Life Begins at 30

Hurricane Katrina - How we can help

I have been stunned watching coverage of our devastated South, and this morning switched from feeling hopeless about the situation to trying to figure out how I can help victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Here's what I have come up with: 

• Donate.  Network for Good has a wonderful resource page comprised of charities that are mobilized to help hurricane efforts.  It has explanations of the charities, advice for how to give during a disaster, and links for other ways you can help.  Personally, I will be donating to Second Harvest to support their efforts to bring food to hurricane victims.

• Volunteer.  The Red Cross is sending volunteers to the South.  "Volunteers won't have to slog through waist-high water or fend off water moccasins ... but they will have to cope with human psychology.  'It's mostly dealing with people's issues as they settle in,' Smith said. 'And when you have hundreds of people under the same roof, you're going to have issues.'  The organization is also dispensing with its minimum three-week commitment and asking for only a week if that's all someone can spare."

• Read.  There are many ways that the online community is helping with communication efforts, trying to find people, and generally supporting hurricane victims.  I can't help but think that by supporting these communities and reading through postings, we may each find a way to help.

Craigslist New Orleans
Craigslist Jackson
Hurricane Katrina Help Wiki

10 Reasons to Eat Local Food

Eating local means more for the local economy.  According to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy.  When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves the community at every transaction.  (reference)

Locally grown produce is fresher.  While produce that is purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has been in transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you purchase at your local farmer's market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase.  This freshness not only affects the taste of your food, but the nutritional value which declines with time.

Local food just plain tastes better.  Ever tried a tomato that was picked within 24 hours?  'Nuff said.

Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen.  Because the produce will be handled less, locally grown fruit does not have to be "rugged" or to stand up to the rigors of shipping.  This means that you are going to be getting peaches so ripe that they fall apart as you eat them, figs that would have been smashed to bits if they were sold using traditional methods, and melons that were allowed to ripen until the last possible minute on the vine.

Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic.  In a March 2005 study by the journal Food Policy, it was found that the miles that organic food often travels to our plate creates environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic. (reference)

Buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons.  By eating with the seasons, we are eating foods when they are at their peak taste, are the most abundant, and the least expensive.

Buying locally grown food is fodder for a wonderful story.  Whether it's the farmer who brings local apples to market or the baker who makes local bread, knowing part of the story about your food is such a powerful part of enjoying a meal. 

Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism.  Food with less distance to travel from farm to plate has less susceptibility to harmful contamination. (reference)

Local food translates to more variety.  When a farmer is producing food that will not travel a long distance, will have a shorter shelf life, and does not have a high-yield demand, the farmer is free to try small crops of various fruits and vegetables that would probably never make it to a large supermarket.  Supermarkets are interested in selling "Name brand" fruit: Romaine Lettuce, Red Delicious Apples, Russet Potatoes.  Local producers often play with their crops from year to year, trying out Little Gem Lettuce, Senshu Apples, and Chieftain Potatoes.

Supporting local providers supports responsible land development.  When you buy local, you give those with local open space - farms and pastures - an economic reason to stay open and undeveloped.

Download a printable version (pdf) of this guide.

Coming into the home stretch

I can't believe it's already almost the end of August.  Seems like the Eat Local Challenge has flown by so quickly!  If anyone who is taking the challenge would consider a wrap-up post, I will post a summary of how everyone did and general sentiment about the challenge.  Ideally, I will do the post over the Labor Day weekend, so let me know if you post by then.

Things you may want to talk about:

* How did the challenge go for you?
* What was easier than expected?
* What was harder than expected?
* What did you deny yourself during August that you are dying to have on September 1?
* What are the fun new products you discovered during this challenge?
* Do you think the challenge has changed your overall eating habits? 
* Will you be carrying any part of the challenge into your daily lives?
* Will you take the challenge again next August?

Thanks!

