See photo set.
One topic of conversation that comes up often in our house is the fact that most people these days don’t know where the food they eat comes from - who grew it or how and where was it raised. My parents, who are now in their seventies, tell me it wasn’t always this way. Used to be one could go to the local butcher who cut the meat right in front of you, who not only knew all the cuts, but knew the farm or the ranch where that meat came from. Over the years, this has changed. Most of us buy our meat already cut and packaged in plastic wrap at the supermarket. Gone are the corner butchers who would grind your hamburger meat fresh for you, or tell you the best way to cook the roast you just bought. Gone too are most small family farms. How many farmers do we know, by name?
Paul Willis, a pig farmer for Niman Ranch, and I met by chance at the Fancy Food Show earlier this year. After a lively discussion in which I expressed exasperation at our modern culture’s collective ignorance about where our food comes from, including my own, “I’ve never even been to a pig farm!,” Paul invited me to visit his. In Iowa. Paul has a rather disarmingly calm demeanor. An invitation from him is no casual “let’s do lunch sometime” but a real one, come visit the farm. Paul’s sparkly blue eyes must cast a hypnotic spell, because for the last 8 months or so, all I’ve really wanted to do was to visit the Willis farm.
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