Thank you!

Wow! What a wonderful day we had yesterday at the Go Local Lawrence Busque Local. It was a gorgeous summer day, perfect for being outside.

We want to thank everyone who volunteered their time, energy, talent, equipment and delicious food samples for a festival crowd of 420 people! Pretty cool numbers for the 1st year.
Terrific job everyone!

Great entertainment from DraMatik, DJ Erkel and all the artists. Thank you also for helping us out.

Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the market and learn more about the Go Local Lawrence movement. We loved the positive response to our idea of making healthy, local food more affordable and accessible here in Lawrence.

We need a little time to recover from all the excitement and planning. We will take your suggestions and comments and regroup to see what we can come up with next.

Stay tuned...

Go Local Lawrence Busque Local today

Here's a quick one as we get everything packed and organized to bring over to the festival. Weather is cooperating, participants are confirmed, volunteers are ready, looks like it is going to be a great day.

There will be some great food samples from the chefs, snack samples from Whole Foods Market, fun family activities with the YMCA, live entertainment with local performers, and lots of information from local groups and farmers. You won't want to miss it.

Whole Foods Market can even help you out with a new market bag so you can buy your fruit and vegetables for the week from the farmers, too.

If you need directions, check the link on the right and come on down to have some fun.

We will look for you there, Going local in Lawrence.

Donut peaches

Just a little teaser of what you might find at the Go Local Lawrence tomorrow, yes, it really is here. Months of planning and tomorrow is the big day.

You may notice some an interesting fruit and vegetable to the right of the blog. Perhaps you can try them for yourself, ask a farmer.

The absolute peachy aroma and the sweet, juicy, peach taste of these wonderful little "donut" shaped beauties are just one delicious example of why to Go Local. If you have never tasted a peach picked ripe from a tree, or any other fruit for that matter, it is something I highly recommend. There is simply no favorable comparison when a fruit has been picked green for shipping purposes, refrigerated, and trucked hundreds or thousands of miles. I've said it before but it is really something that must be experienced.

There are so many seasonal fruits, right here in Massachusetts and the Merrimack Valley area. This month the peaches, nectarines, plums and blueberries are peak and waiting for you to try them.

Tired of the same old salad? Maybe a giant Sicilian eggplant that looks as if it could do double duty as a basketball could perk up your palate. This baby is looking at a future of giant slices dressed up as eggplant parmesan.

What do we wish for you? The opportunity to experience some of these and more wonderful local flavors. The chance to speak with local farmers and ask them about how they are working hard to provide us with healthier, tastier foods. The time to ask local chefs what local ingredients they are using in their restaurants to keep us coming back.

As we have said from the start, the Go Local Lawrence Busque Local is getting the conversation started here in Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley area. We all shop, we all eat, it is important for us and our children to be aware of where our food is coming from and who had a hand in producing it. We make choices every day about what to put in our mouths. We encourage you to take a moment to see where your food is coming from. If it is a local, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

We look forward to a wonderful Go Local Lawrence (Busque Local) and hope to see you there.

What is the latest in Go Local Lawrence?

We are revving up the publicity and people are helping spread the word about the Go Local Lawrence this weekend. It has been a great week for promoting our event. The response was so positive while meeting people last Monday at the National Night Out celebration. It was a great opportunity to be able to explain to many different people what the Go Local Lawrence was all about.

We had fun talking with Bruce and Lou on their show Monday and to Dalia Diaz on her Crossover program yesterday. We want to thank Isabel Melendez who will be announcing the event today on La Voz del Pueblo on 1490AM.

The list of confirmed Go Local Lawrence participants is still growing. We have Herb Hill Micro Dairy from Andover, MA joining us now as well. They will have wonderful information about how you can grow your own vegetables and herbs organically. They also raise free range chicken and eggs and will share the benefits of eating naturally raised meat and poultry. The goats will have to stay at home but they do also sell goats milk at the farm. It makes some very tasty cheese (yes, we made a batch ourselves to try it out), you can ask them for details when you stop by the Go Local Lawrence. Just look how adorable the kids are on their link!

