The localvore's dilemma

The Boston Globe tackles the issue of local food, and whether local really is better for the environment. The short answer is, Yes. But that affirmative comes with a big caveat -- and a caveat some proponents don't stress enough. Michael Pollan states it clearly in the article:

Local means local in season.

In places like Charlotte, it means not only summers of fresh tomatoes, green beans, and squash but also January diets focused on the canned versions of those summer favorites along with potatoes that had been stored and some root vegetables thrown in. The article sums up the "dilemma" thusly,

Michael Pollan hastens to point out that eating locally is only part of a larger food ethic. The problem isn't merely, he argues, that we ship our lettuce across the country; the problem is that people living in New England, a place naturally unfriendly to large-scale lettuce production, feel entitled to eat lettuce in February. Before World War II, he points out, Americans ate locally and in season because they had no choice.

"It's a new idea," he says, "this expectation that we can have a salad all year round."

Roughly two generations (out of what, 10,000 or more?) of human actions/attitudes that have to be reversed. Can we do that?

My Kids and Local Food

My kids are pretty good eaters on average. I say on average because one of them (my oldest) will usually try anything, my middle one eats about once every two weeks (at which time he will try about anything) and my smallest eats only exactly what she wants, when she wants. This probably sounds very familiar to you, so you probably understand why when I started this local food month, I was particularly concerned with the children aspect of going local.

It wasn't that I thought they would really starve to death (although I have to say in the middle of the night I do sometimes worry about that...I have really stubborn kids) or that I didn't think it would be good for them to learn more about food and seasonality. I was concerned about what kind of lasting impression this would have on them. What if they decided at age 16 that they would drive as fast as possible to the nearest fast food restaurant and gorge themselves for the rest of their life on processed food.

Unlike me, my kids have little context for our experiment. They don't understand the crisis that our world is in, they don't understand that our eating can make a difference, they don't understand about supporting our local economy. Furthermore, I don't want them to understand....not right now. That is too much on a child.

So instead, my husband and I grow a garden. My oldest child has decided that harvesting the garden will be his responsibility, so he goes outside every morning (and usually afternoon, you wouldn't believe how fast those squash come up) with his basket and scissors and comes back with a load full of produce. He takes this very seriously and the other morning, after we had been gone for a day, he runs outside before saying good morning shouting behind him that he has to check the garden because he hadn't checked it the day before.

Instead of talking about the politics of local food, my husband and I talk about how delicious the fresh tomato sauce on our pasta is, how the pesto that the kids are having is such a wonderful green and how the peaches practically taste like honey they are so sweet.

We try to get them to enjoy the good things that are in season. We make peach ice cream, do make your own pizzas with fresh ingredients (the kids LOVE this) and try overall to make things appealing.

Doesn't this sound lovely? Well, if you have kids, you have probably already decided that this couldn't be all rosy all the time. We had not been doing this local food month long (maybe a week and a half) when my oldest child asks me what is for dinner. Now remember, even though we hadn't been doing ALL local, for dinner we had been eating locally for a long time. Anyway, I told him whatever was for dinner that night (it doesn't really matter, but it could have been the squash tacos that set him off). He looked at me and asked "why can't we ever have anything I want for dinner?" Unfortunately, I took his bait and tried calmly to explain that we had lots he wanted, we had in the recent week had make your own pizzas, vegetable lasagna and pasta with pesto sauce. He glared at me and said (and this is a direct quote), " I wish you had never heard of the word local". And we think they don't pay attention to what we are saying.

My middle child has decided that he doesn't like my lasagna, even when I put meat in it, and that he wants the kind out of the orange box like we used to have (mind you this was at least a year ago) and oranges...he wants oranges (he screams at me, I guess he is on an orange kick). And my youngest, she misses her bananas so badly that she asks for them all the time and when we go visit people, she spots them and eats all she can get while we are there. None of my kids think it is very funny when I tell them next time I am in a tropical country (or Florida for the oranges) I will try and smuggle some fruit home for them.

It is frustrating that such three little children can stay so attached to something (like food) for so long after having it. I thought their memories would be shorter. Um, no. They still remember the boxed lasagna, the delivery pizza, and the peanut butter with the red top.

My husband says they will get used to it, and I am trying to agree. I try every day to introduce them to new ways of eating what is in season now and try not to flinch when the nice woman at the market continues to give them handfuls of strawberries in August.

I do still make exceptions for the kids' tastes and desires, when they apply to things I have not yet figured out how to do myself...although I am working on it. The following I still consistently buy from the grocery:

• Yogurt (we buy the large, whole milk plain organic...the only kind I can find without sugar or HFCS added to it) is a must have and I just add our own fruit and a little bit of local honey.
  
• Goldfish crackers, since I haven't figured out a good substitute yet (if you have any suggestions let me know).
  
• Cheese, while I can make some my own and get some locally, it is still a bit of a challenge, so I usually buy organic cheese for sandwiches.

