Local (vegan) color

Pasta Primavera D'Estate (that's Italiano for summer kids): Whole wheat macaroni with local collards, summer squash, tomatoes and garlic sauteed in earth balance with salt, pepper, red chile flakes, oregano and chopped walnuts.

Summer is coming to an end and I'm really going to miss the fresh local produce even if I havent been as diligent as I should have about getting my butt to all the Greenmarkets New Yorkers have to choose from. Recently I checked out the Red Hook Farmer's Market run by Added Value which is just a 15 minute walk from my apartment in Brooklyn. Added Value is a non-profit focused on sustainable development in Red Hook and youth-powered urgan agriculture helps supply the market with gorgeous fresh produce. When I was there I picked up onions, tomatoes, garlic, collard greens and tiny yellow sugar plums. I only wish I had started checking out the farm sooner; they are doing some amazing things over there. In addition to youth empowerment through urban agriculture (including the market and farm-to-school education programs), they also work on sustainable business development and restaurant partnerships, critical in a community where, according to the Added Value webiste:

"Twice in the past three years Red Hook's only full-service grocery store closed, forcing residents to walk three miles and cross an eight lane road or take a $10 cab if they want to shop there. If you are have limited resources or are physically unable, as much of our population is, the only options are corner stores and delis which stock few fresh fruits and vegetables, carry meat and dairy products of questionable quality and charge inflated prices. With few healthy choices available, our neighbors eat many meals at fast food restaurants; and the preferred diet among teens is chips, honey buns, and a "fruit drink".

Limited access to healthy safe and affordable food and limited understanding of proper dietary practices has contributed to a neighborhood health crisis. Red Hook residents suffer disproportionately from asthma, hypertension, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. Child hospitalization rates for diabetes are over twice that of NYC; for adults, the ratio is roughly three to two."

Lucky and priviledged person that I am, I can generally afford to pay for the more expensive organic foods and have the luxury of time, transportation and education to think about these issues both generally for my city and our planet and also specifically as they apply to my dinner table. Unfortunately many New Yorkers do not have access to these resources and as a result poverty is the largest idicator of obesity and many other diet-related illness. Currently I am doing some research at work on how to integrate food security as a social justice concern into my office's best practices. Since all of our clients are all indigent and low-income people in crisis situations, many of them could benefit from our assistance with issues of hunger and nutrition.

Speaking of lucky, lucky me and my fantastic workplace, I came into some organic produce from Norwich Meadows Farm of Norwich, NY, when a foodie enthusiast co-worker generously offered to let me pick up her weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share at the Stonehouse Olive Oil shop near our office while she was out of town. I was pretty excited to recieve baby salad greens, assorted summer squashes, tomatoes, garlic, red onions in addition to some sizeable red beets which I have previously been too intimidated to cook. That's one thing I love about the seasonable, local food available through CSA's and farmers markets: unfamiliar or uncommon vegetables inspire culinary innovation and bravery in the humble home cooks like myself. Anyway, I'll let you know what I make with the beets and also how much surface area of my kitchen has been stained hopelessly red.

AutuMMMn

Cornbread from The Joy of Vegan Baking (sample recipe online!) made with whole spelt and served with a schmear of homemade red onion vegan cream cheese and red pepper jelly I concocted from some gorgeous farmers market peppers and chiles.





Fall food is hands-down my favorite: kabotcha squash and green beans from the farmers market with Japanese curry roux, mushrooms, walnuts, dried cranberries, safflower oil, soymilk and black pepper.

Local Produce 101 (with Linkage!)

Gorgeous berries right? Well, they tasted as good as they looked too! Unfortunately that isn't always the case with our produce. I know one huge pet peeve of mine is spending a little extra cash on some pretty raspberries that only end up tasting like so much refrigerated water. Conventional fruits and veggies from the grocery store are now bred and selected for how they hold up on their long journeys from (industrial) farm to table and for how they aesthetically "perfect" they look on the shelves. Taste, is much less of a consideration in the U.S. unlike other countries where consumers demand produce that berries that taste like well... berries. Vitamin and mineral content (directly related to soil quality and rapidly declining, though overwhelmingly higher in organic produce) is also not a concern for the corporations that produce and distribute our fruits and vegetables and obviously neither is the fair treatment of agricultural labor or the preservation of the environment.

With tremendous efforts from farmers, health advocates and food activists, local farmers markets are experiencing a renaissance in the U.S. Along with home gardening, CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) and food co-ops, farmers Markets offer consumers alternative to industrially produced food that may be cheap in the short run but hides its "true cost" by compromising nutrition, human rights and the environment. It's also fun and delicious! Much of the produce available there is organic (talk to your farmer-- who may or may not be able to afford official organic classification) and all of it is much fresher than what you're used to. You'll certainly find new things to try, foods that grow well in your climate that you may have never heard of (I've found jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, garlic scapes and red scallions among others here in NY) and you'll definitely be inspired to cook more, experiment more, and eat better.

Links:
*Deconstructing Dinner is not a vegan podcast per se, but they do have some amazing podcasts on the realities of industrial food-- and our alternatives to it. The episodes on "Packaged Foods Exposed," "Personal vs. Corporate Responsibility" and "The End of Food - The Evolution of Nutrition and Human Health" are some of my favorites. There are also episodes on organic farming, co-ops, local food, food in public schools and more.
*Just Food is a non-profit dedicated to creating a sustainable food system in NYC.
*The Southern Fried Vegan has some yummy ideas for her local produce.
*The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter is the book that made me go vegan. It is not written at all from an animal rights perspective, but if you want a Fast Food Nation-type look all the food you buy, this book gives a good overview.
*Last weekend at the market I answered a survey for a for Farm Aid worker. Her questions reminded me of how important talking about these issues really is. She also gave me a flyer for the concert and a cute pin, see?

Farmers Market Greens

It's summer and the farmer's market rocks. See how happy this little tomato is? Aww. I stole it from some other vegan bloggers.

Anyway, you eat your green leafies every day, right my Informed Reader? Of course, I know, who doesn't, right? (Nervous laugh.) Well, somehow it seems I've gone 22 years of life having never cooked chard. Jackie, my unlikely accomplice at last week's farmers' market outing (we love her... but girl can't cook to save her life) insisted I get some of the pretty, pretty rainbow chard for purely superficial reasons. Luckily I took her up on it and I've finally cooked it. I roasted the chopped stems at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes with a little canola spray and salt. I cooked the greens on the stovetop with more canola and salt as well as lemon zest, black pepper, red chile flakes and toasted pignoli. I combined the two and it couldn't have made a prettier dish.