Can You Support Local Farmers through Fast Food?

By Jennifer Elwell, Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom

I was once a food and mommy blogger. Looking back, I’m surprised I put myself on the social media Interstate when these days I’m content to watch from the side roads.

Since the purpose of my site was to provide healthy meal ideas for kids with a strong helping of “I trust in the practices of farmers”, I remember wanting to run and hide when I ran into someone I knew while going through a drive-thru. I knew there were much better choices, but I don't shun fast food, especially when it's been a long week and standing in front of a stove and washing dishes are the farthest things from my mind. So, pizza it was.

But is going to a "quick-service" chain restaurant a slap in the face to my small, Kentucky farmers? It actually is not. I happen to know a Shelby County farmer who grows jalapenos for Papa John's while also providing CSA shares to her local customers. I know a farmer who raises chickens for McDonald's and uses the chicken manure for his corn and soybeans, as well as the vegetables his family sells at the farmer's market. I know countless Kentucky farmers who grow soft red winter wheat in their crop rotations, milled locally for McDonald's biscuit flour. I am sure there are many other examples, but those are just a few off the top of my head. Dairy Queen uses Purnell’s Old Folks Country Sausage, made in Simpsonville, Ky.

No matter the size or location, a farm is a business, and they are looking to sell to a market whatever that may be. Fast food may look very appealing because they need a lot of product. What makes me feel a little better about it is that many restaurants are still willing to source from many different family farms. That's smart business, too.

So before the "locavore" in you decides to stick your nose in the air at KFC, thinking 'how much "Kentucky" is really in that menu,' think again. Some small part may have been provided by your neighbor.

Photo by Linda McClanahan, Mercer County Extension

FoodJennifer ElwellLocal Food