Ken made a dramatic statement "that local food may be the best path to economic recovery." How can that be? Here is an example of what Autumn Olive Farms is doing to keep our dollars local.
We buy our animals in the Shenandoah Valley. As a matter of fact, we purchased the whole floor, which was 86 FFA and 4-H show wethers and does at the Rockingham County Fair. These are goats that were purchased at local farms by local families fed local food and then taken to the local fair. There were quite a few happy "human" kids and parents to see that their show goats that they had lovingly cared for were going to a farm and not straight to the market in New Holland. Yep, all of those dollars would have gone right out of the Valley.
Since that time those 86 animals have been generating income along with our other Boer Bok by combating an Autumn Olive invasion on an old family farm near Staunton.
In the winter our Boer Bok eat only alfalfa/orchard grass hay that is grown a mile from our farm. They also get fresh minerals daily produced by Countryside Natural Products in Fishersville. We have our meat animals processed in the Valley and then we sell to local restaurants and stores.
Whether you "employ" our Boer Bok to clear your overgrown land or you are enjoying our meat at a local restaurant or purchasing it at a local store you are helping stimulate the local economy. That is something we can all feel good about. Buy Fresh Buy Local!
No comments:
Post a Comment