ROCHESTER, N.Y. — When it comes to food, everyone craves great quality.
What You Need To Know
- According to American Farmland Trust every day, 2,000 acres of farmland are lost to non-agricultural uses, many farms continue to lose topsoil at alarming rates; and one-third of America’s farmland may change hands in the next 15 years as aging landowners sell their properties
- Small family farms across New York are closing at a record pace, taking with them not only fresh local food but also a way of life that has anchored our communities for generations. Rising costs, narrow margins and competition from industrial agriculture make survival harder than ever
- In the Rochester area, Firewatch Farm Co. is working every day to keep that tradition alive
For Firewatch Farms Co. owner Amanda Dufrane, this wasn’t just a want it was a necessity.
“I was a drill sergeant in the Army reserves as a union HVAC contractor,” Dufrane said. “And I got really sick a few years ago with Gulf War syndrome and it forced me out of the workforce. The VA doesn’t understand it and civilian doctors have never heard of it. I went to the hospital a lot and was told that was just my quality of life now. I refused to take that as an answer and finally landed on the carnivore diet which gave me some of my quality of life back. And I found that through raising my own meat and eating that and going on a strict carnivore diet, that I was able to regain some quality of life. So now I’m trying to spread that awareness to other people that are struggling with chronic illnesses.”…