Are you hooked into the local food network in NH? The "explosion" of farmers markets, small farms both organic and local, restaurants using local ingredients and providing fare we just don't find elsewhere - all a thing of wonder to someone who was looked at as if I had two heads when I raised the issue of local agriculture as economic development not so long ago. No one thought there was any chance that agriculture would return to NH the way it has. And wasn't there plenty of food from out west? We weren't worried about transportation costs or natural disasters interfering with getting the food from out there to here. Big agribusiness far away would provide us with cheap food.
But now food security is an issue, both getting it here and getting food that isn't going to make us sick. And economic development is an issue. And energy conservation, and climate change, and all these things make local food look very, very good.
And it tastes wonderful. As a founding member of the Northwood Farmers Market, I can't tell you the joy I feel every Thursday afternoon when I visit our market, see all the vendors from the local area being so creative with their offerings, and hearing how much this market adds to the sense of community in a town that stretches out along Rt. 4. It has been so much fun and I have met so many new great people.
