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Share Your Food Memories, Give Back to Family Farms

July 3rd, 2008 · 14 Comments


A farmer in Johnson County, Iowa, surveys flood devastation.
Photo by Amy Spencer
, used by permission.

As a locavore, it’s easy to take a somewhat myopic view of the world. I admit to seeing the flooding in the Midwest and thinking how fortunate it is that nearly all the produce we buy comes from right here in the mid-Atlantic. I have never seen Iowa except from the air, but I know there are small, family farms struggling to survive even when weather is good. Reports of four million acres of farmland underwater are hard to comprehend. But it is clear that the impact to all farms, commercial or not, will impact already sky-rocketing food prices, which has a disproportionate effect on those least able to afford a locavore diet. I hope you will check out Farm Aid’s Family Farm Disaster Fund, which is supporting local farming organizations in the affected states, and join me in contributing to their relief efforts. After all, locavores need to band together to support farm sources near and far.

You can also show your support by participating in the first-ever FoodieTots give-away. At a Slow Food DC dinner back in May, we received a cookbook titled Kitchen Memories. The book shares personal stories of treasured family recipes from around the world. I’ve already shared my strawberry shortcake memories that turn my thoughts back to my native Oregon every June. So I’d like to hear, what is your favorite local food childhood memory?

I help keep family farmers on their land. Join us at www.FarmAid.org

Please share in the comments. For every comment, FoodieTots will donate $1 to the Farm Aid fund*. You will also be entered to win a copy of Kitchen Memories and a bonus “No Farms No Food” bumper sticker, courtesy of the American Farmland Trust. I will collect entries until midnight July 17 and feature my favorite stories the weekend of July 19.
So share away!

*Fine print: will donate $1 per the first 100 comments, additional donations to be determined by the response!

Tags: saving family farms

14 responses so far ↓

  • 1 JeanAnnVK // Jul 3, 2008 at 8:03 am

    Growing up in Oklahoma, we had access to some of the best melons in the US…every summer, we would wait until the watermelons came in, then rush out to buy the “right” one. My grandfather taught us that thumping the melon and listening for a satisfying hollow sound would lead us to a ripe and juicy taste treat. We would bring it home and my grandparents would set up my sister and I on the back porch with melon slices and salt. We would sit out there slurping up the juices, spitting seeds at each other and generally making a mess, while having the time of our lives. Eating watermelon today reminds me of my love for my grandparents and the simple pleasures of summer.

  • 2 Jill // Jul 3, 2008 at 8:59 am

    Sweet corn! We used to buy it off the back of a truck parked at a local gas station. That doesn’t sound appealing, but the corn certainly was. Yum!

  • 3 Lelo in Nopo // Jul 3, 2008 at 10:07 am

    Eating local and supporting local farms was inherent to my childhood. In the fertile valleys of Southern California, some of the very best growing conditions for produce existed. I’ve written extensively about my memories on my blog, but last fall I wrote about a recent trip to an apple orchard, and how as a child, we’d visit Ojai, California, to pick apples. Today that area is so different than it was then, but my memories shape who I am, and where I put my money, today, even though I live in a different state. You can read about it here. http://lelonopo.blogspot.com/2007/10/another-farm-another-harvest-apples-and.html

  • 4 FoodieTots.com » One Local Summer, Rainier cherry edition // Jul 7, 2008 at 12:06 am

    […] Don’t forget: share your favorite food memory and help flooded family farms! […]

  • 5 Stacye Ray // Jul 7, 2008 at 9:42 pm

    I grew up in California’s central valley (San Joaquin), where produce is king. A couple times each summer, my mom and Nana would serve us all a meal of fresh corn and watermelon (and maybe some home-grown tomatoes). The corn would be boiled and eaten with butter and garlic salt. Nothing is as good as sweet corn the day it was picked!

  • 6 foodietots
    Twitter: foodietots
    // Jul 8, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Jean, Lelo, Jill, Stacye – Thanks for sharing these great stories! So far we have two Californians and two Midwesterners … although all of you live different places now. (Isn’t that funny?)

