Bloggers are real people, too!

... and they can be really cool in real life!

As you know, John and I spent last weekend near Lancaster, PA.  What you might not know is that one of the nicest bloggers ever lives there!  Zoe (of Whole Eats & Whole Treats) and her husband Brad were kind enough to have us over while we were in the neighborhood.  Let me tell you, she is JUST as sweet as she seems!  If you haven't checked out her blog yet, do it now.  It is chock full of recipes (especially recipes for desserts...yummm!)

I really wanted to meet her chickens.  I know how silly that sounds, but John and I have been talking about getting chickens for a while, and I wanted to spend some time with them.  Zoe, of course, obliged and led us over to them.  It probably seemed strange to her that we wanted to "meet" her chickens and see her gardens, but we live in the suburbs.  We like to PRETEND it is the country, but really, it isn't.  

Anyway, seeing Zoe's chickens totally solidified the idea for us.  Well, seeing the chickens AND tasting how DELICIOUS the eggs were solidified it.  She was generous enough to send us home with 4 dozen eggs!  She keeps saying how we were helping her out by taking them off her hands, but I don't totally believe it.  Based upon what we have to pay for nearly-but-not-quite farm fresh eggs, it seemed like an AMAZING gift.  

One of the things we talked about what the type/price of food available to us in our area.  When we shared with her the price we have to pay for raw milk in NJ (when we can get it at all), her eyes nearly popped out of her head!  We continued to discuss eggs, chicken, and meat, and all the while she was shaking her head.  It really made me think about how hard we work to be able to afford the type of happy food we eat.  It also added another layer to our understanding of why people eat the Standard American Diet and how far we need to go before progress is made.  

What can we do to bring our ideals (happy animals that weren't "grown" in factory farms or CAFOs, fresh products, non-GMO food) to the rest of the country?  How can we make it more affordable for suburbanites like us?

This post was featured on Real Food Wednesday with Kelly the Kitchen Kop!