Pork Chops!

We love shopping at local farms, and one of our favorites right now is Eagle Wood Farms in Barkhamsted, CT.  We accidentally discovered Eagle Wood Farms last year when attending a memorial service...imagine the sight of the two of us dressed in a suit and dress walking up to the dusty, dirty, farm with pigs running around!  We picked up some hot dogs, spare ribs, pork chops, and I'm not sure what else.  

The farm is a good hour and a half from our house, so we were really excited when we pulled into one of the local farmers markets and saw their van.  We practically ran over to their booth, our mouths drooling at the possibilities for dinner.  We got some sausage links (hot and sweet), pork chops, and ribs, and we have an order in for some kielbasa.   The sausages were amazing and tasted really fresh...had to get some more of those!

Below is a photo of our pork chop dinner, which was incredible, paleo-friendly, and 99% local.  The chops were given a little olive oil, salt, and pepper (the 1% not local) and grilled.  The pattipan squash, lettuce, and pea shoots were from the Garden of Ideas in Ridgefield, CT (more on them in the future) and the tomatoes were from our patio plant.   The pork tasted awesome, the squash just a little bit sweet, and the salad crisp and refreshing.   It would take me an awfully long time to get tired of this meal.

Let's consider to prices as they compare to your typical Stop and Shop. 

Item	Farm Cost	Grocery Store Cost
Pork Chops	$7.75/lb = $7.75	$2.99/lb = $2.99
Lettuce	$3.50/head = $1.00	$2.00/head = $0.50
Tomatoes	Garden - $0.00	$2.00
Pattipan Squash	$1.25 each = $2.50	Not available, assume $2.50
Total	$11.25	$8.00

Clearly the meal that we bought locally costs more than if we were to buy it at Stop&Shop. I will continue to explore this, but I believe that will always be the case. Considering that the meal fed two people, a difference of $3.25 is only $1.62 extra per person...less than the proverbial cup of coffee!

For the two of us, this extra cost is a no-brainer - we'll take the farm food any day for a number of reasons. First, we know where our food comes from. We personally know the farmers who put the squash and lettuce seeds in the ground. We know what they are using for soil and fertilizer, and we know when the crops were harvested. (They harvest on Saturday, we bought them on a Sunday, and ate them on a Thursday) We know that they are getting paid a fair wage, because we are paying them. We speak with the farmers who raised the pigs. We know what they feed the pigs (and we asked when we didn't know and got a response within a day). More importantly, we know what they are NOT feeding the pigs. We're OK with them feeding pigs some grain when necessary, but we're not OK with them using GMO grain (they don't, the pigs mostly pasture/wood fed and substituted with vegetables and occasional grains). We know the farmers' work ethics, political opinions, and what kind of van they drive. They are, in a way, our friends, and we feel good about supporting their businesses.

And if this doesn't matter to you, that's OK, but the more local, more natural, and fresher food just plain tastes better! Who's going to argue with that?