Have you ever thought about the time it takes or the distance your food has travelled before it makes it to your plate?

You’ve either heard or know about the benefits and rewarding feeling that comes with picking fruit, veggies and ground provisions grown in your garden or land. If you haven’t yet started growing food but are interested in gathering food directly from trees, plants, bushes or ground sooner rather than later, you can still visit a farm that offers a ‘pick your own’ option.

It takes a series of many steps for ‘fresh’ fruits and veg to reach a plate – from production to harvesting, preservation, storage, packaging, transportation then delivery to wherever we buy it from plus the shelf time it takes to get noticed until it’s purchased. It all adds up, and apparently that number can be anywhere up to 6 – even 12 months. Now if that doesn’t make at least one of your eyebrows twitch a lil bit, I don’t know what will.

How was your last fruit and veggie shopping experience?

Along with the serenity that comes with taking in fresh air while walking through rows of green perusing plants for produce, it’s an adventure scouting for fruits and veggies that are just right and pleasing to the taste buds.

Before we get to the fruit of today’s post, I have to say thanks for coming by the blog. A virtual group hug to y’all who have already subscribed and to Anuj and the team at FeedSpot, where itsjoywithin.com is on the Top 30 Caribbean Blogs & News Websites To Follow (from 2019-now.) You are not a number but it’s still humbling to see that a blog started at a tough time on a tiny island has reached people in over 100 islands and countries. If you’re ready to start your blog, there’s a link (with a discount) for you at the end of this post.

Alright, let’s get to it. Here are 11 reasons to look forward to a FARM TO PLATE mission

• You get first pick: your food reaches your plate sooner than it does the supermarket.
• the journey it takes to get there often takes you along country roads with beautiful views you would have otherwise missed
• buying organic produce straight from the homegrown source
• the ambience on well-tended to farms is inviting and can inspire you to start growing at least a few things at home
• light conversations: you might meet farmers, attendants or volunteers willing to walk you through the growing process or share gardening tips
• you’ll be directly supporting local farmers and the essential engine of healthy food production
• you’re likely to hear different birdsongs or observe some cute creature do something hilarious
• your mood and state of mind tends to be brighter than if you’d gone on a masked supermarket mission waiting in line to check out
• maybe some photos along the way
• a relaxing and productive outdoor shopping adventure
• the trip is likely to be and feel more exciting that your typical grocery store visit

P.S: won’t be asked or harassed to wear anything covering your face or impairing your breathing

We might not yet be able to source, buy or gather everything we use at home from our garden or a farm. But in and beyond these times, when we’re called to be proactive about guarding our mind, conscious about the quality of food we eat and innovative about enjoying fresh air moments, an outdoor shopping experience is something I highly recommend adding to your to-do list.

Something about the purposeful, pleasantly-paced and meticulous process of it all, stirs up a kind of tenderness you might not tune into while waiting in line at a store on a busy street. While supermarkets tend to play music in the background, it’s refreshing to enjoy the open air ambience of picking produce under an open sky with distant birdsongs, rustling leaves and dancing blades of grass taking turns on the playlist.

The music creation makes inspires deep breaths without a single word.

We’ve seen the rise and fall of the western hustle trend and are getting daily reminders these days about how health goes way beyond just what we eat and how often we move. If this season has been especially tough for you, maybe you find out what fruits and veggies are in season wherever you are and do at least some of your shopping while enjoying fresh air, beautiful views, purposeful stretches/squatting and getting some steps in. If a farm trip is a bit out of range right now, village or farmers’ markets selling real food are good too.

Growing Food At Home | Starting Steps & 8 Essentials

11 Reasons To Visit A Farm & Handpick Your Produce was first published on itsjoywithin.com