Go Local Activities

Well, Go Local Lawrence fans, less than a week to go and we are just about ready. The last week we have finalized plans and have been getting the word out with our posters and a few more visits around town.

You can catch us later today in a Live radio broadcast on Bruce Arnold's Work Day Cafe show on WCCM 1110AM He has been kind enough to invite us to share the "Go Local" story today, Monday, at 1:45pm. If you have a few minutes, feel free to tune in!

In other news, the tshirts are coming, the tshirts are coming! Yes, the Go Local Lawrence Busque Local tshirts have been designed and printed. They will be making a debut on our trusty volunteers this evening. We will be wearing them as we promote the festival at the Lawrence National Night Out activities this evening. Look for the white tshirts with the green Go Local logo on the front and stop by to say hello. The folks planning the 28th annual National Night Out work hard every year to keep crime out of the city so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get out and meet our neighbors.

Lots to get ready for today. Hope to see you out and about enjoying this wonderful weather. And remember "Go Local Lawrence"! See you on the radio.

Go Local Lawrence Busque Local Update

We are so pleased with the response from everyone we talk to about the Festival. What does that mean for Lawrence? Well, even more local choices.

Here is a quick recap of who will either be at the Go Local or will be offering something on their menu with local ingredients:
*Rio Bar & Grill on Appleton Street will be serving pasta samples with lots of fresh, local options
*Cafe Azteca already started with a house special of "Squash Blossom" sauce, look for more local items on their menu and live at the Go Local
*Cafe Verde will highlight their special menu at the Go Local, a special preview before they open their doors on Essex Street
*Terra Luna, also on Appleton, is working with their chef to add locals to the menu as well
That's not all, more chefs are signing on daily. This is going to be big Lawrence!

Other activities planned for the Go Local Lawrence include an edible craft table with the Merrimack Valley YMCA where families can make fun snacks and UMass Extension Nutrition Education will be playing the "Spin a Snack" game to try some new fruits and vegetables.

Live performances between 11am and 1pm hosted by Lawrence's own DraMatik and DJ Erkel will include local artists B-Luv, Bylli Crayone, El-Moises, C-Sharp, Boys R Us and Show Divine.

There will be something for everyone. You will not want to miss it!

Feel free to subscribe to our posts to keep up to date as more details come in. Any questions? Leave a comment and we will get back to you.

Go Local Lawrence Busque Local 2010!

The Buzz is Starting... and it's not just the bees!

Less than a month to go now before the 1st "Go Local Lawrence Busque Local" Festival and lots happening. We are working hard to spread the word and would appreciate your help. Please start reminding people to Save the Date and come out to have some fun on Saturday, August 7th.

We got some great publicity this past Saturday when the radio station Power 800 made a very clear announcement while they were broadcasting the opening of the Farmers Market. Matias read out all the details we have so far about this new event celebrating all things LOCAL. Muchas gracias, Matias!

Look for our new logo as Lawrence area restaurants join in to serve a local version of something to eat. They will be displaying the "Go Local Here/ Busque Local Aqui" sign in their windows and you will know that you can find some great local food.

If your favorite restaurant or corner store doesn't have the Go Local sign, ask them if they want to participate and we would welcome another Local. Let us know who they are and we will get in touch.

Remember to Go Local/ Busque Local Lawrence!

Cafe Azteca Going Local

It won't be long now before Lawrence "Goes Local". The word is out and people are signing up to participate in the 1st Go Local Festival in Lawrence.

We got the word out last night at the City Council meeting. Check us out in the Channel 22 reruns! Do you want one of the posters? Write us here and we will send you one.

Local legend in Mexican cuisine, chef owner Antonio Guerrero and Cafe Azteca are stepping up to the Go Local challenge.

