Crabtree Farms volunteer Karen Biles works in the greenhouse.Ever wonder where your food is grown and who grows it? Here’s a chance to learn.
The first-ever TasteBuds Farm Tour is coming to the Scenic City, and it will give you the opportunity to meet local farmers on their own turf while supporting TasteBuds Local Food Guide, a regional guide for finding local foods, grown or made within 100 miles of Chattanooga. The guide is now in its fifth year and is produced by Chattanooga’s Crabtree Farms. It’s a free publication and, in order to keep it free, organizers are hoping the farm tour will raise needed funds.
“Many people pick up the TasteBuds Local Food Guide and read through it and learn about the farms listed in it but, for most of them, the experience ends there,” says Andrea Jaeger, programs coordinator at Crabtree Farms. “By putting on a TasteBuds Farm Tour, we are hoping to bring the guide to life for our readers. The goal is that not only will the visitors have a great time visiting the farms, meeting the farmers and seeing where their food is grown, but they will also gain a new appreciation for the value of buying locally grown foods.”
Chrissie Plew, an urban farmer at Crabtree, thinks it’s important for folks, particularly those who live in the city, to visit the farms.
“It takes us out of our technology-dominated world and reminds us of the fundamentals in life, in a way,” she says.