FARM - FRESH

Experience the Benefits of Farm-Fresh Food

Here in Daviess County, we’re fortunate to have access to an abundance of locally-produced food – thanks to our amazing farm families. From Trunnell’s Farm Market and Reid’s Orchard, to Hillview Farms Meats, the Cottage Farm Stand, Cecil Farms, and the Owensboro Regional Farmers Market, among many others, there is no shortage of options for delicious, fresh, local eats. And in addition to fueling your body and shopping local, there are countless benefts to purchasing from local farms.

1. Taste Real Flavors The fruits and vegetables you buy at the farmers market are the freshest and tastiest available. Fruits are allowed to ripen fully in the feld and are brought directly to you—no long-distance shipping, no gassing to simulate the ripening process, no sitting for weeks in storage. This food is as real as it gets—fresh from the farm.

2. Enjoy the Season The food you buy from farmers and at the farmers market is seasonal. It is fresh and delicious and refects the truest favors. Shopping and cooking from local farms helps you to reconnect with the cycles of nature in our region. As you look forward to asparagus in spring, savor sweet corn in summer, or bake pumpkins in autumn, you reconnect with the earth, the weather, and the turning of the year.

3. Support Family Farmers Family farmers need your support, now that large agribusiness dominates food production in the U.S. Small family farms have a hard time competing in the food marketplace. Buying directly from farmers gives them a better return for their produce and gives them a fghting chance in today’s globalized economy.

4. Protect the Environment Food in the U.S. travels an average of 1,500 miles to get to your plate. All this shipping uses large amounts of natural resources (especially fossil fuels), contributes to pollution, and creates trash with extra packaging. Conventional agriculture also uses many more resources than sustainable agriculture and pollutes water, land, and air with toxic agricultural by-products. Food from local farmers is transported shorter distances and is generally grown

using methods that minimize the impact on the earth.

5. Nourish Yourself Much food found in grocery stores is highly processed and grown using pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modifcation. Some of it has been irradiated, waxed, or gassed in transit. These practices may have negative efects on human health. In contrast, most food from local farmers is minimally processed, and many of our farmers go to great lengths to grow the most nutritious produce possible by using sustainable techniques, picking produce right before the market, and growing heirloom varieties.

6. Discover the Spice of Life: Variety At the farmers market you fnd an amazing array of produce that you don’t see in your average supermarket: red carrots, a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes, purple caulifower, stinging nettles, green garlic, watermelon radishes, quail eggs, maitake mushrooms, and much, much more. It is a wonderful opportunity to savor the biodiversity of our planet.

7. Promote Humane Treatment of Animals With local farmers, you can fnd meats, cheeses, and eggs from animals that have been raised without hormones or antibiotics, who have grazed on green grass and eaten natural diets, and who have been spared the cramped and unnatural living conditions of feedlots and cages that are typical of animal agriculture. 8. Know Where Your Food Comes From A regular trip to a local farm or farmers market is one of the best ways to connect with where your food comes from. Meeting and talking to farmers and food artisans is a great opportunity to learn more about how and where food is produced.

9. Learn Cooking Tips, Recipes, and Meal Ideas Few grocery store cashiers or produce stockers will give you tips on how to cook the ingredients you buy, but farmers, ranchers, and artisans at the farmers market are often passionate cooks with plenty of free advice about how to cook the foods they are selling.

10. Connect with Your Community Wouldn’t you rather stroll amidst outdoor stalls of fresh produce on a sunny day than roll your cart around a grocery store with artifcial lights and piped in music? Coming to the farmers market makes shopping a pleasure rather than a chore. The farmers market is a community hub—a place to meet up with your friends and bring your family. One upcoming opportunity to take in the local farm experience can be found at the Cottage Farmstand and Baking Company. A treasure seated on 300 acres just a few miles out Highway 56 in Daviess County’s West, the farm has been in Marlene Knight’s husband’s family for over 170 years. On June 11 and 12, the Cottage will host their frst ever Strawberry Festival! The festivities will include live music, a petting zoo on Sunday, pony rides on Saturday, face painting, and a station for making your own strawberry shortcake. Additionally, the Airport Sorgho Fire Department will be bringing their fre truck, an obstacle course including a house in fames that children can use a water hose to extinguish, the extraction demonstration car, Sparky the Dog, and even their hovercraft. Over 50 arts and crafts and home business vendors have already registered, and more are being taken. Accommodation-accessible parking will be available as well as two additional parking lots. Some of the strawberrythemed delicacies include a bubble wafe cone flled with strawberry ice cream, strawberry preserves, strawberry iced tea and lemonade, strawberry lattes, cake pops, slushies (with a really cool keepsake cup), cookies, strawberry poppy seed salads, and a big wagon full of strawberries for purchase! You’ll be able to purchase breakfast and lunch items from a limited menu, but there will be no drive through or online services available during the festival. Admission is afordable at $10 per car, and everything except the food and beverages are free. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the Airport Sorgho Fire Department. Those interested are encouraged to follow the event on The Cottage’s Facebook page to view a full schedule of events and map. Vendors can also register for a booth on a link posted on their Facebook page or by calling (270) 794-7040. OL

