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Flora Lazar: Finally -- Locavore Candy at the Farmers Market

2009-12-16T14:15:36Z

Farmers markets with strict local and sustainable ingredient rules can be tough on even the most ardent of locavore confectioners. Chocolate is verboten and local nut options are extremely limited, especially if you're in the Midwest. What does a French-inspired chocolatier make for a tightly-regulated farmers market such as Chicago's Green City Market without chocolate, hazelnuts, and almonds?

I stumbled on the answer trying to source ingredients for pate de fruit, a simple yet subtle confection I had fallen in love with in France. Eaten on their own as a candy or as an accompaniment to cheese, these little sugar encrusted fruit treats with a name that has no good translation, come in every imaginable flavor from raspberry to mirabelle plum to date. Whether they are the confection of French royalty, as history books suggest, or simply high-class "Chuckles" as one of my customers has called them, they are as common in a French chocolate shop as croissants in a boulangerie. But they haven't yet enjoyed the same level of name recognition in the United States as, say, the macaron.

That's too bad because they not only make jewel-like holiday gifts, but they highlight the best of local fruit.

I learned this during a recent trip to France when I was offered a box by a leading pastry chef - one recently selected as one of the ten most influential in the field today. He is a so-called "MOF," a recipient of the "Best Pastry Chefs in France" award that is the subject of a recently-released DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus film, Kings of Pastry, that I helped produce.

After two years of following these masters of their craft for the film, I readily concede virtually the entire category of chocolate, and I was ready to throw in the towel on pate de fruit as well. But something told me to wait until I tasted, and when I did, Julia Child's old injunction about cooking with bad wine, came roaring back. When I tasted these treats, something essential seemed to be missing - the sparkle of fresh fruit.

As a student in pastry school, we learned to make pate de fruit with commercial frozen fruit purees. That's how they're generally made in France. Fortunately for my quest to find "locavore" confections that would feature local ingredients and pass the Green City Market's strict rules about local sources, these purees were not a realistic option. The big suppliers - Boiron, Ravi Fruit, and Cap Fruit - are all based in Europe, so they were out of the question as local sources. Besides, they remain relatively inaccessible to the small producers and the culinary enthusiast. Even web sites like Lepicerie.com require rather large quantity purchases since they are sold and shipped frozen.

So as I was preparing to launch my confections business and searching for ways to get a foothold in the Green City Market, I decided to do some experimenting and spent the better part of the summer and fall pureeing my own fruit from local farms in southern Michigan. The results - a confection that is not only more economical but more flavorful across the board.

Apple Pate de Fruit Recipe

For the apple puree:
8 apples peeled and quartered
1 good quality vanilla bean

500 grams apple puree
500 grams sugar or evaporated cane juice
12.5 grams pectin (preferably yellow) (available at www.lepicerie.com)
100 grams corn syrup or glucose (available at www.lepicerie.com)
7.5 grams of tartaric acid (available at www.lepicerie.com) or lemon juice

1. Make the puree by placing apples in a large saucepan with a small amount of water to prevent them for scorching. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the pot. Steam apples until the apples are soft and can be pureed easily.
2. Lightly oil an 8 by 8 square baking pan with an unflavored oil like grape seed oil.
3. Mix 50 grams of the sugar with the pectin, making sure no clumps of pectin remain.
4. Heat 500 grams of the apple puree in a 5 quart saucepan until it reaches 40 degrees Celsius.
5. Add the pectin and sugar mixture, stirring with a wire whisk to make sure it is well dissolved.
6. Add the remaining sugar and the glucose and continue to stir vigorously.
7. Continue stirring until the mixture reaches 106 Celsius. The mixture will begin to pull away from the sides of the pot and you will be able to see the bottom of the pot briefly when the whisk traces a line across it.
8. At 106 Celsius pour the mixture into the baking dish and let it cool.
9. When the mixture is completely set, spread some granulated sugar on it to make it easier to handle. Cut around the edges to release the fruit paste in a single piece from the pan. The bottom will be tacky, so spread some additional sugar on it.
10. Cut into 1 inch squares and dust all edges of each square with additional sugar.

David Becker: How to Create New Jobs: The CCC Reimagined

2009-12-11T14:06:40Z

Do you remember the days of dial-up? Web pages would scroll
down the screen in fits and starts. Eventually you could start reading unless
the web page designer decided to stick a 200K image on the page. Then . . .
forget it. Thing of the past? Wrong.

In rural America, slow access to the Internet can be the
norm, and the economic and community development impact is significant. The
USDA states in an August 2009 report that “any shortfall in rural broadband
availability is an implicit loss in economic opportunity for businesses,
consumers and governments.”

That’s why it was encouraging to learn that the stimulus act
appropriated $7.2 billion to expand broadband access across the U.S. That
initiative is grinding its way through the system, but farmers need help right
now.

The Rural Electrification Act of the 1930s brought power to
rural areas. Today’s farmers, especially small farmers, need similar help not
only tapping into the fire hose of information and opportunities available to
them, but getting connected to guidance on maximizing its usefulness. Imagine
the options: real-time access to weather and crop reports, databases of local
and national agricultural extension programs, ordering parts and supplies,
acquiring new skills through distance learning, even building an online
marketing presence using low bandwidth social media tools.

“One of the salient features of the Internet is its capacity
to provide information quickly and cheaply compared to other dissemination
methods,” the USDA points out. But what if you’re over 55 (the average age of a
farmer in America), dead tired from a day on the farm, and going online—if you
can get online—just feels like too daunting a challenge?

This is where the new CCC—the Civilian Connectivity Corp—can
ride to the rescue. Like the Civilian Conservation Corp of the Depression, the
core will be made up of the unemployed, in this case recent college grads. Why
recent graduates? Because in this country no group is more plugged into the
immediate application of Internet tools and technology. They are experts in
social media, Google searches and Facebook. What would seem insurmountable to
an older generation is a cakewalk for these young ’uns, who themselves are
facing an unprecedented slump in hiring just as student loans are coming due.

The first step is to train the students in what farmers need
and then—very quickly—get the CCC into the field. Each staffer spends one week
at a time setting up and populating a blog, a Facebook page, and creating
bookmarks on the farmer’s web browser for the sites he will be using daily in
his work.

This is not, however, a “set and forget’ situation. The CCC
staffer is not only responsible for setting the farmer up initially, she will
also need to stay in touch to ensure that the tools are being used
appropriately. One staffer could help manage the online tools and engagement
for two dozen farms, providing the inspiration for, and pipeline to, a host of
new opportunities. Like the original CCC, these workers would have to make at
least a six-month commitment. And during that time their college loan payments
would be put on hold.

In running the blog Friend of the Farmer, I have observed
digital haves and have-nots: farmers who have set up decent web sites or
Facebook pages, and others who can barely send an email. As I was interviewing
one New York farmer, he took a call from a wholesale prospect, a four-star
chef. How did the chef find out about him? Through a web site and blog created
by an ambitious staffer (and recent college grad).

Some people see getting a business online as complicated and
costly. It simply doesn’t have to be that way. The original Civilian
Conservation Corps, one of the most successful New Deal programs of the Great
Depression, left a legacy of great public works. With the farmer-friendly
updated version of the CCC funded at Depression-level wages, everyone comes out
a winner.

For more on farming and food, visit Friend of the Farmer

Winter Veggies At The Farmers Market (PHOTOS)

2009-12-11T09:06:26Z

It's easy to get stuck in a cooking rut of using the same ingredients and the same recipes again and again. If you shop at your local farmers' market, however, you have a great opportunity to try something new. Most people think farmer's markets are only for summer, but there are many that are open year round and offer great winter produce. Buy some fresh, seasonal produce and discover delicious new flavors. Here, our some picks for wonderful winter vegetables, complete with recipes you can make tonight.

