Amanda and Martina: foodies and farmies!
After a bit of hibernation in the cold winter months, Martina and I recently got together to celebrate spring and the one year anniversary of this blog, A Growing Season.
For both of us, it was a time to look back and see how far our lives have come in the past year: what our blog has produced, how it has expanded our knowledge and understanding of local food and food systems, and most of all, where our life’s journey has taken us.
Both Martina and I set out to learn about the field, combining our interest and passions with our work. A year later, Martina organized the recent Grow Your Health event, which was hugely successful and attracted hundreds. We both were at RootingDC in February representing our organizations. I started work at ECO City Farms, doing a job nearly tailor-made for me from my wish list a year ago. We are astounded at how far we’ve come.
Our initial zest for doing this blog stemmed from our desire to get out and see what was going on out there in local food and farms – see what everyone was doing, taste what was being produced and generally explore issues we see in the field. A year later, what we do know now is that there is so much more to know – that everywhere we look, its more and more farms selling locally, more CSAs serving our region, more people gaining interest in buying local wherever possible, farmers markets sprouting up like weeds, and competitive market for local producers. Its a burgeoning field, with many types of players and facets multiplying daily.
The past year has also shown how our interests have crystallized. Though we are both passionate and interested in all aspects of the field, Martina is more of a local ‘foodie’, seeking out those delicious food treasures, tastes and local finds, and I’m more of a local ‘farmie’ (my new word), looking at farms and issues in how local food systems can bring more to all consumers.
With so much going on, we’ve decided there is no way to not to continue to talk about it! However, the steady plodding of the season, from spring’s initial peeking out of the ground to the full blown explosion of bloom that we now see in the DC area keeps reminding us to get back to it!
Between our busy lives, we plan on more adventures to see the farms, food and people that are building this wonderful movement, and seeing where the path of exploration will lead us. We hope you continue to come along for the ride!
A Growing Season 