Late Bloomers Farm

It’s been really busy lately for this Late Bloomer, but I couldn’t resist sharing this Grist article: Canola gone wild!

Scientists from the University of Arkansas announced at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting the results of a study that showed genetically engineered pesticide-resistant canola growing like a weed in North Dakota.

It certainly  lends credence to the argument that this company is out to control the food supply, first by owning it then by preventing anyone else from owning it, then by invading and/or destroying the parts they don’t own. What a racket!

Sport Hill Farm has escarole!

Escarole (that’s ’scarole, in Bronx Italian) is a favorite of mine from childhood. Escarole is a broad, curly-leaf endive, high in vitamin A, iron, and potassium.

Patti Popp's Blooming Escarole

For the past few years, I’ve been getting mine over the border since escarole is not as popular a vegetable here in CT as it is in NY. It seems that my incessant complaining has paid off and CT farmers are growing it!

Perhaps escarole’s lack of popularity is because it is a bitter green and somewhat tough. Perhaps folks don’t know how to prepare it. I generally use my default greens recipe.

Here’s how to braise escarole:

1. Clean the escarole, one leaf at at time. The soil can get between the leaves.
2. Cut it into strips, rinse, and give it a whirl in the salad spinner.
3. In a large pot, caramelize some garlic in olive oil.
4. Add some chicken broth (like 1/8-1/4 cup).
5. Add the cleaned escarole.
6. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt.
7. Toss the greens with tongs in the liquid.
8. Cover and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes—escarole takes longer than other greens.

You could serve it just like that. You could also sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese. (I like to use the Pleasant Valley sheep cheese from Sankow’s Beaver Brook—it’s very similar to Pecorino Romano.)

Or, you could make escarole and bean soup.

1. Braise the escarole following the method above using a bit more chicken broth.
2. In sauce pan, caramelize some more garlic in olive oil.
3. Add about 1/4 cup chicken broth.
4. Add 2 cups of pre-cooked canellini beans. (You can used canned, although fresh are far tastier. Good luck finding these locally—and if you find them, let me know where!)
5. Cook until the beans are hot.
   If you like a creamy soup rather than a broth, you can use an immersion blender.
6. Combine the simmering beans with the simmering escarole.
7. Serve with a crusty Italian bread.

Escarole and Bean Soup in broth

Buon appetito!

There’s an editorial in the Minnesota Star-Tribune whose argument against raw milk is that raw milk drinkers are too uppity—that because we think raw milk is superior to dead milk, we must also think that we’re superior to dead milk drinkers! Yes, those are their words:

There’s a dangerous sense of superiority shared by Minnesotans who buy raw milk and serve it to their families.

Even if we did have a sense of superiority, which I don’t think we do, what makes that inherently dangerous? It’s not like we’re advocating on behalf of pathogens, which is what this irresponsible editorial would have you think. What’s dangerous is having the eating population think for themselves because we can draw conclusions that differ from the FDA and USDA.

The editorial goes on to cite a few examples of bad conditions at farms I wouldn’t buy milk from, but never mentioning the kinds of farms I would. They do not mention the stings on farms that have had no incidents nor out-of-compliance conditions. They don’t mention the millions of people who drink raw milk and have never had a health issue, who have in fact, noticed improvements to their health.

It cites studies, largely funded by those who stand to gain from the sale of pasteurized milk. Because as people know, corporations and politicians are far more credible than nature.

Is this what passes for journalism today—marginalizing a niche group by antagonizing the rest of the population?

As we have been saying long before the USDA caught on: know your farmer and know your food.

h/t to David.

Update: I wanted to add this information to the mix (h/t to Don):

Every year in the US there are:

• 12,000 deaths from unnecessary surgeries;
• 7,000 deaths from medication errors in hospitals;
• 20,000 deaths from other errors in hospitals;
• 80,000 deaths from infections acquired in hospitals;
• 106,000 deaths from FDA-approved correctly prescribed medicines.
• The total of medically-caused deaths in the US every year is 225,000.

This makes the medical system the third leading cause of death in the US, behind heart disease and cancer.

