Desperate Times

How desperate can a Locavore get?

Eating AL's Andy Grace set down his $1,000 camera so that he could pick wild onions from a patch in Albertville, Al. After three months with no onions, I guess a man gets a little desperate.

Farm Trips: The last day of Winter, first day of Spring

Last weekend we stole ourselves away from monitoring the one tray of little seedlings nestled snugly in our spare bedroom window to take a trip up north to visit farms. We'd been meaning to get up to north Alabama again for some time, and this first weekend of Spring seemed like the perfect opportunity.














1. Birdsong Community Farm
We wrote about Joshua and Beth Haynes a few weeks ago after receiving a torrent of emails about all the local food connections they're making in Cullman. They're working to provide vegetables, eggs, poultry, dairy, and meat to their community through a network of farmers. Rashmi and I headed over there Friday afternoon and toured the farm at sunset. The moment we arrived they handed us a bag of popcorn grown on the farm and we set off. We knew this was our kind of place! The land they farm is the land where Joshua grew up and his parents still live in a house adjacent to their lot. They have crops in different plots all over their property. Joshua, Beth, their baby Andrew, and their intern Bret showed us all the work they're doing for the upcoming season with tours of their gardens, their greenhouse, their chickens, and their egg operation. They have quite a lot going on and this year promises to be bigger than last in terms of production. They grew some wheat last year and harvested the small plot by hand. But thankfully, they've got an old school combine on its way and they hope to grow more grains as well as dried beans this year.

After the tour, we sat down to a local meal - most of which was harvested on the land where we were eating. Green beans, asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, applesauce, creamed corn, pecan encrusted pork chops, and bread. The bread was Beth's proudest concoction - their very own wheat, honey, eggs, and applesauce mixed with local milk and butter. And it was a fine meal. They even wrote about it on their blog! The blogger becomes the blogged about...strange.

As I mentioned in our last post about Birdsong, Joshua and Beth are seriously considering CSA deliveries to Birmingham if enough people can form a buying group. I can't brag enough about what they're doing. If you're looking for local food options, Birdsong is the way to go.

BELOW: Joshua shows off some of the eggs in a fridge, a new field ready to be plowed, a lone asparagus about to be my dinner.





2. Sand Mountain CSA and the Sand Mountain Seed Bank
Russell and Dove Stackhouse have put together a unique network of farmers on Sand Mountain. The Clean Food Network, which uses an online farmers market to connect growers with consumers, has proven to be a real solution for local food in the area. They also run a CSA, sell at the Madison market, and generally connect people with food. They farm two main plots in different parts of the city - one of which has been in continuous operation for 62 years, despite the fact that a neighborhood has grown up around it. But one of the most interesting things they're involved in is the Sand Mountain Seed Bank.

Charlotte Hagood and Dove exchanged letters and seeds through the mail for a handful of years before finally meeting up, quite serendipitously, on Sand Mountain a few years ago. Charlotte, a gardener with a long standing interest in seed saving, and Dove found one another through a world-wide seed saving network called the Seed Savers Exchange. They formed the seed bank in 2006 to preserve local seeds and the stories that are passed down with old family and heirloom varieties. Charlotte and Dove both feel strongly about the need for a network of regional seed banks to save and grow out seeds for specific climates and regions. To this end, they've got dozens of varieties stored in mason jars in no less than four refrigerators in Albertville. But all that is soon changing - they recently purchased a Mayfield ice cream cooler truck (missing the actual truck) to be the permanent vault for their seeds. If you're interested in seed saving and in joining the seed bank to grow out some varieties, contact Dove and ask about membership. It's only $10 a year! In all this talk about food, it's easy to forget where it all comes from. And with huge multinationals increasingly controlling the supply of seed, the need for regional seed banks makes even more sense. Not to mention it's a really cool thing to grow out some ancient local heirloom variety!

Sara and I also picked some wild garlic while we visited a soon to be plowed field. If you're in the Albertville area, be sure to look up Dove and Russell. Don't forget to ask them where the authentic Mexican place is too. You won't be disappointed!

BELOW - Fat man pole beans, one of the fridges, and Sara and I picking garlic.





3. Jay's Garden Variety
I met Les Rivett of Jay's Garden Variety back in November - too late in the season to realize that she and her husband Jay were one of the few people we've been able to find who grew beans and sold them dried. We've been dying for some dried beans - so versatile, so perfect for winter soups, so nice in a tortilla. But beans or no beans we decided to drop by and see their operation. Jay and Les moved to north Alabama from California after finding a sweet piece of land for sale in between Ider and Henegar on Sand Mountain. Now they've got a sustainable farm specializing in vegetables and herbs - lots of them. Jay even built a nifty herb drier which they use to dry everything from peppers to lemongrass to basil (and everything in between). If you're looking for local herbs, they're your one stop shopping source. They also run a small CSA on Sand Mountain, sell through the Clean Food Network, and attend the Ft. Payne and Chattanooga markets. That, and their herd of cats, two dogs, and one guinea keep them fairly busy...

