I guess I am a true farmer’s daughter. No matter where my travels take me—from Morocco to Michigan—I inevitably ask the same question: “What’s that stuff growing over there?” If I’m lucky, the local I’m quizzing will launch into an explanation of harvest methods, planting schedules, and agricultural statistics.

These days, more and more people are interested in knowing where their food comes from and how it grows. Eating locally-raised meats and produce makes it easier to track your dinner back to the farmer who produced it. It also opens the door to several fun travel opportunities, which brings me to this month’s travel resolution: visit a place that makes or grows your food. If you can’t think of anything you eat that comes from Oklahoma, you need to reexamine your diet!

Over the past few years, agritourism has become a big business, encompassing everything from guest ranches to you-pick fruit farms and wineries. While many of the offerings you’ll find on Oklahoma’s agritourism website (Agritourism.TravelOK.com) will fit the bill for this month’s challenge, the you-pick farms are inexpensive, diverse and especially well-suited for children, thanks to the ease of participation and the hands-on learning experience.

Because of their close proximity to the Metro and the opportunity to pick several crops in one day, I really like to visit the farms originally owned by the Spencer family of Harrah. Forty years ago, Bob and Ethel Spencer planted the family’s original orchard. Today, there are several separate farms within a few miles of each other, including Deep Fork Peach Orchard (formerly Wind Drift Orchard), Sun Berry Orchard, and Spencer’s Orchard and Greenhouse. This month you can expect to find blackberries, peaches, and possibly sweet corn and other veggies. Many you-pick farms charge by the box or basket, which they provide (along with a few picking tips) before sending you into the fields or rows.

Not all Oklahoma food producers are farmers tilling up their back forty; some of the big brands you see in your grocery aisles and around town are natives as well. The Made in Oklahoma Coalition supports the interests of these larger companies, and posts a list of their members on their website (MIOCoalition.com) so you will know who your neighbors are while you are shopping. Some of these producers give tours of their facilities, including the Braum’s dairy plant in Tuttle and Field’s Pies and Bedré Chocolate, both in Pauls Valley. The Braum’s plant tour is the most substantial of the three, lasting about an hour and a half and including a short video, ice cream sample, and a guided look at their facilities. At Field’s and Bedré the tours only take about 15-20 minutes, and Bedré’s tour is usually an unguided look through several large viewing windows. The dates and times that plants are in production and tours are offered sometimes vary, so you should always call before going, particularly at Braum’s, which books tours weeks in advance.

Before you can visit the places your food comes from, you first have to find local food. The Oklahoma Food Cooperative is a great source, providing members with access to 2,000 local products through the organization’s monthly order cycle. Although the group is not aimed at tourism, many of the producers don’t mind playing host to customers from time to time as long as you call in advance. Even non-members can make use of the co-op’s website (OklahomaFood.coop) to scroll through the long list of local farms they claim as producers, which includes contact information and details about their products.

It has been proven that children who are involved with their food, especially on farms or in gardens, are more likely to live healthy lifestyles and enjoy better diets. It might be easy to refuse turnips from the grocery store, for example, but the enjoyment of pulling them out of the soil often converts even the staunchest vegetable critic. And besides, ten or 20 years down the road, when your children are long-time Oklahoma locals, and a well-traveled farmer’s daughter stops to ask them, “What’s that stuff growing over there?” don’t you want them to have a good answer?

State Agritourism Website:
Agritourism.TravelOK.com

The Made in Oklahoma Coalition
(large, local producers)
MIOCoalition.com

Made in Oklahoma
(small producers)
MadeInOklahoma.net

The Oklahoma Food Co-op
OklahomaFood.coop

Deep Fork Peach Orchard
405-454-6635

Sun Berry Orchard
405-454-1415

Spencer’s Orchard and Greenhouses
405-454-3471

Braum’s
405-478-1656

Field’s Pies
1-800-286-7501

Bedré
1-800-367-5390

Chelsey Simpson is an editor who lives in Edmond with her husband and her miniature schnauzer, Ellie.