So, why isn’t this being pursued with the same fervor?

The Summer 2008 issue of Edible Nutmeg included an article on putting by written by Sherri Brooks Vinton. that’s the first I’d heard of her. I tried her Spiced Carrots Ice Box Pickles recipe and they were absolutely delicious and a big hit with friends and family.

Collection AFTER being wiped out by friends and family!

I’ve been making this recipe ever since, well worth sacrificing prime real estate in my refrigerator (along with some other spicy ice box pickling projects).

But I’ve been wanting to find a method of making this so that I could store it outside the refrigerator. I don’t can much, but when I do, I only use tested recipes from the experts.

Serendipitously, I saw an announcement at Sport Hill Farm for a Sherri Brooks Vinton food preservation demo with a book signing of her new book, Put ‘Em Up.

Sherri, just getting started

Up in the loft of Patti Popp’s new barn, Sherri shared the secrets and safety measures for home canning.

Pickled Asparagus was the cold-pack demo. Cold-packing is when the food goes into the jar raw. Classic Strawberry Jam was the hot-pack demo. Hot-packing is when you cook the food before canning. The strawberry Jam was made in the old style, with no pectin. You need to cook it for a long time, to let the sugars thicken the jam. You can also use a commercial pectin or you can make your own pectin.

Class in the loft at Sport Hill Farm

Like baking, canning is more about chemistry. The ratio of ingredients is paramount. Luckily for us, the recipes have all been worked out and we just need to follow them exactly and faithfully for safe results.

The book is fantastic. Sherri takes you through the various food preparation and preservation techniques. It is chock full of advice for economics, time savings, and safety. It reads well and you feel like the author is in the kitchen with you. (A trait I have previously admired in Julia Child!) It is organized by food for the purpose of making it easy for those who may have come home from the market with too much of a good thing. Sherri suggests having canning parties to make it more interesting.

The book, like Sherri, is centered around locally-sourced foods. She says, “For home food preservation, sourcing local food really is the only choice.” I guess you could preserve food from the Big Y, but why would you? Almost everything they sell, they sell year round (it’s always in season somewhere in the world) and it was grown by a stranger.

I made the scapes in olive oil (preservation method is freezing) and I am looking forward to getting a crock and trying out fermenting vegetables.

You can catch another demo and signing at the Westport Farmers Market on June 24,2010 from 11 AM – 1 PM. The market is at Imperial Avenue, Westport CT.

Friday, June 18, 2010, 4-7 PM
Ice Cream Social at New Morning Natural Foods store
to benefit Safe Haven Shelter and services for victims of domestic violence located in Waterbury and Southbury. Rain or shine.

Saturday, June 19, 2010, 2-3 PM
Sherri Brooks Vinton, author of Put ‘Em Up,  at Sport Hill Farm
Demo on preserving food and book signing.
Register through Sport Hill’s Web site.

Sunday, June 20, 2010 1-4 PM
McLaughlin Vineyards Reggae under the tent
Bring a picnic or order a boxed lunch. Sangria will be available while supplies last. Reservations recommended.
Tickets $15 advance/$18 door. Includes a wine tasting or glass of wine.

The 2010 Summer Farmers Market season is starting to swing! Several markets are already opening, and within the next month, the rest will follow suit. Here’s a directory of sorts, highlighting the markets in my near circle, far circle, and some links to more market information so you can draw your own circles. I also give a bit of advice about markets.

Markets in my near circle that I frequent regularly:

• Bethel Farmers Market
  Saturdays, 9 AM – 1 PM, July 10 – November
  67 Stony Hill Road, Bethel, CT
• Brewster Farmers Market
  Wednesdays & Saturdays, 9 AM–2 PM, June 16 – November
  208 East Main St, (junction Routes 22 & 6) Brewster, NY
• Monroe Farmers’ Market
  Fridays 3 PM – 6 PM, June 25 – October
  Monroe Town Green, Corner of Fan Hill Road & Rte. 111, Monroe, CT
• New Milford Farmers Market
  Saturdays 9 AM – 12 PM, May 8 – October 30
  Town Green, Main Street, New Milford, CT
• Sandy Hook Organic Farmers Market
  Tuesdays, 2 PM – 6 PM, June 22 – October 12
  Fairfield Hills Campus, Wasserman Way, Newtown, CT
• Woodbury Farmers Market
  Wednesdays, 3 PM – 6 PM, July 7 – September
  Hollow Park, 43 Hollow Road, Woodbury, CT

