About Saving Dragonfiles

ON SAVING DRAGONFLIES – This blog is my attempt to communicate what I’ve learned while trying to eat sustainable organic and local food.   

I never thought much about how food was grown until I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.  It changed my life and how I think about food.  His books and subsequent reading made me angry – about what they do to food these days.  It just seems to lack common sense.

Organic Food Around Cambridge - Boston in the Summer:  We would often visit Hutchins Farm in Concord, MA on the weekend after walking at Punkatasset and Saw Mill Brook or Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  Hutchins is exceptional in its abundance and diversity of organic produce.  Another great place to get organic produce is the Blue Heron Farm in Lincoln.  It is a beautiful place and not very far from Boston. Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge carries some really interesting organic vegetables and fruits. Cambridge and Boston both have Whole Food and Trader Joe’s markets. 

Organic Food Around Franklin, PA in the Summer:  I grew up here.  The farmer’s market, especially on Saturday has some great produce.  You must ask if they use fertilizers and pesticides – here people do not generally get certified because of the expense and paperwork.   My favorite vendor in Franklin is the Bend Farm.  This farm was started by a chef and his wife -- they have fabulous produce and sometimes sell organic olive oil and chicken.  They also sometimes have wild chanterelle mushrooms.  There is a stand every other week - Robyn’s Nest - where an artist sells small hand painted objects but also sells wild produce (like ramps) and jams made from wild berries.  I bought wild dandelion glaze and wild violet jam from her --- we just love her stand. Chatley’s Greenhouse claims to not use pesticides and they have beautiful produce.  The owner gave me a chestnut tree for free once.  I ask the farmers how they grow things and have on occasion had them save me some produce that they grew without chemicals even if most of their produce was grown conventionally.  My family buys beef in bulk from a certified organic farm, Ron Gargasz Organic Farms.   Ron Gargasz is an organic chemist and also taught at a local college as a key member in founding a Sustainable Systems graduate program.   If you ever visit his farm, you will see that his whole way of life is literally built on the principle of sustainability.