What will they bring to the Go Local table? Make sure you stop by the festival on Saturday, August 7th to find out.

Celebrating Local Foods

There have been many food celebrations since my last post. My husband and I enjoyed local tropical treats while traveling around Dominican Republic at the end of May. Always a pleasure to visit with family and friends while we are there and those same wonderful family and friends share with us with all the fresh foods of the region.

We are truly fortunate to be able to sit in the shade of a mango tree while being served a breakfast of just collected eggs, mashed plantain from the field behind the house, and cherry juice from the tree next to the plantain! There is also nothing like a warm cup of coffee with milk from the family cows. Being lovers of food we didn't miss an opportunity to enjoy a pre-breakfast snack of the smallest mangos I've ever seen with a taste that was out of this world. There was also the after breakfast snack of a candied cashew fruit. Wow...

The whole trip just reminded us of how you cannot compare fresh-picked and locally grown flavor with the picked-green and dressed up for market tropical that we see back home. It's also hard to beat the home delivery, even in the capital, what could be easier! If you have the good fortune to travel south, make sure to leave the resorts and check out the neighborhood fruit markets. You will not be sorry you did.

Timing was great since we returned home at the start of cherry and strawberry season. Motivated to continue enjoying fruits and vegetables in season, we started with my brother-in-laws slightly tart cherry tree (yummy, thank you!), moved on to Carver Hill Orchard in Stow, MA for some Rainier cherries that made some delicious juice and a little dessert topping. Final stop to date was strawberry picking at Spring Hill Farm, just at the end of the season when the berries are tiny and full of sun-warmed flavor.

June also brought the start of our 3rd CSA season right on time. Oh, the pesto with garlic scapes... mmm. When you get your fruits and vegetables fresh, you definitely have to work on them right away. They are not filled with the "keep a long, long time on the kitchen shelf" genes that are packed into a lot of what we are used to seeing in the produce aisle. It is amazing how quickly we got away from the farms in the name of "modernization and convenience".

My vote goes for the "Give the local farmer a try" school of thought. There is so much food variety that we aren't even aware of since the standard store brands get so much publicity. Each year we are surprised to find a new vegetable and discover a new flavor combination. If you are just getting started, give a friend a call and try something new together or ask someone who you see buying a vegetable that is new for you what they do with it. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Here in Massachusetts we have many small farmers with farm stand signs along the road or a U-pick sign. It was really nice to see families sharing some fun while strawberry picking this past weekend. Small children, parents, grandparents and even teenagers all seemed to be enjoying themselves. How about that?

The Big Day

Yesterday was the big day. Kicking off a new decade and my plan to increase awareness of local food options. The movement is already well on its way. I’m just giving it a nudge here in Lawrence and trying to guide the wave to include our small city.

I was reading Amy Cotler’s new book “The Locavore Way” over the weekend. Her subtitle is totally appropriate for my purposes – Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food. Guess she was reading my mind when she wrote it.

She very clearly gives suggestions of how to go about making a change in our own lives. Check out her website.
She shares some great ideas like asking your supermarket manager if they have any locally grown or locally produced goods. You might think that something that sounds so typically New England like maple syrup or Apple Cider was grown up the street, right? Did you know that it can actually get to you by way of Canada or China (the cider that is). You know what they always say about ass-u-ming that you know all about it don’t you? I like Amy’s mantra “Ask, ask, ask.” It might just lead to an interesting conversation.

Or while you are out to dinner, ask what is local on the menu. You don’t even have to do the cooking that way! That is what we did for my birthday dinner last night at Evenfall Restaurant in Haverhill. They have a great menu with some very special dishes. It is a little early for much that is just picked here but they served fresh Arugula from Brox Farm (our friend Farmer Dave again). Also on the menu was fresh Maine crabcakes! Yummy!

Seriously, do your own taste test with something fresh picked and local versus something from where ever the big store has shipped some fruit or veggies and you will see the difference. No contest!
Apples right off the tree, nothing better in late Summer and Fall!