BELOW: Rashmi talks to Les, Joe strikes a pose next to Jay's Galaxie, and baby basil sprouts in the greenhouse.




4. Gardens of Huckleberry Hill

The next day we headed back south and drove through Talledega to visit Gardens of Huckleberry Hill in Alpine. Sandra who runs this small CSA and goat farm, is originally from the area, but moved to California where she began organic gardening. But she was drawn back to this land which has been in her family for many generations. Her narrative of returning home to the land that nourished her parents and her grandparents was really inspiring and reminded me a lot of farmers around the state who are farming land that has been passed down through the generations. Unfortunately, for many younger farmers who're trying to make a living growing food, sometimes using free family land is the only way to meet their narrow profit margins. But I digress.

When we visited Sandra, her daughter who lives in Atlanta was also there. She comes over every other weekend to help manage the farm. They showed us their vegetable plot and herb garden, and took us across the road to see the goats. Originally Sandra thought she might sell the goats for meat, but she has grown attached. As her daughter said, "They have names!" That's never a good sign. She still sells one every now and again, but she's more interested in having the goats around for when local children come to visit.

Like Birdsong, if enough folks in Birmingham banded together to form a buying group, Sandra would be open to trying to find a way to deliver CSA shares there. Contact her to ask about the details, and be sure to visit her and the goats next time you're in the area!

Alabama's Fat Tax

Last August, in response to Alabama's growing obesity epidemic, our state officials decided to impose a so-called "fat tax" on state employees who do not pass a required wellness screening, which includes a measurement of Body Mass Index, blood glucose levels, cholesterol, and blood pressure. Those individuals who are considered obese, or have high readings in any of the aforementioned categories, will pay an additional $25/month for health insurance starting in 2010.

About a month ago, I took my spot in line, joining my fellow co-workers for our own in-office fat test. We were escorted to scales, our fingers were pricked, and our risks were assessed. We all had our time behind the curtain, where a nurse gently went over our results, and urged us to take one of the many handouts that outlined a successful diet. As you might imagine, I was curious to see what suggestions these handouts might make, so when prodded, I gladly grabbed a few. The handout that I found the most entertaining was the one depicting sample meals -the staged pictures just don't look appetizing at all. Is it just me or do those vegetables look like they came straight out of a can? It's funny that out of all the possible healthy lunch options, that they chose to feature hamburgers and pizza. Take a look at some of the other handouts I received below - you'll especially love the one that delineates foods into Go, Caution, and Stop categories.

At the end of my consultation with the nurse, I thought about telling her I was on the all Alabama diet. After all, it had worked for me - I felt healthier, had lost weight, and was eating mostly vegetables. What if instead of telling people to eat more Go foods and follow this handy dandy chart, we tell them to spend more time in the kitchen cooking meals from fresh ingredients? To limit their consumption of processed foods, fast foods, and junk foods? But, as the next person was shuffled in and the nurse began her proselytizing, I decided to save my food confessional for another day.

One week to go...

One week. Seven days. That's how long we have left here in this year-long experiment of ours. What started with the four of us for four months, turned into a prolonged experiment in eating locally. Joe and Sara fought the good fight, but their jobs and their farm ultimately won out, and they bowed out of the experiment at the end of October. But Rashmi and I trucked along, with the exception to eat out every now and again to ease the difficulties of dinners at 9:30, and Friday nights where the last thing we wanted to do was to stand in the kitchen for four hours. But even with eating out every once in a while, we still haven't made a trip to the grocery store for anything more than toiletries and cooking oils. And it's been quite nice, frankly. Maybe that's why we haven't really had the time to reflect on this year ending. We've been too busy visiting farms (a blog post coming soon), starting our seedlings (mostly that's Rashmi), and thinking about our upcoming vegetable season and the arrival of fresh produce. So we haven't really been thinking about "stopping" per se.

