Get In Touch With Your Food
Discover > Farm to Table Eating in Texas > Get In Touch With Your Food
Our increasing attachment and dependency on urban living have reduced our bond with the more real, more natural world. In the last twenty or so years, many factors have changed our relationship with food and the ways we grow food, procure food, eat food, and the like.
Globalization has introduced online marketplaces and elevated the convenience and availability of ready-made prepared foods.
Though these changes have raised the bar of food to a new high, our connection with our food has gotten weaker. Through that, the bond with our culture and heritage has also weakened.
Today, we are living and working at the speed of light. In the process, we are losing the touch we had with our roots. Taking the time to foster a bond with our foundations, even if it is with one familial tradition or food ensures that we can hold on to our legacies for a little longer.
How Can We Develop Our Bond With Food And Nature
We may find ourselves wishfully thinking that we want to bring this change into our lifestyle but don't know where or how to start. When I had this thought going through my mind, my husband suggested we visit a ranch. Living in Texas, we are fortunate to have many family-owned farms and ranches which welcome urban nomads like us to visit their properties. Experiences like such show us the rich and wholesome way through which they raise and cultivate food.
Farms In Texas You Can Visit
Boggy Creek Farm, Austin
One such farm is Boggy Creek Farm in Austin. The farm is a gleaming beacon of regenerative farming. Boggy creek farm invites visitors to come and have a look at their farming practices and also try their hand at farming. They have Field and Farm tours where you can learn the no-till farm technique. You get to be a farmer for a day, plant your own seeds, and have a picnic in front of the farm home. Kids are shown which plants they can grow and see how the harvest finally reached the customer. They spend time with the chickens and get a peep in to see what's growing in those greenhouses.
Shady Grove Ranch, Jefferson
The Shady Grove Ranch in Jefferson is also one of a kind sustainable family-run farm that prides itself on rising pasture-fed animals. Their tours involve a good amount of walking about to observe their farming practices. You will meet the rotationally pastured chickens and the grass-fed and finished beef. They also have turkeys and goats on the ranch which you may get a glimpse of if you are lucky!
The USP of this farm is that the tour attendees get 10% off on their orders.
The Jersey Barnyard, LaGrange
The Frerichs family, owners of The Jersey Barnyard give tours of their farm every day of the week! Set in LaGrange, this family has been milking cows for more than 65 years! This 4th generation farm is nestled in the hills of south-central Texas amidst so many lush oak trees. The tours are designed for students, families, and senior citizens. What's more, they even encourage you to celebrate your kid’s birthday parties at the barn!
Visitors get to pet the animals and see the working Jersey dairy. You can see where the herd lives, grazes, and the milking facility. You even get to milk a cow! Thus, ensuring that the milk is 100% wholesome, natural, and local.
This aspect is really special as we get to see what goes on in a dairy farm, from when the cow is milked to the point where you get it packed in a bottle.
The family at the barn allows guests to pet and feed the farm animals, which I am sure is a big hit with little children.
It's Time We Get Back In Touch With Our Food
There were times when all this was a very common routine for families. Milking a cow, picking eggs laid by chickens, looking after your farm, or tending to horses. This was all part of a simple life and these were skills people learned from a very young age.
Take the time to readopt nature and culture within your family. Convenience isn’t all that there is. Go old school and get in touch with your food.
While in Austin, try grass-fed beef from one of these farmer's markets.
For the best brisket restaurant in the Lone Star State, click here!
If you want to know more about Beef Brisket, (What wine goes well with beef brisket?) take time to check it out here.
If you are in San Antonio, check out the best BBQ restaurant here!
