A dinner lesson on what we eat

Knowing where your food comes from and how it was grown or raised is becoming increasingly important in an era where genetic-modification, the use of antibiotics on animals and pesticides on crops is the norm in mainstream food production.

The best thing a consumer can do when it comes to healthy food is become educated, and Tara Firma Farms of Petaluma strives to do just that through weekly farm tours and a new Farm to Table monthly dinner series beginning in August.

The event feature guest speakers and a meal where various aspects of each course are discussed.

“There are three things we’re about, and one of them is being able to talk to the community about where their food comes from,” said Tara Smith, co-owner of Tara Firma Farms. “Farm to Table is all about that. The idea is to have people come, sit down at the table and talk about each course of the meal. For example, when water is being served, we can talk about irrigation and what it means to the farm and what we’re doing here at the farm. During the appetizers, we can talk about bio-intensive farming. When the chicken, beef or pork is served, we can discuss pasteurizing and why it’s healthier for us, the animals and even the soil.”

Smith and husband, Craig Smith, founded Tara Firma Farms just over a year ago. They were inspired by reading Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” with their sons, a high school reading assignment for the family. Shocked by the direction the food industry was taking, they decided to take the plunge and start an organic farm. The Smiths now raise beef cattle, pigs and chickens for meat and eggs; goats; and operate a full vegetable farming business, as well.

They host informative farm tours every Sunday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and are pleased to be adding Farm to Table as another dimension to their goal of educating the public about what they do and what goes into producing healthy, organic food.

“It’s going to be a really fun dinner, but the Farm to Table dinner is really about helping people make better decisions about the food they eat,” said Smith. “And it’s about supporting farmers that make the tough decisions on how they raise and grow their food. Since the late 1940s, we as consumers have been eating processed, bad foods. The animals we eat have also been treated horribly. It doesn’t have to be that way. This is why the Farm to Table dinners are about education.”

While some may argue that organic foods are too expensive, Smith counters by saying that if more people would support this way of farming, the cost would come down.

“We need to find some way to get the community to support these kinds of farms more,” she said. “Yeah, you would have to pay more, but at the same time you’re not subsidizing bad food. We have to get the community to say no to bad foods and yes to the good foods. Prices will come down as more people make that choice.

“There’s also the issue of community health improving. The more you care about food, the more you care about your health in general.”

The first Farm to Table event is Aug. 1 and features guest speaker Tony Najiola of Central Market. Though the Aug. 1 dinner is sold out, another Farm to Table dinner is scheduled for Sept. 11 featuring special guest Lierre Keith, author of “The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability.”

For cost and more information, on Farm to Table or Tara Firma’s weekly information tours, visit www.tarafir mafarms.com.

(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@arguscourier.com)