Bread Riot Farm Tour: Outing explores local bounty

Two boys frolic in the collard patch at Correll Farms, part of a recent farm tour organized by Bread Riot. Photo by Jack Thompson, for the Salisbury Post

Claire Wilson enjoys her visit to Wild Turkey Farm. Photo by Jack Thomson, for the Salisbury Post.

These children had fun riding in the back of a new-fangled John Deere at Correll Farms. Photo by Jack Thomson, for the Salisbury Post.

By Megan Bame

For The Salisbury Post

April 25, nearly 50 supporters of Bread Riot toured three local farms and enjoyed a meal of locally produced foods.

According to its Web site, Bread Riot is "a gathering of like-minded people in Salisbury and Rowan County ... that come together to bring local food to local people." The group "cultivates a thriving local economy by facilitating a supply of locally produced food, utilizing sustainable farming practices and focusing on whole-life issues, education, and environmental concern."

The farm tour was organized by Bread Riot to raise awareness of small, diverse farms just outside of Salisbury. It offered reassurance that food doesn't have to travel 1,500 miles from farm to table. These farms, and many other local producers within Rowan County, can supply a bountiful table of fresh, healthy, tasty foods. The tour kicked off at Correll Farms in Woodleaf. A former dairy operation, the Correll family has transitioned to commercial vegetable production.

David Correll said, "The tour was a great opportunity to spend time with our customers outside the farmers market, and discuss our farming practices and the importance of supporting locally produced food."

The Corrells encouraged each family on the tour to try their own hand at gardening by giving them a tomato plant, ready to transplant.

At Bame Farms, outside of Salisbury, the kids enjoyed turning the hand cranks on an antique corn sheller and grinding the corn into corn meal. The tour around the farm included a look at the free range chickens, grass-fed beef cows, and a passive solar greenhouse.

Andy and Megan Bame direct market their farm products including pork, beef, eggs, produce and flowers to local consumers.

"We love to share our farm experience with others, whether it's introducing someone to blue eggs or sharing time-tested gardening tips," Andy Bame says.

The local farm tourists loaded up for a hayride around Wild Turkey Farm.

The agricultural feature at the China Grove farm is not the turkeys — though there are a few gobblers — but the pastured pigs that display an alternative production model to confinement swine operations.

Lee Menius, tour guide and farmer, said, "We always enjoy the opportunity to help educate people about where their food comes from.

"Getting to see both adults and children in awe of the things we experience every day is a humbling experience."

Awe is an apt description of the response from the tour participants. Awe not only at the nature of farming, but at the culinary delight from the local menu.

From bratwurst and burgers to deviled eggs and mixed greens, the meal of local flavors provided a perfect capstone to the first Bread Riot Farm Tour.

For more information about the Bread Riot, visit www.breadriot.org