The farmstand community is alive and growing in Bowie County

By Rylee Freeman

Bowie County is blessed with several businesses that provide reputable and safe products that nourish the body.

When buying local, you are supporting one’s livelihood and their family, while they pour back into the community and support you as well.

With the recent cyclospora outbreak from lettuce, it is important to be informed on where your food and goods come from and how they are made. Buying local ensures just that.

Paige Howard at Howard House Farm in Malta, alongside her husband and children, is in the first year of offering goods to the public, with the goal of benefiting the community.

Using her educational background in biology and plant ecology and her husband’s background in cattle operations, Howard brings a wealth of knowledge to the world of produce.

Howard said that the average piece of produce has to travel over 1,000 miles to make it to one’s plate. Each stop that delivery trucks make increases the risk of contamination or the spread of disease. Additionally, eggs can sit refrigerated in a storage facility for 60 days before reaching the grocery store.

Howard shared a few tactics to ensure the products she sells to the community are the highest quality, including a pH meter to ensure correct levels when canning, practicing safe food-handling methods and meeting specific labeling requirements.

Everything sold in store at Howard House Farm comes straight off the vine, with precautions taken to avoid contaminants being introduced to fruits and vegetables.

Bonne Copeland, owner and operator of The Classy Nanny in Avery, specializes in all-natural goat and tallow soap.

Copeland gets the tallow from local producers in the area and renders it herself with no additives or deodorizers. The goat milk comes directly from her goats. The soap also includes coconut oil, shea butter and olive oil.

Copeland raises an important question that people may not think of when browsing the grocery store to pick up products.

“If you go to the store, whether you buy bar soap or liquid soap, can you pronounce those ingredients?” Copeland said.

In-store soaps could contain endocrine or hormone disruptors, whereas the goat milk itself is naturally anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial, alongside being rich, moisturizing and skin soothing.

Copeland said she has seen customer experience improvement and benefits in skin, eczema, psoriasis, dryness, redness and moisturization.

Copeland takes the health of her goats very seriously, ensuring they are kept in a clean environment, vaccinating them, avoiding chemical dewormers and keeping their care as natural and holistic as possible. The goat milk is filtered and chilled immediately, leaving little to no time for bacteria to grow.

Bobbi Butcher at BLB Farms in DeKalb started her produce journey in 2010 as a hobby, but it has grown tremendously over time.

Butcher says that when shopping at the grocery store, customers lose the ability to ask questions and receive information about the produce they are buying.

It is no secret that we are living in a world of convenience. At times, it can feel much easier to grab what you need at the store, rather than buying local.

BLB Farms provides a unique service that accommodates this way of life. Butcher started a delivery service for her veteran and elderly customers but has now expanded it to all customers. She values meeting customers’ needs and going the extra mile to make things more convenient for them - something that would not typically be found at a grocery store.

Butcher does not spray any of the farm’s crops, keeping everything as fresh, clean and natural as it can be.

As for how quickly produce typically goes from farm to customer, Butcher shared that once she picks it, it will more than likely be gone within a day, whereas produce in a grocery store can sit for weeks, sometimes months.

Through yearly classes, Butcher strives to inform the community and provide enjoyable ways to learn about a healthier lifestyle. This year, she taught peach canning, pickle, jam and jelly classes.

“You get a whole community, a relationship with somebody that you never expected to be friends with, so it just causes a whole chain reaction when you shop local,” Butcher said.

A common theme among every farm in the community is the importance of where your dollar goes when shopping locally.

These local producers pour hours of hard work and time away from their families into creating and preparing the products they sell.

“But time and time again, it’s been shown that if you spend that dollar locally, most of that dollar is going to stay local,” Howard said.

When spending that extra dollar, you are supporting someone who truly supports you, while also getting the opportunity to learn and experience a healthier way of life.

As the trend to live healthier and shop local continues, west Bowie County is blessed to have so many of these local producers and growers call our area home. Look around your neighborhood for one close to you and support your neighbors as they give us all more options for a more healthy, natural lifestyle.