Local food for Thanksgiving

Dan Barber's op-ed today for the New York Times lays out the interesting case for supporting mid-sized American farms, in preference to large corporate farms (of course) and small farms (surprisingly). With a Thanksgiving turkey hook:

THIS Thanksgiving there's something to be really thankful for: more and more Americans - at least 250,000 of them in New York alone this week - are shopping for their turkeys and sweet potatoes at local farmers' markets.

They're doing so because the food is fresher, less processed and generally tastes better than what you'd find in a supermarket. But there are also political and social considerations: supporting small farmers, these shoppers believe, will preserve farmland, reduce the number of industrial farms and help us move away from an agricultural economy that encourages the production of commodities like corn, soy and sugar at the expense of just about everything else.

Thanks to Jack from Fork & Bottle for the link.

In our home, I am looking forward to cooking the turkey, stuffing, and gravy for the whole extended family tomorrow, while my wife runs in Somerville's 4 mile "Gobble, gobble, gobble" race -- perhaps in the snow! Happy Thanksgiving to you.