The Farmer in the Grocery Store

Yesterday a bunch of us went into Georgetown and had to run into the grocery store to get some bitters so we could make Manhattan's (hey farmers like fancy drinks too!). Anyway it was my first time being in a really huge obnoxious grocery store in months. We started looking at the produce, the conventional produce was all shipped in from the states even though it was mostly in season here, and the produce was so ugly. The beets were cracked and dry and shriveled, the garlic wasn't processed properly and was all split at the top (probably due to mechanization), our organic produce was even comparable in price with a lot of the conventional produce. The organic produce looked better but ours was still cheaper. Thats because we don't sell to a distributer, we retail our own food and skip the middle man. I hope next season to find a CSA near Ottawa so i can get local, organic, well priced food and that i can support my local farmer. it would even be better if I could find a CSA that would allow me to work a day a week in exchange for a share. I'm also hoping to get a community garden plot in Ottawa to start growing my own. This winter I will begin planning my bio-intensive garden and probably making many tripped to Lee Valley!