Purveyors of the Obvious

My Appreciation for Colorado Food

// June 18th, 2009 // Uncategorized

**A submission I did for the Denver Post’s Colorado Voices program.  I did get selected but will not be writing my articles until spring 2010.  What I write will be in print on Sundays in the Op/Ed section.  This was written in a morning rush this past February.

Did you know you can get raw milk in this state by buying a cow share then getting a return on your investment?  Buying raw milk is illegal, buying part of a cow isn’t.  This is only one of many local food opportunities I have seen on the Front Range.  There are amazing local food supply opportunities here and I appreciate how abundant they are.  Personally I prefer local food for health, cost-effective, and environmental concerns.

When I made the decision to relocate to the Front Range I noted the amount of days of sunshine per year that occur and knew this would be a growers heaven.  I made my own efforts with a garden shortly after arriving here and many vendors at the Boulder Farmers Market took their time to help me select the best seeds for my garden’s light conditions as well as give me tips through the summer.   Luckily the farmers were also there to supplement their products where I had failed with my first-year garden.

I eventually began working for a little bakery at the Boulder market to sell their products on the weekends I didn’t have to travel for work, my husband worked on the weekends I was out of town.  Working in the market opened up a whole new world of networking I only knew a little about beforehand.

It was through a local market connection that I met a woman who raised my turkey for me and gave it a good life before it was slaughtered two days before Thanksgiving.  She also taught my husband how to prepare the end of the year basil harvest so it would keep in the freezer and last us through the spring.

I know an older gentleman who picks raspberries on his property and with a little prodding will pull a bush out of the ground to sell to you for a couple of dollars.

The farm that sold seeds reared for our region provided me with my winter community supported agriculture (CSA) share and I am still using their root vegetables in my stews.

It is with a love for the food community I have encountered here on the Front Range that I encourage those of you not already involved with it to learn about it.  The best way to learn what is available and how you can become part of the food supply here is to meet the farmers.  Go to a farmer’s market, visit a farm if they have public days, or at least go to localharvest.org to learn where these markets and farms are.

Good, local food is also not only a privilege for those with fat wallets.  There are CSAs and community gardens you can barter and work for to obtain your food share.  Many of our local farms should also be supported because they are known to give back to their communities in big ways with donations to food banks.

I think one of the most generous examples of recognizing how our local farmers are our friends is by remembering what Miller Farms did at the end of the growing season last year.  They made their farm open to the public for one weekend to allow people to pick food and take it home.  It was a generous action in the face of our economic times.  I did not attend the event but tens of thousands of people did.

For what Miller Farms and all the other small farmers on the Front Range do for our communities I appreciate their effort and encourage you to as well.

As for me, my next investment should be in a cow share for that milk I mentioned.  I have never had a close connection to a dairy before, but given that I drink milk it makes sense for me.