And just in case you are thinking I've got this whole thing licked, the other day I found myself in ... the Chic-Fil-A drive-through (along with five thousand other people at 12:15 on a Tuesday afternoon).

I had two play-dates coming home with my three children who were pleading...please mom, can we have some chicken nuggets and not that nasty peanut butter? So, I relented and we ended up with 5 orders of chicken nuggets for all the kids (does it make it better that they had fruit and milk too?).

What I have learned (I am sure all of you have learned this way ahead of me) is that with kids....go slow and go easy on them. Even if they really do rebel when they are older and decide they wish to live off of greasy french fries and HFCS soda at the fast food restaurant, at least they will be conscientious consumers. They won't be able to claim ignorance, at least not about local food!

Stuffed Baked Squash

This recipe can be made with only one of the following types of vegetables or if you have all of them, it makes a colorful display!

1 eggplant
1 yellow zucchini (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1 green zucchini (our own garden)
1 yellow squash (our own garden)
1 patty pan squash (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1 medium yellow onion (Poplar Ridge Farms)
6 cloves of garlic (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1 lb. chorizo sausage (Weatherbury Station)
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil
2 cups bread crumbs
1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 egg (Weatherbury Station)


Halve yellow squash, both zucchini and eggplant lengthwise and halve patty pan squash across equator (horizontally). Scrape flesh of all squash and eggplant into a large bowl, making boats. Set boats aside. Remove sausage from casings and brown in pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook until sausage is done (6-10 minutes). Add squash and eggplant flesh, salt and pepper and cook until softened (10-12 minutes).

While mixture cooks apply extra virgin olive oil with a brush to all sides (top and bottom) of squash and eggplant boats and place on 1/2 sheet pan arranging to fit.

When squash mixture is softened, remove mixture from heat (draining any excess fat) and combine in a glass bowl with 1 egg, breadcrumbs and cheddar cheese, mixing carefully with a spatula or wooden spoon. When combined scoop mixture into boats to fill evenly. Top with finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cook on top rack of grill over medium heat (or in 400 degree oven) until boats are soft and cooked through. Remove and serve.

*We cut each one in half and arranged them on the plate with fresh green salad in the middle. We served with homemade pesto bread and fresh blackberries and cantaloupe.

Second Week Menus

The second week of eating locally was delicious and I even got to go out for a meal! Lunches remained grilled cheese or turkey sandwiches or leftovers complimented by some of Beverly McLaughlin's (at the County Market) delicious Gazpacho! I am missing some of my other lunch items (namely Beverly's chickpea salad, chips and pretzels), but have been doing okay other than that. Breakfasts have been a lot of pancakes (made with the whey leftover from our homemade mozarella project), eggs (hardboiled and scrambled), homemade breakfast breads (likely zucchini bread or blackberry crumb cake from the Matthews Farmer's market) or my own homemade bread with jam from a friend. Dinners were great this week...I have listed the menus below and will follow up with some recipes in a later post.

Monday, July 16th: Dinner out with our close friends to Ratcliffe on the Green. Fabulous, almost entirely local food!

Tuesday, July 17th: Squash Tacos (we had to find SOMETHING to do with all of that squash)

Wednesday, July 18th: Penne pasta from Pasta and Provisions with tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil with homemade bread from Matthews Farmer's Market

Thursday, July 19th: Veggie sandwiches with cantaloupe

Friday, July 20th: Make your own grilled pizzas

Saturday, July 21: Grilled tuna, sliced tomatoes, roasted potatoes with garlic and olive oil, tossed salad

Sunday, July 22nd: Stuffed zucchini, summer squash and eggplant with tossed salad.

From the source?

I've had several folks tell me that their favorite bottled water is Aquafina. Fine.

As a family, we've actually stopped purchasing bottled water, as a result of various epiphanies had by E, me or both of us together. And this latest Reuters news story only gives reinforcement to our newish habit of filling reusable Nalgene water bottles (mine shows my support for WNCW, the best music station in the area by a wide margin!), from the tap and adding a few ice cubes on the way out the door. (They clean up quite easily with a little baking soda, if they don't fit in your dishwasher for some reason.)

PepsiCo inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry.

According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world’s No. 2 beverage company will include the words “Public Water Source” on Aquafina labels.

“If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it’s a reasonable thing to do,” said Michelle Naughton, a Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.

In 2004, we consumed 26 Billion liters of bottled water in the US, breaking down to roughly 1 eight ounce bottle person per per day in the US. 86% of those bottles end up as garbage or litter. And that suggests 1,204,000,000 bottles end up in the trash (or as litter) EVERY WEEK.

And we're doing that for tap water? That's all but free from the kitchen sink? I think the to epiphany virus needs to start spreading. And fast!

