www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Learning to See with Cranberry Eyes

by Liz

Recently, my husband James and I went on one of my favorite autumn expeditions: cranberry picking.  At the back of our property there is a cranberry bog below the high-tension lines, and it's accessible by a neighbor's driveway.  Our neighbor, Marnie, had told us about the bog after we had been living here a couple of years (perhaps she was waiting to see what kind of people we were before she divulged her secret), and in it grows wild cranberries -- they taste just like Ocean Spray, only better: fresher, earthier, and definitely tangier.

It was a dry summer this year, which translated into a lean harvest for the berries, and at first I thought the bog was picked clean. Although, once I put on my "cranberry eyes" and narrowed my focus, I started to see them: dark red berries, often hanging in clusters of two.  Passing over the soft ones that had already suffered from a freeze, we eventually filled our picking baskets with close to two pounds of fruit.  Some will become cranberry sauce, some infused with vodka for a cordial, some are already baked into scones, and the rest are in the freezer for our winter enjoyment.

Gary Paul Nabhan: Deepening Our Sense of What is Local and Regional Food

Editor Note:  Gary Paul Nabhan is one of the main reasons that I started this multi-year quest to eat local.  His book, Coming Home to Eat, gives us clear reasons about why to eat locally grown food.  I was thrilled this week to receive a post submission from Dr. Nabhan. This essay is sure to refocus my eat local energies, as it may yours, as Dr. Nabhan challenges us to look even more deeply into where our food is coming from.

Deepening Our Sense of What Is Local and Regional Food
By: Gary Paul Nabhan, RAFT founder

Now that Time magazine has done a cover feature article on the local foods movement and a book on the same topic by bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver and her family has climbed up the New York Times top-ten non-fiction list, we might want to ask what actually is it that we want to promote by using phrases like “Buy Fresh, Buy Local”. I can assure you that there will be increasing criticism of the so-called local food movement, building on the Hudson Institute’s feeble attempt to discredit it last fall in a variety of newspapers, with added absurdities being published in The Economist and by the American Farm Bureau. On the other hand, a reputable ethicist, Peter Singer, fears in his co-authored book The Way We Eat that 1) an emphasis on purchasing foods locally in U.S. communities will disadvantage needy producers in foreign countries-- as if India’s producers of Basmati rice actually gain much of the retail dollar spent on their rice in the U.S.--- or 2) the unethically raised beef or chicken will suddenly take over farmers markets and CSAs---as if Conagra and Tyson execs will soon be hanging out in overalls selling antibiotic-laced breast meat on Saturdays at their local farmers markets. I can predict, however, that more substantive critiques will arise, and I, for one, welcome them. It is time that we deepen our sense of what we mean by local and regional, offer others better reasons as to why these concerns matter, and steadfastly resist any pressure to endorse simplistic formulas such as a 100-mile diet or an in-state diet.

Here are some ways we can deepen what we promote by the terms local and regional:

The best eat-local cookbooks

by Jamie S.

To begin to integrate local eating into your day-to-day life, you need to do a little research: Where do your nearby market gardeners sell their wares? Are there buying clubs? Community-supported agriculture plans? Farmers’ markets? How can you get hold of meat, seafood, eggs, and grains that are grown or caught sustainably in your area? Who has apples and strawberries in season?

This is a learning process, and--let’s be honest--it takes a while. Luckily, one discovery usually leads to another. Over the course of about two years, we’ve slowly become intuitive local shoppers. Honestly, we don’t notice anymore that we do it; we just have a different set of desires and values when it comes to buying food.

But for many would-be local eaters, cooking local food is just as challenging as finding it. So many of us are used to the effortlessness of convenience foods. Those of us who love to cook may tend to go to the grocery store with a list of items we need for certain recipes. Eating local requires you to start from the other end of the equation: This is what I have--now, what in the world do I do with it?

Going Old School

One of the daunting aspects of preserving food is the sheer volume of food you are dealing with. I bought every local apple I could get my hands on and "stored" them in the fridge until they could go no longer. It was time to make the applesauce. The time required to peel and core and slice that many apples was just not showing up in my calendar. And then I saw it. The gadget. Yes, a unitasker. But what a beauty. Straight out of 1800s. This handy little thing locks down to the counter and zipped through the apples in ten minutes. No cord required, no batteries. Just pure hand-crank bliss. The applesauce was pretty darn good, too.

Cinnamon-Vanilla Applesauce
12 gala apples, or enough to get 5 cups of peeled, cored slices
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out with the back of a knife
2 Ceylon Cinnamon sticks (or use regular cinnamon sticks)
3/4 cup 100% apple juice or no-sugar added cider
1 tbs. Lemon juice

Put all of this in a pot, especially all the vanilla seeds and the pods. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Taste, and adjust with sugar if you have to for desired sweetness. I usually don't have to depending on my apples. Remove vanilla pod and cinnamon sticks. Mash with a potato masher to desired consistency. Tastes best cool the next day. Freezes well.

Dark Days of Winter Challenge

by Expat Chef

Laura at Urban Hennery is proposing to all of us locavores a challenge to keep eating local even in the winter ahead. For those of us who put up a few things for the months ahead during the September challenge, this will be an excellent way to show off your canning and preservation skill and the results. The challenge is basically to continue to create one meal a week using mostly local ingredients until end of year. Please go check out the link and let her know if you are interested in participating.

The challenge brings to light a fear of every locavore who is as addicted to local foods as so many of us become. There is a point in February where I become antagonistic toward cooking because I can't get my local ingredients. Thus, the challenge will be a welcome diversion. It's should also be an empowering experience, knowing that if you can source a local meal in the dark of winter, you have become an accomplished locavore.

Winter has always presented a bit of a challenge to me in past years. I hope we fare a bit better this year now that we have purchased the ginormous freezer and it will be stocked with local meats, grains and vegetables. I also have a stockpile of winter squash so large it is nearly embarrassing. Many of these varieties can last up to 100 days if stored in a cool, dry place. Sweet potatoes also store well for quite a while.

I might be up to this challenge. While quantities dip, you can still source eggs, milk and cheese during the winter. If nothing else, we can manage an omelette and some pancakes with local honey for a meal!

Visiting the cows and bees

by Julie Cummins

On September 16, I organized a farm tour, called the "Milk and Honey Tour," for CUESA. This description originally appeared in the CUESA weekly e-letter, and I am re-posting it here because getting a firsthand look at the animals that produce our food is the most satisfying part of an Eat Local life.

It has been said that milk and honey are the only substances in our diet whose sole function in nature is to serve as food. Whether or not this is true, they certainly symbolize abundance of biblical proportions; the phrase “land of milk and honey” comes from a reference to Caanan in the Bible. Last month, a group of 43 food lovers made a journey to our local lands of milk and honey—Spring Hill Jersey Cheese (Petaluma, CA) and Marshall’s Farm Natural Honey (American Canyon, CA).