who's your farmer?

today was a spectacular early fall day. the temperature was exactly 70 degrees for most of the day, and the sun shone splendidly. i headed to the farmer's market after the gym this morning, and my goodness- what a market it was! first there were alpacas and llamas there, and of course i stopped to visit with the familiar site of the alpacas. and then, there were four old ladies in costume dresses singing old traditional folk songs. having reached that point, i had my i-love-vermont grin on. from there, it only got better. the produce today was beautiful. perfect yellow and red tomatoes, shiny onions, leafy greens, glowing eggplants. even apples and cider creeping their way into the harvest. it was glorious, indeed. and yet, it was a bittersweet day as farmers across the state are struggling to regain their businesses after irene's damage wiped them out. the govermont has deemed all food contaminated by floodwater inedible- which is likely a safe and appropriate choice. but as we are in the midst of peak harvest, it's hard to fathom the impact it will have. so i hope that you all will take a minute to find a way to support your local farmers, whether they are suffering from irene damage not.