To the editor: Chances are, most of us don’t concern ourselves with where our food is coming from, how it is grown or whether or not there is enough available to get us through the winter months. The grocery stores are well-stocked; anything we want is generally available year-round; and, aside from a passing concern about pesticide residues, thoughts of how food is grown are minimal. We lack a basic knowledge of the forces at work behind the scenes of our food system. We want it safe, we want it plentiful and we want it cheap. These seem to be the primary requirements from mainstream America. Other than a superficial interest in what passes for nutrition does anyone really believe a “low-calorie” mass-produced chocolate sandwich cookie is healthy? A mere three or four generations ago, most of our land was rural, food was “put up” for the winter via canning, curing or drying. We ate seasonally, and prepared for the leaner times. With exceptions for coffee, citrus and other such products not grown in our communities, we ate local foods. Today, aside from seasonal pleasures such as having watermelon on the 4th of July, sweet corn for the summer barbecue and pumpkins for Halloween decorations, today’s society largely can and does eat whatever it wants. Where our food comes from, how it is “grown” and the welfare of our farms and farmers is no longer a subject requiring our thought. In fact, while many of us hold dear the image of small family farmers raising livestock and tilling the land to provide us with our daily supper, we don’t recognize how absurd this image is when applied to the mass-produced foods we consume at will. Proponents of large agribusiness will focus on “feeding the world” and free-trade economics. The ability to make more, and to make it faster takes precedence. Claims of a safe and secure food system, even while food is processed in factories, mixed with chemicals and shipped across nations, are made. “Get big or get out” is the cry our farmers have heard since the post-WWII years. Industrial-style farming isn’t a science fiction fantasy. It is a major component of our food system today. Doesn’t it make more sense to grow food on small, quality-oriented farms close to the communities that will consume the food? Wouldn’t society in general be better off if food was locally accessible no matter if the transportation system came to a screeching halt? Doesn’t it make sense to have fresh, naturally-ripened food grown in healthy soils, on a diverse farm whose owner is a part of our immediate community? It seems that if people valued their food, they’d choose food grown by a small farm operator who pays close attention to details. They’d choose meat free to roam and feed on the grasses that are a natural part of the animal’s diet. They’d pick the cow whose milk doesn’t contain hormones or antibiotics. They’d take the tomato from the field of a dozen different varieties bred for taste and acclimated to local growing conditions, not the one that ships without bruising. Valuing our food also means valuing the people who are out there each day encouraging their small plot of land to produce quality, nutritious, natural foods. Unless their purchase is of locally-grown food, consumers are voting to support the food system as it exists today. The next time you pass a farm market, stop and take a look at the quality and diversity of the produce being offered. Know that your purchase represents dollars going directly to the grower, who traditionally receives pennies on the dollar after all the middlemen take their cut. The choice is ours to make. Continue to support a food system that leads us to believe that artificially processed, chemically-laden, internationally-shipped food is natural, or support a system of seasonal, fresh, sustainably-grown products from a local small farm. Little by little, each one of us can change our food purchasing habits, and create a local foods system which nourishes our bodies, our land, our small farmers and our communities. Tamara Scully Foodshed Alliance