Pawpaw - A Local Tropical Fruit

Have you ever seen a pawpaw?  I picked up this little fruit from Lagier Ranch at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market on Tuesday.  The fruit fits in the palm of my hand and is quite soft when it is ready to eat.  It is known as the "poor man's banana" and can substituted for banana in recipes.

If you are serious about eating local, this fruit is a good one to know about as it satisfies the need for a tropical fruit, yet it can be found in California.

The fruit is custardy in texture and reminds me of a cross between a mild papaya, a banana and a mango.

A pawpaw is in the same family as a cherimoya fruit, and is native to woodlands in the native US.  It is now grown in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest.

Cutting into the pawpaw, it's seeds are quite large with a beautiful woody exterior. 

If you make it to a market in the Bay Area this weekend, keep an eye out for Lagier Ranch and their pawpaws.  Lagier is at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market on Saturdays and the Marin Civic Center Farmer's Market on Sundays.

More about the Pawpaw fruit:

Wikipedia
California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc

Photo credit: Flourphoto

Breathing Easy while Eating Local

Several Eat Local Challenge bloggers have mentioned that they wonder whether they are doing anything for the environment and pollution in buying local foods when it usually means driving more in order to go to many different locations to gather their food.  To help us with this question, I have called on a good friend, Jennifer Finton.  Jen is the Policy Manager of the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, and spends much of her time on pollution, transportation, and land use issues.

In general, can you talk about the types of pollution trucks bring into an area, and what that does for the environment?

Most of the trucks used for transporting goods in a region have diesel engines.  Diesel engines being made today are much cleaner than older versions, however, diesel engines are workhorses and last an average of 30 years.  Since 1990, diesel exhaust has been listed as a known carcinogen under California's Proposition 65, and in 1998, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) formally listed diesel particulate as a toxic air contaminant. The extensive scientific literature demonstrates that exposure to diesel exhaust increases the risk of developing lung cancer and other non-cancer health problems.

Are those types of pollutants something that average cars don't give off?

Yes and no.  The "average" car is much cleaner than an "average" diesel engine on the road today.  However, cars and trucks both emit pollutants in varying degrees that can be harmful to lungs, both in the short and the long term.  While newer cars are polluting less overall, recent data shows that they are traveling more miles than ever before.

Can you talk about "goods movement" - what it means, and how it affects our lives?

With globalization and a market driven economy, efficiency and low prices are the name of the game.  Notice all of the "box stores" in our communities.  With an increase in the number of these stores, demand for these discount goods increases, therefore increasing the number of trucks, trains and ships needed to transport them, especially from overseas.  More transportation modes often equate to more pollution.  You'll need more trucks to get the containers from more trains, that are loaded from more ships.  Studies show that trains, trucks and ships are some of the highest polluting mobile sources.  An increase in these modes without cleaner engines does not bode well for lung health. 

So is it a natural conclusion to assume that buying more things that don't have to be brought on ship, train or truck would eventually help air quality by cutting down on the number of ships / trains / trucks?  Or at least not increasing that demand?

Right. theoretically, until we can come up with readily available, inexpensive cleaner technology for the engines in those ships/trains/trucks.

So, let's just say that in a perfect world, the Eat Local Challenge completely takes off and half the population is doing it ... buying more goods locally.  A lot of times, that would mean trips to more places (as opposed to one big box market) and breaking up our errands to lots of little places.  What could that mean for congestion and pollution?

Well, if half the population is doing it, there would probably be a better method for obtaining local goods.  But, in light of how to go about it at this point in time -- Recognize that you're eating local for other reasons than to save money and time (for the most part).  You are choosing this "battle", but to look at the whole picture, the trade-offs become complicated.

What's the #1 thing that we can take into consideration while eating local?

For this month of eating local, combining your errands, whether they are food-buying related or not, is the best strategy if you are shopping by car.  Well-maintained cars are equipped to run cleaner after the engine is warm.  Your car pollutes more in the first few minutes of driving.  By combining errands, even if that means starting and stopping your engine for brief periods of time, is better for air pollution than running errands sporadically throughout the day.  Of course, walking, biking, carpooling and taking transit may cut down on the cost, provide a health benefit by combining exercise and pollute the least of all modes.

