One of the annoying things about living in a place where there is winter is that the farmer’s markets disappear at the sight of the first snowflake, along with all of those great vendors and their organic produce, free-range chickens and amazing artisan foods. I mean, I live in the freaking DAIRY STATE, but a search for raw milk to make my own mozzarella came up dry–I had to resort to pleading with the people who follow my Twitter to give me a lead. After a week of searching, I finally found a source of organic raw milk, less than 20 miles from my house. I don’t know why I was surprised by this fact: the people who are making such healthy fare happen don’t pack up their animals and head to Florida. It’s just a question of tracking them down and doing some extra footwork.
While engaging my mad Google skills, I found this awesome site that lists all of the organic and pasture-based farmers by state and was amazed to find grass-fed beef farmers, fish mongers and honey barons, all within a short drive of my house. In fact, the guy from whom I buy all of our beef is listed there too. And the best part about that instead of trekking to Whole Paycheck Foods and dealing with pseudo-hippies and urban SUV-strollers blocking the butcher counter, the transaction with my beef guy involves a barn where I am greeted by a three-legged cat who wants a scritch behind his ears.
