Locally grown food finds niche in Brockton area - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise

Locally grown food finds niche in Brockton area - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise: "Locally grown food finds niche in Brockton area
Demand for local produce is sprouting

Tim Correira/The Enterprise
Jim Reynolds feeds his chickens at The Dahlia Farm in Middleboro on Thursday. Reynolds, who runs a successful florist shop, is expanding and will sell eggs and produce from his 6-acre farm.



Related Links We need a diet of “real food,” Michael Pollan tells Bridgewater State audience (03/27/09)
By Kyle Alspach
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Mar 27, 2009 @ 11:28 PM

MIDDLEBORO — A new organic farm in Middleboro and a farmers market in Bridgewater are set to debut this year, two signs that locally grown food is a growing commodity in the region.The Dahlia Farm on Plymouth Street in Middleboro will offer organic vegetables and herbs, eggs from free-range chickens and cut flowers, said farmer Jim Reynolds.People will be able to buy “shares” of the vegetable crop this summer, entitling them to an assortment of veggies each week starting in June...

Nearly 500 people who crowded into a Bridgewater State College hall on Wednesday to hear a talk from Michael Pollan, local food advocate and author of best-sellers “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.”Pollan’s emphasis on eating “real food” — with little or no processing — is something that resonates with farmers such as Jim Reynolds.“People are becoming more and more aware of what exactly is in the food they’ve been eating — that just because something has an FDA approval, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you,” he said.The Dahlia Farm is located on the property of Reynolds Flowers, a business run by Reynolds’ family since the 1950s.Reynolds, 46, and his wife, Michele, will be farming the land together this year. One acre is being devoted this year to vegetables, he said.Another two acres are allotted for the farm’s 50 chickens, which are currently producing organic eggs for the Rockin K Cafe in Bridgewater.Reynolds joins several dozen other farmers in southeastern Massachusetts growing food mainly for local consumption.“There’s very much a movement of people becoming educated in what we’re eating,” he said...

10 Farmers Make 12 tons of Nitrogen Fertilizer Disappear.

Last year, ten Pennsylvania farmers took on AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST's "Best Management Program Challenge" to grow their field crops using less nitrogen fertilizer than the recommended levels nitrogen fertilizer. The results of their year long experiment are good news for the environment and the wallet! In 2008, these farmers reduced a total of 24,658 pounds of nitrogen that otherwise would have been applied to their fields. Not only did these farmers remove thousands of pounds of nitrogen that could have ended up clouding the Chesapeake, they did it at a fraction of the cost of other nitrogen removal strategies—at only $2.74 per pound versus the up to $8-9 per pound it is estimated it could cost tax payers to remove the nutrient through other means. It isn’t just farmers that can make a difference; you can do your part too! Whether you live in the Mid-Atlantic or in the plains of North Dakota, water always makes its way downhill. Find out what you can do: check-out the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s nitrogen calculator and take a challenge of your own!