food

what is it? where does it come from? how does it get from wherever it comes from to my dinner plate? these are questions i didn't really think that one would need to ask. but after reading "omnivore's dilemna" i got curious and starting asking. then when the youth i work with at st. luke's watched "food inc" and started asking the same questions i decided we needed to do some justice seeking work to answer them for ourselves.

so this morning we are going to knoxville, iowa to spend a week with farmers. this isn't a conventional "mission trip" but more of a "mission in reverse" trip. we don't presume that we can come in and "fix" anything, "make" anything, or actually help someone other than ourselves in any really significant way. rather, we plan on absorbing as much knowledge from the "farm crawl" farmers in the knoxville area as possible. we will talk with conventional farmers, organic farmers, and sustainable farmers. we will shop at the downtown des moines farmer's market for most of our food for the week and then cook all our meals together in order to explore for ourselves "what is food?" we will not stop at fast food restaurants on our journey to or from iowa, and we will avoid heavily processed foods as much as possible. because after all, as michael pollan has helped us discern, is processed food and fast food really food?

but most importantly, we will get our hands, shoes, and clothing dirty as we help out on four farms. this will be done as a way of saying "thank you" to the farmers of Dairy Air, Coyote Run Farm, Dan-D Farms, and Blue Gate Farm for sharing their knowledge of food and farming with us throughout the week.

if you've made your way to this blog because you were "tagged" at the farmer's market, we hope you go on this adventure with us throughout the week via this blog and then support the "farm crawl farmers" as much as possible.

blessings,
jeannine