Guest Blogger: Hallie

Hi! My name is Hallie and I’ve recently started a blog called Healthy Twists where I write about healthy recipes, how I’ve maintained a weight loss of 40(ish) pounds for over 5 years, and the occasional musing about the environment, which bring me to my guest post on one of my favorite blogs, For the Love of Oats (Thanks, Lindsay!).

One of my favorite things about San Diego is the differences in landscapes. I live about 5 minutes from the beach (don’t hate me!) and I can travel for 45 minutes to get to mountains OR desert. And about 45 minutes from my city dwelling, I can get to a small, local farm in San Diego County called La Milpa Organica.

The farm sits on about 20 acres, and is staffed by a group of 12 employees and a handful of volunteers who come to get their hands in the earth. They operate a small CSA, sell their produce at five farmers’ markets around town, and supply a handful of local restaurants. And the farm’s owner, Barry does outreach and education, such as the tour/lecture I attended.

Many years ago, almost everyone on the planet did agricultural work. They had to plant and farm to survive, as it took about one calorie of work to provide one calorie of food. During this time, the world’s population stayed stagnant at one billion people. Enter the agricultural revolution, when farming tools and techniques were invented to make farming easier and therefore, more food was produced. More food = more people, and the population began to swell.

About 60 years ago, farmers began using chemicals, pesticides, etc., in order to limit the decomposition of crops. This created even more food and now the global population is higher than it’s ever been before. However, there is a delicate relationship between all plants of animals and when chemicals disrupt that balance, the optimal nutrition that the crop can provide is not achieved. (I’m glossing over some of the things Barry mentioned so I might be missing something here and there. One of the farm’s volunteers was working with his shirt off…and I got a little distracted, ok?)

So the goal of organic farming, at least at small-scale farms, is to restore some of the balance to the earth that has been taken away by developers and by non-organic practices. Barry said that when he first got to the land that would become La Milpa, the soil was so hard and dry that he could barely get his tools into it. But over the 6 seasons that the farm has been in existence, the simple act of caring about the ground and giving it the nutrients it needs (organic matter he gets from mulching and composting), the soil is soft and so supple that the weeds just slide right out. Barry said his soil was “like chocolate cake” and while I’d probably take real cake over soil, it was obvious how much he truly loved the farm and his work. The farm doesn’t actually make any money, he said, because the cost of operating and maintaining a small organic farm is so high, especially given the high cost of land in San Diego. Talk about a labor of love.

As we walked around the farm, Barry invited us to pull a piece of arugula, spinach, etc., off the plants to taste it. As I tasted the spinach, I realized it tasted little like the pre-washed bag of spinach I had sitting in my fridge. Who knows when that spinach was harvested, how long it took to get to the store, and how long it was sitting on the shelf before I picked it up? That’s why I love participating in a CSA—the taste of lettuce or strawberries that were in the ground less than 24 hours ago can’t be beat.

I asked Barry what we, the non-farmers, can do to be a part of the solution to industrial farming, pesticide usage, etc. I live in a condo, plus I think I have a black thumb, so growing my own food isn’t an option. “Buy local, or at least organic,” he told me. I’m lucky (again) in that farmer’s markets are open year-round, but I’m guessing that’s not the place everywhere. So although buying from local farmers is best, picking up organic produce is the next best thing. Yes, organic food can be expensive, and I’d be lying if I said I always buy organic. But I wholeheartedly suggest getting out into your community and checking out your local farms. If you’re like me, you’ll leave feeling more connected to your community and energized to do your part to save the only earth we’ll ever have.