Markets in my far circle, compelling enough to make the trek periodically:

• Millbrook Farmers Market
  Saturdays, May 29 – October, 9 AM – 1 PM
  Front St. and Franklin Ave., Millbrook, NY
• Coventry Regional Farmers Market
  Sundays 11 AM – 2 PM, June 6 – October 24
  Nathan Hale Homestead, 2299 South Street, Coventry, CT
• Litchfield Hills Farm Fresh Market
  Saturdays,10 AM – 1 PM, June – October
  Center School, Litchfield, CT
• Gossett Nursery Farmers Market
  Saturdays, 9 AM – 1 PM, April 3 – November 15
  1202 Old Post Road (Route 35), South Salem, NY

Directories, maps, and listings for even more Farmers Markets:

• CT-NOFA
• CT DOAG by county
• Map at CT Grown
• CT Farm Fresh
• Hartford Courant
• NY Farmers Markets

Market Advice

Farmers markets are an excellent way to know your farmer and know your food. Realize that not every vendor selling food at the market is a farmer.

Sometimes farmers send friends and family members in their place, particularly when a small family farm has to cover several markets on a Saturday. Sometimes farmers partner with other farmers for the same reassons. Often, these proxies won’t be able to answer your questions (regarding varieties, how to cook something, how it was grown). Still, the products are local.

Other vendors are really only produce dealers, who buy wholesale and sell at the farmers markets for the better return. The food they sell may not be local to your region. It might not even be from your country! The produce dealers compete against the real local farmers for your dollars.

You may willing to purchase an item regardless of its origin or growing style. Even some local foodie purists are willing to make exceptions for some reason or another. Since you are paying a premium when you shop at a farmers market, the minimum you should be given for your premium is the truth so you can make your own informed decisions. Otherwise, there’s no difference between the farmers market and Stop & Shop. Ask the vendors to label their offerings.

How can you tell the difference between a produce dealer and a real farm? It’s not always easy.

• Ask specific questions about growing practices and varieties. It’s not a guaranteed method, because, as mentioned, the booth could be staffed by a farmer’s proxy. Still, a real farmer will be able to answer questions about farming practices in great detail. In fact, they will be enthusiastic! If the vendor rolls their eyeballs at your questions, move on!
• Consider their offerings. Are there items out-of-season for your region? Are they selling items that don’t even grow in your region? Are their items vastly different from most of the other vendors?
• Ask the market master. Some markets have rules for product origin.

If you are not satisfied with the interaction or are feeling uncomfortable about a particular vendor, move on. You are under no obligation to buy from anyone simply because they have a booth at the market. Much of the local food movement is built on trust and it makes no sense to reward those who don’t honor it.

Why can’t everyone be like John Holbrook? His farm stand offers a variety of products in addition to his own produce. Practically everything in his farm stand is labeled with information such as: conventionally grown, organic, the name of the farm, and whatever other information may be of value to a consumer. If you have a question and he doesn’t readily know the answer (rare, but it happens), he says he’ll look into it. And he does! Sure enough, next time you walk in, he has your answer. Often, he makes the phone call on the spot. Granted, Holbrook’s is not a Farmers Market. It is his farm stand, bearing his name.

May 1 was opening day of the 2010 Passport contest and Sophie and Cecelia are back on the trail.

First Excursion – weekend of May 16 and 16, 2010: Hopkins, White Silo, Sunset Meadow, and Miranda.

Hopkins – May 15, 2010

Since Hopkins was having a barrel tasting on this day, we began there.

A barrel tasting is an opportunity to taste wine before it has been bottled. A wine can either improve or degrade after bottling (hence the expression bottleshock). Some vineyards allow people to purchase futures at a discount—in essence, placing a bet on how the wine will turn out.