Confidence Flailing

You know that feeling when you REALLY screw something up (namely dinner) and it involves more than just your family? Well, I had that tonight. We had friends (whom I hope to become good friends, but at the time of the invitation were more like good acquaintances) over for dinner. I had had a lot going on that day and decided that we should do something low-key...like make your own pizzas. This is a fun dinner (usually), is hard to screw up (usually) and involves little prior preparation (usually). I say usually, because we experienced a mozzarella debacle.

Now, you probably remember me smugly listing in my recipe ingredients "homemade mozzarella". Well, mother nature and chemistry came back to show me that I am not as great as I may have once thought I was. And, I have to admit, that I was pretty proud of myself for making my own cheese. As easy as it was, it still sounds really cool and hard! Well, I found out tonight, that it isn't always easy. I had decided that it would be fun ( and smugly, educational) to make mozzarella WITH our friends, not before our friends arrived. Now, to give myself the best possible credit, I really did want to show them how easy it was so that they may do it themselves, not so that they would see how great I was (if I had wanted that I should have DEFINITELY done that before they arrived).

Things didn't go exactly as planned. In fact, as my guests looked on in horror, I botched not one gallon but TWO gallons of milk in the attempt to make homemade mozzarella for our pizzas. And this is no ordinary milk, I couldn't just run down to Harris Teeter and get another gallon. This was planned ahead, ordered, driven to pick up, local milk from a local dairy. The first gallon never solidified enough...meaning the curds never set so that they weren't possible to set and drain. The second batch curdled and turned into a VERY scary version of curds. Both were complete failures. I have to say the couple could not believe that we went through two gallons of milk with nothing to show for it but a full garbage disposal and I am sure they did not go away thinking local food was either easy or affordable. Ugh!

But, the important thing is that we had a fabulous time anyway. I chalked it up to bad luck (although I promise you tomorrow morning I am going to make real mozzarella even if it takes me two more gallons!!!) and had feta and Parmesan instead and had a great time. Maybe what we did learn is that good food, good friends and good wine doesn't depend on good mozzarella!

Epiphany

Tonight I had an epiphany. Now, this might not sound like news to the rest of you...but to me, who had been really studying local food, environment, local economies, for several months going on a year (which I realize isn't a lot, but it is for me), I truly had an epiphany. It happened at a very odd time. I was washing my 16th pot/dish after a fabulous make-your-own-pizza dinner with friends (yes, we made them work for their food) at 11:30 at night and after 4-5 glasses of wine (maybe this was why I had an epiphany????), when I had it.

Here it is: my husband and I, by many, have gone from being what is considered (or what we would have considered in our past life) as being "low maintenance", meaning we would eat anything anyone put in front of us and enjoy it...to being "high maintenance", meaning we had special needs that our hosts would feel obligated to meet (even though we assured them we were fine without these special considerations). This is where it hit me. In terms of global energy, Josh and I are actually "low maintenance", meaning we use much less global energy in our dinners or other eating habits than most other people. However, because one has to output more individual energy in order to obtain the meal and prepare it (i.e. going to the farmer's market, washing the salad greens versus having already washed, roasting fresh peppers versus buying canned, making pizza dough instead of ordering pizza, ordering fresh pasture fed beef instead of buying grocery store meat....I could go on and on), one sees us as "high maintenance". Even though, from a global perspective we would be considered very low maintenance.

When was it that we decided that our own individual energy was more important than global/environmental energy? Our own energy is sustainable and renewable...as long as we eat and sleep (and exercise or stay active to some degree) we have abundant (practically infinite) energy in our lifetimes. But our earth doesn't have this same renewable energies...not when it comes to how fast we are using it and that we aren't feeding it or allowing it to rest or exercising it....we are simply using it and using it unwisely at a scary pace.

So, that is my epiphany...All of a sudden it hit me....why does our generation (or maybe even the generation before us) think that we, as individuals are more important than the whole? At what point did we decide that our watching 30 minutes more of TV was more important than preserving the earth? My guess is that it never crossed our minds...it didn't mine. I never thought I was choosing between convenience and the earth...I thought I was opting for more time with my family and didn't think I was sacrificing anything. How naive!

Our generation has come to believe that we ARE more important than the whole (or at least we don't consider the whole ... maybe that's the same thing?), therefore our personal time is the most important thing. Simply look at the booming businesses. Everything is about getting more personal time... a personal assistant, a personal shopper, someone to run your errands, someone to cook your dinners, Harris Teeter to go, anything to go. I am not trying to say that these things aren't helpful...especially to the working parents who have to squeeze every single minute out of their day. I am saying, however, that we need to remember, that the greater whole is more important than all of it's individual parts. we need to remember that a little more individual energy spent from each of us (no matter how small), is less energy spent (i.e. carbon output) for our world. It means that a little bit given from our personal energy banks could mean a better world for our children. Now THAT is something I am willing to sacrifice a little extra TV for...