And why would we? Case in point: tonight we went to campus to see a screening of some of my student's documentaries. We finished with the screening at 8:30 and had zero idea of what to eat. We didn't have any suitable leftovers - only shrimp and grits that we'd already eaten for lunch. So we considered a lifeline. We'll go out to the diner down the street and get a hot plate stacked with Sysco canned yams, a CAFO pork chop, maybe some previously frozen green beans swimming in oil, and a dry piece of cornbread. It looked dreary indeed. But then I remembered the half loaf of bread I baked early this week, and the tomato soup we froze back in the fall. Brush the bread with some olive oil, broil, throw on some goat cheese, serve with a hot bowl of soup, and you've got yourself a delicious week-night meal that beats canned vegetables any day. That's why it kind of shocks me that we find ourselves here at the end of this project. I guess I just don't foresee much Hamburger Helper in our future.

But what I do foresee is driving to Birmingham to buy some more Wright's Dairy milk, and tilling up another vegetable plot in our front yard. Maybe I'll do that next week. Maybe on April 1st...

Feeding the Elderly

A few weeks ago, my mom sent me this snippet from the Huntsville Times about a group called CASA (Care Assurance System for the Aging and Homebound), a non-profit agency that provides services to the elderly. This was the first I'd heard about the group, but I quickly learned that they have been running a community garden since 1994. The garden is entirely volunteer-run, and over the years they have delivered over 184, 500 lbs (that's some record-keeping!) of fresh vegetables to homebound and elderly folks in Madison County. Unfortunately, CASA has experienced some recent theft that has twice left them without their farm equipment. They are currently seeking donations to purchase a high-security shipping container, to ensure that their equipment is better protected.

I know the struggling economy is making everyone tighten their belts a little, but this organization is making local food a reality in Madison County. If you can't donate money, reach out to donate your time for this worthy cause. You can visit them on the web here to find out more.

Return of the Victory Garden

Today, Michelle Obama will begin digging up the White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden. Not since Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden during WWII has the President's backyard seen such a transformation. During both world wars, the public was urged to plant these aptly named gardens to ease the burden of food production and transport during wartime. Planting victory gardens became a sort of morale booster. It empowered the average citizen through labor, and gave each person a chance to do their part by growing some of their own food. In 1943, there were more than 20 million victory gardens in America, which supplied some 40% of the produce consumed nationally (Michael Pollan, NYTimes Open Letter to the President-Elect).

And now during a time of high energy costs, processed food, and a national obesity crisis, Michelle Obama is doing her part. With 55 varieties of vegetables, the White House garden will of course be a source of food for the Obamas, but it will also serve as a teaching tool, to educate children about healthy eating. In fact, Michelle has recruited 23 5th graders from a local elementary school to help her prepare the garden.

It's refreshing to see the issue of food getting some much deserved attention in the White House. It seems to be a high priority on the first lady's political agenda, and I don't think we'll stop hearing about her crusade any time soon. So if you haven't thought about planting a garden yet, now's your time to follow Michelle's lead and dig up your lawn.

What a victory for local foods!

From Eleanor to Michelle...

Alabama Lasagna

It's spring break for those of us fortunate enough to work in the University system. But if you also happen to be married to a state employee, your horizons for this yearly retreat are somewhat diminished. Seems the only state employees that get the week off are the lawmakers, resting up for their next filibuster. They work so hard! Suffice it to say that I'm here in Tuscaloosa for the week with a litany of home improvement projects to tackle and a few food related endeavors as well. First on the list - lasagna.

I've made plenty of pasta at this point in our year of Alabama eating, but I've yet to try this staple of Italian American cuisine. I toyed with the idea of making a very classic Italian Bolognese style dish with a béchamel sauce, but opted instead for a more American interpretation. Our fresh leeks and carrots from Snow's Bend would make a wonderful sauce with some of our canned tomatoes and some fresh rosemary, and while I lack in the mozzarella department, I felt certain that the bite of goat cheese would be welcome with the pasta and tomatoes. I know that mozeralla - lightly browned on top and gooey with every slice - is a signature of most American lasagna, but our diet often calls for improvisation. Fortunately I did have the raw ingredients for ricotta (or paneer, depending on your perspective). So I began with my first ever batch of ricotta, and I must say that it was simple and delicious. Thrown together with the goat cheese and my tomato sauce, the sauce stacked in layers between the al dente fresh lasagna, topped with goat cheese and baked for 20 minutes...perfection. We ate this dish in homage of our trip this time last year to visit a friend in Tuscany. I might not be able to recreate the oso buco that our friend MC wept over (literally wept it was so good), but I can make a damn fine lasagna anytime. Just give me a few hours warning...

In the News - Installment 2

1. The Cow Tax. The latest in the efforts of lawmakers to ban taxation of a cow's methane emissions. In case this is the first you've heard of the so-called "cow tax", the E.P.A. first made mention of a such a measure back in December during a meeting about greenhouse gas regulation.