    @ Jill – were those corn trucks in Indiana? We just bought some “Popcorn, Indiana” popcorn at Whole Foods, although the bag said something about being “infused with the flavor of Indiana” not that the corn was really from there…

  • 7 Tiffany // Jul 11, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    Definitely apple picking. We did it every year. When we got home my mom would spend hours making large batches of delicious homemade applesauce and rolling out the dough for apple pies.
    Foodie Tots- I applaud you on your efforts to help out farmers. One of my best friends grew up on an Iowa farm, though thankfully her parent’s farm was unaffected by the flooding.

  • 8 Kerri // Jul 16, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    I’m totally blanking on any local food related memories! I was going to talk about the lefse that my dad would have sent in bulk from MN to us in CA, but then remembered your focus is local and that was far from it! Argh, you’d think this wouldn’t be so hard. Oooh, oooh, oooh, does noshing on Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam cheese count? Not only are they very local, but my dad, who was a ranger on Mt. Tam, worked with Sue Conley’s life partner. Delicious cheese that pays homage to the beautiful state park where I grew up. What could be better?

    Well, I just wanted to drop by and give you some support. Great blog!

  • 9 Jill // Jul 17, 2008 at 8:13 am

    Nope, it was when we lived in Rochester, Minn. I remember buying the corn from the back of a pick-up truck at a Spur gas station. I never spent much time in Indy when my parents lived there, so I don’t have many food memories from there.

    @Kerri – Mt. Tam cheese counts! I loooooooove Mt. Tam. I try to buy it here in Minneapolis as much as I can, but it’s not always in stock at my cheese shop.

  • 10 Janette // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:26 am

    I grew up in the Palm Springs area, so my fond childhood local food memories include dates, which are grown extensively there. Date shakes are amazing! We were also close friends with a family who farmed commercially. Eating dinner at their house always meant super fresh lettuce and tomatoes… I usually resisted veggies unless we were eating there!

  • 11 sarah gilbert // Jul 17, 2008 at 11:51 am

    it’s hard to find a *favorite* local food memory but i think it would have to be eating peas and cherry tomatoes (in different seasons obviously!) out of my mom’s garden.

    … no wait. picking blackberries at the back fence of a local cemetery. blackberries are an invasive species here in portland, oregon, but they grew riotously wild in the 70s and 80s and the family would don long-sleeved shirts and go blackberry picking. we’d bring them home and mom would make pies and jam and freeze some for thanksgiving. my mom still makes fantastic pies (and now *i* go blackberry picking with my own kids)

  • 12 Shana // Jul 17, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    California produces some amazing fruits and veggies, but I’ve yet to taste anything better than an upstate NY-grown Macintosh right off the tree. It’s one of the things I miss most about home — you just can’t get a good Macintosh here in the Bay Area. Every fall growing up, we would go apple picking at the local orchard, and I was lucky enough to share that experience with Eric a few years ago during one of our few trips back. Not only was I finally able to share one of my favorite childhood experiences with him, but I also finally got to show that California boy something that NY definitely does better 🙂

  • 13 foodietots
    Twitter: foodietots
    // Jul 21, 2008 at 9:13 pm

    Thanks everyone for participating! The winner will be announced tomorrow, so stay tuned…

    @ Tiffany – My mom used to make applesauce too. I wish I had paid more attention – the canning process is so intimidating.

    @ Kerri – Of course Mt. Tam counts. You’re so lucky to have Cowgirl in your backyard! And I’d love to hear the story about your dad’s lefse obsession. 🙂

    @ Janette – I just recently heard about date shakes. Will definitely have to hunt one down next time I’m in SoCal.

    @ Sarah – We used to go blackberry picking every summer too, along the driveway of an elderly lady from our church. She let us pick what she couldn’t get too, and my mom would take her homemade jam. Nothing like dusty berries fresh from the side of the road. 🙂

    @ Shana – I’ve still never been north of the city, but will try to get upstate during apple season some year! We have pretty good apples here, but I’m sure they’re better in a slightly cooler climate.

  • 14 FoodieTots.com » Kitchen Memories Winner! // Jul 22, 2008 at 8:10 am

    […] the original post to read the other stories. Thanks […]