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David Becker: Big Trend: America's Chefs "Discover" Sustainable, Local Sourcing for Food

2009-12-04T15:34:46Z

According to a new survey of American chefs,
sustainability and local sourcing and nutrition are the hot culinary
trends. They’re much later to the party than trailblazers like Alice
Waters and local co-ops, but they are very welcome indeed.

More than 1,800 professional chefs ranked nearly 215 food and beverage items,
preparation methods and culinary themes to reveal the hottest
restaurant menu trends in 2010.

Well I’ll be dipped in farm-fresh sweet cream.

But if something is a trend, does that mean it will wax and wane,
like other food trends in America? (Remember crème brulée? A perennial
favorite slipped from hot to not in just one year. It’s over.)

For a chef, buying local, sustainably produced ingredients is not a
fad but a core part of running a kitchen and a business. Sure it’s
easier to buy from food service giants like Sysco and US Food Service.
(Sysco’s definition of “local” for New York is anything east of the
Mississippi, according to John Mishanec of the Cornell Cooperative
Extension.) But then you’re dealing with a generic product.

Top 10 Trends

Locally grown produce

Locally sourced meats and seafood

Sustainability

Bite-size/mini desserts

Locally produced wine and beer

Nutritionally balanced children’s dishes

Half-portions/smaller portions for a smaller price

Farm/estate-branded ingredients

Gluten-free/food-allergy consciousness

Sustainable seafood

For a chef, buying local means you can actually do far less to food.
Imagine having to add sugar to beets? But you must, if they were picked
three weeks ago and shipped 3,000 miles to get to your walk-in.
Instead, as a chef, working with local means letting the ingredients
strut their stuff. That makes your job easier and often more inspiring.

In a recent interview with chef Joel Hough of Cookshop and Hundred
Acre in New York, he talked about convincing restaurant owners to go
with local products. In a competitive market like New York, you need to
do things differently to stand out. But here’s another hidden benefit:
His product costs may be higher but staff cost to prep locally-grown
food is far less. Good ingredients require less work. A smart
restaurant owner should factor those savings when purchasing.

But a “trend” becomes a movement only when patrons respond
favorably. Joel described the reaction at the front of the house in
CookShop to his farm-fresh ingredients: “This is the best salad I’ve
ever had.” “Where did you get these eggs?” “What in the world did you
to this NY strip steak?”

For chefs like Haugh, the answer will be “not much.” Let the taste
of quality ingredients shine through? There’s a lesson we can learn at
the farmers market, in our own kitchens and now, thankfully, through an
army of inspired chefs.

Further Reading

For farm and kitchen-tested recipes, including how to cook grass-fed beef

For Manhattan restaurants featuring sustainable ingredients, try this book Clean Plates

For more on sustainability initiatives at Walmart and Starbucks

Can Local Farmng Save The Suburbs?

2009-12-04T08:11:05Z

I believe suburban farming, like urban farming before it, can begin to bring back a more civic, sustainable economy. After urban renewal we need a suburban revision, where responsible production of food and energy moderates the consumptive nature of suburbia.

Thanksgiving Recipes (PHOTOS)

2009-11-20T08:18:57Z

Here at HuffPost Green, we think Thanksgiving is a pretty green holiday. It focuses on food and spending time together rather than buying new things. Plus, Thanksgiving is one of the most prominent cultural examples of eating seasonal food -- and many traditional ingredients are available to buy locally in many parts of the US.

We asked around the HuffPost office for some family recipes -- pick the one you'd like to have at your Thanksgiving dinner and send in your favorite recipe with a photo.

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Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Fall Farmers' Market, at a Sprint

2009-11-19T09:19:59Z

A few Saturdays ago, on a morning in mid-October, I did a remarkable thing: I was among the first 20 people to arrive at the farmers' market at Grand Army Plaza. Now, this is not an easy feat in Park Slope, land of the chipper young parent and early-bird dog owner. But I was out bright and early for a different reason than my neighbors, one that had little to do with maturity. I was on my way to the Bronx, first to a dreaded dentist appointment, and then to play in a slightly less dreaded alumni field hockey match at I'd been pressured into playing at my high school.

Half asleep and in fear of the game that lay before me, I sprinted through the market, grabbing things at random: fresh apples, fingerling potatoes, a pair of sweet potatoes, and, in my sleepy haze, an unlikely bulb of fennel. I dropped everything at home, pulled on my sports clothes and sneakers, and made a run for the train. Back in high school, I was on the championship-winning (it wasn't a very competitive league) varsity team for which practice involved daily three hours of running and drills. It goes without saying that we don't exactly get three hours of daily exercise anymore; perhaps we do weekly if we're lucky. Playing an entire game of field hockey, therefore, caused we alumni to pant, wheeze, and groan, and by the time the final whistle blew, we were more than ready to head back to the city and our sedentary lives.

I got home, showered off the shin guard sweat, and started to think about dinner. Fortunately, I didn't have much planned for the night, and I was ready to make a calm meal for two at home before heading out to watch Matt Damon in The Informant. But then I lay down.

Hoisting myself out of bed around 6pm was as athletic a feat as the defensive tactics I'd attempted earlier, and as I began cooking, things like lifting a spatula and washing a dish started to seem equally taxing. Since at this point there was no way I was leaving the house, I was going to be working almost solely with the morning's farmers' market yield, supplemented by the array of Alaskan fish I had in my freezer (acquired from a friend's father, who makes a yearly trip to Alaska's waterways and carries home more of his flash-frozen catch than he can eat).

Fennel, perhaps the most off-the-cuff of my purchases, turned out to be priceless: the bulb functioned both in the fish's cooking broth and in the vegetable side, and the green, dill-like leaves acted as a seasoning. The preparation complete, I finally lifted the first bite up to taste, and, as I felt the ache of my muscles, I swore to myself, mouth full of fish, that I'd take up a regimen of daily hill sprints.

--By Cara Eisenpress of Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Rockfish in Fennel-Saffron Broth, Orange Sweet Potatoes, and Roasted Fennel
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 filets rockfish (striped bass, or other flakey white fish)
1 large bulb fennel
1 shallot (or 1/4 of a medium onion), very thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup broth or water
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon good-tasting olive oil
2-3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
pinch of nutmeg
salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roast the sweet potatoes on the oven rack for 45 minutes to an hour, until they're quite soft. Set aside until they're cool enough to handle. When they are, scoop the potatoes out of the skin, add the orange juice, nutmeg, and salt, and gently mash so the potatoes are nearly smooth but not gluey. Taste for citrus flavor and salt, then keep warm (or reheat) for serving.

While the potatoes are cooling, trim the fennel, keeping 2 teaspoons of the green dill-like leaves. Remove the outermost husk and reserve it. Cut the remaining bulb into 8 wedges. Brush the wedges with olive oil, arrange them on a baking sheet, and roast for about 40 minutes.

To make the fish: warm the broth slightly. Add a pinch of salt and the saffron, and stir to combine.

Slice the reserved fennel into very thin slices, and arrange them in the bottom of a small baking dish. Scatter the sliced shallot over them, then sprinkle with salt. Arrange both filets in one layer over the vegetables and sprinkle with more salt. Pour the wine and the saffron-flavored broth over the fish. Cover tightly with foil. Reduce the oven temperature for 375°F and bake for 20 minutes until the fish flakes.

Heat the sweet potatoes in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Serve a mound of sweet potatoes with a filet draped over and roasted fennel on the side. Pour the extra saffron broth into a bowl and serve alongside. (You can also serve the fish in shallow bowls in the broth, then eat the sweet potatoes on the side.)

David Becker: 20 Ways Farmers Can Improve Their Marketing Chops

2009-11-18T10:40:21Z

Farmers are business people, alchemists, scientists, economists, and
stewards of the land. But sometimes they need help with that most basic
and necessary of skills: marketing. Earlier this month I sat in on a Cornell
agriculture extension seminar on the power of storytelling.

Herewith a modest partial list of ways for farmers to craft a story
around their products, personalities, and people more effectively,
especially at farmers markets.