15 Green Chefs from Grist

No surprise at #1. Ms Waters' resume speaks for itself. (She's coming to Charlotte in September!) As Grist puts it:

Thirty years ago, the words "imported from France" signified the height of status and taste on U.S. restaurant menus. Today, the phrases "locally grown" and "organic" have taken over that function (naming the actual farm earns extra points). For that transformation, we largely have Berkeley restaurateur Alice Waters to thank.

But I mentioned the list here because of entry #7: Andrea Reusing, Lantern, Chapel Hill, NC. Grist writes:

Operating far from the New York/San Francisco media glare, Andrea Reusing has quietly made herself into a model for the citizen-chef. In her off hours, she works tirelessly to promote the produce of central North Carolina's bustling sustainable-agriculture scene. She chairs Slow Food Triangle's convivium, which essentially exists to promote the area's small organic farms. And finally, in the kitchen of Lantern, Reusing takes the best of what her farmer friends grow and transforms it into extraordinary and rigorous Pan-Asian food -- which has put Lantern and the farmers who supply it on the national culinary map.

Check Grist.org for the whole list.

This article doesn't speak directly to food, but it certainly speaks to the mindset we're up against. And not just on school grounds. On farm lands, golf courses, your neighborhood???, etc.

Marc Lane, an entomologist and professor at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs ... says that pesticides in schools are a “pervasive, unnecessary health hazard”. He goes on to point out that “Over 80 percent of schools in America are applying pesticides on a regular basis, whether they have a pest problem or not," he said. "This is tragic not only because of the well-documented link between pesticides and health problems in children, such as asthma and neurological disorders, but also because pesticides generally do not work in a preventive manner in the school environment. Applying pesticides does not prevent pests from coming in, so using them when pests are not present does nothing other than expose children and staff to toxic chemicals."

When in doubt, spray it. And spray the absolute sh*t mess out of it.

Local food enters political debate

Sort of.

"We've been moving back to 'buy local,'" Mrs. Edwards said, outlining a trade policy that "acknowledges the carbon footprint" of transporting fruit.

"I live in North Carolina. I'll probably never eat a tangerine again," she said, speaking of a time when the fruit reaches the price that it "needs" to be [taking carbon emissions into account to determine pricing].

Interested to see if this line of discussion goes anywhere over the next 15 months or so.

You ate what?!?!

I'm really sorry those folks got sick ... but hot dog chili from a friggin' can?!?!?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Castleberry's Food Company has closed its production facility in Augusta, Georgia, after 16 cans of chili sauce tested positive for botulism over the weekend, company officials said Monday.

In addition, the company has hired an outside firm to visit more than 8,500 retailers around the country in an effort to quickly get recalled products off store shelves.

So far, four cases of botulism have been reported -- two from Indiana and two from Texas. All four people consumed Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original, a product made by Castleberry's.

On Saturday, Castleberry's expanded its recall of canned meat products that may be connected to a botulism outbreak. It recalled more than 80 types of canned chili, beef stew, corned beef hash and other meat products in addition to the 10 brands it had recalled Thursday.

Making real chili (and I'm from the South, so I understand fully the appeal of meat on top of meat!) takes all of about 15 minutes ... not much longer than it would take to warm up a can of that other stuff.

Or maybe if one is willing to put that other stuff in one's mouth ... well, maybe its being warm isn't so important. Someone pass the Alpo, please.

*** Edit: Looks like the dogs are, um, going to the dogs, too.***

Ick.

Poisoning our children

A powerful piece from NC Policy Watch that every person in our state with an interest in farms, families and/or food should read. Get informed. Read the entire post and consider calling your state representatives in support of NC House Bill 1818. [The emphasis added below is mine.]

Pesticide Legislation Highlights State’s Obsolete, Immoral Policies

By Rob Schofield

Quick Take:

• No group of Americans is more regularly exposed to dangerous toxic chemicals than farmworkers and their families.
• In North Carolina, the poorly regulated use of vast quantities of agricultural pesticides continues to lead to death, horrific birth defects and other disastrous health consequences.
• In response, lawmakers will consider legislation this week that would enact some modest regulatory changes that are long overdue.

...

North Carolina is home to around 150,000 farmworkers who apply something on the order of 62 million pounds of pesticides each year. Not surprisingly, persistent exposure to these poisons causes large numbers of these workers and their families to suffer from a wide range of acute and chronic health problems. Young children are particularly sensitive and birth defects can result when pregnant women are exposed to the poisons.

The latter issue received significant media attention earlier this year after the horrific birth defects of some North Carolina farmworker children were publicized. Here’s how the “Pesticide Education Project” at the nonprofit watchdog known as the Agricultural Resources Center, reports the subject:

“The North Carolina Division of Public Health released a much-anticipated report assessing the connections between the severe birth defects in three babies born to farmworkers and their pesticide exposures while working for Ag-Mart in North Carolina. The report, released by the NC Division of Public Health’s Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB), evaluated the likely pesticide exposures for each of the three women and the duration and timing of these exposures during the critical periods in their pregnancies. The authors concluded that while there is not enough evidence to definitively ‘prove’ whether pesticides caused the birth defects, there is ample cause for suspicion.

