Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/943494
114 Greg Georgaklis (top) and a farmer educating people about the value of Farmers to You. jump right on board and that farmers would need a bit of convincing that the model would work to their advantage. It turned out to be the opposite case. "e farmers lined up immediate- ly," Georgaklis recalls. "ey were desperate for a good, well-paying market." It was the families who were hesitant. Georgaklis spent a great deal of time educating people about the value of Farmers to You. In time, people came to real- ize that they are the solution to the corporate food chain's failure to deliver fresh, nutritional food that pays the people who produce it. By putting money into a sustainable food system, they boost their community's economy and well-being. "It's a circular, associative type of economic system that builds on relationships," Georgaklis notes. "It's about getting away from cheap, convenient food." And participants value those relationships. "Everybody knows who's feeding them," says Georgaklis. "If somebody wants to pick up the phone or email their dairy farmer, they can do that. We encourage it." Georgaklis's efforts include hosting events and dinners that bring farmers and families together— both to socialize and to discuss next steps in the development of this new food system. He has noticed how the Farmers to You model empowers people, families, and farmers alike. "People feel a lot of hope in taking control of their food system again," he says, adding that next-generation farmers are beginning to feel Andover SHED KIDS CLUB 65 Phillips St. Wednesdays, 4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m. SHED CHILDREN'S CAMPUS 65 Phillips St. Wednesdays, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Beverly BEVERLY COVE COMMUNITY CENTER 19 East Corning St. Wednesdays, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. WALDORF SCHOOL AT MORAINE FARM 701 Cabot St. Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Georgetown FLATBREAD PIZZA COMPANY 258 Andover St. Wednesdays, 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Manchester-by-the-Sea 10 Central St. Wednesdays, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Marblehead 44 Smith St. Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Newburyport 5 Dexter St. Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Rowley 217 Main St. Wednesdays, 4:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. North Shore Markets PHOTOGRAPHS BY H.B. WILCOX that they could make a living farming, whereas prior to Farmers to You, the future of farming as a viable livelihood seemed bleak. It's important to note, too, that Farmers to You serves a diverse demographic. It is often assumed that they cater to Boston's wealthy suburbs, but as Georgaklis explains, "We do very well in communities that are engaged and conscious about the connection between food and good health...a place like Jamaica Plain, where people have made a conscious choice to redistribute their income to support a sustain- able, healthy lifestyle." ey also serve recent immigrants from Europe and the Middle East, where fresh food is a large part of the culture. "ey discover that this is the kind of food that they have been missing," notes Georgaklis. It might be argued that people who are concerned about where their food originates have the option to shop at a local co-op and/