Know From Where Your Food is Coming

If you’re devoted to eating only organic, know that it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that it’s pesticide-free. Some pesticides are deemed organic because they are produced by living organisms. For example, as reported on NPR yesterday, Spinosad, which is manufactured by the bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa, is fatal to both insects and mollusks. The USDA maintains a national list of allowed and prohibited substances. Synthetic substances are allowed as well. For example, the antibiotics streptomycin and tetracycline are included in the list of synthetic substances allowed for organic crop rotation to treat blight.

Again, here is a strong case for supporting your local farmers. They are more likely committed to following the most environmentally sound practices and they are more apt to be transparent with their farming methods. It’s just a matter of visiting them at the farm or the local farmer’s market and asking.

It’s always good to understand the pests that the farms deal with too. Last year, I spoke with an apple farmer at the Somersville, MA farmer’s market and I asked him about the pests that his farm treats. He said the majority of them come from greenhouses in Canada. Spores that develop while the greenhouses are closed up escape when they’re opened and travel with the wind to Massachusetts. I found this fascinating, since I would have never guessed that a method of food production would be the source of disease for a farm hundreds of miles away.

Two farms that I’ve talked to practice something called integrated pest management, or IPM. This involves using organic pest management practices and when necessary, using the services of a scientist from the Natural Resources Conservation Service that visits the farm regularly to provide instruction on the most up-to-date techniques for safe and sustainable food production.

The more you know about where your food is coming from, the better choices you can make…

Farm-fresh Cooking

This week I’ve been talking about local farms/fisheries and how we can take advantage of their bounties. When I was growing up, local farms in this area would allow berry picking, or set up roadside stands where they would offer their fresh produce or freshly-prepared products, and that was about as far as I got to learning about what these farms had to offer. Today, they are at farmer’s markets, providing CSAs, allowing picking of much more variety (maybe this is not so new, but it’s relatively new to me!), and blogging to educate us about what it takes for our farmers to grow us food and what farms have to offer.

And that’s not all. I also recently discovered that some farms here in Connecticut offer cooking classes under a variety of settings. For example, Jones Family Farm in Shelton, CT, offers a number of different classes designed to guide the student through cooking an entire meal, many of them theme dinners; for example comfort foods or a Mother’s Day brunch, etc. Their 2011 schedule is going to be posted soon.

And although not technically a farm, as I was searching for farm cooking classes, I discovered The Silo Cooking School at Hunt Hill Farm in New Milford, CT. The school offers an impressive lineup of chefs and in the past has had Jacques Pepin, Rachel Ray, and Martha Stewart teaching classes. They offer a number of unique cooking classes on grilling, summer foods, Indian cuisine, etc. But what most interested me is their full-participation cooking classes designed for groups within organizations to foster team building. What better way to inspire an attitude and philosophy of working together than in the kitchen preparing a meal!

If there is one thing that we all can relate to, it’s food and something magical happens when a group of people join and contribute their energy to the preparation of a meal and then sit down and enjoy it together. At the deepest levels, energetically and spiritually, it becomes a part of everyone involved. I thought this was a brilliant and insightful concept.

Have a wonderful day!!

Pick and Choose

This is the time of the year where many of us like to pick berries. It’s a lot of fun to pick our own strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. They’re as fresh as they can be, they’re close to home, and you pick only the ones that you want.

But did you know that many of the farms around let you pick lots more than berries? For example, a farm close by called Easy Pickin’s allows customers to pick a number of fruits, including apples, peaches, plums, pears, and berries, but they also have vegetables, herbs, and flowers for picking.

Last year, I wanted to make pesto, so I drove to the farm and picked a large bunch of basil. I can design my own flower arrangement with the beautiful variety of flowers they offer, or make a crunchy salad with fresh-picked lettuce and peppers.

At one farm, I can pick baby varieties of vegetables, such as zucchini and summer squash, which are great for grilling. It’s like having a garden in your own back yard without having to do all the work! Picking your own is also more economical than buying at the farmer’s market. In addition, it allows you to get some sun and exercise and being among the plants and soil is very therapeutic.

So if you have the opportunity this growing season, visit a local farm to harvest your own bounty. It’s good for your health in so many ways. What will you get out and pick this season??

Dining Close to the Source

Summer is fast approaching and the farm produce will soon be plentiful. A fun way to get introduced to what a particular farm has to offer is through a Chef to Farm Dinner. Last summer, I attended one at Starlight Gardens Farm in Durham, CT. The dinner was set outdoors among the tomato plants and featured chef Scott Miller from the Max Restaurant Group.

During the pre-dinner cocktail hour, we were given a tour of the field and greenhouses to learn about the tomatoes we were feasting on that night. And then we sat down to a seven-course meal, complete with a different wine for each course. Besides the tomatoes that were grown under our feet, much of the exceptional meal was created from ingredients that were as local as possible, such as cheese from New Jersey that’s so good it’s sold in a cheese shop in France!