It is important to note that in epidemiological studies such as this one, it is virtually impossible to definitively “prove” causation. What the report does show are unacceptable exposures to known toxicants, a plausible cause (the exposures), and three tragic outcomes.

Scofield provides a laundry list of what can/should be done to address this issue (visit NC Policy Watch to see the list), ending with this:

Most of these recommendations have been incorporated into a bill that is expected to be considered this week in the House Agribusiness and Agricultural Economy Committee....

Ultimately, given the lack of political clout enjoyed by farmworkers, the success or failure of the new proposal may well hinge on the attitudes of agricultural product consumers. Will average North Carolinians (legislators included) act to force tougher regulations in order to help limit the amount of poisons in the food they consume (and to protect some of their most vulnerable fellow humans)? Let’s hope so. And let’s hope it doesn’t take years to happen.

Yes, let's hope so.

Unhealthy foods from where?

I find so much good stuff at Chews Wise. Here's another (originally in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette):

Where does your food come from?

The San Jose Mercury News (free registration) tells and shows us.























Et tu Pa & Nell?

July: The Season of Plenty

We picked the easiest month for our local food starting point. July comes with the garden in full swing and farmer's markets booming. So many foods are in season, it should be hard not to eat locally. Unfortunately though, grocery stores give us little indication of what is season and what isn't. Even large farmer's markets that are open year round sometimes offer us tantalizing choices of things not local....yes, even in July! So, how are we to know what is seasonal?

There are several ways to be a prepared, educated and local buyer. First, if you have a small, community farmer's market (like Matthews Community Farmers market) close by, this would be a great place to start and give you a general idea of what is in season. Browse the stands and take notes if necessary.

Second, if you don't have a small community farmer's market available or if a larger farmer's market is more convenient (such as Charlotte Regional or Kings Drive Farmer's Market) you can still buy in-season produce, but you need to do your homework in advance. I have recently added a new sidebar with what is in season, but if you don't remember everything, a general rule to remember for the summer months is that if you see a farmer here selling citrus (oranges, lemons, limes) or tropical fruits (pineapple, mangoes, papayas, avocados) it should raise a red flag. Make sure you ask about anything you want to buy. Often times I have asked, "what of your produce is locally grown?" and the response I get is "everything". Since, I had done my homework and knew that those asparagus he was selling can't begin to grow here in NC in the hot month of July, I knew to ask further and specifically, "where were the bell peppers grown?" for example.

Third, grow your own garden. I know this sounds like a lot, but you can have some simple large pots with various produce in them. When planted correctly, you will have your own reminder of what things are local. Some farmers are able to coax their produce out a little earlier than others or to hang on a little later, but you will at least understand the parameters (such as you can't grow bananas in Charlotte).

Grilled Pork Chops, Sauteed Greens and Eggplant Napoleons

Grilled Pork Chops
4 bone-in pork chops (Grateful Grower's Farm)
1/2 cup Kosher salt
3 TBSP peppercorns
4 cups cold water (or enough to cover pork chops)

Preheat grill to medium high.

In glass bowl or bag in cooler, combine salt, peppercorns and water, stirring to dissolve salt. Add pork chops and brine 30 minutes to 1 hour (keeping cool). Rinse and drain pork chops. Grill pork chops until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.

Sauteed Greens (this recipe would work well with collard greens or spinach as well)
1 large bunch of Swiss chard, large stems removed (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1 large bunch kale, large stems removed (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1/2 head garlic, minced (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1/2 cup olive oil
3 Heavy pinches of Kosher salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (Lincolnton farmer at Charlotte Regional Farmer's Market)

Heat half of olive oil over medium high heat. Add Swiss chard, kale and garlic. Salt liberally. Saute and toss with tongs until just beginning to wilt (approximately 2 minutes). Add vinegar and tomatoes, tossing to combine. Cover and steam for approximately 5-7 minutes.

Eggplant Napoleons
1 medium eggplant (friend's garden)
4 ounces mozzarella, thickly sliced (made ourselves from whole milk)
1 German Johnson tomato, sliced (our own garden)
10 large basil leaves (our own garden)
Olive oil
Kosher salt

Prepare grill to medium heat.
Slice eggplant lengthwise, salt and let drain for 15 minutes. Grill eggplants over medium heat until softened with grill marks (approximately 10 minutes). Arrange Napoleons on individual plates, alternating grilled eggplant, mozzarella, tomato and basil to form towers. Drizzle with olive oil.