Talking to you, one thing that I would personally probably focus on would be to frequent farmer's markets that are purposefully put at transportation hubs -- just supporting that effort, I guess.

Right, a perfect combination.  There's some cross promotion going on here in Sacramento between our transit and the Farmer's Markets.

Anything else we should talk about?

Well, one thing is to keep an eye out for companies that are upgrading their diesel engines. There are some great programs out there to upgrade or replace diesel engines a little cost to the operator.

And to close, it's obvious the Locavores and anyone participating in this challenge care about what they eat and where it comes from and I appreciate that they recognize that this stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum.  It's about choices and we can continue making sure we have choices by becoming active and involved in our communities and supporting those businesses that are sustainable.  It's the whole, "vote with your fork" mentality, but carried throughout your life.

Thanks so much, Jen.  This has been really helpful.

ELC Blog Highlight: Eating New Jersey

Eating New Jersey is one of a couple of blogs I know that started up just for this blog challenge.  He started his blog in July, saying:

We are in New Jersey, the often maligned Garden State and are partially taking the challenge to prove (mostly to New Jerseyans) that the availability and diversity of foods from here can match those found anywhere else.

"Bornearly" has risen to the challenge, finding local eggs and wine, local beer, and last week he posted about a local turkey farm.  I'm hoping that his blog habit is here to stay - Eating New Jersey is a great addition to our blog community.

Eatwell Farms / Three Wise Hens Eggs

A note on choosing eggs: Wherever they appear in your meal, spare no pennies to get the freshest, tastiest eggs you can.  I want yolks the color of saffron that sit plump and high on the clear, thick, jellylike whites.  If the white is thin overall and watery at the edge, the egg may be too feeble to turn into a fluffy omelette or frittata.  Eggshell color is about hen variety and is no guarantee of great flavor, but the best eggs we get are from well-tended and well-fed hens that produce brown or blue eggs.  Try all the different colors and "brands" of eggs you can find, then choose the one that delivers flavor and freshness.  Even the most expensive egg makes a very economical meal.

Judy Rodgers, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

One thing that I haven't missed during the Eat Local Challenge is eggs - we have plenty of options here in the Bay Area for local eggs: Marin Sun Farms, Petaluma Farms Eggs, Nash's Eggs, Ludwig Avenue Farm to name a few.  Now, there is a newcomer to the egg scene: Eatwell Farm, which is a familiar certified-organic vendor at several Bay Area farmers markets, is now selling eggs under the brand of "Three Wise Hens".  I initially heard that these eggs would only be available to CSA members, but they were available at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market on Saturday and the farmer, Nigel, expects them to be available on a regular basis from this point forward.

I didn't do a side-by-side comparison, but I found them to be just delicious.  We taste-tested them by poaching and setting atop a portabella mushroom (Solano Mushroom Farm), roasted tomato (New Zealand Pink Paste from Eatwell - my current favorite tomato), Capricious cheese and basil (Eatwell).  I modified this recipe by using less oil and the ingredients aforementioned. 

At $6/dozen, prices rival Marin Sun Farms as the highest in town.

Who's up for a Bay Area Egg Taste Test?

Photo by flourphoto.

ELC Blog Highlight: Tigers & Strawberries

I can't remember if I found Barbara's site, Tigers & Strawberries, as a result of the Eat Local Challenge or if it was right before that.  Her site has quickly become part of my daily read.  The depth of her site is remarkable - both in her well-thought out essays, and in the comments that she elicits. 

Among other things, Barbara

>   features step-by-step recipes that are completely readable,

>  she found locally produced tofu -- a challenge in Ohio and the rest of the US, as soy is often not processed in the same place as it is harvested,

>  reviews reference materials for the eat local challenge (here and here),

>  she provides a great list of Ohio local food resources,

>  and Barbara wrote an excellent essay on the meaning of "sustainable".