2. Pigs, MRSA, and You. It's another case of a commercial meat farm compromising the health of the public. This mini-expose by Nicholas Kristof tells the story of a small Indiana town's battle with MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). After scores of residents developed the mysterious rashes associated with the infection, the town's doctor began to explore the connection between the disease and nearby hog farms.





3. Farmscapes. Need to get away? Well, look no further. Serenbe Farms, outside Atlanta, is your chance to experience the latest trend - agritourism. The 25-acre farm in Palmetto, GA is a working example of the nation's growing farm-to-table movement. Guests can dine at the Inn's Farmhouse Restaurant, which features award-winning cuisuine made from fresh produce right off the farm. Look for Serenbe Farms at the upcoming Georgia Organics Conference next weekend in Atlanta.

In the News - Installment 1

1. Michelle Says Eat Your Veggies. It's about time the press started giving Michelle Obama props for more than just her well-toned arms (although those things are pretty impressive, just look at the accompanying photo). In this article, the NY Times alerts us of the First Lady's intent to spread the message of healthy eating. While visiting Miriam's Kitchen, a DC non-profit providing a range of services to the area's homeless, Mrs. Obama urges us to think about those that are less fortunate in our communities; to offer them the same fresh and locally grown food we should be seeking out for our families.

"Collect some fruits and vegetables; bring by some good healthy food. We can provide this kind of healthy food for communities across the country, and we can do it by each of us lending a hand.”

She praises community gardens. She loves the White House chef's healthy broccoli soup and cream-less creamed spinach. And she doesn't feed her daughters loads of processed foods and sugars. She's a role model for all of us. With Michelle Obama on our side, how can we fail?

2. Is Organic Safer? It doesn't look like it. In the wake of the national salmonella outbreak, where both organic and non-organic products were affected, many consumers are questioning the sanctity of organic. In a related post back in January, I discussed my surprise in discovering that Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars (wow, that's a mouthful) were on the hit-list of salmonella-tainted products. I had inherently associated the label organic with an elevated level of food safety. You generally pay more for organic, and you assume that there is some degree of care that goes into its preparation. Well, according to the Times that's not necessarily the case:

"Although the rules governing organic food require health inspections and pest-management plans, organic certification technically has nothing to do with food safety."

It turns out that organic certification was given to the Georgia peanut plant responsible for the salmonella tainted products, even though it lacked a state health certificate. Revoking it's organic status took months, and obviously not all products claiming inclusion of organic peanuts/paste/oils were recalled. That really doesn't bode well for the credence of the organic label.

3. Michael Pollan Wants to Know. Don't miss out on this exciting homework assignment from the food guru. He's collecting food rules from us average Joes to be published on his website.

Birdsong Community Farm

Young farmers are popping up all over the state, pursuing sustainable methods and creating local food systems for their communities. One of the best examples I've come across in recent months is Birdsong Community Farm in Cullman. I was fortunate to meet Joshua and Beth Haynes at an organic agriculture conference in south Alabama last November and they graciously donated some organic popcorn for the Alabama Supper. They've got a lot of great ideas, a lot of energy, and they're offering a tremendous amount of resources for their area. I'm on their mailing list and wanted to pass along a deluge of info about things they've got planned this summer. It's seems as though they've become a clearing house for all the local food opportunities in the Cullman area. In addition to their own offerings of chicken and their ambitious and successful CSA, they're going out of their way to help create a whole food system in Cullman by offering information about beef from a nearby farm, pork, goats milk, and other dairy opportunities. You can read more about what they're doing at their website here, and I encourage you to sign up for their mailing list. Cullman is only 45 minutes from Birmingham, and they've considered setting up a buying group for the Birmingham area if there are enough interested people. Joshua, Beth, and their young son Andrew are the future of farming in Alabama, and we hope you'll support all the great things they're doing.

A hint of what's to come

For the last couple of weeks, I've come home from work hungry. I throw open the refrigerator, desperately hoping that there will be something inside for me to munch on. Lately it's been slim pickings. I usually have a snack of Wright's Dairy cheese before dinner, or sometimes enjoy a few pickled tomatoes or okra from our stock of canned goods. That should be enough to appease me, right? It should, but it's not. I'm starting to struggle with my lack of food options, especially when it comes to figuring out what to eat for supper. At first, eating out of the freezer and from our canned stores was exciting. We got to reap the benefits of all of our long hours preserving food last summer and fall. I also welcomed the often reduced preparation and cooking time associated with eating this way. But now the novelty has worn off. I'm craving fresh fruit and vegetables. I want to open my refrigerator and be inundated with the smells of the farm, to be greeted by piles of leafy vegetables, and boxes of freshly picked strawberries. The onset of spring weather may have something to do with my transformation, or maybe I've just reached my frozen food threshold. Whatever the reason, last night I got my wish- a much needed and much welcomed reprieve from our freezer. Our friend Ashley, an intern at Snow's Bend, stopped by to give us freshly harvested leeks, carrots, and kohlrabi. She also threw in a bunch of last season's potatoes. Needless to say, we were overjoyed by the season's first produce. Snacking on carrots and peeling potatoes and kohlrabi for the evening's meal, we remembered that the start of our CSA is only weeks away, and that soon we would be planting our own garden.

