What's Your (Local) Beef?

Sometimes it's a challenge to envision how a locally-based economy would actually work. How would we cope up here in the High Country without our huge supermarkets shipping in food from all over the planet? How could we really re-localize our High Country food economy and not get caught in the "localwashing" trap?

It's already happening. In addition to a great network of local farmers markets, it turns out that we can get organic, locally-supplied beef too. If you don't get the print edition of the Wilkes Journal-Patriot, you may have missed this story completely--but we wanted to be certain to let everyone know about it. In the March 28, 2008 WJ-P, Jule Hubbard wrote:

Seth and Jenn Church of Hays are capitalizing on growing consumer interest in naturally-produced food by selling premium beef cuts from locally-raised and processed cattle. Apple Brandy Beef LLC, started by the couple in April 2007, sells beef to retailers and individuals and continues to grow.
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Increasing consumer interest in "natural" or "organic" food and meat from animals that were humanely treated on the farm is part of an overall push for locally-produced food, giving rise to the term "locovore."
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Church said the cows are raised without the use of synthetic hormones or antibiotics.
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About 90 percent of Apple Brandy's Beef's sales are now at the Earth Fare store in Boone, part of a chain of "healthy supermarkets" with natural and organic products across the southeast.

This is how real change begins. Think about how much energy is saved by having this beef driven to Boone instead of being brought in by truck from who knows where.

Now all we need to do is support these and all of the other locally-based food producers up here:
Apple Brandy Beef
Earth Fare - Boone