Reprinted with permission of Foodwise, a 501(c)(3) nonproft dedicated to growing thriving communities through the power and joy of local food. Learn more at foodwise.org.

“The Best” of 1922

Written by LORA WIMSATT

While we are still basking in the glow and reflected glory of an issue filled with Owensboro’s best … let’s look back in time to see whether there are any references to “the best” in the news of 100 years ago. A generic search of that phrase – “the best” – on Newspapers.com brings up surprisingly few articles, but they offer an insight into a wide variety of topics. An article published on April 23 indicates that gardens are being planted in the warming soil, with tobacco plants “looking fine” and “very hardy with the exception of those damaged by the flea beetle.” That pest, the article mentions, was mostly kept under control by use of arsenate of lead. That chemical, by the way, was later banned. Oops. So maybe that wasn’t “the best” choice. The same article, however, goes on to say “The second spraying of fruit trees was made last week and prospects for fruit in Daviess County were never brighter, in fact by many farmers considered the best in years.” And if you wanted to drive out into the country to see those fruit trees? Well, 1922 was your year: “The roads are in good condition, practically all of the deep mud holes having dried out, so that traveling on the county roads is very pleasant.” By the conclusion of 1922, the Chamber of Commerce looked back on a successful year, planning its annual meeting on Dec. 29. A highlight to be celebrated was the payoff of all debt, amounting to $3,600, with $540 remaining in the bank. “This is considered the best year the Chamber of Commerce has ever had in Owensboro,” a newspaper article crowed, “and it is stated everything has now gotten down to a settled working basis.” On a significantly smaller scale, students in the manual training department of Owensboro High School were looking forward to showing off their projects during an annual exhibit that included drawings, blueprints and lettering, as well as about 200 pieces of furniture that the boys – yes, they were all boys – had constructed, including foot stools, telephone stands, smoking sets, library tables, piano benches, writing desks, hat racks, hall trees … and “one typewriting table, china closet and one cabinet phonograph.” “Medals will be given to the two boys whose exhibits are voted the best by the visitors,” the article promised, encouraging the entire community to come out and “see the practical results of the training given in the manual training department.” Another interesting reference to “the best,” and one that has stood the test of time, is mentioned in an article about retired jockey Johnny Loftus, who was beginning a new phase of his career as a trainer. Loftus had ridden “most of the great horses of the last 15 years,” the article states. “Here is what he thinks of them: “The best horse I ever rode was undoubtedly Man o’ War,” Loftus is quoted. He also describes “the meanest” horse he ever rode: A horse named

Shadrach, who was racing in Juarez, Mexico. “Coming out the chute, he would turn the wrong way (on) the track,” Loftus recalled. “His owner asked me to try him. I made up my mind that Shadrach wouldn’t take the wrong way of the track with me. He didn’t. He took the fence, and dropped me off going over.” News articles about “the best” may be scarce … but there are hundreds of advertisements that feature that phrase, touting everything from best egg-laying chickens to best cobblers to best prices on corsets. One item promised as not only “the best” but also “the cheapest” is for Little Brown Liver Tablets – an ad decorated with a rather devilish-looking imp. The chocolate-coated tablets’ promotion said, “In nearly every case, one tablet will thoroughly evacuate the stomach and bowels and arouse the liver and secretions to healthy action.” Ten doses, only 15 cents. Quite a bargain for “the best.” OL