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Remembering Spirit: Local organics nurture me and the planet
by Maggie Kraft

My best summer experience was my membership in a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. Since joining Redwood Roots Farm, I have been provided with a steady and generous supply of organic, locally grown produce every week. I still have part of October to go, and I am enjoying this bounty of good, delicious food like I have never enjoyed green leafy things before.

At first, an occasional bug brought home with my kale would cause heart palpitations and queasiness. Now I know the bugs are not all bad-they signify that I am actually eating real live vegetables that haven't been sprayed by poisons. I can now recognize the perfect peach by its blissfully sweet taste and how messy my hands get when I eat it, not by how few blemishes it may have.

There is something calming about going to a farm where the food that nourishes our bodies is grown. I can walk through the fields and actually see the lettuce, carrots and broccoli I will be taking home someday.

I grew up thinking that produce came from the store. The concept of growing enough food to feed everyone was alien and overwhelming. I still can't figure out how anyone has enough time to care for it, let alone harvest it.

So walking through this field I feel humbled, amazed and grateful. I also feel downright noble. Here I am, doing everything I know to be good for the planet and me. I am eating way more than the recommended servings from the fruits and vegetables group on that pyramid, I am no longer ingesting harmful herbicides and pesticides, and I am not a future victim of the unknown effects of genetically modified foods.

I know where my food comes from. It is sitting out there in that field. Buying locally gives me access to fresher, safer and organic produce and supports local businesses. The money I spent on my share is used to sustain the farm and is spent in the community, not to pay dividends to stockholders of major food chains.

Buying local food helps organic farmers get their produce into local markets. If all communities bought local produce, and only ate what was in season, we could reduce the use of fossil fuels and the air pollution caused by transport vehicles carrying our food thousands of miles before it ends up on our table.

Organic farmers use recycling (composting) to nourish the soil and keep it healthy. They don't count on bioengineered seeds to resist pests. They don't use genetically modified terminator seeds that can grow bigger, faster or greener while creating vegetables that don't provide the farmer with seeds to replant. These farmers are stewards of the land, forming a symbiotic bond. The farmer takes care of the land and the land produces a healthy bounty.

Every time I visit the farm, I know I am doing a good thing for my community, the land and myself. I feel healthier too, since eating organic fruits and vegetables has encouraged me to eat organic foods of all kinds. If I took the time to ride my bicycle the 16-mile round trip from my home to the farm, I'd approach sainthood. For now, feeling noble is good enough.

Maggie Kraft is director of the Humboldt Senior Resource Center's Adult Day Health Program.

One-time article Copyright 2000 by Humboldt Senior Resource Center .