use of antibiotics, hormones, steroids or growth stimulants.

The beef is sold directly from the farm and can be purchased by the quarter, half, whole or by the individual piece.

"We're sold out and have a waiting list," co-op co-owner Kathy Howe says. "We have five full cows already sold."

The co-op owns pastureland throughout the area and rotates the animals to whichever one is growing the best grass. The drought this year has made raising cattle on grass more difficult.

Beef is sold by the quarter or half at $4.25 per pound, based on hanging weight. Steaks (T-bones and strips) cost about $14 a pound. Ground beef is $6 a pound and roast is $6.50 a pound.

The beef is dry aged 14 to 21 days. Other custom cuttings are available, but most customers are usually interested in ground beef and steaks.

The group hopes to build on the success of its cattle farming by starting a hydroponic farm for vegetables next year.

"More and more people are looking for new sources," How says. "We all want healthier food for our families."

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324.

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