With recalls and some federal USDA food inspections on hold prior to the government shutdown ending last week, many Americans — including people in Emporia — are getting to know their local growers or even growing their own.
Gail Fuller, one of the owners of G & L Whole Food, is one of those local producers. He produces and markets meat such as grass-finished beef, grass-finished lamb, pastured pork and chicken and fresh eggs. The business, which is located on Road M outside Emporia, is working on adding more products, such as wheat flour, corn flour, cornmeal and honey to its repertoire.
According to Fuller, there are advantages of buying from local producers, including ease of access.
Food safety is another area, he said, where small, local farms may have an advantage over factory-produced items which might end up in supermarkets.
While some food inspections were halted on a federal level during the shutdown, Fuller said all his meat was run through a USDA-inpsected facility and that, as he understood, his inspector was still on the job.
“The last meat that we had butchered was inspected and we were told that the upcoming appointment we have, that meat will be inspected as well,” he said.
Fuller also believes locally-grown food may have a nutritional advantage over supermarket produce — specifically nutrient density.
This is something, Fuller said, that’s being seen across the board with produce of all types and in all price ranges, from organic to conventionally grown goods.
He chalks this up to how the food was raised.
Fuller said his farm went no-till in 1994 and, over the past decade, he has cut back on chemicals and fertilizers to the point where he uses almost none. The farm no longer uses insecticides and fungicides.
According to Fuller, eating local — and eating in season — is key to solving some of the problems caused by unsustainable farming practices that have taken hold in recent history.
“As a consumer, we’ve gotten pretty demanding to have stuff on the shelf 24/7, 365,” he said.
This includes out-of-season items — think fresh strawberries at the height of winter.
Fuller believes eating in season will help people get more nutritional value from their food.
He strongly encourages others to grow food for themselves.
Decades ago, he said, it wasn’t uncommon to see people with large kitchen gardens and chickens — or even pigs — in their yards.
While this might not be feasible for everyone, there are everyday Emporians leaning toward growing some of their own produce.
Emporian Marcia Lawrence has gardened off and on all her life. In light of recent lettuce recalls, she decided to buy a cold frame so she could grow her own salad greens. She has several herbs, lettuce and kale. Kale, she said is an especially hardy green. It hardly thrives in cold weather, but it can certainly survive it, if it’s in a sheltered area.
For her, she said, growing her own is a small step in protecting her own health.
She doesn’t want to grow a ton of food. The cold frame contains about 10 plants.
She finds a great deal of personal satisfaction, she said, in the feeling of self-sufficiency that comes from growing her own food.
Food security makes her feel safer in uncertain economic times.
Both growing food and buying from local producers can cost money — sometimes more than someone might spend at a supermarket — but Lawrence feels it’s worth the extra cost.
The winter farmers market takes place at Waters True Value on the first and third Saturday of the month through April, after which the summer market begins.
The market provides a SNAP machine so people can use their benefits, if they wish, to purchase fresh produce at the market.
According to President of the Emporia Farmers Market board and longtime vendor Wanda Myers, the market participates in the double up food bucks program.
“It’s a good opportunity for people that do have the SNAP program to come down and get some local, fresh food,” she said.