Direct from the Farmer

I’m sorry to post a link to a page that is in Dutch (and Fries), but below I am going to tell you what it is:

http://www.vaneigenerffryslan.nl

For more than a year now I have been visiting a farm near my garden in Fryslân, a Dutch province formerly called Friesland, and buying cheese and eggs from them. They have a small store front, run by the farmer and his wife and occasionally an older person who is probably one of their parents.

Sometimes I go there, the store is empty, and there is a little sign that says ‘I am out on the land or in the barn, please come looking for me.’ On quests to find the person to buy cheese from, I have personally met both the chickens and cows my food comes from. His farm is not small, more than 18 hectares, or about 40 acres.

I haven’t taken him up on the offer yet, but paid tours are available for those who are interested.

Not only are all of his products organic, and some of the best tasting cheese and eggs I have ever had, but the farmer takes a great deal of pride in what he feeds and how he treats his animals. His cows are ‘grass fed’ in the sense they don’t eat grain, but more than ordinary grass they eat 75 different varieties of grass and other plants, ‘herbs’ he calls them. To him the biodiversity that exists on his farm is key to the quality of his products and the health of his animals.

His animals are not ordinary. Some of his cows are what Americans call ‘oreo cookie’ cows, in that they are black front and back and have a white stripe in the middle.  Most of his other cows are old breeds, presumably Dutch or Fries varieties. He is very excited about all of his cows, and he will tell you all about the differences in them. They have different lifetimes, milk yield curves, and economic value to him. His chickens are equally interesting. Sometimes the eggs I get are white, sometimes brown and sometimes blue (from Mexican chickens he says).

He knows me by face, and frequently rushes into the back to get the best of whatever he has on offer at that moment. Sometimes what he has is something that has gone wrong, for example cheese that has too many holes (because it was too warm when he made it). I have learned really a lot about how his cheese is made, by tasting his ‘mistakes’, many of which have their own unique and delicious tastes.

By supermarket standards he is really cheap. Eggs are about the same price, 2 euros for 10. The price of his cheese varies, but is about 7 euros per Kg! I don’t think it’s possible to find any cheese that cheap in any supermarket.

So after all that I have said here, you know what the most surprising thing to me is? In all the times I have visited him, I have never seen another customer. I have to take a short walk through the woods to get to his shop, and there are a few spiders there. Sometimes I break spider webs along the way. Sometimes I show up at the end of the day and break spider webs, suggesting to me that I am his only customer that day! I have my own personal farmer, who exists only to serve me and who lives off of the 30 euros a month I give him, that’s what it seems like.

Anyway, so what is the URL above? He’s now online! Together with other farmers in the neighborhood, he is offering his products for delivery most places in Holland. In addition, many of the other farmers have store fronts on their farms, and it’s possible to go and meet them too. I hope I’m not the only one to order from them.

Following links off the page above, it’s possible to find other farmers all over Holland, including near or in all the major cities.

So the homework tonight for anyone reading this is to go surfing on the Internet and find the farmers near you. Go and visit them! Meet the farmers, and ask them to tell you about what they sell. Most of them are really excited about their products, and are eager to tell you about them. If you are interested in what they sell, ask them what kind of informal distribution systems they have for their products. Ask them about other farmers in the neighborhood. Ask them for a tour of their farm if you are interested.

Don’t start at a farmers market, the stands there are usually only run by larger farms, and you will miss out on small farmers this way. Whatever you do, go meet the farmer!

When you meet the farmer, don’t tell him his products don’t meet your expectations, save that for the minimum wage worker at the farmers market who is paid to take that. Don’t tell him there is chicken poop on his eggs, he doesn’t care. Don’t tell the farmer his products are too expensive, he is not trying to rip you off only earn a living wage. Nearly all farmers in this position are doing it because they love what they do and not because they are making any money what so ever. If he doesn’t offer to let you select what you buy, just take what he gives you. It’s not fair to expect to buy only the nicest few things he has, again save this for the minimum wage worker at the farmer’s market. If there is any reason you don’t like his products, you can go looking somewhere else.

Don’t just go to the supermarket and buy certified organic or free range foods, these certifications mean less and less all the time as standards are watered down. There is no certification more meaningful than the farmer telling you himself his products are organic and/or free range, don’t believe anything else. In addition, everything you buy at the supermarket goes through central distribution systems, which among other things means the farmer gets the smallest amount of money possible and you pay the most.

Go hand your money to the farmer himself, and make sure you pay the fairest price for the highest quality product and the farmer gets paid a fair price too!