Thanks to Ashley and Snows Bend. We needed that little boost!

Hoover Library, 3/29, 2:30pm

We've been asked to come speak at the Hoover Library in a few weeks and we'd love to see you there. Sunday, March 29th at 2:30 the four of us will be talking about our experiences with the project, and sharing some photos from our year of local eating. I believe there will even be a gift basket door prize of Alabama products! If you're interested in attending, it's free - but reservations are required. Call 205-444-7840 to RSVP. I think the space is limited, so call sooner than later.

Hope to see you there!

Directions here.

Buying in Bulk

You don't have to be a member of Sam's Club to buy in bulk. One of the things we've learned in this year of local eating is that if you've only got a few local staples, and you're cooking for two, three times a day, it's best to load up on the good stuff. With Rashmi constantly baking apple bread (now, with the decline of our apples, a turn to fig bread using preserved figs we acquired in the fall) we've gone through our fair share of Hewett's honey. So we had the bright idea of buying in bulk. Hence the milk jug of Honey you see sitting on our table here.

And if you've got a hankering for some bacon, why not buy a whole pig? That's what we did. Back in the summer I stood in Brian and Cat Hunt's pasture down in Prattville and filmed a group of young pigs running around. Little did I know that one of them would become my dinner for many many nights to come. Brian was kind enough to take our hog (quite a big one, actually - he clocked in around 220lbs) to a meat processor in Clanton, and I brought him back here in the five coolers you see below. Don't worry - we split the pig with Joe and Sara. We don't have the freezer space! The processor didn't spare anything - we got livers, neckbones, and about ten pounds of pork fat. I told Rashmi that the only thing they didn't package was the squeal...

Some thoughts on food and culture.

An article in the New York Times last week got me briefly all bent out of shape. A nice long feature in last Wednesday's Dining section discussed the emerging culinary movement in Brooklyn. Maybe it's the southerner in me - always feeling maligned or overlooked, a perpetual need to overcompensate and to puff out my chest every now and again - but I couldn't help but feel that this article creates the sense that Brooklyn is some kind of island where young folks engaged in thinking critically about food can find refuge. That the only place a real unique food culture could emerge was, of course, in one of the boroughs. Now in retrospect, after a long conversation about the article with my friend Adam, I realize that I was probably overreacting. The article mentions a "culinary-minded generation" which leaves room for other members to live outside the hallowed ground of Williamsburg. But I guess that's what I was reacting to - the fact that the article fetishizes Brooklyn as some holy land of local food, where (and I quote) “Every person you pass has read Michael Pollan, every person has thought about joining a raw milk club, and if they haven’t made ricotta, they want to.”

Oh, Brooklyn. How do you make hip look so easy!?

There goes my smugness again. Sorry. I guess this unexpected reaction to the article comes as Rashmi and I have had countless conversations in recent weeks about the enthusiasm for what we're doing here in - gasp - Alabama! And that the enthusiasm for our project isn't based on some curiosity about those weirdos who only eat food from Alabama, but it's based on a groundswell of folks thinking critically about their food - where it comes from, how it was grown, how we can make it better, and how food should inspire community. For our generation - beaten down by the homogeneity of just about every one of our daily interactions - food has become a revolutionary act. It's the new counterculture. And it's not just a passing fad. What we're arguing for, this generation engaged in thinking critically about food both inside the hallowed ground of big cities and marooned here in the flyover zone, is a wholesale revolution in our food system. We're engaged in this action because we truly believe that our current food system is unhealthy for us and for the earth. Further, we know that losing the traditions of local and regional foodways would be devastating to our culture and our sense of history. We have to believe in cornbread and collards - not just as good food, but as a way to preserve what it means to be from here.

So if you, like me, live outside of Brooklyn, that doesn't mean that you can't start a food revolution. Just meet some local farmers, encourage them by buying from them, and ask your local chefs to do the same. Ask where your food comes from and slow down when you're cooking and eating. Slowly but surely we can bring this revolution out from its safe hideaways in the five boroughs and down the street to your local restaurant and produce section.