The family farm in Alabama Diaries
Food safety is an increasingly important issue for people who care about their health. In the past few years, there have been a number of outbreaks such as E. coli in spinach, mad cow disease in cattle, and listeria contamination in packaged meats.
Buying your food directly from small family-farm producers is one way to minimize the possibility of having any safety issues with your food. Smaller producers can put more care and attention into the food they produce, and because they work in small batches, there is less chance of any contamination being spread.
CONCERNS ABOUT FOOD SAFETY
There are many different ways that food can potentially become unsafe, from production and processing to packaging and handling. There are also a lot of common bacteria that can get into your food, such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. Beyond that, there are concerns about genetically modified foods (GMO's) and how safe they are to eat. Finally, it is common for foods to contain some residues of pesticides and fungicides, as well as all kinds of different food additives and preservatives.
One of the reasons why food disease outbreaks can become so serious is that most foods in your local supermarket are mass-produced, using the same concepts that Henry Ford developed to make cars affordable. Mass production techniques magnify all of the food safety issues many times. Did you know that one pound of supermarket hamburger beef can contain the meat from as many as 1,000 cattle? Grinding them up together will spread the infection through the whole batch if just one of those animals has its meat contaminated with E. coli.
If you buy from a local small farm, on the other hand, you get food that is produced in small quantities with individual care and attention. You can get to know your farmers, and build your trust in the way they grow your food. It's also getting easier and easier to find farmers who care as much as you do about not using agricultural chemicals, genetically modified organisms, or food additives and preservatives.
FOOD SAFETY AND THE FAMILY FARM
It is much easier for a small farm to maintain good food safety practices than it is for mass-production operations. For example, at our family farm we raise beef cattle, and we can track every steak or pound of ground beef we sell, back to the animal it came from, exactly what it ate, and even who its parents were.
You can also find local farmers who grow and handle their foods with the same philosophies that you care about - producing food without the use of synthetic hormones, antibiotics, pesticides or herbicides. There's a reason why traditional methods of food handling, storage and preparation evolved the way they did. Over thousands of years, they were found to be effective and safe.
More and more, a few quick Internet searches can find you local farmers who produce all of the food you need. Getting to know them personally will give you confidence that they are growing and handling your meat, grains and vegetables with food safety in mind. And by buying locally-grown foods, you are helping the environment too.
Food safety is an increasingly important issue for people who care about their health. In the past few years, there have been a number of outbreaks such as E. coli in spinach, mad cow disease in cattle, and listeria contamination in packaged meats.
Buying your food directly from small family-farm producers is one way to minimize the possibility of having any safety issues with your food. Smaller producers can put more care and attention into the food they produce, and because they work in small batches, there is less chance of any contamination being spread.
CONCERNS ABOUT FOOD SAFETY
There are many different ways that food can potentially become unsafe, from production and processing to packaging and handling. There are also a lot of common bacteria that can get into your food, such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. Beyond that, there are concerns about genetically modified foods (GMO's) and how safe they are to eat. Finally, it is common for foods to contain some residues of pesticides and fungicides, as well as all kinds of different food additives and preservatives.
One of the reasons why food disease outbreaks can become so serious is that most foods in your local supermarket are mass-produced, using the same concepts that Henry Ford developed to make cars affordable. Mass production techniques magnify all of the food safety issues many times. Did you know that one pound of supermarket hamburger beef can contain the meat from as many as 1,000 cattle? Grinding them up together will spread the infection through the whole batch if just one of those animals has its meat contaminated with E. coli.
If you buy from a local small farm, on the other hand, you get food that is produced in small quantities with individual care and attention. You can get to know your farmers, and build your trust in the way they grow your food. It's also getting easier and easier to find farmers who care as much as you do about not using agricultural chemicals, genetically modified organisms, or food additives and preservatives.
FOOD SAFETY AND THE FAMILY FARM
It is much easier for a small farm to maintain good food safety practices than it is for mass-production operations. For example, at our family farm we raise beef cattle, and we can track every steak or pound of ground beef we sell, back to the animal it came from, exactly what it ate, and even who its parents were.
You can also find local farmers who grow and handle their foods with the same philosophies that you care about - producing food without the use of synthetic hormones, pesticides, herbicides or antibiotics. There's a reason why traditional methods of food handling, preparation and storage evolved the way they did. Over thousands of years, they were found to be safe and effective.
More and more, a few quick Internet searches can find you local farmers who produce all of the food you need. Getting to know them personally will give you confidence that they are growing and handling your meat, grains and vegetables with food safety in mind. And by buying locally-grown foods, you are helping the environment too.
One of the reasons why food disease outbreaks can become so serious is that most foods in your local supermarket are mass-produced, using the same concepts that Henry Ford developed to make cars affordable. You can also find local farmers who grow and handle their foods with the same philosophies that you care about - producing food without the use of synthetic hormones, herbicides, pesticides or antibiotics. It is common for foods to contain some residues of pesticides and fungicides, as well as all kinds of different food additives and preservatives.
One of the reasons why food disease outbreaks can become so serious is that most foods in your local supermarket are mass-produced, click here using the same concepts that Henry Ford developed to make cars affordable. You can also find local farmers who grow and handle their foods with the same philosophies that you care about - producing food without the use of synthetic hormones, antibiotics, herbicides or pesticides.