What's old is new again...

Going green. Organic produce. Locally sourced meat. Is it a new fad? A lasting trend? My Dad laughs at the whole notion. The idea that this is something new and hip is laughable to him because he has been living this way his whole life. You see, my father grew up on the land where I now live, and has been a farmer all of his life. This land has been in my family for 108 years, most of them as a fully functional self-sustaining farm. My great-Grandfather and Grandfather had orchards, hay fields, crops, gardens, dairy cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats...everything they needed to put food on the table. My Dad has always said that they didn't know when the Great Depression hit because, for one, they never had much, and secondly, they were always very self-sufficient, fulfilling their own needs through their own hard work. They had meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, milk and all manner of farm fresh vittles to fill their bellies. I have seen pictures of the autumn hog butchering which was done each year to provide meat for the coming winter- pictures of my great-Grandmother stuffing sausages right in the front yard only moments after the hog made the ultimate sacrifice. It doesn't get fresher than that! Local, organic, and farm fresh weren't buzzwords, it was simply the way things were done. Equipment was reused and re-purposed, crops were rotated, animals were respected and every part of every plant and animal was used for something. Nothing was wasted. So, you see, while this idea is very hip right now, it is by no means new. I for one hope that it is also not a "fad" but rather a trend towards more thoughtful living. Being aware of what we eat and where it comes from. Mindful consumption, not mass consumption of mass produced foodstuffs full of ingredients we can't even pronounce and which are likely not good for our bodies. Whether it means that you plant a garden or pot a few herbs in a window sill planter; visit the local farmers market or buy locally sourced produce at your supermarket; buy a few chickens or ask your butcher where his meat comes from, the point is to be invested in your food as my ancestors were. They did it not because it was popular, but because it was the way things were done. It can be the way things are done in your house too.