Pasta Primavera Recipe

1 1/2 lbs fresh penne pasta (Pasta & Provisions)
Kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large zucchini, chopped (our own garden)
1 large squash, chopped (our own garden)
1 medium onion, chopped (Poplar Ridge Farms)
6-8 cloves garlic, minced (Poplar Ridge Farms)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (Lincolnton farmer at Charlotte Regional Farmer's Market)
1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade (our own garden)
Fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano grated

Cook fresh pasta according to instructions in salted water (only about 1-2 minutes for fresh pasta). In saute pan, saute zucchini, squash, onion and garlic in olive oil until soft (approximately 8 minutes). Season to taste. Add cherry tomatoes and cook another 8 minutes, or until tomatoes begin to burst. Remove from heat and add basil, stirring to combine. Serve over penne. Top with finely grated Parmesan and garnish with any remaining basil.

Smoked Turkey Fritatta

10 eggs (Laughing Owls Farm)
1/2 cup whole milk, or whatever percentage desired (LD Peeler Dairy)
2 pinches of kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 small squash chopped (Poplar Ridge Farms and our own garden)
1 small onion chopped (Poplar Ridge Farms)
2 cloves garlic minced (Poplar Ridge Farms)
3 slices fresh bacon diced (uncured bacon from Grateful Grower's Farm)
2 handfuls leftover smoked turkey (smoked it ourselves using Alison Family Farm's whole Turkey, can substitue any turkey breast or leftover smoked turkey)
Basil & tomato for garnish (Our own garden)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk eggs with milk, salt and pepper. Set aside. Saute squash, onions and garlic in a little olive oil until soft (approximately 6-8 minutes) in a cast iron pan. Season to taste. Remove vegetables. Saute fresh bacon in same pan until crispy. Add turkey, cook until warmed through. Add vegetables back into pan, stir to combine ingredients. Pour egg mixture over warmed ingredients and place in 350 degree oven. Cook, uncovered until egg mixture is firm and browned on top (20-25 minutes). Remove and let stand for 10 minutes to cool and pull away from edges of pan. Slice and serve with diced tomatoes and fresh basil.

Lessons learned during first week

Overall, the first week went fairly smoothly, although I have to say I am spending about twice as much time in the kitchen as usual, and that doesn't include the time I am spending trying to preserve food for the winter. Since we are trying to make this a lifestyle change, I am not just concentrating on each day of local food but trying to prepare for the less bountiful days ahead.

One of the most important things I have learned about eating mostly local food is that one must plan ahead and be prepared! The second morning of our first week, I went hungry because we all got up late and I was rushing to get one child to camp and the other two and myself to another commitment. Needless to say, I fed the children (non-local frozen whole wheat waffles to go in the car), but I went hungry until lunch. I don't do well without my food, so I haven't made that mistake again. Convenience foods have become almost synonymous with pre-packaged and fast food, but homemade muffins(made the night before or in your freezer) or homemade bread (smeared with jam) are just as convenient and much better.

Another thing I have noticed in particular is how much I relied on food for my social life. I have always loved having lunch out with my children and friends, but unless we are dining at 4 star restaurants (like Ratcliffe, Barrington's or Table) everyday for lunch, which we aren't, there isn't any way to eat out locally. One way I have gotten around this is either packing my own lunch and meeting my friends or just having tea (yes I realize this isn't local, but I can't do without) while they have lunch and eating later at home. I have also talked with my friends about having picnics or having them over to my house for lunch. I have saved a lot of money not eating out so much though!

First Week Menus

Well, Monday night marked the end of our first official week of our local food month! I will try and break out individual recipes in separate posts but will give an overview first. Breakfasts and lunches tended to revolve around the same things. Generally breakfast entailed either pancakes, Anson Mill oatmeal, toast and jam or homemade breakfast breads. Lunches were usually either leftovers from the night before and/or cheese or turkey (Allison Family Farms) sandwiches, homemade Gazpacho (Beverly McLaughlin at the County Market). Dinners were fabulous all week...here was our nightly menus.

Monday, July 9th: Smoked Turkey Frittata with tomatoes and basil and homemade toast and jam

Tuesday, July 10th: Pasta primavera

Wednesday, July 12th: Grilled pork chops, sauteed greens, grilled corn on the cob and eggplant, tomato, basil and homemade mozzarella "napoleons"

Thursday, July 13th: Make-your-own pizzas, including homemade roasted red peppers, oven roasted tomatoes, homemade mozzarella and pesto and other yummy toppings

Friday & Saturday nights: Wedding events (our eating wasn't priority!)

Sunday, July 15th: Roasted vegetable lasagna with farmer's market bread

Monday, July 16th: Dinner at Ratcliffe on the Green with good friends...delicious locally grown meal including a cheese plate from local dairies, NC mountain trout, blackberry shortcake. More about this in another post

See future posts for recipes of these meals and pictures.

Where have I been?