Barbara, I am so glad to have you as a part of this challenge!

ELC Blog Highlight: The Latecomers

We had a few bloggers who were fashionably late to the party.  I have added their names to the list, but wanted to highlight them so you'd have a chance to check out their blogs if you haven't already.

Alanna from Kitchen Parade: Veggie Venture (St. Louis, Missouri). Incorporating eating local into her blog goal of writing new about new veggie recipes every day.

Vital Information from (Chicago, IL). Has a list of local resources on his site and thinks that the eat local challenge is a natural fit for him.

Parke from US Food Policy (Massachusetts). There is something appealing about a dirty crooked carrot in a world full of obedient clean conical supercarrots.

Brett from In Praise of Sardines (Bay Area).  So, although I'm arriving at the Eat Local party when it's half over, I want to offer my support and congratulations to all those who have been participating for the whole month!  Go team!

first annual food bloggers picnic

this is the reason that i feel ten pounds heavier today than yesterday.  read the glowing reports and see the pictures (the meat!  the andouille!)  here:

sam
fatemeh
biggles
charlotte
bunrab

it was so lovely to meet you all.  really wonderful. 

Holy Tomato

... a tomato shipped by slow boat from the Caribbean, without the “benefit” of refrigeration, would likely taste better than the shrink wrapped, ice-box-cold tomato you’ll find in most supermarkets—gulp—even at the height of the tomato season.

I just found this link through "I'm Mad and I Eat".  It's a tomato primer put together by Lark Creek Restaurant Group and has tons of information and recipes for tomatoes.  Worth a peek.

The Little Red Tomato Primer (pdf)

thoughts on my eat local challenge

> On the whole, I think that I am actually spending less money on food.  This is just a guess, as I haven't exactly totalled it, but I think that it's because we aren't eating at as many restaurants.

> The thing that was driving me crazy during week 1 was the lack of snack food.  I have since found Lundberg Rice Chips (thanks, Suzanne!) and that has helped a lot.  I have also played around with making my own crackers, but haven't perfected that quite yet.

> Does anyone know where Hobbs' bacon comes from?  I am assuming Northern California, but can't figure it out.  I'm hoping it's local, cause I had 3 pieces today.  It's all this man's fault. 

> I have gotten over feeling guilty if I don't eat something local.  I am doing what I can do, and that's all that anyone can expect!  So listen up, all you challengees, don't feel guilty about anything you are doing!  The fact that you are thinking about this and talking about it makes the whole challenge a success in my book.  Y'all are doing great.  The "pyramid effect" of this challenge is something that I am very proud of.  Everyone who is taking this challenge is talking to others about it.  Even if those others aren't necessarily adopting the idea right away, they are thinking about it and looking to see what they can find that's local.  I am hearing that story over and over again.

> A big thanks to Fatemeh who brought me lemons from her neighbor's yard.  Lemon problem solved!

> The picture in this post is of Dave Little from his potato farm in Tomales.  Little Organic Farm practices dry farming, and I went to see his farm (plus Marin Sun Farm and Russ Sartori's Strawberries) as a part of a MALT event on Sunday.  I strongly encourage you to go to one of their events if you ever have a chance.  It's a great way to visit farms without bothering the farmer for a one-on-one tour.

National Farmers Market Week - August 7 - 13

It turns out that this week is National Farmer's Market week.  Many states and markets are having events to celebrate.  I, for one, am convinced that if it were not for farmer's markets, this Eat Local Challenge would be darn near impossible.  The graph below shows farmer's market growth in the past 10 years.

Thanks, Jeanne, for the tip!

Graph from the USDA website.

ELC Blog Highlight: The Knitters!

Of the 55 participants in the Eat Local Challenge, we have a whopping 21 bloggers who are also knitters.  The "knitbloggers" have enthusiastically embraced this challenge, and I am so happy about it.  (As an aside, food bloggers have nothing on knitters when it comes to traffic numbers, let me tell you!)