Hopkins had a lovely spread of cheeses, fresh fruits, and pate’s. Artisan Foods was on hand for wine and local cheese pairings. This was my first barrel tasting and I was expecting something different. I was expecting to see barrels. Their barrel wines were in decanters! The barrel samples offered were their Chardonnay and their Cabernet Franc.

I really liked the barrel Cab Franc. It tasted less finished—almost raw, but also less tart than the bottled version. In the interest of full disclosure, Cab Franc is one of my favorites. Not all areas in CT can successfully grow this grape due to our micro-climates. The industry was mostly using Cab Franc for blending with Cabernet Sauvingnons and Merlots but it has been slowly coming into its own. Cab Franc goes particularly well with lamb and (happily) Cato Corner’s Womanchego cheese.

White Silo – May 15, 2010

Taking the long way around the block home, we hit White Silo Winery. While I’m not a big fan of fruit wines, but if you are, White Silo is impressive. Their sweet raspberry was smooth and not a diabetic-coma-kind-of-sweet. The dry Rhubarb was surprisingly pleasant.  I was not fond of either the dry or sweet blackberry, but it could just be me.

Sunset Meadow – May 16, 2010

I maintain that Sunset has one of the best St. Croix wines in CT. St. Croix grapes are typically used for Roses, blending, and jellies. This tiny grape is particularly suited to our region and Sunset has perfected it in their wine. The color is somewhere between ruby and garnet. The taste has a hint of  plum with a mild peppery finish.  Their New Dawn and Twisted Red are good dry red wines, with nice berry bouquets. New Dawn is darker and more fruity than the Twisted Red.

Miranda – May 16, 2010

I finally got my opportunity to taste the Vinho Fino, a Portugese dessert wine. OMG! It’s a white port, golden in color and is absolutely Finho! I’m still a big fan of their Woodridge Red, a Cab Franc blend.

Maria Miranda and Mary Beth

This was an exceptionally pleasant tasting, with different groups of customers in jovial conversation as if they’d known each other for years. Between the good wine and exceptional humor from the staff, this is a place where total strangers can have a great time.

Miranda is hosting a Connecticut Wine Dinner, with a fabulous menu catered by Litchfield Saltwater Grille on Friday, June 25 at 7 PM. It’s $75 for a five-course dinner and includes the wine pairings. Call for reservations: 860-567-4900 (The Litchfield Saltwater Grille) or 860-491-9906 (Miranda Vineyards)

These Goshen wineries have some fantastically fun people. It must be the water (or the wine).

Did you know that you don’t have the right to consume any food you want simply because you are an American citizen. Apparently the Constitution offers no such protection and the FDA wants you to know.

This revelation has been out there for a few months and there are already several articles covering this topic. I’m posting some references here for those who may have missed it elsewhere.

At the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund site:

The FTCLDF lawsuit claims that the federal regulations (21 CFR 1240.61 and 21 CFR 131.110) banning raw milk for human consumption in interstate commerce are unconstitutional and outside of FDA’s statutory authority as applied to FTCLDF’s members and the named individual plaintiffs in the suit.  In its answer to the complaint, FDA made its position on the issue of ‘freedom of food choice’ a part of the public record.

• “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a new ‘fundamental right’ under substantive due process to produce, obtain, and consume unpasteurized milk lacks any support in law.” [p.17]
• “There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food.” [p. 25]
• “There is no ‘deeply rooted’ historical tradition of unfettered access to foods of all kinds.” [p. 26]
• “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.” [p. 26]

Here’s the actual FDA response to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund complaint (PDF), containing the disambiguation of our non-rights.

At the Complete Patient site

I’d like to personally thank the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for articulating its food-rights policy.

At least it’s all out in the open. Now it’s up to consumers to let the regulators and politicians know how they feel about this joint government-industry enforcement campaign to deprive citizens of health-giving foods of their choice.