For those of you who are following...you may have noticed that since I told you I was starting my local food month I have been incommunicado! Well, there's a reason for that. Barbara Kingsolver was right when she spoke about every free moment being spent canning/freezing/preserving. I have been up to 11:30 every night just trying to preserve the summer's harvest. On Sunday evening alone (following my sister-in-law's fabulous wedding weekend), my husband and I froze and canned two bushels of peaches, made and froze 6 bags of basil pesto (minus the pine nuts since they aren't local), made and froze three pans of roasted vegetable lasagna, blanched and froze four bags of shelled lima and other beans/peas. I truly thought I may die of exhaustion that night. So, I apologize for being silent over the past week, with all this "preserving the summer bounty" I don't have much time to write about it.

Is organic farming productive enough?

Um, yes. From Chews Wise:

Another report out of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Iowa is also significant, for it demonstrates the long-term yield potential of organic methods.

The now nine-year-old trials "convincingly show greater yield, increased profitability, and steadily improved soil quality in organic over conventional rotations," the Leopold Center stated.

And that's only one of three recent studies that Samuel Fromartz cites in this post. Whole thing definitely worth a read.

What does it take to make people take action?

I often wonder what it takes to make other people take action. For me, it is simple, I will almost always take action when I am shown how it affects my children. For me and my lifestyle change, there have been several major things that have happened to cause a large shift in my thinking and my family's lifestyle (supported by small things along the way to strengthen my beliefs).

I watched An Inconvient Truth over a year ago and completely revisited the way I think about my family's impact on the world. I read Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and realized that the way we approached food and eating was going to cause major problems down the road. I read Noah's Garden, by Sara Stein and all of sudden opened my eyes to the issues with alien invasive plants and the REAL need for native plants to help maintain diversity and our wildlife.

All of these things caused major shifts in my mindset because they all cycled back to the same thing....the state of our earth for our children. Without thinking about how they all affect my children, I could see the changes as being too difficult or not real enough. I can see how some people (without children) may not care where our world is 20 years from now. But I do. I care enough to see that maybe we are better off without our lush green lawns (more on this in a future post) for them to play sports in so that we can conserve water and create more wildlife friendly habitats. I care enough to tell them "no, we aren't buying bananas and oranges today" because that decision helps lessen (however slightly) the fuel used to ship the produce. I care enough to go to 3 farmer's markets to support local farming so that our children will have something to eat (that doesn't come from a can) when they grow up. I care enough to have my house hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, so that they have some semblance of this world when they have their own children. I care enough to do a lot of things...it's amazing what parenting can do for you.

But what about everyone else, what does it take to make people take action, to make a lifestyle change, to decided the little inconviences or time spent on little things are worth it?

Local Food Month Parameters

Okay, well I kept thinking I would start into my local food month foray on Monday, July 16th. This wasn't really just a random date, it fell immediately after my sister-in-law's wedding and my best friend's son's baptism. These two things are not under my control and they certainly aren't about my needs as a "locovore". Yet, I decided that throughout my local food lifestyle things often wouldn't be in my control....friends would invite us for dinner, parents may come to town and want to take us out to eat, special events would come up. Also, we have been buying local and eating (mostly) local for a while now, so why wait? Well, we decided not too. We had our first completely local meal on Tuesday night and the spirit hit us....so here we go!

I thought I should let any one following our eating habits in on our basic parameters:
1) This is an experiment into a new lifestyle, one that hopefully will lead to lifetime habits, so we are not going to get bogged down in being purists.
2) Spices and seasonings (for example, salt, pepper, cumin, dried sage) are allowed.
3) Kids' are sometimes allowed to break rules. I have three small children, none of whom find this project as exciting as I do. We always eat dinner as a family, but if they are dying for some orange juice or cereal for breakfast or goldfish during snack, I will cross that bridge when I come to it! Also, they go frequently to playdates and obviously I don't have any control there.
4) We would like for our food to come from as close a source as possible...this may mean in our backyard, or it could be 100 miles away (our maximum distance will stay under 2 hours away).
5) Ingredients in our refrigerator (such as a few leftover cheeses, tofu and soy milk) can be used so that they don't go bad...although no new such ingredients will be purchased.
6) I am going by the philosphy Barbara Kingsolver uses in her book, that is when there is something that needs to be bought that is not local think about a couple of things: a) get as local as possible (so Florida versus New Zealand), b) focus on single ingredient items or as few as possible, since in multiple ingredient items everything must first be shipped to that producer before shipping to you, c) avoid anything to be shipped that must be refrigerated.
7) I am going to attempt to make my bread and cheese when I can't find it locally. Unfortunately, that means I have to have some ingredients that are not available locally (citric acid, rennett, lemon juice, certain flours). I decided this is still better than buying the bread or cheese at the grocery store and am willing to make those concessions.


Okay, well more things may come up as we move along, but that is it for now. Remember, don't be too hard on me!

