What a happy surprise to read my favorite blog and find that you've visited my backyard here in the beautiful Willamette Valley. As you might imagine sustainable agriculture is dear to my heart. Sustainable agriculture means growing crops and raising animals in a way that keeps nature in balance: rotating crops, renewing the soil with compost, attempting to farm "organically" as much as possible. I am not a farmer, though I live outside the city limits (cows and horses graze across the road). I do have a very small vegetable garden and, for the first time in my life, have 8 chickens in a coop in my back yard. The silly rooster is telling me that it's 5:35am as I type this. My husband and I moved home to Oregon two years ago after 20+ years in the big city of Seattle. Though "agriculture" is now literally my backyard, even in Seattle we were cognizant of the need to live in balance. By that I mean we tried to buy food that was grown or raised as close as logistically possible to where we lived and to eat food as unprocessed as possible. That's one of the reasons I love King Arthur Flour, your products and your recipies help me make really good food "from scratch" to use the old fashioned phrase. The less high fructose corns syrup and other ingredients with unpronounceable names in our food the better - at least for our family. I count myself very lucky that I live where I live, with access to wonderful farmers markets full of incredibly good food, beautiful flowers and the chance to actually meet the people who raise the food I eat. That's sustainable to me. Thank you, Linda. Growing, raising, and making your own food is a wonderful way to be more sustainable on a personal level. Knowing where your food comes from and what's in it can never be a bad thing, we think. :-) -Allison@KAF

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