We’ve all been used to just buying what the store has, get it quick and get home, for years. We all have to eat, so why not eat something that tastes really great? It can’t hurt to be more informed about what you are putting on your plate. For me it’s been a kind of adventure that is just getting started.

Why Local?

"We're going local" is a popular phrase lately but we have been doing it as much as possible starting with our food.

For us, local is fresher, tastier and really easy to buy!

I introduced our CSAs in my last post and now want to share my newest plan. It's just getting started but I've been working on some details for the last couple of months.

This year, actually just over 1 week from now, I will turn 40. Instead of a big party, I decided to focus my energy on my passion for local, healthy, so tasty even the kids will eat it, food.

While watching the movie Food, Inc. with my family this past winter, I knew that I had to do more than just change what we eat in our home. I want to help people make informed decisions about what their families eat here in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

I believe that if people understand the value of something that is easily available to them, it will empower them to make healthy choices. The local movement is already starting in the public schools and in the region. My "big idea" is to bring together some of those people already working for a healthy change on one day to see how many more people we can reach.

The "big idea" is to celebrate the 1st Annual Local Food Festival in Lawrence. This festival will take place on Saturday, August 7th with details to follow.

Stay tuned as we get things rolling. Be prepared for lots of tasty local food from several of the best chefs in the city. It is going to be good!

Why CSAs?

Why am I so crazy about out CSAs?

I've been buying more and more local products for my family during the last couple of years. Local and as green as we can afford!

Finding out about the Farmer Dave CSA in Dracut 3 summers ago and last winter the Enterprise Produce CSA has given us the chance to really think about what we are eating and who is involved with growing our veggies in particular. We have been out to visit both farms and learned a lot about both "Farmer Daves" (Dumeresq in Dracut and Jackson in South Deerfield). Talking with the people in charge of planting our food gave us a greater sense of the work involved as well as their sense of responsibility to us, their farm share members, and the environment as they plan the use of the land with the most abundant harvest and the least environmental impact.

When we made the decision to join the CSA for the first time, we thought a lot about the way it was set up and knew that it was worth any harvest risk. A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is becoming more common now but was just getting started in our local area when we joined 3 years ago. Of course, there is some risk purchasing a share in a crop before it is even growing but the knowledge and experience of Farmer Dave gave us confidence.

Yes, paying for 20 weeks of vegetables in a couple of payments means planning a bit and getting the money together early. Okay, not for the last minute shopper.

Yes, fresh vegetables. That means that you might actually have to cook something different. The handy weekly newsletter comes with lots of great recipe suggestions. And guess what? We learned that we actually really like kale. And that weird looking root called celeriac makes a tasty addition to mashed potatoes!

I actually calculated the quantities we received each week last year, I know, a little obsessive. But I wanted to have something solid to back up my enthusiasm for the CSA. My calculations are not scientific, just a small kitchen scale. We paid for a regular share and fruit. I found that we would have paid a lot more in a super market for the "sustainable/ organic" equivalents. Here is a sample:

Week 8

Vegetables: cucumbers 1 1/2 lb, eggplant 1/2 lb, potatoes 3 lb, zucchini 1 lb, kousa 1 1/2 lb, jalapeños 2 oz, tomatoes 1 1/2 lb, yellow beans 4 lbs, Yellow squash 1 lb, basil 2 oz

Fruit: blueberries 1 pint, strawberries 1 pint, yellow plums 1 lb

We are into the last month of our "winter CSA" and will miss the natural grains and flour from Four Star Farms. Since the CSA was a combination of organic and sustainable farms up and down the East Coast, it really gave us some great variety during the winter months. We will look forward to those red grapefruit and fresh avocados from Florida and sweet potatoes from North Carolina as well as Massachusetts grown herbs and greens. Something to look forward to next Winter!

We have signed up for another summer and look forward to the early veggies this June.