2012 in review

The WordPress.com (the blog site) stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

To put it in perspective:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 17,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

It has been a lot of fun writing this blog. I visited 35 farms and learned how the food we eat is produced. I went to 17 markets and saw how the locals manage getting that food to their neighbors. And I ate in 15 wonderful restaurants that serve as much local food as possible.

So the purpose of this blog is to reach out to people in West Virginia, to make them aware of all this wonderful food that is available. In addition, with information posted here they can improve their own life and health by making some changes to eat a bit healthier by avoiding chemicals and cooking more from scratch. Information has been given how growing some of your own food is possible even for people who live in cities and have no space. Other posts about living sustainably have also been published.

I have really enjoyed driving the back roads of West Virginia and getting to know the state. However, later this year we will be moving to Oregon and this blog will die unless a new blogger comes forward. I have found it a bit challenging to visit all over the state as I live in Huntington, so I would suggest that several bloggers are identified who live in various areas of the state. Each could post once a week, a lot easier task than what I tried (and failed) to sustain by posting daily. Visiting farms and markets, artisans and restaurants within an hour of their homes would be an easier concept than the 3-6 hour drives I have sometimes to visit the other corners of the state.

Blogging is a new kind of media and using photos as well as linking to Facebook pulls in higher readership than occasional newspaper articles. As more consumers (i.e. people who eat) read the blog, the sales of locally grown produce and meats will increase, helping the local economy as well.  Win-win-win.