Seeking out Local Food in Utah

After moving to Utah, I put my organic farming career on hold. From what I could tell, opportunities here seemed few and far between (at least compared to coming from the Northwest). I was bummed to leave farming, but I ended up landing a sweet job managing part of a wholesale nursery in the Salt Lake Valley. I love that I still get to work with plants and that I get to be outside all day.

Even though I've put my farming career on hold, its still really important for me to be involved with the local food system. It makes me happy and I can only choke down that so called "organic" produce at the supermarket for short spurts.  Having been deeply indoctrinated by Motown, I know that "there ain't nothing like the real thing baby" so I set out to get my hands on some fresh local veggies.

I had played with the idea of starting my own little backyard garden but it was a bit late in the season for getting started, I didn't have a space, and my summer work hours were long. For me, the best option was to find a small farm in the area and volunteer for a work share. I contacted a local farm and have been doing a few hours of weeding in exchange for fresh summer veg.

Peppers from the Farm

"So glad we got the real thing baby" 

I've been trying to piece together just what exactly is going on with the local food moment here in Utah. It exists, but seems to be a bit small and disjointed. I plan on making more contacts within the local food movement and farming community here so that I can get a better idea of what's going on and how I can help support it. I'll talk more about what I find in post to come.