Create a Narrative. The story should be real and
worth repeating: How you got into raising sheep when a farmer left a
flock on your pasture and never came back to reclaim them. (That one’s
true.) Weave in details that create an image. People want -- desperately
need -- the connection with the farm and an honest day’s work.

Smile and Make Eye Contact: Margo Sue Bittner of The Winery at Marjim Manor
found that if you smile and make eye contact within the first 10
seconds of greeting a customer you reduce theft by 20%. Is that a
scientific fact? Could be. But even if its not, it’s a great start.
You’re not running an art gallery that gains its cachet by turning away
traffic.

Identify Staffers Who Like to Talk: Sometimes
customers want a simple answer. Is this easy to cook? How should I
store that? The kind of questions most workers who staff farmers
markets should be able to address gracefully. But not all workers at
farmers markets also work on the farm. Have a designated staffer who
enjoys talking about the difference between sustainable and organic.
What exactly is Integrated Pest Management? Why you grow kohlrabi or
celeriac.

Be Honest: If someone complains that “these
carrots are long and stringy” you can respond “Oh God. Can you imagine
what they’re like to wash and harvest? They taste perfectly fine, but
next week we have Spanish Blacks that are gorgeous and very rare.”

Presentation is Everything: Show abundance when
you have it. When you don’t, display products as if they were featured
in Martha Stewart’s magazine. Spring for wicker baskets or wooden boxes
lined with burlap. You have 10 tomatillos left? Put them in a small
basket and highlight them at checkout as an impulse purchase (Make a
great salsa verde!).

Tell a Story about Your Area: The largest producer
of cabbage and sauerkraut in America. Best known for artisanal Munster
cheese. Benedict Arnold slept there. Pamela Anderson was born up the
street. (Actually Pamela Anderson was born in Ladysmith, British
Columbia.)

Feature Clear Labels: Easy to read and laminated.
Describe the taste and some potential uses. Not all apples make a great
pie but every apple has a use. Same is true for potatoes.

Provide (Easy) Recipes: There are literally
millions of recipes available online. If you don’t cook often pick some
and try them. Or have your friends test a recipe. Product trade groups
often have a wide range of well-tested recipes.
Print them out. Offer to provide a recipe with every purchase. Group
together items that go into the recipe into preparation (like a
Butternut Souffle that includes squash, onions and thyme).

Promote Your Press: If you’ve been featured in any
newspaper, blog (even this one), radio or TV report, print it out and
laminate it. Make copies for journalists who prowl farmers markets
looking for story ideas.

Meet Controversy Head On: When there is a
food-borne disease story in the news don’t be shy about explaining how
your product is different, or how raising your animals is vastly
different from a factory operation, and what that means in terms of
food safety.

For ten more practical marketing tips continue reading here.

For more on food and farming, visit Friendof thefarmer.com

Paula Crossfield: The Fair Food Project Tells Farmworkers' Stories (VIDEO)

2009-11-17T14:13:19Z

If you eat, you rely on farmers, but you also rely on the labor of 2.5 million farm workers in the United States who earn wages below the poverty limit ($10,000 per year) while risking their lives in the harshest conditions in order to bring us most of the food we eat on a day to day basis.

Photographer and writer Rick Nahmias and the California Institute for Rural Studies have created a multimedia project called "Fair Food: Field to Table," allowing farm workers to tell their own stories, and featuring the voices of farm worker advocates and producers who are pursuing solutions to creating socially just conditions on the farm and in food businesses.

Part one takes a look behind the scenes of the food system, to the places where most farm workers live (because farm workers are often transient, they can get stuck sharing very small spaces with people they don't even know while get submitted to poor drinking water and other demeaning conditions), and to the fields, where the conditions can sometimes look indistinguishable from slavery.

Part two focuses on the solutions growers have found to dignify the work of farm workers -- having a dialog with them, providing health insurance, helping them buy their own home in the community or providing them with separate living spaces with air conditioning. Amy Hepworth from Hepworth Farms in Milton, New York says in the film, "Its so simple when it comes down to labor: happy worker turns into a productive farm."

Part three focuses on what you can do to change conditions for farm workers, and features the voices of organizations, students, chefs and others changing the system.

Watch part one of the project below, and then go here to watch part two and three.

Urban Foraging: Wild Edibles In Cities -- Collect And Eat Fruit, Greens, Snails And More! (PHOTOS)

2009-11-17T08:11:08Z

Eating locally is a big deal these days -- but few people know about all the edible treats growing wild in cities across America. Here at HuffPost Green, we think the most adventurous way to eat local is to throw on your wellies and go foraging for urban goodies. From delicious fruits to weeds you would never think to eat, clams and snails, cities are full of hand-picked eating opportunities!

We hope this slideshow gives you some great urban gathering ideas, but be sure to check with local experts for help identifying plants before stuffin' your face. Don't forget to vote on your favorite.

Plus, if you live in San Francisco, New York or Portland, check out these awesome urban foraging tours and communities.

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Heritage Turkeys: Eat A Delicious And Ethically Raised Turkey This Thanksgiving (PHOTOS)

2009-11-16T11:55:20Z

According to the National Turkey Federation, 48 million turkeys were eaten at Thanksgiving in 2008.

The typical, mass produced turkey consumed by 99% of Thanksgiving celebrators is called the "Broadbreasted White", or "Large White" Turkey. Their cost averages out to be about $1 per pound. And while they're cheap, the way that these guys are raised is truly can cause concern. Bred solely to be eaten, these turkeys have lost their ability to run, fly or mate.

Luckily, small, local farms across the country are working hard to provide Americans with old fashioned heritage turkeys. Heritage turkeys resemble the domestic turkeys of 100 years ago, plus they also mate naturally, have long and productive outdoor lifespans, and grow up at slow growth rate - about 28 weeks. HuffPost Green took a look around in order to find a couple of these awesome farms. Take a look and vote for your fave.

Finally, once you buy your amazingly delicious heritage turkey, the New York Times has an awesome heritage turkey recipe.

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Tough Growing Season For Farmers In The Northeast

2009-11-16T09:14:51Z

Plagued with inclement weather, disease and complications from both, farms throughout Connecticut, New Jersey and New York generally suffered one of the worst, if not the worst, growing season in memory.

Leslie Hatfield: A Farm in Danger: Help Save the Bed-Stuy Farm

2009-11-12T18:29:39Z

Originally published on The Green Fork.

In one Brooklyn community, neighborhood residents are fighting to keep their farm. Bed-Stuy Farm, once a neighborhood garbage dump, was transformed into an urban oasis that produces over 7,000 lbs of fresh food every year, helping feed more than 4,000 people a month through the Brooklyn Rescue Mission.

The Farm is a source of community pride that has inspired neighborhood greening, backyard food gardening and food pantry agriculture projects. It is a constant reminder to residents that better nutrition and healthy eating are within our grasp. Now, though, the project is threatened by development.

Check out the post Kerry Trueman wrote about it back in August to learn more and help save the Bed-Stuy Farm by signing this petition.

Jennifer Grayson: Eco Etiquette: How To Eat Local This Winter

2009-11-11T10:55:43Z

For those of us in the Midwest, summer is so much easier when it comes to eating local -- lots of farmers markets stocked with goodies from local growers, bakers and purveyors. Now those little meccas of low-impact food are closed for the season. Any suggestions for how we can continue to lesson our impact on the environment as we head back indoors for our grocery shopping?

-Maggie

Say what you will about the smog and traffic in Los Angeles, but it's pretty darn fantastic to be able to pedal on over to my local farmer's market year-round. That's one of the advantages of living in sun-soaked California, the nation's breadbasket. San Joaquin Valley, to the north, produces nearly half of all the fruits, nuts, and vegetables sold in the United States (though that number has declined in the past three years due to drought); San Diego County, to the south, has more farms than any other county in the country.