Each course was also introduced by the chef so that we could fully appreciate the thought and care that went into preparing it. Some of my favorite dishes included the gazpacho made with heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and watermelon, and the quinoa pilaf made with sun-dried heirloom tomatoes and pea tendrils. It was a superb meal, right down to the chocolate torte with chocolate-covered sundried tomatoes! More mouth-watering pictures of the dishes are posted here.

The dinner was an opportunity to experience an unforgettable meal and meet new people who shared the in gratitude for the bounty of food produced right here in our state. I love the quote by Michael Pollan that says: “The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” This meal absolutely inspired a sense of community and turned the evening into so much more than food consumption. It was a multi-dimensional nourishing of the soul and a galvanizing event.

In Connecticut, several Chef to Farm dinners are also held at Rosedale Farms in Simsbury. States throughout the country are also offering similar events. The best way to find them is to Google Chef to Farm or Farm Table Dinners in your state.

I hope you have the opportunity to feast on the local fruits and vegetables grown in your back yard this growing season and to share the experience with others who understand the value and gift we’ve all been given…

A Virtual Farmer's Market

Yesterday I talked about joining a Community Supported Fishery, or CSF to help support local fisheries, to eat locally, and to contribute to the sustainability of fish and seafood populations. A couple of years ago, I discovered a neat business that I have yet to try out, but I wanted to mention it for anyone interested.

It’s called Connecticut Farm Fresh Express. Their site features foods that are locally grown and raised on Connecticut farms as well as artisan products. Most of the items can be found at one or more of the many farmer’s markets throughout the state, however since many people don’t have the opportunity to travel around, they miss out on what their fellow residents are crafting.

Orders can be placed from the site from over 100 participating farms and the items are home-delivered. I was actually very excited to see Nate’s Naturals, a brand of granola made by some friends in New Haven, available on the site.

And unlike a CSA box, you can order exactly what you want, in the quantity you want, for whichever weeks you would like it. You can order year round as well. If you’re not living in Connecticut, you can also check the Local Harvest Store. You can search over 10,000 items by farm (when in season if applicable) throughout the country, so if you’re trying to buy locally, you can choose farms in your state.

Thankfully, supporting small farms is getting easier...

Sustainably Eating Seafood

Many of you have probably heard of Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA for short. It’s a program set up by local farms that allows you to pay up front at the beginning of the growing season, and then receive a generous box of produce (and sometimes locally produced products as well) each week. Depending on what’s ready that week and what the farm grows, you can receive any number of fruits and vegetables and there’s more than enough volume and variety to make healthy and interesting meals.

Yesterday, a friend posted something on my Facebook wall that carries on the theme of CSAs. It’s the first CSF or Community Supported Fisheries project in the New Haven area in Connecticut started by the Thimble Island Oyster Company. Members who join receive a dozen oysters and two dozen clams every month for six months from June thru November. The Cape Ann CSF in Massachusetts provides several pounds of fish per week, depending on the shares purchased.

It’s everyone’s responsibility, consumers as well as producers, to help maintain sustainable food sources. Supporting local fisherman who follow environmentally-friendly practices ensures that this happens. If you’re concerned about the environment, want to help preserve the waterways and their ecosystems, want to support environmentally conscious fishermen, and have direct access to local seafood, then joining a CSF is a great idea for you.

CSFs are in operation from Maine to California for those living close the shore. And if you’re further inland, you can still have an impact by choosing ocean-friendly fish and seafood. This pocket guide can help you make the safest and most sustainable choices.

Digest for Week-endng 11 June 2011

This week, I take you on my journey through a 10-day Metabolic Detoxification designed by Metagenics® that is intended to cleanse the body at the cellular level. I decided to undergo this process for that very reason, because I understand what we are exposed to everyday.

And instead of letting unknown levels of environmental toxins accumulate to the point where they could lead to weight gain, disease, or accelerated aging, I chose to eliminate what I could and begin fresh.

Cleansing at the Cellular Level

Besides pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics and chemicals in our food, there are lots of reasons to want to detoxify the body.

The Beginning

The first two days of this cleanse eliminate the biggest offenders. The cleaner your diet is, the easier it is to begin the process.

The Elimination Process

As the process of eliminating foods continues, the signs that the detox process is working begin to emerge.

The Height of the Cleanse

The most restrictive part of the journey lasts three days. If you can get through them, the rest is easy…

Over the Hump

As you begin to add back in food groups, you may notice that you are not thinking about or even craving any of the foods you were eating prior to the detox.

The Finale

The detox ends with the freedom to eat unrestricted. As you continue to add in foods, you will realize how enhanced your taste has become and that your palate has changed for the better.