My Life in Farming

The news of the death of Joan Dye Gussow, the author and nutritionist who coined the phrase “eat locally, think globally” and who pioneered the “eating locally” food movement of the late 1940s and 50s, brought to mind the time I spent during my youth in western New York learning from my mentor and neighbor, Fred Hutchins. Fred had a small, five-acre farm off Route 104 west of Rochester where he grew vegetables: corn, cantaloupe, beans, and tomatoes.With a small, hand-held tractor, a hoe, and a shovel, Fred taught me the routine of preparing the soil, tilling, and maintaining the rows for planting.

As important as the time that Fred and I spent in the field was, it was during the early mornings and late afternoons when we would sit under a canopy of trees that I learned life-long lessons from him. He explained to me what Joan Gussow was promoting then, which was the connection between farming practices and health. Fred was a follower of her philosophy and talked about how important it was to know what I was eating and where it had come from.Growing up in a kosher home, I was keenly aware of traif--the Yiddish word for “unkosher.”But “unhealthy” took on another meaning listening to Fred and ever since I read the labels on food.Years later, when I moved to East Hampton, I thought about creating a small farm on my property, but the idea soon faded as my work and family life expanded.Yet I still only buy produce in season, during the summer months, from our local vegetable stands.

Farming and farms were also a neighborhood experience for me growing up.On my walks home from high school, I passed a small farm that occupied the corner of Route 104 –Ridge Road and Clinton Avenue, which is now a shopping center—where, during the summer, all varieties of vegetables and flowers were grown and sold.Sometimes I cut through the farm and enjoyed the smell of the ripe cantaloupe sitting atop the soil. I marvel at the magic of a small seed blessed by the sun and water from heaven, growing into a source of food for us humans on which to live.