Whenever I sit and wonder what the heck I’m doing with my life, I always end up in the same place… it’s the food man!!!! Pure, simple, healthy, tasty… life’s really rewarding when you can narrow it down like that.
As a life long farmer being on the same acreage that 5 generations of Johnson’s have worked on, it truly is a privilege to actually have been able to know what good food is supposed to taste like and have the experience to know how to produce it.
Back when I was growing up, we always ate either what we grew and preserved on the farm or we bought what we needed from a friend or neighbor that did. Everyone was healthy, both in our family and at school. It was rare when we heard of someone who had cancer, heart disease or diabetes (which are now the top three diseases in the U.S.).
After I bought the farm from my Dad in 1978, I got caught up in the type of farming that contributed to the downward spiral of quality in our crops, using time-saving pesticides and harsh chemical fertilizers that initially seemed to work well, but as time went on, turned out to cost more and more with diminishing returns.
By the time I figured out what was happening to the health of my farm (and sadly enough to my health too) it was 1996 and I knew I’d better get after turning things around. I received my first Organic Certificate in 1997 and immediately the re-learning process began.
Almost everything I’d learned from the so-called agricultural experts was wrong or at least slanted to make me believe I needed to do this or that or spend this or that to make things grow properly. At the end of the day it was THEM making money… not me.
So when I talk about food, it’s not only my passion, it’s in my blood… my family… my DNA!!! I want to live a long HEALTHY life and as I see it, the only way that can happen is if I pay attention to what I put into my mouth on a daily basis!!
Healthy trails,
Dale