Kate Beveridge, a retired midwife, has this to say about local food:
"I grew up during World War II with rationing. Everything was local, because that's all there was! My grandfather had a humungous garden. That was just so easy. I thought lettuce was just easy. My first pizza was in eighth grade. When I was in my twenties, local food was still easy to come by.
“After I got married, I worked as a midwife in Southern Maryland. Sometimes I got paid in produce! Farming is a lot of work. We saw, and my kids saw, how hard it is.
"But we moved to the DC suburbs in 1990. The farms were dying out and changing to housing developments, and our kids were getting older. There were no farmers markets here.
"Now the pendulum is swinging back. This summer we were able to get all our fruits and vegetables from the College Park and Riverdale Park farmers markets. That's my real interest - the produce. We are trying to get away from meat.
"When I get the fruits, I freeze them. The blueberries freeze beautifully - and the peaches, of course! But I am not ready to go back to canning yet!
"Local food is good because you know the history. You know who grew it. You hear their struggles. I know where their farms are. I really believe in sustainable agriculture without the middleman. It's a question of quality of life for everybody. It's also important to reduce your carbon footprint by limiting food transportation costs. Also, if you eat locally and support everything locally, you meet a lot of interesting people!"
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