These agricultural tidbits went largely unnoticed by me until a trip to Boston in the dead of winter a few years back, after I had already moved out West, when I realized that it was only in LA that grocery stores offered almost entirely local produce; even the Beantown Whole Foods I visited featured -- you guessed it -- California's finest fruitage.

Believe it or not, you don't have to live in the Golden State to enjoy farm-fresh food 365 days a year; there are winters farmers markets, even in some darn-cold areas of the country. The Chicago Green City Market, for example, runs year-round, and will feature 47 vendors this winter. But just because farmers markets elsewhere are closing up shop doesn't mean you should just throw in the CO2 towel and start buying anemic-looking tomatoes and asparagus that have been flown in from Chile to the local Jewel. Want to know how to procure farm-fresh, local food even in a four-foot snowstorm? The answer is as simple as C-S-A.

For those who aren't familiar with community supported agriculture (CSA), it's pretty much like buying a subscription to a local farm: You pay a fee, usually per growing season, and in return receive a share of fresh, locally nurtured fruits and vegetables -- some farms even offer dairy, eggs, and meat. The great thing about a CSA is that you enjoy whatever is in season: Depending on where you live, that can mean spring peas and asparagus in April; strawberries and corn in July; and apples and sweet potatoes in October.

With the spread of the local, organic food movement, CSAs have become very popular in recent years; so much so that many are now offering winter goodies to help keep their shareholders happy and not-so-fat (thanks to nutritious eating). A friend who recently finished an internship with Illinois' Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm told me that selective freezing enables the farm to offer its pasture-raised chicken and humanely bred Angus beef even throughout a brutal Chicago winter.

I did a survey of CSAs around the country and found that surprisingly, winter offerings can be quite diverse: Garden of Eve's farm share on the East End of Long Island includes stored vegetables like beets, rutabagas, and winter squash, as well as organic eggs; Laughing Stock Farm in Freeport, Maine, offers fresh salad greens and baby carrots from its greenhouse (which is heated with a renewable fuel, of course); and Hog's Back Farm in Arkansaw, Wis., delivers cold-hardy crops like broccoli and kale to pick-up sites in nearby Minneapolis and St. Paul. To search for a CSA that offers a winter share in your area, check out the LocalHarvest website. But don't wait -- many are already sold out for the season.

Reducing your carbon footprint and supporting good health are important reasons to join a CSA, but I think an equally compelling consideration right now is to support your local farmers -- and your community -- through this economic winter.

Send all your eco-inquiries to Jennifer Grayson at eco.etiquette@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for length and clarity.

Nicolette Hahn Niman: Avoiding Factory Farm Foods: An Eater's Guide

2009-11-11T08:18:59Z

Most people share at least the following traits: they want to be healthy; they like animals; and they value clean air and water. Yet relatively few Americans connect those concerns with their food. As more people start making the link (especially if they've seen graphic video footage of industrial animal operations), many decide it's time to stop eating foods from factory farms. This is a guide for doing just that.

I've been a vegetarian for more than twenty years. Unlike the fits and starts described in Jonathan Safran Foer's autobiographical book Eating Animals, the day I decided to quit eating meat was the last time I ever did. I remember that dinner well. It was my mother's tuna fish casserole, and actually quite tasty. But while I chose to stop eating meat, I never adopted the view that it was morally wrong, and, consequently, didn't become one of those vegetarians who spends her spare time plumbing the depths of meat industry literature looking for bits of information to shock my friends and family into giving up meat.

Nine years ago, I had just started working as an environmental lawyer for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. when he approached me about leading a national campaign to reform the livestock and poultry sector. He said that industrialized animal production had become one of the nation's worst polluters of water and air, and he wanted to aggressively attack the problem.

Initially, realizing that Bobby was asking me to work full-time on poop, I hesitated. It was not the glamorous job I'd envisioned when moving to New York to work for him. But then I visited towns in Missouri and North Carolina that had been overrun by factory-style production of hogs, chickens and turkeys. I witnessed biblical-scale plagues of pollution and stench; I spoke with people whose lives had been ruined when an industrial hog or poultry operation was erected next door; and I heard the details of how the animals were raised. My reticence vanished and I jumped at the chance to work on cleansing the earth of the animal factory menace.

I loved the job and threw myself into it, body and soul. But there was one problem: I could no longer deny the shady past of my own food. Every day, I was putting stuff into my mouth that undeniably came from factory farms. I was a vegetarian, yes, but consumed plenty of eggs, milk, yogurt, butter and cheese. And much of the factory farm data and stories I was gathering from all over the country was about egg and dairy operations. My unease grew with each passing day.

To avoid the products of factory farms, I became something of a food detective. My groceries were the subjects of my investigations. Where were they coming from and how they were produced? I roamed grocery store aisles carefully reading product labels, but there was little to no information about the conditions in which the animals were raised. I wrote letters to food companies with questions about what they fed their animals, but the letters went unanswered. The food system's lack of transparency was frustrating. Eventually, I mostly gave up on supermarkets and began exploring new ways to get at the good food I was seeking. Although the task was daunting, my goal was simple: I wanted all my food to come from places I would enjoy visiting.

Three years later, I was still fighting factory farms but had moved across the country from New York to California. Surprising myself (and others), I had married a cattle rancher and meat company head, Bill Niman. Bill is no ordinary meat guy. He's spent his entire adult life slowly and painfully building a viable alternative to factory farms, the natural meat company Niman Ranch. Over the past six years, I've worked here on our ranch in Northern California and continued researching factory farming. And I'm still hunting down the foods of non-industrial, traditional farms.

My book Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms, released earlier this year, tells the tale of my journey through the meat system and from East Coast vegetarian lawyer to West Coast rancher. In a chapter called "Finding the Right Foods," I also share what I've learned about how to avoid food from factory farms and how to get the good stuff.

General advice:

1. Be prepared to pay more. As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for." Americans are used to the idea that a Cadillac is a better car than a Malibu and that you pay more for it. Yet somehow when it comes to food many of us look only at price. But getting good food could be one of the most important things we do to keep ourselves in good health. To paraphrase Michael Pollan, you pay your grocer now or pay your doctor later. And the methods for producing foods - especially animal based foods - vary radically, from farms that are excellent stewards of animals and the environment to the most industrialized, stinking, polluting facilities. Instead of just looking at price tags, think in terms of value. Remember that our government heavily subsidizes industrial agriculture, making its products artificially cheap. We should all be asking our elected officials why our government isn't supporting farming that produces food that's healthful for humans, environmentally benign and respectful to animals. Over the long term, that's the change we need to advocate for. If government policy made such a shift, wholesome traditionally produced foods could be as inexpensive as the junk coming out of factory farms. In the meantime, expect to pay more for good food. Think of it as an investment in good health, an unspoiled environment, fair treatment for animals, and of course, tasty eating.

2. Plan on reducing consumption. A typical American eats more than 200 pounds of meat per year and our consumption continues to rise. On top of that, over the twentieth century, average cheese consumption went from about three pounds annually to around 30 pounds, much of which is processed cheese in Big Macs and on pizzas. (And we wonder why we have an obesity epidemic). Meat and dairy products from traditional farms currently cost more than factory farm products. A good way to make this work in your budget is to cut back the quantities you buy (and the frequency and portion sizes when you eat animal based foods). Chances are, you're eating far more of it than you need anyway, so cutting back will probably be a good thing for your health as well. Consider adopting this as your new slogan: Eat less meat. Eat better meat. (The same goes for dairy products and eggs).

3. Seek food from a known source. The best way to ensure you're getting food from non-industrial farms is to buy from sources with full transparency, those where you can see how the animals are raised, and what they were fed, as well as learn from what farm or farms the food actually came. If I can't get the basic information about how the farm animals were raised, I just don't buy it.