I cracked up the other day when I was on a blog where the comments included a discussion of "have you seen how many knitters there are doing the eat local challenge?" 

The completely correct response came from Liz from Pocket Farm, who I have dubbed "the head knitter" :  "Um, I think I can explain that.  I'm a knitter-gardener-homesteading-food lover and I found Jen's blog pretty recently and read about the Challenge. Posted about it on my blog, and it's spread like wildfire. I guess knitters love a challenge. "

Here's the comprehensive list of knitters who are taking the Eat Local Challenge.  Their skill at knitting and spinning is mind-boggling to a person who knows nothing about this sort of thing.  Welcome, knitters!

Atypical Mom
Absinthe Knits
an ent knits
Baa Bonny Belle
Buona Sara
Green-eyed Knitter
Infinite Stitch
Jinxed Minx
KnitSox
Knitting Notes
Knitty Gritty
La Cosa Knitstra
Little Fish Creations
Mellow Trouble
Nature Knitter
Now Norma Knits
Pocket Farm
Sarah's Homestead Blog
The Farmette Report
True Epicure Says
Vast Amount of Spare Time

(did I miss anyone?  email me.)

ELC Blog Highlight: The Farmette Report

The next blog highlight is The Farmette Report.  First off, this blog is visually outstanding.  I sent an email to a friend the other day with a link to The Farmette Report and wrote "I want my blog to look like THIS".  But looks alone do not make a great blog.  Janis' blog is a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Her eat local adventures have included buying local hay for her donkeys, making tabbouleh with chickpeas, and almost participating in the paper chef challenge.

And if you are not squeamish about bugs, check out this post with pictures of creatures in her garden - fantastic!

 

The voodoo is working.

This is from Grace Ann Walden's column today:

Andrew  Jaeger, a chef from a renowned New Orleans restaurant family, will in the next couple of weeks bring his Creole-style recipes and jazz to the Condor, and open Andrew Jaeger's House of Seafood & Jazz in the legendary North Beach club. He's leased space in the Condor from SAW Entertainment, which owns most of the topless clubs on Broadway. Jaeger also has a New Orleans restaurant with the same name in the French Quarter, at  300 Decatur St.

For his San Francisco restaurant, he says, "I don't know if y'all put a spell on me, but I'm sourcing my ingredients, and I'm going to take a look at grass-fed beef and organic vegetables."

Jaeger's bigger-than-life tastes and personality should be a good fit for the club that launched the topless club craze in the '60s.

In recent years, the Condor had morphed into a sports bar, and in the past few months had gone upscale decor-wise for a short-lived changeover to a burlesque venue. But offering burlesque in a neighborhood  with so many topless and bottomless attractions was fruitless. The Condor's sign will remain; Jaeger will also put up his own sign.

He will serve food in the dining room-bar area that runs along Columbus and offer live jazz in the part of the club that faces Broadway.  Appetizers will be $10 to $19, entrees $25 to $39.

How can he run two restaurants thousands of miles apart? Jaeger says that the summer business is slow in New Orleans, while it's busy here.

Paper Chef #9 - The Local Edition

Owen at Tomatilla hosts a challenge called The Paper Chef which is an Iron Chef-type competition with everyone using the same ingredients.  This month's challenge features local ingredients.  You have until tomorrow afternoon to post a recipe on your blog that contains all of the following ingredients:  dried chiles, peaches, edible flowers, and something local.  Post to your blog by tomorrow and post a comment on Tomatilla to enter the challenge.

ELC Blog Highlight: 10 Signs Like This

I have been wanting to write updates of how everyone's doing on the Eat Local Challenge, but the size of the group is very large and it's impossible in my every day working life to write constant updates.  I have decided to start updating you by featuring a specific Eat Local Challenge blog or two whenever I can.

