LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk | Sustainable from dark chestnut brown to light buckskin. Each cow has a name—Alma, Mary, Fern—tacked above their stall. "They know where to go," says Amy, from Walton, NY, as she carries a bucket of fresh creamy milk to the dairy. Her dirty blonde hair is pulled back in a loose bun and she wears a pair of dusty jeans with a t-shirt cut off at the sleeves. She is in charge of milking the fourteen cow herd and providing members with whole milk. Amy came to Essex Farm with her boyfriend Cory a year and a half ago. At the end of September, they're heading west. She's excited and sad at the same time. Swallows chirp as the cross breeze sweeps through the barn. The low alto bray of a Jersey calf gives the barn a feel of nostalgia as sun filters in through the windows. Essex Farm is like a home to her and Cory. It will be hard for them to say goodbye. The United States and North Country have seen a rise in community supported agriculture programs. Today, there are approximately two million farms in the US and 80% of them are small-scale and family-owned. More farmers are selling their products directly to the public through CSA programs, food co-ops and farmers' markets. There are many health and environmental benefits to eating local. Since CSA produce is locally grown and distributed the fuel and energy costs to transport it are minimized. Also the majority of CSA programs, including Essex Farm, adhere to organic practices and do not use pesticides. On the health side, studies show consuming a local diet lowers blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Wonder why? The food is food. It isn't pumped full of preservatives, dyes or molecularly altered ingredients. It's grown from the earth goodness which our bodies are accustomed to processing. Most health aliments can be traced back to food and how it's grown and processed. One of the benefits of working on Essex Farm is that you get a free share of the food. "It's awesome," Cory states when talking about the quality of an 42 LOCALadk Magazine Fall into Winter 2013 Essex Farm diet. "I would say 80 to 90 percent of the food I eat is from this farm." Two pigs hang outside the meat house ready for slaughter as Cory sets his carving knife on a stainless steel counter top and adjusts his baseball cap over his buzz cut. Cory, like Amy, is from Walton, NY. They've known each other for over ten years and started dating in high school. He has a strong athletic frame underneath his tattered sweatshirt and grew up hunting deer before he set off to Clarkson University for engineering. "Deer are a lot easier to butcher than pigs," he comments as he slices his knife down the black and pink hide. "It's because pigs have this thick layer of fat and it makes them harder to skin. Good for bacon, though, if you're into eating meat." Aubury announces it's time for lunch and sets out bowls of sauteed corn and tomatoes with basil. Her brown hair is piled high on her head as she makes her way back to the kitchen to collect more dishes. Aubury is from California and made her way to Essex Farm because she wanted to get back into farming. Some day she hopes to own a restaurant and supply it with locally grown food. Soon the table is covered with bowls and dishes brimming with chicken, biscuits, homemade raspberry ice cream, dill pickles and salad. A beater Honda Civic hatchback with a Scottish Highlander skull fastened to the hood announces it presence with a note of aged exhaust and rattling suspension and more workers jump out to join the feast. They talk about their day, discussing what they've done, what still needs to be done and readjusting the schedule for the afternoon. Mark speaks very highly of the crew and gives them a lot of credit for the work they put in and accomplish each day. "Kristin and I are the managers/coaches, more directing from the outside. And sometimes I'm in the field as acting captain. They are the team." Come three o'clock, the parking area is packed with hatchbacks, vans and light SUV's, all with their trunks popped open and waiting to be filled with crates of Essex Farm goods. It's Friday and the members are arriving to pick up their shares. A little girl with unruly blonde hair chases after a chicken while her mother loads a cardboard box with tomatoes. The smell of cantaloupe and basil overpowers the less fragrant vegetables and fills the air. There are large blue plastic tubs filled with red potatoes, cucumbers and carrots—the soil still clinging to them, vibrant green leaves of Swiss chard, lettuce, zucchini, broccoli and white heads of cauliflower. Wooden tables are loaded with tomatoes varying in shades of color from light orange to fire engine red. Kelly, one of the members who is new to the area stands next to the bin of purple eggplants. Originally from Missoula, Montana, Kelly moved to Essex to teach kindergarten. "It seems everyone in the area knows about Continued...

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