Food has a footprint. Whether it is hunted, gathered, ranched, farmed, or synthesized in a lab, everything you eat has a backstory. Someone produced, processed, and packaged it. Then someone transported and resold it before finally it arrived in a grocery aisle or restaurant pantry to wait for you to buy and eat it.

Most food produced in the US has a fairly unhappy back story -- it is grown and moved by foreign or immigrant laborers working long hours in dangerous jobs. Most farming in this country relies on excessive synthetic pesticides and large volumes of oil-based fertilizer and fuels. American farmers grow most crops using inefficient overhead sprinkler irrigation which allows seventy percent of the water to evaporate or leave our farms as polluted run-off. Mass processing and distribution use vast quantities of water and energy. 

The environmental footprint on any given meal might seem insignificant compared to that implied by manufacturing a laptop. Consider, though, that if you eat three times per day you consume 1095 meals in a year, while you might only purchase one laptop ever few years. Multiplication makes your food’s footprint important. The food system produces 15% or more of our nation’s carbon emissions.

For certain crops and climates, long-distance distribution might make sense. But in LA where the weather is ideal, why do consumers pay to ship what could be grown and enjoyed fresh? The answer is convenience -- how else would Angelenos get arugula, onions, and tomatillos but Ralphs or the Farmers Market?

There is another convenient option. Farmscape can provide you with professionally homegrown food. Compared to the same old retail produce, our customers love that their Farmscape harvests taste better. Farmscape membership ensures your food is grown sustainably by friendly local farmers using organic methods. We water crops with ninety-percent efficient drip irrigation. Our urban farmers rely on age-old organic farming wisdom and the strength of their own hands. Our supply chain is simple and our distribution route is on average about twenty feet from your raised-bed garden to your back porch.

We deliver food fresher than you can enjoy any other way. We grow many fruit and vegetable varieties you cannot find in any grocery store, all by your custom selection. In short, we can offer your household the best produce money can buy. Meanwhile, you can enjoy watching your harvest ripen outside your kitchen window. You will know your food’s backstory.

Beautiful Artwork by Jessica Chrysler
www.jessicachrysler.com