Eat your (organic) vegetables

From ABC NEWS Online:

For years, all government agencies and pretty much most of the scientific research have found little or no nutritional difference between organic and traditionally grown produce, meat, milk.

Now comes a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that finds otherwise.

Organic tomatoes were found to have nearly twice the level of two compounds, quercetin and kaempferol, as traditionally grown tomatoes. These compounds, part of a group called flavonoids, which are just a subclass of antioxidants, have been linked to a reduction in heart disease risk, so higher levels in food would seem to be a good thing.

Surprised?

According to an article today in The Charlotte Observer, a review has found that education efforts have not helped change kids' eating habits. Are you surprised? I'm not. This study followed up on 57 different federal programs (spending about $1 million this year) to see if they had an impact on eating habits. They didn't seem to.

Who really thinks that kids eating habits depend on the formal programs that the federal government puts out....obviously the federal government (or do they even really believe it?). The governmet may be putting out $1 million a year to help "fight" childhood obsesity formally, but then in its other realm it spent over $22.7 billion dollars (see link) just in 2005 on corn subsidies to "help" farmers (see this article to make an informed decision about whether you think they are helpful) continue to produce surpluses of corn (these surpluses are used in large part to make High Fructose Corn Syrup-HFCS-to put in sodas that are sold all over almost every school and in every corner of this country). Yet, we aren't allowed to sell or buy raw milk for our children to drink...god forbid we actually give them something to drink that won't make them fat. The formal federal education programs remind me of the huge advertising billboards for liquor (with the small phrase...drink responsibly at the bottom). This doesn't mean the programs aren't doing any good (although it is likely the government will decide that is the case and pull the programs), it just means that it may take more than just programs to make a difference (and maybe more than one year). So is childhood obsesity the government's fault? That would be too easy.

Maybe we should blame big business: supermarkets, fast food restaurants, convience stores, marketers. We know kids are influenced by the ads they see, on tv, on billboards, the pretty, bright colors on the cereal boxes, the toys they get in their kids' meals at the fast food restaurant. Marketers are wonders at getting kids to eat HFCS-laden products. Again, too easy.

Kids' are influenced by fancy advertising and marketing, but they are much more greatly influenced by watching the people they care about and emulating them. If mom and dad are tossing back sodas, gatorades, stuffing their faces at fast food restaurants while they drive furiously from one thing to another, then why would a child do any differently? We all know children learn by emulating, not by what we say...so maybe parents are to blame? Maybe, but I think it is more complicated than that.

What about the availability of food? Maybe we should blame our schools (oops back to government), they are the ones putting the chips and soda in the cafeteria to start with. The review showed that children continued to choose sodas and chips over fruit...well duh! Why are we giving them such a choice? I am all for allowing children autonomy and allowing them to make choices, but why does the choice have to be between fresh fruit and chips? How about allowing them to choose between an apple or an orange...or brocolli or carrots?

Obviously, there isn't a specific person or entity we can blame completely. But, I do feel as a parent and responsible citizen you can help to make changes in government practices. You can talk to your child about why you won't let them have that great looking marshmallow star cereal that their favorite cartoon character pushes. You can choose not to support those fast food restaurants. You can choose whole foods, not processed foods at the supermarket. You can be a role model in your own eating habits, you can have family dinners. You can be an activist in your child's school to make changes in the cafeteria food. You can take your child to your local farmer's market and let them make their choices there...let them pick out what they want...you will certainly have better luck getting them to choose something good for them than you would presenting them with the choice between an out of season apple or chips and soda!

Grow Organics Petition

Dairy Queen writes to encourage us to support EWG's Grow Organics petition:

The Environmental Working Group has created a Grow Organics petition that exhorts Congress to “level the playing field for organic farmers and expand access to organic food.” Sam Fromartz, author of “Organic, Inc.,” has a great post at his blog with more detailed specifics of what supporters of organic farming are seeking in the Farm Bill, and why you should sign EWG’s petition.

Be a little dirty: It's good for you!

Scientists are discovering why getting dirty in your garden can be good for you in more ways than just producing & consuming healthy fruits and vegetables. New research suggests it may be good for your head as well as your body. (h/t Ethicurean digest)

Some researchers have proposed that the sharp rise in asthma and allergy cases over the past century stems, unexpectedly, from living too clean. The idea is that routine exposure to harmless microorganisms in the environment—soil bacteria, for instance—trains our immune systems to ignore benign molecules like pollen or the dandruff on a neighbor’s dog. Taking this “hygiene hypothesis” in an even more surprising direction, recent studies indicate that treatment with a specific soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, may be able to alleviate depression. For example, lung cancer patients who were injected with killed M. vaccae reported better quality of life and less nausea and pain. Now a team of neuroscientists and immunologists may have figured out why this works. The bacteria, when injected into mice, activate a set of serotonin-releasing neurons in the brain—the same nerves targeted by Prozac.

And who wouldn't rather take Peas than Prozac?