And this article at Mercola.com, FDA Says You Have No Right to Real Food Unless They Give You Permission First

If you go by these assertions, it means the FDA has the authority to prohibit any food of their choosing and make it a crime for you to seek it out. If, one day, the FDA deems tomatoes, broccoli or cashews capable of causing you harm (which is just as ludicrous as their assertions that raw milk is harmful), they could therefore enact such a ban and legally enforce it.

What this means is that freedom of food choice is a myth if you live in the United States, and this simply is not acceptable.

Well, now you know. Eat accordingly or you just might be a Food Renegade!

Here’s my very own arugula! They were just seeds on April 10.

I have to admit, I was surprised to find out that the USDA introduced a Know your Farmer, Know your Food program. They are making all kinds of resources available to small farmers. So what’s wrong with this picture?

On a practical level, the USDA’s policies and regulations are skewed towards the industrial producers. It is difficult and often impossible for a small farm to take advantage of their opportunities or to comply with many of the regulations.

Among the many stories in USDA’s Small Farm Focus Gets Mixed Review, this is an example of just how inane some of the regulations are:

The Crains have also run into snags interpreting requirements of the EQIP program. After a new fence was built, they were told it didn’t qualify because they had used the wrong wire and it would have to be torn down and rebuilt if they wanted to collect a cost share. “I could see it if he used baling twine to cut cost, or something like that, but my husband knows how to build a fence,” she said.

A frequent complaint is that the USDA imposes a one-size-fits-all culture and the one size is huge. From USDA Red Tape Stands in the Way of Humane Slaughter Techniques and Local, Sustainable Meat Production:

Many of the problems forcing small operations out of business (and preventing would-be investors from building new plants) can be traced back to red tape imposed by the USDA. According to the Food and Water Watch report, the USDA’s regulations favor huge facilities that can spread the costs over hundreds of thousands of animals. Complying with policies is too onerous for many small operators. Extensive record-keeping and ever-fluctuating safety criteria add additional burdens. And Food and Water Watch reports that there have even been accusations of USDA inspectors singling out small facilities for harsh treatment because they make easier targets than national corporations with their staff scientists, legal experts, and well-paid government lobbyists.

There aer similar sentiments in this article: Will USDA Food Safety Plan Squeeze Out the Little Guy?

So, frankly, I don’t know what to make of the USDA’s Know Your Farmer Know Your Food program.

But meanwhile in Washington:

Three Republican senators have complained that a USDA effort to educate the public about where food comes from slights “conventional farmers who produce the vast majority of our nation’s food supply.”

Sens. Pat Roberts of Kansas, John McCain of Arizona and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia complained in a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that his agency spent $65 million last year on a program “aimed at small, hobbyist and organic producers whose customers generally consist of affluent patrons at urban farmers markets.”

To make their point, they try to scare people by threatening starvation:

Roberts is a former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and currently sits on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee along with Chambliss, the panel’s ranking member.

He said this week that they never meant to sound dismissive of small farmers and niche producers, or their customers.

“The more people that go to the farmers markets, the more people understand agriculture and they eat a better diet,” Roberts said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, it ought to be encouraged. . . . But you can’t go back to Walden Pond agriculture and expect to feed America.”

Contrary to popular perception, there is plenty of evidence that small farms are more productive than large ones. In agricultural economics, this is known as the “inverse size-productivity relationship,” first pointed out by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. If you stop to think about it, it makes perfect sense. A farmer who has only five acres of land knows every square foot of that land. She knows the best spots for the corn, the tomatoes, and the beans. She also plants a diversity of crops that are adapted to the various microclimatic and soil conditions; by doing that, she optimizes the use of her land. On a large farm, frequently only one crop is planted in a field regardless of the variation in soil conditions, and wide swaths of land can be wasted every time the large tractor turns a corner.

On the other hand, mega-farms are simply successful at feeding themselves. The largest 10% get 70% of the subsidy money (that’s our tax dollars, going to help really rich people). By the way, ever wonder why everything in your supermarket seems to come from California? Ever wonder why California cows are happy cows? California leads the nation in farm subsidies.

Anyway, it’s still good advice to know your farmer and know your food, even if the USDA is supporting it. As the saying goes, a stopped watch is still right twice a day.