But, on rare occasions I become personally enamored with something that coincidentally enjoys widespread popularity.  It’s embarrassing, but I’ve learned to live with it.  My most recent convergence with a cultural craze is my increasing affinity for natural food.

I define “natural food” in simple, commonsense terms: Fruits and vegetables grown in natural, healthy soil without synthetic fertilizers or insecticides; Animals raised in as close to a natural habitat as possible, feeding on natural vegetation (as opposed to grain and synthesized feeds), treated with compassion and given drugs only if necessary to save their life.

Movements embracing “organic” food, environmentally conscious “locavores” or the “slow food” philosophy are growing internationally.  Most of these movements make claims about improved health, reduced carbon emissions and a return to old-world social values.  Perhaps.  Objective science cautions that many of these claims have not been substantiated, and that some are downright false. 

But I don’t care about movements.  I’m a supporter of natural food because I like natural food. 

Our tomatoes, green beans, peppers and herbs taste better than store bought.  Maybe it’s all in my mind, but I don’t care.  As long as my produce seems to taste better, I’m sold.  But I also get peace of mind from knowing the soil they were grown in is rich in micronutrients and free of synthetic chemicals and fertilizers.  We grow all our vegetables in rich, natural compost, courtesy of two horses and a couple dozen goats.  Nothing in that soil came in a bag, box or bottle.

The chevon (goat meat) in my freezer came from a goat I helped deliver and raise.  I know where that goat was its entire life, what it ate, and most importantly, that no synthetic chemical or drug has never touched it, inside or out.  It was raised with enormous compassion and was ultimately slaughtered quickly and humanely.  Sure, it tastes great, but it also makes me feel great.

Thanks to a small network of local farmers, we’ve come to enjoy an abundance of natural food.  We eat eggs from free-range chickens we regularly visit.  We’ve had sausage and pork chops from a hormone-free pig we’ve played with.  I use honey from bees I’ve seen.

My wife makes tomato sauce from our tomatoes and herbs.  The goat cheese in our salads comes from a local farm she’s visited.  Turnips, cucumbers and squash all come from friends.  And when we grill, we use charcoal I made on our farm using local hardwood (check out our Charcoal page).

Some nights, almost everything on our plates can be traced to where it was grown or born.  Kinda neat, don’t you think?

I make no claim that I’m physically healthier, will lose weight or am saving the environment.  I simply state that I like this food better; I know the animals are being treated with utmost care and I’m putting as much back into the land as I’m taking out.  For me, that’s enough.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think about natural food.

Alan Keck

Alan@SoleilFarm.com

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As I visit goat farms in Southside Virginia, I'm always impressed with the innovative solutions producers have for dealing with goat husbandry problems.  Rather than continually reinventing the goat production wheel, I'd like to see how others handle problems and come up with solutions.  

This Goat Forum is an attempt to gather some of those solutions and share them with others.

So, if you have a question about goats, post it on our Goat Forum and hopefully someone will offer to share their caprine wisdom. 

Happy Goating,

Alan