4. Ask questions (even if it sometimes seems futile). Few people these days ask where the food comes from when at grocery stores or restaurants. Americans have become accustomed to the idea that there's some giant commodity trade of fungible meats, eggs, and dairy products. But there is real power in simply asking the questions: "Where is this from? How was it raised?" Get into the habit at meat counters and restaurants of asking where the meat is from. If they don't know the answer, suggest (in a friendly way, of course) they find out. When we eat out, Bill and I always ask servers where the meat comes from. If they don't know, we ask them to ask the chef. If the chef doesn't know, Bill doesn't order it. I believe the simple act of asking this question - if enough people begin to do it - has the potential to spark a massive change in our food system.

5. Know your labels (and their shortcomings). Food labels are helpful but imperfect. Knowing what they mean (and do not mean) is important. For example, the term "free range" has one connotation with eggs and another with poultry meat. Weird, huh? This is something you'd never know just by looking at the labels in the store. Most labeling is regulated by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), so they are fairly reliable sources of some information. (More on labels shortly).

6. Baby-steps are OK (as long as they're in the right direction). Factory farms are ubiquitous and so are their products. So avoiding them, admittedly, takes some effort. If you try to change everything in one fell swoop you're likely to feel so overwhelmed that you'll get paralyzed and give up. If, on the other hand, you allow yourself to move forward deliberately, one step at a time, chances are you will enjoy the transition and will stick with it.

7. Consider it an adventure. Going to the supermarket to pick up all your food is convenient, true, but it's also dreadfully boring. Good foods from real farms do not look and taste the same 365 days a year. They are less predictable, varying depending on the particular breeds of animal, the seasons, and the farmer who raised them. The diversity of the foods you'll get from real farms is just part of what makes eating more fun. It's also a pleasure to meet and talk with farmers, butchers and other purveyors of real foods. They can be tremendously helpful in providing cooking advice for the particular foods you are buying (such as a cut of meat you've never tried). Following the pathways that lead you to good foods - farmstands, CSAs, farmers markets, co-ops - will take you to interesting places you've never been and to people you'll enjoy meeting.

Where to look:

1. Stop being a supermarket zombie. Supermarkets' primary appeal is convenience, and there's no doubt that they are convenient. They are also offering more organic foods these days, which is a good thing. But because their business model is based on large volumes of uniform products, supermarkets rarely carry foods from real, traditional family farms. In my experience, places like Safeway, Albertsons, and Kroger are wastelands for those of us seeking animal products that don't come from factory farms. That's why (other than Trader Joes and Whole Foods, which are better than the rest) I have almost totally stopped frequenting them. The exception to this general rule is for those farms who've joined together to co-operatively process and distribute their products, thus they have sufficient volume to work with major supermarket chains (examples of such companies are Niman Ranch and Organic Valley).

2. Explore alternative stores (independent grocery stores and co-ops). Independently owned grocery stores tend to be more willing to work with traditional farmers, and their staffs are generally much more knowledgeable about the meats, eggs and dairy products they offer. It's worth the effort to seek them out and explore their offerings. Good examples of such stores are: Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco; Marczyk Fine Foods in Denver; Gateway Market in Des Moines; and Poppies Gourmet Farmers Market in Brevard, North Carolina. Co-ops also tend to source from local farmers and have member-employees who are interested and concerned about good food. Examples of some of the excellent co-ops I'm familiar with are: the co-ops in Boise, Idaho and Bozeman, Montana, and "The Wedge" in Minneapolis.

3. Frequent your local farmers markets. The popularity of farmers markets has exploded in recent past decades, going from about 350 in the late 1970s to more than 4,400 today. This is excellent news for those of us seeking non-factory farm foods. With a little effort, you can find a farmers market near you and begin learning what's offered there at what times of year. Many excellent farms and ranches sell their wares at farmers markets but remember not to assume anything about how the foods were produced. Ask the farmers you're buying from how the animals were raised and what they were fed. Locating a farmers market is easy: many states and localities have lists available, as does USDA.

4. Look for CSAs. An excellent way to know exactly where your food comes from is to join a CSA (community supported agriculture). You buy shares of what a farm produces. Generally, each "shareholder" (member) gets a box of farm products each week, which members pick up at a certain spot. Many CSAs encourage their shareholders to visit the farms for themselves, so they can really know where their food is coming from and how it was raised. When they first started, most CSAs were just doing produce. But in recent years, I've spoken with people from all over the country that are doing CSAs that include meat, dairy and eggs. Some farms and ranches are even doing CSAs that are exclusively animal-based foods. CSAs can be found by searching Eatwellguide.org and Localharvest.org/csa.

5. Look for farms online. Many smaller farms and ranches sell directly to consumers with a website. The other day, for example, I was speaking at a Sierra Club conference in Kentucky and met a local farmer who's raising Bourbon Red heritage turkeys. She told me she says most of her birds through her on-line store. Be sure that the website provides plenty of photos and information about how they raise their animals. If it's just showing photos of the food products, that's a bad sign.

6. Seek chefs committed to sustainable sourcing. It can be especially hard to trace the origins of your food when dining out. However, if you seek restaurants whose chefs are dedicated to sourcing from sustainable farms and ranches, they can do the work for you. Fortunately, the number of such restaurants is growing. Here are just a few of my favorites: Lumiere, near Boston; Savoy and Green Table in New York City; White Dog Café in Philadelphia; North Pond in Chicago; Zingermann's in Ann Arbor, MI; Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, AL; Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA; and Oliveto in Oakland, CA. An organization that promotes sustainable sourcing to chefs (and on whose board I sit), Chefs Collaborative, has a website listing of participating restaurants throughout the country which buy all or some of their ingredients from sustainable farms. Another good way to find such restaurants is Eatwellguide.org. Even fast food is possible: Chipotle Mexican Grills buy all their pork from traditional farms.

What to look for with all animal based foods:

1. Domestic, please. Whether you're worried about your food's carbon footprint or how much you can verify about its source, there are lots of good reasons to support farms close to home. I am generally skeptical about claims (like "organic") on food imported from foreign countries. US government authorities barely police imported food's safety nor the validity of its label claims. We always try to buy domestically because we want to feel confident about how it was produced. We also want to help build the demand for traditionally farmed foods so that more and more American farmland is occupied by real farms and ranches instead of factory farms. Of course, when you're shopping at a farmers market, this is generally not a concern. But lots of stores offer imported meats and fish. In particular, 90 percent of lamb comes from Australia and New Zealand and most seafood comes from Asia.

2. Pasture is the gold standard. All animals, not just grazing animals, benefit tremendously from being outdoors daily on natural vegetation (such as grass and clover). They exercise, lie in the sun, breath fresh air, and generally live much happier, healthier, more natural lives. For cattle, sheep, and goats, their ruminant digestive systems miraculously turn vegetation that is inedible to humans into digestible nourishment for themselves. The omnivorous animals -- pigs, chickens, and turkeys -- gain minerals and as fiber from their foraging. Winter weather makes year-round access to pasture difficult in some parts of the United States, but animals can and should have access to grass for most days of the year. They live healthier, better lives and the food humans take from them is safer, tastier and healthier. If you're buying directly from a farmer or rancher, ask if the animals were on pasture. If you're buying from a store, read the labels or ask. If it doesn't say the animals had pasture access, assume that they did not.

3. Grass fed is very good (but the label is weak). Certain animals, including cattle, goats and sheep, have evolved as grazing or browsing animals. Their bodies are designed to spend their waking hours slowly foraging and walking to gather their food over many hours. Bovines in the wild, for instance, spend most of their waking hours in a state of slow, ambulant grazing, walking an average of 2.5 miles a day, all the while taking 50 to 80 bites of forage per minute. In other words, cattle - both those raised for beef and those raised for milk - should live on grass. In 2007, USDA finally proposed a standard for "grass fed" meat. However, the standard has lots of problems, not the least of which is that it doesn't require animals to be on pasture and allows them to be fed lots of stuff that definitely ain't grass. That's why it's preferable to buy grass fed meat directly from the farmer or rancher rather than relying on a label.

