Food Stuffs - What's so great about local farms?

I'll be honest. I love a good bacon cheeseburger. I like bisquits and gravy (I was raised in Texas), love a good cup of coffee, and unsweet tea. I also enjoy bacon, scrambled eggs, and Bud Light Lime. That said, I don't fear salmonella poisoning.

We began buying meat and poultry products from a local farm this year. We get red meat, eggs, milk, and whole chickens directly from a farm. And this farm isn't a corporate breeding mill like the ones that have been talked about on TV lately. This farm is an all organic, free range, and grass fed farm. The chickens aren't stacked hundreds in a cage in laying houses. The cattle aren't being fed HGH and grain, and we don't have to worry about arsenic in our eggs.

The recent recall of millions of eggs should serve as a clarion call for us to wake up about our food supply. Our diet of fast food right away has given us record levels of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and a whole host of other unpleasant things.

We as Americans, have to start voting with our feet, and our pocket books.

When you buy a huge, perfectly plump tomato at wal-mart in the middle of February, for example, what you're actually buying is the idea of a tomato. It's full of preservatives, and growth hormones that you're dicing up into a delicious salsa, and serving to your Super Bowl party guests. Don't get me wrong, I love good salsa, but not that much.

And what of the HGH? Human growth hormones. The average age that women began menstruating a generation ago was 16. The age now? 12. Boys began puberty around 13. Now? 9. And not only are our children's bodies growing far faster than their mental or emotional development, which ends around 26, they'll also age faster. They'll have weaker immune systems, and they'll die younger than their parents.

So, what's the alternative? Buying from a local farm was a good start for us. The food is not only much healthier for us, but it tastes better. The steaks are juicier, and more tender. The eggs are amazing, and we've had some great chicken dinners. We also buy produce from the Farmer's Market here in town. Every Saturday morning at the fair grounds, my wife brings home locally grown fruits, and vegetables, and she asks about how the food is grown and harvested.

And after you've eaten healthier, get out of the house and do something. Turn the TV off and go for a walk. Exercise is not only good for the body, but excellent for the mind. If we're going to change the way this generation lives, and survives, we're going to have to get serious about what goes into our bodies, and what our bodies do.

Food is life. Knowledge is power. Choice is king.