Lately, my synapses have been firing not only around farming, but also around encouraging people to eat and buy locally. I'm a frequent listener to Greenhorns Radio, a show put on by the founder of Greenhorns and the National Young Farmers Coalition, Severine Fleming. A couple of times the show has been a hit, and I'm sure you'll hear about those in my blog!
One of the hits was an interview done with a couple that just started a country general store in upstate Maine, Sheepscot General. Their business plan was around taking the local produce that farmer's didn't sell at farmers markets or canning to preserve the produce so that it wouldn't go bad. They would then sell whatever they had (canned or non-canned) and give a portion of it to the farmer. To me, this is a perfect plan. The food would have gone to waste if something wasn't done with it. They are in the process of creating their own "local" grocery store in the truest sense! I love it!
