Shortages? In Louisiana? I disagree.

Last night, our dinner was made about 98%, (100% minus three spices) from items grown in our home state of Louisiana. Beef from 312 Beef (our beef.) Green beans from my 2020 garden. Squash purchased at a farmer’s market in Central, cooked in beef tallow, rendered from our cows’ fat.

I couldn’t help but wonder while I was cooking (I wonder this often), “How can there be “shortages” when we can produce so much in this state? 

You may hear this from me time and time again. But there is no need for food shortages in this state! What we need is a mindshift change. 

As an avid gardener, I have yet to find much of anything that we can’t really grow in Louisiana, except for a few things that really need dry conditions or super cold weather. Even then, I can plant those dry condition plants under a roof top of my house and they can make it just fine. Cold weather plants can be planted in November. We can produce on large and small scales: apples, muscadine, tons of citrus, beef, pork, lamb, goat, chicken, and how about the seafood? 
Now let’s go to the vegetables. Green beans, pumpkins, squash, lima beans, greens- you name it, we can grow it!
We have two growing seasons in this state, if not three in some areas.

Louisiana USED to be a prime dairy state, and one friend of mine, Ted Miller at Delta Dairy, even moved his dairy operation from Pennsylvania to Baskin, Louisiana because he is convinced that the ability to produce great forage is found nowhere better than Louisiana.
And as a grass-fed beef producer, gardener, and chicken hobbyist, I have to agree 100%. 

Whereas our friends in Texas are struggling to get a few bites of grass, and the ranchers in Colorado are selling out because of no forage whatsoever, we are over here bushhogging pastures because it’s too lush.  (I disagree with bushhogging, but it’s a somewhat necessary evil for leases at this time in our farming journey. More on that later).

This is one of the most prolific ecosystems I’ve ever seen for growing food, perhaps second to my visit to St. Croix, USVI where it’s 86 year round. 

So why is this an issue? 
We have “been learned” to be global shoppers and eaters, with out-of-season foods and prepackaged processed goods at our fingertips.  We travel miles to Baton Rouge, Monroe, Shreveport, Alexandria to get our Sam’s or Costco goods. 

What if our interstate system in Louisiana was destroyed? What if gas goes up to $10,12, 15 a gallon? Where would you get your milk tomorrow? What would you cook for dinner if big suppliers couldn't get their trucks to your local grocery store? 
And*gasp*what if you couldn’t make it, or afford to drive, to Sam’s or Costco?

What if goods that were imported from out of Louisiana or taxed heavily? What if we could no longer access food grown in California or Florida? What if we could not get boxed beef from Illinois? Would be be in a bind? Or would it cause others to rise to the occasion? What if we couldn’t get milk from out of state? Imagine the market for small dairies to pop up and supply their community.

Do you know who your closest farmers are? Do you know where you can find greens vegetables beef chicken pork or fish?

What if you could only travel up to 5-10 miles to get your food? Do you have a farmers market within that radius? Do you have enough farmers around?  

What if you couldn’t get baby formula in the stores? Do you know anyone with a goat for goat milk? Do you know how to pasteurize? Oh wait… That’s already happening. And are there enough goat and cow’s milk dairies in the state to supply babies in Louisiana? Are there enough processors?

What if we quit thinking about global, out-of-season, prepackaged foods and convenience, and started thinking about the what if‘s?

What if our elected officials helped this preparedness along by deregulating in-state small farmers, and regulating more and penalizing out of state goods being brought in?

To sum it up in my opinionated words, there is no need for us to be importing any good that we can create or grow in Louisiana. By doing so, we are damaging the small farmer and Louisiana economy, and setting ourselves up for disaster. 

And please, tell me something we can’t grow or produce in Louisiana that you MUST have.

Tara Morris