The drawbacks to the industrial agricultural model are becoming more and more apparent to the well-educated consumer. There are the obvious impacts to the land: chemicals are destroying the soil, the air and the water, the essential ingredients for sustaining food production. But there are more subtle effects as well.

Consumers who are purchasing goods from the large corporations now venturing into the organic model of agriculture that label their food "organic" must still contend with the fact that they are buying into the corporate, industrial model. This new model, this evolution in the brave new world of the organic movement, does not mean better living conditions for the animals, nor does it mean more vital foods for consumers.

Moreover, buying from the corporate agricultural giants means supporting our society's unsustainable energy system. In this day and age when the United States's energy supplies are being stressed because of its population's excessive demands, buying locally makes economic sense. A recent study concluded that the average dinner plate in an American home traveled 1,600 miles from its source. Moreover, a study completed by students at Bard College showed that every feedlot steer raised for consumption utilizes over 200 gallons of crude oil during its lifetime.

So, what's a consumer to do?

The solution is simple: Seek out and buy locally produced foodstuffs, in our case, grass-fed pastured poultry, eggs, turkeys, beef, lamb, pigs, vegetables and baked goods. The results are numerous: a strengthening of agrarian communities such as Norwood's, that add to the diversity, fabric and vitality of the region; the overall ecosystem and all its components - the water, air and soil - benefit because of our healthy farm management practices; the consumer is severing the umbilical cord from the corporate giants; working families are supported; jobs are created; sustainable food systems are created, securing a food source that will weather storms near and far; open space is preserved. Perhaps most importantly, as a consumer of locally produced foods, you connect to the land and the soil in a special and intimate way otherwise not available. In the process, the food you are eating tastes fresher, tastes better and benefits your own personal health.

Tony Daranyi
Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery
Norwood, Colorado

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