2. Organic is very good, (but the label isn't perfect). USDA regulates the use of the term "organic" on food labels. If you see the official "Certified Organic" label on a food, that means that USDA is maintaining a certain degree of oversight and that the food item was (or at least should have been) produced in accordance with USDA's standards. In many ways, especially with respect to animal feeding, the standards are stringent. Animal based foods labeled organic must be fed only organic feeds (which has at least 80 percent organic ingredients and does not contain slaughterhouse wastes, antibiotics, or genetically modified grains). These are important distinctions from typical factory farm foods. The organic standards also provide some assurance about how the animals are housed and handled. They require that organic livestock and poultry be provided: "living conditions which accommodate the health and natural behavior of animals," and specifically mandate that animals have some access to the outdoors, to exercise, and to bedding. These too are crucial differences from factory farms. The problem, however, is that the standards have not clearly mandated access to pasture. Thus, much organic milk (and other dairy products) comes from cows that are housed in enormous metal sheds and spend most of their days on cement floors, having no access to pastures. For this reason, I prefer to know precisely where and how the animals lived that produced my food and do not like to rely on the organic label.

3. Free range is okay (but the label is seriously flawed). The term "free range" is most commonly used for poultry. Strangely, it can mean different things depending on whether it's applied to poultry raised for meat versus egg-laying poultry. When "free range" is used on poultry meat, USDA requires that the birds have some access to the outdoors. However, there are no standards for what type of outdoor area it must be, and therefore might be a small cement patio. Even more problematic is "free range" when it's used for eggs. USDA has failed to create any definition of "free range" for egg laying hens. Arguably, then, companies could label their eggs "free range" even without providing any outdoor access (and I suspect that's what some companies are doing).

4. Antibiotic free doesn't mean much. Some poultry and red meats are labeled "antibiotic free." This is slightly better than your average factory farm product because the animals were not continually fed antibiotics. But there are several serious problems with this label. Most importantly, "antibiotic free" meat can be (and usually is) from a factory farm. Secondly, many companies are calling meat antibiotic free even though they used other anti-microbial drugs to raise the animals. In other words, it's largely a matter of semantics.

By category:

1. Beef: Beef has taken the most hits from journalistic exposes but when it comes to animal treatment issues, no one can deny that beef cattle have by far the best lives of all farm animals (much better than dairy cows, in particular). The problem with beef cattle raising is that most cattle are implanted with hormones and are fed a variety of drugs, including antibiotics. Moreover, large beef feedlots are a major environmental hazard because of the enormous amounts of air pollution they cause and the potential to cause serious water pollution. It's important to remember that cattle are grazing animals. The best beef is beef that allowed the cattle to graze for their entire lives. Unfortunately, USDA has created a "grass fed" label that has been criticized by the American Grassfed Association as not being nearly stringent enough. Look for beef that was raised entirely on grass (didn't go through a feedlot), was not implanted with hormones, and was feed only vegetarian feeds. If you can't find totally grass fed beef, opt for beef that was neither fed antibiotics nor implanted with hormones (which is the standard for "natural" beef). Remember that "organic" is not the best label here. The largest producer of "organic" beef in the United States finishes its cattle at a large feedlot.

2. Pork: More than 90 percent of US pork is produced in large, total confinement operations with liquefied manure systems. Most pigs are continually fed antibiotics and other suspect substances, including arsenic and slaughterhouse wastes. Look for pork that was raised on pasture or in deep straw bedding. (Both systems afford the pigs a high quality of life and are environmentally friendly). Make sure the feed was free of drugs, slaughterhouse byproducts, and arsenic. Ask whether the sows were confined to gestation crates or farrowing crates, which are cruel and unnecessary. Make sure the pigs were not raised in confinement buildings with liquefied manure. The liquefied manure system is the lynchpin to the public health, animal welfare, and environmental problems associated with industrial pork. This is one of the few places I will recommend a specific brand: Niman Ranch. (Note: my husband is the founder of the Niman Ranch company but we no longer have any association with it). All of the Niman farmers follow a stringent set of standards that forbid liquefied manure systems; forbid sow crates; forbid feeding drugs or meat byproducts and require humane animal handling.

3. Lamb: Most sheep, like most beef cattle, are raised outdoors. They are grazing animals and belong on grass. There is little factory farming of sheep at this time although many Colorado lambs are finished at feedlots. Recently, however, I learned of a large confinement operation for breeding ewes in Iowa. The facility was so disease ridden that it had to be shuttered. Look for lamb that is born and raised in the United States and make sure that all of the animals, including the breeding ewes, are living on pasture.

4. Goat: Goat is the most frequently consumed meat in the world but most Americans have never tried it. However, as the US population changes and as palates broaden, goat meat is gaining popularity here for the first time. One advantage to eating goat meat is that this is a non-industrialized part of the meat sector. There is no such thing as a goat factory farm. In fact, goat is probably the most environmentally friendly of all meats, because, when properly managed, goats do little damage to the landscape and consume naturally occurring undesirable vegetation, (like poison oak and coyote brush). Look for it at your local farmers market. The best goat meat is from animals raised specifically as meat goats, (rather than dairy goats), especially the Boer and Spanish breeds.

5. Chicken: Like pork, almost all chicken produced in the United States today is from enormous confinement buildings. Instead, look for chicken that was raised on pasture. If it does not specifically say that it was raised on pasture, assume that it was not. Factory farms all raise the same white chicken from a narrow genetic pool. Their bodies are unsound and would be unfit for life outdoors. Thus, even better than just pasture raised are heritage breed chickens raised on pasture, such as the Plymouth Barred Rock, Cornish, and Silver Laced Wyandotte . To the greatest extent possible - buy whole birds, which mean there's been less processing of the meat and it makes it more affordable. Remember that most "antibiotic free" comes from factory farms. Remember, too, that "free range" does not mean the birds were on pasture but it does mean the birds had outdoor access, (so it's somewhat better than non-free range).

6. Turkey: Almost all turkeys raised in the United States are of a single, over bred, white variety called the broad breasted white. They are raised in continual confinement in extremely crowded conditions and normally fed antibiotics for much or all of their lives. Their bodies are horribly unsound. They have trouble standing upright when they reach maturity and they are literally incapable of mating. The only way to get a physically sound turkey is to seek out heritage breed turkeys. Look for heritage turkeys that were raised on pasture. If you cannot find pasture raised birds, get ones that at least had access to the outdoors. Here again, buy whole birds for better safety and quality.

7. Eggs: Eggs from factory farms are particularly unappetizing. Hens are crammed into small cages (called "battery cages") which are stacked on top of one another. The hens are literally defecating on the hens below them. But avoiding them may seem tricky because egg labels are so vexing. There's cage free, free range, organic, vegetarian fed. Remember that "free range" has no meaning when put on an egg carton. Cage free is better than the factory farm norm (in which hens are crammed into crowded cages in which each one has less room than a sheet of paper) but the birds are still continually confined and terribly cramped. The only way to totally avoid the factory farm scenario is to look for eggs from hens that are on pasture. Other than a farmers market or CSA, the best place to find eggs from hens on pasture may be in your own backyard of your neighbor's. A growing number of Americans are keeping backyard flocks and many sell their excess eggs. These eggs are beautiful and taste so much better than supermarket eggs that once you've tried them, you'll never want to go back. Keep in mind that non-factory farming of eggs varies considerably by season because hens' naturally lay in harmony with nature's seasons. The number of eggs they lay corresponds with the amount of daylight. So be prepared for periods of shortage. You may have to go without eggs from time to time, but it will be well worth it.

7. Milk: Fluid milk is generally not transported very far because it cannot be done so economically. This means you need to find a good local source of milk. (If you live in New York, you may be lucky enough to have access to Ronnybrook Farms milk, which is excellent). Remember, you're looking for a dairy where the cows are on pasture as much of the time as possible. Some sell directly to the public. Organic milk, unless is says that the cows are on pasture, may come from confined cows. The local co-op is often a good place to find pasture based milk from a local farm. Remember with milk, if it doesn't indicate that the cows were on pasture, they almost certainly were not. It's always good to keep in mind, if you are unable to find pasture based or organic milk, at a minimum try to avoid milk with growth hormone (called rBST or rBGH). Generally, if the milk is free of growth hormone it will be labeled as such, so if it's unlabeled, it probably came from dairies using hormones.

