Buy Local, Buy Healthy, Buy Better
The increase in the number of farmers making their products available directly to consumers benefits everyone in the community
For some of us, grocery shopping has become something of a nightmare. What's healthy, what's not? Can we believe what's on the package labels? Where does our food actually come from?
"Here in New Brunswick we import 85% of our food, and in Canada less than 10% of imported food is inspected," begins Kent Coates of Nature's Route Farm in Pointe de Bute.
"If Canada wants to avoid becoming completely dependent on food imports, we have to make farming sustainable both environmentally and economically."
Kent is passionate in his belief that we need more farmers, wiser regulations, and safer food. Across Shepody Bay in Albert Mines, Carol Coleman runs the Tansy Lane Herb Farm.
"People are looking for things that are healthy, and I think the connection back to the farmer is being regenerated," she says.
Both Kent with his free-run chicken eggs and variety of vegetables, and Carol with her herbs and herb products, are trying not just to take advantage of increasing consumer awareness, but to promote it.
Carol offers tours of her farm, sells potted herbs in the springtime, and offers courses in growing and drying herbs. Kent is director of the Sackville Community Supported Agriculture group, which links consumers with farmers.
Both attend agricultural workshops in the area and are very knowledgeable about their farms.
"I don't think I'll ever stop learning," says Kent, talking about which crops to plant, and how best to raise them.
Neither Carol nor Kent uses chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Kent buys crab-meal fertilizer from W.E. Acres in Shediac, and combines this with manure.
"We have ten ewes and two breeding heifers now," he says. "Eventually we want 60 sheep and four head of cattle, so we'll be producing all of our own manure, as well as growing green manures."
"You don't need fertilizers or pesticides for herbs, just good soil," explains carol. "I buy compost, and build up the soil."
This concern for the soil is one of the main differences between operations like Nature's Route Farm and Tansy Lane Herb Farm on one hand, and traditional farming on the other.
"The whole premise of organic farming is that you're building your soil, not wearing it out," points out Kent.
What does all this mean for the consumer? It means that when you buy from people like Kent and Carol, you know what you're getting.
And if you have questions, the producer is right there to answer them for you.
Kent, a twelve-year veteran of the Navy, is only in his second year of farming.
Carol started her business when she retired, and has had it for nine years now. She has seen the trend that Kent is counting on.
"I definitely sell more at markets now than when I started," she says. "More and more people are looking for more natural things.
"They like the fact that they know where their food is coming from, and they're making more informed choices than ever before."
Are their products better than what's in the grocery stores?
"Sure," replies Carol. "My herbs, whether they're in teas, vinegars, perfumes, or anything else I sell, don't have their volatile oils crunched out of them until they're actually used. So the benefit you get from them is very high."
"Absolutely," declares Kent. "CSA members come to our Sackville pick-up depot and get eggs and vegetables picked that day. In winter, vegetables come straight from our cold room."
And none of it is laced with chemical fertilizer or pesticides. Information about the Sackville CSA is available through Kent at 536 3562, or by e-mail at naturerf@nb.sympatico.ca.
Carol can be reached at 734-3006, tansy@nb.sympatico.ca, or www.tansylane.com.
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