“Where does milk come from?” Anyone who’s been around the farm has heard the opening question on our Sprouts video. The question is repeated on many occasions, just substituting a food for the word ‘milk’—maple syrup, ketchup, honey, apple cider.
We take great pride in connecting kids to where their food comes from. We head to the garden and the kitchen where the kids see for themselves the origin of their food.
So it should follow that I’m already plugged in as a locavore…But now that I’m focused on ‘eating local’, I find myself asking these questions and facing the mirror—realizing that, in fact, I really don’t eat so locally despite having access to Deb’s marvelous produce (shoemaker’s children syndrome?).
I was preparing dinner tonight—without a recipe but driven by what I had on hand. I started with chicken from the freezer (no time to shop)—no way was this local and I’m embarrassed to say it’s not even organic, just kosher for whatever that’s worth. Bok choy from the garden, roasted tomatoes from the same, onions from the supermarket, spices from who knows where and white wine from South Africa. The rice with beans and corn side dish was only local to the extent I seasoned it with herbs I grew.
It’s clear I have to rethink my staples and will have to think ahead so I can harvest or shop to have local items on hand. After assembling the resource kit with Karen’s help, it’s clear we have the local resources—now, I just have to make buying them a priority. It’s just like any diet—we know what we need to do, we just need to devote the time to making it happen.
I suppose this is like a twelve step recovery program—the first step is to admit you have a problem! Mine is several fold: 1) I think I eat more locally than I do; 2) the obstacle in eating more locally (just like eating healthier) is all about time—to shop and to prep; and 3) I have to make it a priority—which if I do, Ill find the time and I will eat more local products.
My local eating pledge is multi-part—I’m starting the first week by just journaling my eating—coming face to face with the reality of how I eat. I intend week 2 to be local dinners—100%; week 3 lunch and dinner and by week 4 breakfast, lunch and dinner; I think I’m giving myself a free pass on previously existing engagements where I have little to no control over foods—but I hope to be mindful even then and see how I can do. (BTW, I just realize my bottled water is not local, so back to well water for this girl!)
As we embark on this challenge together, I hope you’ll share your experiences through the blog. It’s our intention that you’ll adapt the challenge to your lifestyle, needs and constraints. Mindful eating is key. And importantly, remember we’re in this together—so share tips and insights, sources and resources. Hope to ‘see’ you on the conference call this Thursday!
Locally yours,
Lisa
this farm upstate has grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic free meat. They sell at the Pleasantville Farmer's market and would be happy to do year round drop offs ( sort of a CSA system for meat) if a group is interested in doing that. Here's the link to their website:
http://www.dinesfarms.net/
Posted by: Pamela Geismar | October 24, 2007 at 07:17 PM
I've been having good luck with the meats from the Pleasantville Farmer's Market. There is one stand that is a biodynamic farm and they bring meats from their neighboring organic farms. Last week had a whole chicken from there that was delicious roasted. We also bought their hotdogs, but they are beef dogs, and my son didn't like them at all. Oh well. Their eggs sell out really early. Another stand at the P'ville market is Dines, and they are not organic as far as I can tell, so it's more about local. But they have boneless chicken pieces, lamb, beef, eggs, duck, and more. Their chicken pieces have been outstanding on the grill, twice now. We keep thinking we have suddenly become good grillers, but I think it's the fresh chicken that is so juicy and good. That farmer's market is open until December, so it's a great source for local meats. In fact, it's the only thing that's enabled us to stay largely local these past few weeks!
Posted by: Pamela Geismar | October 19, 2007 at 09:26 AM
Congrats to everyone for taking on this challenge, it does take an incredible commitment of time and energy, in our already busy lives, but has been very satisfying for me and so far a big hit with my family!
We also did a challenge earlier in the summer, doing it later in the season is a bit harder, but not much...we ate a LOT of corn in August, but now have tomatoes at every meal....even in omelets for breakfast.
I've found a few good resources that might be helpful for others, but we live in Ardsley, so some may not be as convenient.
There's a chain of grocery stores called DeCiccos and at least in our store, the "green" manager knew where every organic fruit and vegetable came from, so that if I needed to get produce that wasn't from our CSA share or our weekly trip to RR, I still knew where it came from...as Lisa said in the intro package, ask the questions.
We also shop all our dairy and poultry from Stew's, (ok, CT is over the border, but only the next state) and all their dairy and chicken are hormone and anti-biotic free.
We often go to Stone Barns green market, and this past weekend was Harvest Fest...they had only local companies represented...and we bought maple syrup from Golden Maple Shanty www.mapleshanty.com and vinaigrette, chutney and mustard from SchoolHouse Kitchen www.schoolhousekitchen.org...they sell to stores in Bedford, check out their website.
With 2 boys under 3, it's often a challenge, but so far we're pretty on track for at least 2 out of 3 meals every day! - the hardest part was convincing my 3 year old that apple and pear juice (locally pressed) are as good as orange juice!
Good luck to all, Jaime
Posted by: Jaime Miller | October 16, 2007 at 01:31 PM
ps that was my mistake. c.
Posted by: cynthia wetzler | October 13, 2007 at 01:46 PM
mistake! they don't sell honey at the pound ridge reservation but you can buy it at vista market, rt. 123 in vista or call the pound ridge reservation beekeeper (likes to talk) guy hodges 914 714-3726.
on the journey! cynthia
Posted by: cynthia wetzler | October 13, 2007 at 01:40 PM
We just had a nice local dinner of roasted vegetables, but the hit dish was a bread salad, and Bill wanted me to share the "recipe" so here it is. Chopped up a big red tomato into small chunks, and halved a bunch of the small yellow ones. Chopped up a small piece of red onion, some kalamata olives (we brought them home from Greece! They were local there...), some capers (in the fridge already), some goat cheese, chopped up parsley, basil from the garden, then toasted 5 pieces of bread, cut into cubes, and sauteed them in garlic, olive oil and garden herbs. Mixed them in when ready to serve, and dressed with some sherry vinegar (I think any kind would do), olive oil (again, made by friends in Greece), salt and pepper.
We just made our first order with Hudson Milk, shopped at Rainbeau Ridge, and hitting the John Jay Farmer's Market tomorrow morning.
Yee ha!
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea Raisfeld | October 12, 2007 at 07:11 PM
And I forgot to mention the amazing potatoes from Muckland's Garlic Farm. Purple, blue, red and tiny ones that I cut, roasted and seasoned and baked. THEY were a huge hut!
Posted by: Karen | October 10, 2007 at 06:42 AM
Our first real day. As for our dinner . . . we did mostly well. The kids didn't like the squash, but Bruce and I did -- I can't remember what it was called, bought at the Organic Connection just to try something, and I added honey. The salad was RR greens, RR & Lyon Ridge tomatoes, organic seedless cukes and olives from SPAIN! The dressing and spices were NOT local, but our chicken was from western PA.
Lunch was Evans yogurt from NY, but dessert tonight was cereal from who knows where! I think we're doing very well so far and am thrilled that my kids are with the program.
Posted by: Karen | October 10, 2007 at 06:41 AM