8. Cheese: Cheeses made from cows on grass are incredibly tasty and are becoming easier to find. There is even a growing movement among traditional American dairies to make their own cheeses right on the farm (called farmstead cheeses). Check your farmers market, co-op and local cheese shop. An excellent source for good cheeses from traditional farms is Murray's Cheese in New York City, which has an exceptionally knowledgeable staff and an online store. Another outstanding source is Cowgirl Creamery, in Point Reyes Station, CA, which has an online store. There are also now many pasture based dairy farms that make and sell their own cheeses directly to consumers. (Always look carefully at the websites to make sure they actually show how their cows live). One particularly impressive pasture dairy I have visited several times is owned an operated by the Klessig family in Cleveland, Wisconsin. They now make and sell their own cheeses under the name Saxon Homestead Creamery.

9. Butter: The key is finding butter made from cows on grass. We like Straus Family Creamery, which is supplied by organic farms that graze their cows. It makes an excellent butter, available in California.

10. Yogurt: Yogurt from pasture based dairies can also be found. The Straus Family Creamery also makes an excellent organic yogurt from cows who live on grass. If you cannot find a good yogurt in your community, you can easily make your own from organic milk. (I have my own yogurt maker but haven't used in years because the Straus yogurt is so good).

Jennifer Schwab: White Christmas -- How About A Green Thanksgiving?

2009-11-10T18:04:28Z

White Christmas is a cultural and traditional icon of our
society. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, Green Thanksgiving will also
become an American standard.

Naturally, the most eco-friendly meal would be a 100 percent
vegan menu. Let’s be honest, though, do
you really want to celebrate with turkey-shaped soy? If you do, more power to you. But if a “tofurky” feast isn’t your thing,
bear in mind you still have other savory and sustainable options: Choose a turkey that is USDA-Certified
organic and free-range, meaning it is given organic feed and is free from
confinement. You can find a list of
farmers at Local
Harvest who use organic methods to raise their birds, perhaps there is one
near you?

If you do choose to enjoy soy for Thanksgiving there are
many vegetarian and vegan soy “turkeys” available, or you can even try making
your own. Click here for
an article offering many non-meat turkey options. There are also some vegetarian
gravy recipes if you want the full Thanksgiving meal experience.

It’s also the season for pumpkin, potatoes, sweet potatoes,
and yams. Traditional Thanksgiving food
is usually in season anyway, so why not get the freshest possible ingredients
for your mashed potatoes and pies by visiting your local farmer’s market? Eating produce that’s in season -- especially
if grown locally -- cuts down on the carbon emissions needed to grow, plow,
ship, truck and fly it from the farm to your table. If you can’t find a farmer’s market in your
area, try to purchase as many organic, in-season ingredients at the grocery
store as you can. Here is a list of recipes
by in-season ingredient that you can try for your Thanksgiving meal.

Planning final headcount will help monitor unnecessary food
waste, so get those RSVPs early! While
we all love leftover turkey sandwiches, inevitably, some food spoils quickly
forcing you to toss it; have guests bring a reusable dish to share
leftovers. If there are any scraps left,
try composting
them to limit waste and add nutrients to your garden.

You can also consider, making your Thanksgiving meal a
potluck and ask your guests to bring different side dishes so all you have to
worry about is getting the best possible turkey. Share vegan, vegetarian, in-season and
organic recipes as a little hint for the menu theme. This allows everyone to participate in
creating a sustainable soiree.

Easy Décor

Don’t stop with dinner; incorporate a touch of green into
décor as well. Create the perfect holiday ambiance with candles, but choose
ones made out of soy or beeswax as they last longer and burn cleaner than
paraffin and petroleum candles that emit toxic chemicals. Also, natural accents like baskets filled
with beautiful fall leaves or a cornucopia centerpiece with organic pumpkins
and gourds, are not only affordable but also eco-friendly.

When setting up for the feast, forget the disposable plates,
paper napkins and plastic cutlery and opt for the real deal, including
linens. If your party is too large for
reusable items, try more biodegradable and sustainable party
supplies that can be composted after use.

Before turkey-coma
sets in, be sure to keep your daily habits of recycling glass, plastic and
aluminum, and compost the leftover treats after the party. Also, remember to
let leftovers cool before storing as steam can increase the temperature inside
the refrigerator, which will then use more energy to keep it cold. Think you
might have too much, even for those delicious post-Thanksgiving meals? Send
guests packing with some turkey takeaways!

Shop Smart

First, bring reusable bags when shopping. Planning for a big
meal means taking food home in a bundle of bags, so pass on the plastic at the
grocery store. Secondly, because of the popularity of organic products,
companies are starting to slap on organic labels for items that are not truly
organic. Read the labels carefully. USDA's National Organic Program regulates
the standards for any farm, wild crop harvesting, or handling operation that
wants to sell an agricultural product as organically produced so look for
anything USDA-certified.

You may find that turkey that is free-range, organic and
free of antibiotics is a bit pricier than the others at the supermarket. However, it is a better choice for the
environment, your health, and the taste is incomparable. If that’s not enough, just remember that
following the rest of the tips -- like making less food, not buying disposable
plates and cutlery, reducing electricity, using natural decorations, etc -- will
end up saving you money.

Most of all, enjoy the time with friends and family and be
thankful that we have an opportunity to correct mistakes of the past by making
environmentally friendly holiday decisions.

What are some ways you plan to go green this Thanksgiving?
As always, I enjoy reading your comments.

Daniel Krotz: The Genius of the Place

2009-11-10T17:41:04Z

I can clearly see my house, or the beginnings of my house, in the far background of a 1903 postcard of the First Christian Church in Berryville, Arkansas. In those days my house was a small white box sitting on a bit of treeless ground. The ground looks like an over-grazed pasture and there are bumps and rocky hiccups thrown across it. It's a bit of a mess.

In the middle distance there is a long stone wall running between the house and what looks like a chicken coop or small hog house. It is late autumn or winter and the postcard is black and white and both the house and church look barren and New Englandy. I suspect Robert Frost would have written something a bit stern about it if he were looking at it.

Today, a hundred and six years later, the house is the color of a burnished cranberry and is surrounded by a high wooden fence. Previous owners added rooms and additions and a couple of dormers that dimly admit light for a few minutes each day when the sun is just so. Despite the money poured into it the house it is still as disheveled as a hangover. It is also sinking far more rapidly into the ground than I like. Yet ... there is no place like home.

From the southwest corner of my back yard I can see the First Christian Church. Between my house and the church is a row of mostly abandoned shacks, another, newer house across the street from the shacks, and then a line of trees. Finally, we arrive at the church yard and the Church. The entire distance is maybe the length of a football field.

In 1903, Berryville was barely fifty years old. Earlier, some folks had arrived and had built a pretty good town, but it got burned down by both the Confederates and Yankees. I guess they took turns. The author Donald Harington intimately details the salient characteristics of these early settlers in his fine novel, The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks (Tao Tao). If you read this book it will help you understand why things work the way they do around here.

Although the history of my house and the Church is interesting to me, what has caught my attention in the postcard is the empty space lying between the two. In the early postcard it is open space where members of the FCC parked their buggies and horses during services. Sometime in the 1940s or '50s the yet to be shacks filled in some of the empty space. Then, in the '70s, the house across the street from the by then emerging shacks was built and reduced the emptiness even further. Trees behind the '70s house eroded the emptiness even more. Each year the emptiness of the hundred yard canvass was filled in.