First up: 10 Signs Like This

This blog belongs to Jamie in Rural Georgia.  One of the best unexpected surprises of this challenge is that I have found some lovely blogs that I had never been aware of, and 10 Signs Like This is a perfect example.

The Eat Local Challenge has brought some fun adventures to Jamie over the past 8 days, including visiting a blueberry farm, making her first batch of jam ever, making kefir, visiting farmer's markets, and considering how to continue the challenge when life throws a wrench in the plans.   

Visit 10 Signs Like This when you have a chance, and leave Jamie a comment of support!

This blog has been featured as a part of a "homework assignment" set forth by Andrew to feature new voices.

Finding restaurants featuring local foods

My biggest challenge during the Eat Local challenge has been that I am used to eating out more than I do.  Part of my challenge was to eat at restaurants during August that have a policy of buying food from local producers.  The Bay Area is probably one of the best at this type of food, but it's still difficult on a day to day basis to work any of these restaurants into our busy lives.  The result has been much more eating at home this week (not a bad thing but frustrating in a couple specific circumstances) or making a decision to not eat local for a meal, which I haven't been very happy about.

One tip I would give to anyone who is looking for restaurants in their area who use local producers is to ask the farmers that you know.  If you frequent a farmer's market, ask the farmers that you speak with if they provide produce for any restaurants in town.  The answers are often fairly enlightening.  I have found out about many restaurants that I wouldn't have considered otherwise.

If you live in the San Francisco, check out Sam's blog, as she is working on compiling a list of restaurants in that use local foods.  Add restaurants you know to the comments section ...

Eat Local Participants in RSS Format

If you'd like to check out the Eat Local participants in an easy-to-read format, try this Bloglines feed that I have set up:

Eat Local Participants Feed

(Feedback welcome - I haven't tried making a Bloglines list public before.)

She's Mad and She Eats ...

At the risk of giving further fuel to the Eat Local detractors who say that we are taking this too far, you have GOT to read about cookiecrumb's adventures in trying to get ocean water and boil it down for it's salt.  It's part of her one week challenge to herself to try and only eat food from within her county (Marin County, California).  After that, she'll "ease up" and let in food from surrounding counties for the rest of the month.

Salt Collecting, Part I

Salt Collecting, Part II

I had some wins and some losses in the challenge today and yesterday.  I think that's probably the way it will be all month.  As much as I worked on motivating everyone for the challenge, I didn't properly prepare for the first couple days.  But ... I went to the farmer's market today, and all seems to be looking up.

Find of the day:  Golden Gate Meat Company is selling some lamb that is from Napa County.  At $9.50/lb for the lamb shoulder chop, it's a splurge, but since I am the only one in the household eating meat it is an ok price for me.

Find of the day #2: Short Night Farm (Ferry Plaza, Saturdays) is from Lodi and has some delicious dried garbanzo beans.  I bought them a few weeks ago, but cooked them up yesterday and they were divine.

Item I am searching for: Lemons!  Does anyone have a thought on the closest lemon grower to San Francisco?  Brokaw sells lemons that are grown in Soledad which is 125 miles away but that's the closest I can find.  If it were winter time, we'd have lots of Meyers, but I am afraid that "regular" lemons may not grow here ... can anyone thing of a good local acid substitute?

New CUESA Website

Just in time for this month's challenge, CUESA has launched a new website for it's San Francisco Farmer's Markets with a tremendous amount of depth and information.  Check it out when you have time, and if you see a CUESA member this week congratulate them on a job well done!

Seasonality Charts
Farmer information (including miles to market for some)
Calendar
Recipes

DRINK Local: Wine Blogging Wednesday Challenge

Lenndevours has a timely Wine Blogging Wednesday Challenge: Drink Local, Real Local. 

"This time around...there's only one rule: Drink a wine from the winery nearest to your apartment/house/shack/bungalow/flat/tent. Wine is being made in every state and just about every country so it's time that the "eat local" movement be extended to vino for WBW."

Deadline is Wednesday, August 10. 

Wine Blogging Wednesday Archives