While the story would have been way more amusing if it were "city slickers" moving to the country, it was still entertaining enough to hear about the project
undertaken by this family: to eat nothing but locally grown food for a whole year. This was defined ahead of time by them as food grown within a 100 mile radius of their home, and could either be grown by themselves or others. Besides their story, the book also includes facts about all sorts of things, some of them quite scientific (book is co-authored by Kingsolver's scientist husband, Steven L. Hopp) as well as various recipes organized by the season in which the food was readily available from local sources. This is where I got the instructions to make mozarella cheese that was so cool to make. The recipe is called "30-Minute Mozzarella - what's the risk there! Even though it did take a little longer than 30 minutes. Even better was that I already had a packet of "acid blend" from my wine making supplies and all I needed to track down was rennet. I ordered it online. The website is also a wonderful resource: www.animalvegetablemiracle.com.The book gave me a perspective I had never really considered: how much fuel energy is consumed by moving our food hundreds, oftentimes thousands of miles. It seems like such a waste of resources.
I did subscribe to a CSA (community supported agriculture) produce box two summers ago. While I really enjoyed it - I was one of the "I can't wait to see what all I have this week and how can I creatively use it up or preserve it for later in the year!" people rather than the "Oh crap, now what do I do with all this?" people - it was a little daunting and took some energy. Since then I have taken a position at the bank I work for that is more demanding and I have decided I am better off not being beholden to pre-arranged produce for a 20-week stretch. I still remember all the eggplant I received that summer and ended up making several pint jars of "eggplant preserve" that we're still using up. (Don't tell Rich and Aidan this is the jam in their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they may not like it anymore!)
I have since been much more consistent with visiting the local Grower's Markets, both in Grants Pass on Saturdays and in Medford (where I work) on Thursdays because I do adore getting fresh, local produce. It just seems to work better for me to get it on demand.
So imagine my delight when I read of a new produce opportunity a couple of weeks ago in the Daily Courier. This is called Rogue Valley Local Foods found at www.localfoodmarketplace.com/roguevalley/ and puts local farmers in direct contact with buyers. Each week on Thursdays, the website is updated with the produce each farmer will have available the following week. We can order online through Tuesday the following week (until limits have been reached), at which time the farmers see what has been ordered, harvest on Wednesday, and get the food to the central distribution center where is is parceled out and then delivered to one of three drop-off points on Thursday. There is a Medford and Central Point drop-off and in Grants Pass it's at Club Northwest and may be picked up until 6:30 p.m.
Okay, so my order this week consisted of: Beets (with their greens), Turnips, Peas, and a clump of Italian Parsley. All this really did nearly fill up a cloth grocery bag and came to a total of.... $7.23! This is maybe the first time ever that I have felt like buying local produce was less expensive than that found in the grocery store. Not that I'm price-driven... exactly. But there does come a point. :)
Just check out the picture here:
Cool, huh? I cut off the beet greens (they're in the plastic bag) and decided if I can't eat all of that while it's fresh, it may freeze well. It's worth a try... it works for spinach! As long as it's sauteed or added to other cooked food, soups, etc. rather than eating raw...
