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.