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the farm, named hausbar, is an ideal model for many who dream of sustainable food systems. barger has a rainwater collection bin that has 30,000 gallons of storage capacity, which they use to irrigate their crops. according to their website, they are currently expanding their solar panel capacity, so that 90% of their electrical needs will be powered by the sun. and, perhaps most delightfully, barger uses donkeys instead of lawn mowers to mow and fertilize the pasture.<\/p>\n
to top it off, barger is often credited with spearheading austin\u2019s locavore movement. \u201cpeople often say to us that we\u2026. really started the locavore movement in austin,\u201d barger said. \u201ci do think that we did; we were there at the beginning, of what became, i think now, a true locavore movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
but before barger opened the farm in 2009, things looked much different.<\/p>\n
\u201cit was pretty much two acres of trash with three crack houses on it,\u201d barger said. \u201cwe figured if we just cleaned the place up enough… it would be something pretty amazing here.\u201d after purchasing the property, barger embarked on a seemingly impossible task.<\/p>\n
\u201cin our quest to be sustainable we wanted everything to be improved by our being here, so we dug the 51 beds of vegetables that you see out there, with pitchforks and shovels, instead of tillers and trucks,” barger said with an expression that she still could not believe what she accomplished.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
both barger and sayle started their respective farms for one principal reason \u2014 they believed in the importance of locally grown food.<\/p>\n
\u201cthe reason we wanted to do it was to give people good, clean food,\u201d sayle said. \u201cif you don\u2019t have fresh food, it\u2019s worthless\u2026 (our) arugula is sparky and fierce.. but in the store, it was just, \u2018bleh!, this is arugula?\u2019 it\u2019s flavor, see. there\u2019s no flavor there, and there\u2019s flavor here, and that flavor tells you that it\u2019s fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n
the minute a vegetable or fruit is picked off the plant, the flavor starts to fade away. and flavor, sayle explained, is a direct indicator of nutrition. the c, e, a, and some b vitamins deteriorate over the days, or even weeks, it takes to pick, package, and ship produce all over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cin california or in chile or china or wherever that vegetable in the store came from, it was probably once wonderful,\u201d sayle said. \u201cbut when you go through refrigeration \u2014 almost freezing, for weeks on end \u2014 it all goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n
according to barger, local produce is vital not just for the health of austinites, but for the health of the planet and the local economy.<\/p>\n
“there\u2019s so much pollution that goes on in bringing that organic produce from california, to texas, let\u2019s say, that it\u2019s not enough just to eat organically,\u201d barger said. \u201cnot only is it it not enough for pollution reasons, but it\u2019s also not enough because it doesn\u2019t make any sense to depend on somebody else for your food, and so we need to be supporting local farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n
when one buys produce from a grocery store, a very small percentage of revenue goes to the farmer, barger explained. the rest of the profit the packager, the middlemen, and the processor. but when a customer buys produce from a farm, most of the revenue goes directly to the farmer. that farmer will have much more money to spend in the same economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cby spending locally we are actually supporting everyone who lives in our area,\u201d barger said.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
in the midst of a global pandemic and a plummeting economy, it is vital now, more than ever, to invest both in local businesses and in our own well-being. visiting your local farm can have that dual benefit. and on a cool october morning, nothing is more pleasant than to wake up early, drive across town, and walk among rows of dew-flecked kale. nothing is more uplifting than to gather with friends, neighbors, and strangers, all distanced during the pandemic, but united by their love of carol ann\u2019s flowers. that, i believe, is well-worth the mask.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
two austin, texas, urban farms led the way for their area’s locavore movement. these farmers talk about their motivation, and discuss why eating local is so important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10011,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4896],"tags":[112,4166,4482,3445,4453],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","tag-agriculture","tag-eat-local","tag-food-systems","tag-local-farming","tag-wfd2020"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n