A Veggie Story: Part I – The Journey

Our day began like any other.

The Texas sun rose early and shone its nourishing light down onto the gardens and produce plots of Animal Farm, our first home. As farmers Cas, Gita and their helpers plucked us from our vines, bushes, trees and patches and loaded us into the refrigerated truck, we had no idea the importance of the journey in which we were about to embark.

Animal Farm, our birthplace, is a 70-acre, USDA-certified organic farm nestled in the beautiful wooded acres of Cat Spring, Texas, about an hour outside of Houston. In accordance with Animal Farm’s desire to act as a glowing example of sustainable farming and living, we were grown without pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones or any other synthetic agents.

We made our first stop in Houston, where patrons of the Sustainable Food Center’s “Farm to Work” program eagerly waited to take our bushels of our buddies home in their baskets and reusable bags.

For those who haven’t heard of it, the Sustainable Food Center in an Austin-based nonprofit organization bolstering the local food system through innovative programs that promote green eating and local, organic farming in Central Texas.

Farm to Work is an employee wellness and Farm Direct marketing program that delivers farm-fresh, locally grown produce to partner work sites every week. Not only does the program promote health by getting nutritious veggies like us into the kitchens of participating consumers, Farm to Work offers local farms (like Animal Farm) a consistent and reliable outlet to sell their produce. The main campus of the UT School of Public Health is one of the larger produce drop-offs on our Wednesday Farm to Work route.

But after many of our friends were sent home with Houston employees, it was soon time to wave goodbye to the cowboy boots and Astro hats and continue on our journey to our final destination in the heart of Texas.

Who are we? We are a super team of fruits and veggies making our way to an Austin dinner table. We are organic, nutrient-rich and dangerously tasty. We are the produce in your Farm to Work basket, and our story is just beginning.

Tune in to the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living blog on Food Day (October 24) to discover what happens next…

Authored by: Harry Hungarian Pepper, Trina Thai Eggplant, Seymour Squash Blossom, Albert Arugula, and Camille Cucumber.

Veggie photos by Julie Latcham 
Animal Farm photos courtesy of Animal Farm