Love Fresh, Local Food? Love Your Farmers.

Food doesn’t get more local than your backyard. Just ask Matt and Jess Salvaterra, who got into gardening to become more self-sufficient — and got so good at it, they started selling their surplus as Salvaterra’s Gardens. Or Dax and Robin Funderburk, who have been growing their own food since they moved to Mertztown 12 years ago. 5 years ago, they decided to make it a business called Beets Workin’ Farm so Dax could retire from his corporate job and spend more time with his four daughters.

I met with both these farmers, whose organically grown produce I’ve gotten at Healthy Alternatives, to learn more about who they were and where my food was coming from. After all, as Funderburk told me, “Everyone knows the first name of their dentist, their doctor, even their plumber. But how many people know the first name of their farmer?”

The Wayfare Baker: Good Bread For All

Someone recently called John Glagola the Yeast Jedi. He works under the name The Wayfare Baker. But I like to call him the Bread Savior, because his mission is to share both his bread and his knowledge on how to make it.

“I want everyone to have good bread, not just people who can go to fancy dinners,” he told me in an interview.

We were at a small commercial bakery in Bethlehem Township, where he was baking his artisan sourdough. Jazz music played in the background as Glagola slid back and forth across the floor in his sneakers, expertly loading and unloading the two ovens. He reminded me of a kid with socks on. I could feel tiny beads of sweat on my face as we chatted, even on a cool winter evening with the windows open. In summers, according to Glagola, the bakery can get up to 120 degrees.