The LocalHarvest Blog

Welcome back to the LocalHarvest newsletter.

In our last newsletter, LocalHarvest president Guillermo Payet reflected on the last 15 years in the local food movement. Several people commented on his article, including one John Ubaldo of John Boys Farm who felt that small scale farmers should talk up their strengths. "We have a lot more power than we are given credit for," he wrote. I was intrigued by this idea, so I looked him up and was entirely taken by his description of his farm, and by his photo. Anyone who looks equally comfortable carrying a piglet and a baby is somebody I want to talk to.

My hunch proved right. I like talking to all farmers, but the fiery ones might be my favorite and John is all fire. Exhibit A: "One of my jobs at the farmers market is to beat people over the head about how much work actually goes into farming. Most people have no idea! I've been doing this for a long time and I'm still staggered by how much work goes into doing it right. People have to get that. You have to be willing to beat people up."

"Doing it right" is one of John's catch phrases, and you get the idea that there isn't much wiggle room between right and emphatically not right. He never sprays anything on his crops, even organically approved products, and he gets even more "angry and militant" (his words) about GMOs. In short, he's a purist about producing the highest quality food, and a purist who takes his role as a health educator seriously. "Small farmers are in a is a powerful position because of our ability to impact people's health. How many other jobs offer the ability to change people's lives so positively, on such a basic, human level? Not many. That's not something we farmers can squander. If we do, we're idiots!" There's that fire again.

John wants customers not only to pay whatever he asks for his products, but to thank him afterward. And it seems they do. "I am not the only meat guy at our farmers market, but mine is the only stand with a line. If you're doing it right, your products are going to set themselves apart. Telling the story about what your farm does gets people excited about your food, and then people from all walks of life choose to eat properly and are willing to pay for it."

When talking with his customers about their food choices, John will sometimes go dollar for dollar with them comparing the cost of taking the family to McDonald's versus what they could get for the same money at his stand. "I'll tell them that the main difference, besides their health, between fast food and my food is convenience. I'm not afraid to call people out on being lazy. At the beginning, it was tough sell, but now, every week they're there, and they eat what we bring down." His style wouldn't work for everyone, but it seems to work very well for him, perhaps because he does it with so much heart. "The way I see it, I have hundreds and hundreds of family members. We do a lot of education and we find out what our customers are cooking at home. Then they are either talking to me at the stand every week, or avoiding me because they are doing something stupid and don't want me to bop them."

I loved this John Ubaldo character, and if I ever find myself in his neck of rural New York you can bet I'm going to look him up. Meanwhile, I am taking his words to heart. Farmers who produce good, clean food should be extraordinarily proud of it. And maybe the rest of us could raise the bar a little higher in our food choices and move a little closer to our own version of "doing it right."

As Guillermo mentioned last month, 2015 is LocalHarvest's fifteenth anniversary. We are going to devote most of our newsletter space to our members' voices this year. We created LocalHarvest to serve farmers, and this year we want you to hear directly from some of them, like John Ubaldo. If you have topics you'd like our farmers to weigh in on this year, please submit your ideas via our comments page.

Until next time, take good care and eat well.
Erin

Erin Barnett
Director
LocalHarvest

Guillermo

06:00 PM CST