Growing Goodness: I Hope You Heard It Here First

I have been sitting on a delicious secret for a while now, waiting for the right time to reveal something that is truly and utterly wonderful. I've also been experiencing guilt pangs at keeping something like this all to myself, but the timing has not all been mine.

Some weeks ago, I got a comment here saying:

Growing Goodness™ is a community-based broadband TV network for viewers with extremely passionate interests—beyond what cable television can provide.

Our mission is to create more public awareness and active interest in our local farmers markets.

• Explore the U.S. farmers market world
• Generate farmers market awareness and active interest
• Increase understanding of community affairs and events
• Foster lifelong skills for good living
• Spotlight excellence in goodness

Farmers Market Channel™

Hosted by the community members our Farmers Market Channel™ spotlights farmers, locally grown produce and neighborhood farmers markets.

good food. good health. good life.

Enjoy!

Of course, I was intrigued, and clicked instantly. I landed on a screen much like the graphic you see above: a beautiful quilt of faces that looked very familiar to me. It dawned on me that I was looking at the future, and I got very excited. Farm television! YouTube for farmers!

For months now, every time I visited TLC Ranch or Justin's butcher shop, I've thought, "I should get a video camera." Because there are only so many notes I can take, and so much that is animated is lost in a still camera. Yes, my little Canon camera does videos, but I'm limited to three-minute spots. (Like this one, of Logan "reading" Lois Lenski's The Little Train. Part II and Part III are online, too.) I've been longing to see more farms come to life as they did in "The Real Dirt on Farmer John."

This post is intentionally brief, because I want you all to go look at Growing Goodness. And I want you to start with reading the  post on the blog: Chef Dan Barber, of Blue Hill Stone Barns, gave a presentation at the Taste3 conference in Napa that is alternately hilarious and educational, and I doubt you will ever look at a pig in the same fashion again. I've met Dan a few times, and he was always so shy and serious. I had no idea he was that funny.

I will write more about the rest of the good news soon, but for now, this will have to suffice. And in response to Dan Barber's farmer friend who said, "Your biggest mistake was naming him!", I will have to re-run a recent Thought for the Day.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “We acquired the pigs last year. My wife was born on a pig farm and has always been very fond of pigs. Of course, they are for eating, which is why they are named Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. You wouldn’t want to eat Rufus, Marcus and Esmeralda.” — Sir John Mortimer

Thank you for visiting, and thank YOU, Growing Goodness, for spreading the light on farms. God, does this beat E!TV or what?

Comments

[Joanne]

I've been looking at Growing Goodness for a couple of weeks now - it really is a wonderful site! I noticed that you have a link to Dr. John Ikerd's papers on sustainability. I just heard him speak on Sunday night, and he talked with our county commisioners on Monday morning. What an inspiration he is!

[Trig]

You are right. It's the future. That's exactly why I'm blogging now - because in my professional career I will be doing just about everything (except actually cooking) over the web. This kind of technology is already driving amazing opportunities and the best is yet to come. A couple of years ago my dad visited a friend in a tiny village in County Clare in Ireland. That's about the most western place in the whole of Europe. Totally isolated. In the village is a cheese maker, who used to trade a little cheese to locals and visiting family. Now they sell over the web to consumers across Europe. It's going to be a great future for those who keep up with it.

[Xanthippe]

How utterly, totally cool!! Thanks, Tana, for sharing this "delicious secret" with your readers!

Bless you . . .

Pamela

[Bonnie]

Cool! What a great idea!

[Garden Shredders]

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful site.

[Ms. Glaze]

so cool, so cool, so cool!!! Bises, Ms. Glaze

[Maria Liberati]

Thnaks for sharing all these delicious secrets with us. I havea a second residence/office in the region of Abruzzo, Italy and unfortunately the age old process of making pecorino cheese there is becoming almost extinct-partly becasue no one wants to take the time to raise the sheep that provide the milk for this delicacy. But there are now some consortiums-co-ops that are (thanks goodness)reviving this art and finding new ways of selling their wares through internet and more. Pecorino D'Abruzzo is a sweeter pecorino than some of the other varieties but is very difficult to find today.