Monday, September 17, 2007

What is HOMEGROWN?

HOMEGROWN is a celebration of the imaginative, passionate people who love to eat, grow and cook good food. HOMEGROWN is also a celebration of the pioneering ways that people live, communicate, and express themselves.
A few of us at Farm Aid noticed the word homegrown popping up in lots of places: People have been using the word at farmers markets. We see people admiring the vegetables and fruits, catching the eye of the farmer, asking questions. We’ve heard the word when people talk about what they’ve cooked that’s local, or organic, or when they tell you a story about where that food came from.

Anyone who has ever patiently waited for his first crop of cherry tomatoes, or squealed gleefully upon the arrival asparagus season is HOMEGROWN. Anyone who has ever over-bought at a farmers market, only to make a dazzling dish from it all is HOMEGROWN. There are plenty of people out there who are making their mark in the world using their hands, hearts and the gifts from the earth.

HOME is safety, warmth, welcome, comfort, psychic renewal, connection. Love. GROWN means waiting for things to mature. Anticipation. We might feel awe at the process of relentless change, toward delicious, healthy food. Amazement we are utterly dependent on soil, water, sun and a seed—and hard work and good luck for our survival. It’s an invisible thread, from the apple in your hand, to the farmer who tended the orchard, to the sturdy tree, to the soil where it’s digging in roots, connecting us to nature.

HOMEGROWN.org is a place for HOMEGROWN folks to gather, and It’s a place that will be defined by the folks who gather there. Won’t you be a part of it?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't have $$ at FarmAid for a HOMEGROWN shirt, and the buttons were all at the VIP area. How can I acquire a shirt and some buttons, now that I'm back in Ohio and have access to $$$?

Anonymous said...

We're so pleased that you would like a shirt. We're not set up for e-commerce, so if you can send in a check for $22.50 - that includes shipping - we'll send you an organic cotton HOMEGROWN T. It is olive green and says HOMEGROWN in white across the chest, and "In Dirt We Trust" in white on the back.

We'll even throw in a set of HOMEGROWN buttons for FREE - which, incidentally, were available to anyone who filled out the HOMEGROWN program book page and returned it to a donation booth.

Our mailing address is 11 Ward St., Somerville, MA 02142. Be sure to include what sized T-shirt you would like and your mailing address!

Anonymous said...

Oops!
An addendum to the mailing address:

Address any correspondence to Farm Aid - suite #200 and our zip is actually 02143.

CHICKENVIDEO.COM said...

Homegrown extends to eggs and chickens too! Love the idea, and was pleased to read chickens are OK in NYC and Brooklyn. Other places are not so enlightened, but remember "Wherever chickens are outlawed, only outlaws will have chickens."

Check out http://www.chickenvideo.com/ for more information about how to raise homegrown chickens.

Cheers for Chickens!

Anonymous said...

I'm designing a menu for a new bar set to open next week (Oct. 1st) in Williamsburg Brooklyn. If anyone is interested in meeting for a chat over food and drink please let me know.

Anonymous said...

This post is so well written it hurts. You are celebrating something that is already happening, and giving us all a forum to come together and discuss our decision to make our food...and our life...our own. There are so many people making this transition, but it's happening in our own quiet little corners. This opportunity to connect and share our stories will make this movement a force to be reckoned with.