People often ask us at the Farmer's Market, do your eggs or chicken taste better? More often than not, we don't have to answer if one of our regular customers is around. They will answer with a resounding YES! It is usually followed that a comment like “once you taste their eggs you will not be able to eat eggs from the store”. No, they are not paid actors but a very happy and satisfied customers and yes we do approve this message.  Why is this? What's the difference? The simple answer is that fresh is truly best. In reality, the eggs purchased from us on Saturday were probably gathered from the hens on Thursday or Friday of that very same week. You see, regulations determine our sell by date. State and federal regulations requires that we must label them 45 days from date of packaging. Did you catch that? Date packaged, not date laid by those hard working hens. You see being a small family farm we gather eggs daily, wash and then carton them usually the same day. Yes, the US Postal Services is not the only ones who work rain, shine, sleet or snow. Okay, only once in a few years do we fight the blizzards carrying the eggs up hill six miles in the snow, oh I forgot that was walking to school. So, when we date stamp them, you can feel good about the quality and age of the eggs in the carton. Now, on the large factory farms where the eggs are not processed and packaged on site they may sit in a refrigerated cooler for days waiting to be shipped to a processing site. The regulations only state that the eggs must be processed in a “reasonable time” but no one defines “reasonable”. Usually “reasonable time” has different definitions for each person.  Just ask my wife about how long my “reasonable time” to finish a project is: it sure is a whole lot longer then hers.

Besides being fresher, when you purchase local, rest assured your dollar goes a lot further in supporting not only your local farmer, but the local economy too. We are told that every dollar spent in the county is recirculated six or seven times. Just image the ten or fifteen dollars you spend with the local farmer who produced what you bought will be spent over again and again in Kershaw County. I can see County Council spending the tax dollars now. According to the USDA, the farmer who produces an item that is trucked off his farm and into a grocery store will only earn an average of 19 cents on the dollar. Whereas the amount given directly to the farmer when you purchase from him nets him 100 cent on the dollar.

We always tell people to know the face of their food. In other words, get to know the farmer who feeds you and your family. We believe the best way to know the farmer is to look at them in the mirror every morning. The freshest food will come from your back yard. But for these who can't or their green thumb has turned brown, an excellent way to do this is to shop at local Farmer's Markets like the one available in Camden. Talk with the farmer's there. Ask questions like did you grow or raise this? How was it grown or raised? You will find most farmers are good people and some really care about providing high quality, nutritionally dense food that will improve your family's health. Since Kershaw County is mostly rural, if you talk long enough you will probably find out you are related twice removed by marriage. Ok, we realize we don't live in an ideal world and not everyone can make it to the farmer's market. You do have another option, talk to you local manager at your grocery store. Tell him you want him to carry South Carolina products not China.    The South Carolina Department of Agriculture has a program called Certified South Carolina grown.  Checked it out at http://www.certifiedscgrown.com/. The only way local farming, and by local, I am referring to the State of South Carolina as local in this context will survive is that we as consumers stand up and put our dollars where our convictions are. We have a mighty opportunity to make a difference in not only how we feed our families, but how we support our farmers and our community too.

We believe small choices can yield big results. Steven Hobbs in Animal, vegetable, Miracle states that if every American family ate just one meal per week of locally and organically produce foods, then our country's oil consumption would be reduced by 1.1 million barrels of oil per week. With a barrel of oil costing over $130, that means annually we would reduce our consumption by almost $7.5 billion. $7.5 billion that could be put to other uses than supporting OPEC and others. One meal, once a week, one small choice, one huge impact. Isn't that just like life, even the small insignificant choice can add up to big results. Making small choices like supporting local farmers can change your life, their life and our country.