Healthy Junk Food - A farm tour journal

Food is one the most important defining characteristics of a region. Any person can name a food that is tied to a particular location. Having lived all over the world, I tend to associate food with markets and restaurants. Here in Chapel Hill, this has meant an endless exploring of farmer's markets and local food vendors. I have found local purveyors of just about any food I could imagine from homemade sausage to hand poured chocolates to vegan casseroles and raw food crackers. There is always something new to find just around the corner. This meant that, of course, I had to go on the Farm Tour.

The idea behind a farm tour is that you travel to a farm or farms to see the environment, meet the farmers and get a better understanding of where your food comes from. The orange county farm tour was no different. There were probably forty farms involved in the tour, divided into three areas of exploration. Each farm submitted a brief description of their farm and agreed to have us drive over and wander all over their land. If there was an item of particular interest, it was highlighted in the description. One farm, for example, had the UNC mascot, a blue-horned ram, living with them. There were two farms who listed themselves as Eco-institutes, capable of teaching us to grow our own food or process wool from local sheep. I wasn't really expecting the need to spin my own wool anytime soon but there was another reason to buckle up and head off - healthy junk food.

Stop number one on the farm tour - Home of the UNC Ram. This was a picture perfect cattle farm fifteen minutes from my house. A one hundred year old barn rose behind the front-porched farmhouse. A couple of tractors were parked inside the electric fence behind which roamed two beautiful cattle-like creatures. We met the family that farmed the more than one hundred acres that wrapped around us. They were patient, kind, very friendly and made farm life look like something manageable. I knew I'd have that steer dead in a week but they made me believe that I had a chance. Still, the highlight of the farm was in carb form. Fresh bread made from wheat grown in a couple of side fields of the farm was the junk food here. A local baker is working with area farmers to grow ancient grains as well as wheat. Each loaf of bread had local wheat, teff, spelt or some other grain. It also might have chocolate or spicy black olives. I bought a loaf of every flavor and hid in the car to eat the last chocolate croissant before my son got back.

Farm number two was a creamery. I was actually really excited about this farm. I've been buying cheese from this woman-owned and predominantly woman run farm since we moved south. They have a variety of cheeses that are uniformly yummy. These folks were anxious to have visitors, but very careful. We had to park about 1/4 mile away from the actual farm and wear protective booties on our feet. Hundreds of people shuffled down that stretch of road looking like escapees from a local hospital. But it was so worth it. There were wonderful demonstrations of milking and cheese-making. One of the women had created a video to watch. There were even adorable piglets to distract the smaller children. I didn't care. I went for the cheese. Two new kinds of mozzarella and a tangy farmer's wheel were my first scores of the visit. Then, a heavenly scent filled the air - hot oil. Freshly dipped and fried balls of the newest mozzarella washed down with thick strawberry banana yogurt smoothies. I could have died happy right there.

Farm number three should have been a local dairy. Renowned in the area, they make and sell ice cream at two separate locations. The farm is, I'm told, quite beautiful. Nestled into a small set of hills, it has the requisite farm house and barn as well as milking and ice-cream making buildings. I'm told these things but I can't swear to them because I never made it past the ice cream stand. Sitting on the porch, looking out over the valley while sipping on a root beer float, I reflected on the fact that I had eaten an obscene amount of food over the course of the afternoon. BUT, every bit had been locally grown and prepared from the freshest of ingredients possible. I had been extremely kind to my body while I was stuffing it mercilessly. I decided that I really did like farm tours after all.