Last spring I joined a group and planted a community garden in the space flowing out of the tree line and into the emptiness behind the Church. The garden was a typical Arkansas garden: tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, some corn, some beans. The big excitement was provided by three lengthy beds planted in annual flowers; these flowers were spectacular and the vegetables were no better or worse than any others grown in the area. The kids sold the flowers at the Farmers' Market, Loaves and Fishes (our local food shelf) got some of the vegetables, and Mrs. Heartbreak canned and froze the balance.

Plans are in the works to improve and expand the FFC community garden during the next growing season. This fall we planted some high bush blueberries -- a perennial plant that seems to connote a perennial garden--and laid a lot of mulch and human energy on top of several beds that comprise the productive area. It looks pretty good, even now in the messy period of the gardening calendar; I enjoy walking over in the morning to look at the oats (winter cover crop) growing in several of the beds.

Whether plans for the space work out next year or not depends on a lot of things, including the will to carry the plans forward, the weather, and so on. Alexander Pope seemed to have the best understanding of what it is we are to do with space, empty or otherwise:

Consult the Genius of the place in all
That tells the waters to rise or fall
Or helps the ambitious hill to the heavens scale
Or scoops in circling theatres the vale
Calls in the country, catches opening glades
Joins willing woods and varies shades from shades
Now breaks, or now directs the intending lines
Paints as you plant, and as you work, designs.

I can hardly wait for spring.

David Becker: Seven Great Questions to Ask Your Farmer

2009-11-10T12:02:29Z

Most
farmers who work farmer’s markets and farms stands are proud of what
they produce. And many want to tell just how they do it.

There’s the grass-fed beef farmer who firmly believes you don’t need
to use grain to finish beef cattle. Or another farmer, Dominic Palumbo, who collects
stinging nettles with gloves to provide greens early in the season.

Then again I never returned to the farm stand where the farmer
talked glowingly about the power of Roundup, a herbicide that’s toxic
to wildlife. I understand that it makes his job easier, but today there
are a multitude of great alternatives.

Be Curious and Polite

Best not to turn the questions for farmers into an interrogation.
Show your curiosity. Slow down. Listen and learn. Chat as you shop.
Other shoppers nearby might pick up a thing or two. If the market isn’t
too crowded, start slowly.

“Beautiful day. So how’s the season been going for you this year?”
If you live anywhere in the Northeast, the answer will be “very tough”
or “a season to forget” -- the farm equivalent of fuggedaboudit. Better to
start with “is there anything here you’re particularly proud of?
Anything unusual?”

“When did you pick this fruit or vegetable? Is it ready to eat
today? How do I store it?” Chefs will tell you that berries picked
after a heavy rain are worthless. This year’s peaches were particularly
insipid for the same reason. Some items like winter squash can last for
months if stored correctly.

“Are you able to use organic or sustainable principles on the
farm?” It’s so easy to ask “is this organic” but the fact is many
farmers do not have the time and in some cases the money for organic
certification. That doesn’t mean they don’t follow those very same
principles on the farm.

“Does this produce come from your farm?” Small farms can grow an
amazing amount of food but it is unlikely that they will have fruit
trees and kale growing on the same patch. But that’s okay if your
farmer gets produce from growers they know. It’s very likely they can
talk about their neighbors’ practices.

“Do you use any synthetic products like pesticides or fungicides?”
The correct answer for organic is no not ever. Dan Tawczynski of Taft Farms
north of Great Barrington, Massachussets never sprays, but he still
reserves the right to if his crop is in danger. Dan is as leery of
chemicals as you would be. Well, actually, more so: He lives on his
farm. Instead Dan employs “Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M.) where a
farmer uses all of the means at his disposal in order to control a
particular pest. IPM includes the extensive use of natural predators
coupled with constant field scouting along with crop rotation and
biological pest controls. Sprays can remain a part of an IPM program,
but they are a last resort rather than the first line of defense”

What was the animal fed? Was the animal raised outside or
indoors? Was there supplemental food? If so, when was it provided? Was
the grain GMO (genetically modified)? You may have a great chicken,
heritage breed, raised outdoors -- but then the farmer uses GMO feed.

At what point do you give your animals antibiotics? Organic means
never. In fact once an organically raised animal is given an antibiotic
it is often sold to a non-organic farmer. But for many farmers the
answer will be only when absolutely necessary to protect the animal.
Lynn Mordas at Dashing Star Farm has greatly reduced deworming of her
sheep through genetic selection, pasture rotation and by looking into
her sheeps’ eyes. Basically, Lynn will not let her sheep graze to
where the grass is less than 2” high to minimize their contact with
parasites. And the eyes? Well parasites create anemia, which leads to
mucous around the eyes.

Knowing how your food is produced tends to become a topic of
conversation with friends and family. Learn to appreciate the richer
taste of farm-fresh eggs. You’ll try new vegetables, like that delicata
squash that you thought was for the mantle but really works better on
the plate. By asking questions you learn something new, show respect
for the farmer and make an invaluable connection to your food and local
community.

Resources: Fruits and vegetables with high levels of pesticides where organic or sustainable is a must-buy.

For insights into farming and food in America, visit Friend of the Farmer

Maria Rodale: The End of Farmer's Market Season...Waaaaaaah!

2009-11-09T09:44:28Z

November is here, and the last farmer's market of the season in Emmaus is on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This week things are already winding down. The vendors are thinning out, and the crowds are filled with hard-core regulars rather than the summertime occasional shoppers.

In the few short years that this market has been going on, I realize just how much it's become an integral part of my life, and of my joy in life and in food. It's not just about the food...although it is about the food. This time of year there is fresh apple cider and crispy, unusual apples and Asian pears. There are salad greens in the most delicious and delightful combinations, better than anything you could get in any supermarket anywhere in the world. I have to buy enough frozen Buffalo meat sticks (the ones that taste like Lebanon baloney) to get me through the winter. And then there are the smoked and dried hot peppers, and, this year, smoked peppers and garlic in olive oil. And pea shoots for stir-fry. For another week or two, at least, we will eat well.

But it's not just about the food, it's also about the people who grow the food. Each one has a different talent and specialty, and there isn't a bad personality in the bunch (at least not that I'm aware of). There is the guy with the crazy hat with feathers stuck all over it who is still struggling with Lyme disease, but is an awesome forager -- I can count on him to have wild black raspberries in June (and it's his smoked peppers I'll be eating all winter, as well as my own dried cayenne). Then there is the very sweet buffalo guy, who sells buffalo rugs and hats and mittens as well as meat. The wonderful family that grows incredible micro greens weren't there this week, and I will eagerly await their greens (and her soaps) again in the spring. Jean Nick, Rodale.com's very own Nickel Pincher, was there selling chickens and showing off her ridiculously fabulous chicken purse. Then there is the family that grows perfect vegetables and herbs, which I know Alice Waters would rave over if she came to Emmaus. I love to watch their family grow, from just a couple, to a pregnant couple, to a family with cute baby who is now walking. Speaking of families, George and Melanie's son Don just got married, and he and his new wife made the incredible smoked pepper and garlic in oil mixture that is amazing. Don says my pig is ready to be picked up next week. It escaped twice this summer! But this time, unfortunately, there is no escape -- half of it is going straight into my freezer. Poor thing. Yum.

I secretly love the fact that all of them notice I haven't been there for a few weeks. Between my crazy new job and getting swine flu, I haven't been able to get myself out of the house on a Sunday morning. But this week I did, and it was good. And I realize that when I'm shopping for food from all of these hard-working, smart, and wonderful people, I'm not just getting nutritious and delicious fresh food, I'm getting a feeling of love. I can feel the love they have put into growing their food. And I feel love for all of them for doing it so well, and for bringing me so much pleasure and health.

Times have changed. This farmer's market never would have happened 10 or 20 years ago in this small American town. But here it is, revitalizing the whole town as well as its citizens. So when I feel down about the state of the world and how things have changed for the worse, I think about the Emmaus Farmer's Market and remember that there is good change, too. And there are good people. Growing good food. Making the world (and my world) a better place.

I'll miss all of you over the winter! But I'll be back in the spring.

For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.