Will Travel for Food: HM&F visits Jones Valley Urban Farm

Earlier this week before the mass exodus of the impending holiday traffic a few of the staff members made a quick trip to Birmingham, AL to check out a similar project: Jones Valley Urban Farm. JVUF’s main urban farm is located downtown just a few blocks (maybe less) away from the interstate. It was an incredibly beautiful drive — only about 6 hours — into what I forget is the foothills of the Appalachians. Much cooler than here but still above the average temperatures for this time of year we arrived late in the evening to stay with the farm manager of the downtown site. After we had stretched our legs and brought our baggage inside, we walked through the towns’ five points to a tasty Indian restaurant, Taj India, for a delicious meal of Sag Paneer, curried mixed veg, curried Lamb, and curried Goat. Katie, the farm manager, was interested to see how we might hold up on the walk back as we were all dressed in shorts and flip flops –completely underprepared–I think we were just happy to brisk cool air between our toes.

After the walk back to house, we sat around the living room discussing food (of course) and food politics (naturally) especially those concerning the disturbing movement of industrial nations buying up insanely large amounts of land in Ethiopia to have enough food supply for their own nation(s). Check out the article on NY Times: Agr0-Imperialism. Soon the conversation started to dwindle as we became enveloped in the soft velvety sofa.

Birmingham has a rich history thanks to the railroad and its transportation of these naturally occurring deposits of iron ore, coal, and limestone. Birmingham is the only place in the world where all three minerals can be found in such close proximity. Let’s not also forget that it was home to the turmoil of 60’s & 70’s as one of they key points in our nation where Martin Luther King Jr. fought to end segregation.

The next morning we woke with sore backs as we passed out nearly mid-conversation from the long day of traveling the day before to meet with the program director of JVUF where through the morning and into early afternoon we discussed both projects, their histories, and  JVUF’s programming. Here’s a few key points:

The mission of JVUF is to provide access to fresh healthy local foods to the surrounding communities and teach the youth of Birmingham about sustainable agriculture as well as nutrition through experiential learning. JVUF offers over 9 programs that are geared towards a greater understanding our fresh fruit and veg by providing a variety of different ways to get involved: Wanna start your own community garden? They have program for that. Wanna intern on a farm for the summer? They have that too. The most popular program they offer is Seed 2 Plate where students engage in an interdisciplinary program with a different theme. Each session has an agriculture component (in the field), a nutrition lesson, and culinary lesson provided by dietitians, chefs, and teachers in the surrounding and greater Birmingham community.

HM&F made the trip because it was a chance to connect with another project similar to ours and for inspiration concerning developing programs that will benefit not only the youth but as well as adults of the Hollygrove neighborhood. If we could– we would have stayed a few days longer to check the other farm sites as well as some the most beautiful countryside that you may ever see in the South. Hopefully in the future we may see some collaboration between HM&F and the JVUF. Pictures to follow soon.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Just a reminder: We will NOT be open Saturday November 28th.

 

ThanksGIVING…Let’s make sure everyone eats this holiday season

Did you ever wonder where all the leftover produce went to at the end of the Hollygrove Market? No, we don’t take it home and yes, we do compost some of it, but the majority of our leftover produce goes to Cooking for Jesus, a non-profit organization that cares for the poor in the Greater New Orleans area.

We have been working with Cooking for Jesus for a number of months now, supplying them almost every week with a bounty of local produce that is graciously and enthusiastically accepted by the head of the organization, Nicole Cucinello-Bertus.  Nicole serves around 1,000 meals per month in the French Quarter on a meager budget of only $500, so she gets by mostly on donated items.

With the holiday season getting ever closer,  we wanted to make sure we do everything we can to ensure the greatest amount of people have access healthy food. We feel the best way to do this is by helping out Cooking for Jesus put together 300 food boxes and toiletry bags for the holiday season. They are looking for things such as blankets, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, and shoes as well as food related items. Tax-deductible monetary contributions are also welcomed .

We will do our part by collected non-perishable food items this Saturday, November, 21st, so make sure to bring out some items.

For a complete list of their needs, check out the attached document below or stop by the market on Saturday and pick up a flier.

If you are interested in learning more about the organization, contact Nicole at nicole_bertus@yahoo.com.

Cooking for Jesus Needs List

 

This Common Ground: Building a Supermarket One Week at a Time.

There have been some exciting changes to the store in our new year. We have currently changed the layout of the Buyers’ Club so our customers have more room to shop and enjoy themselves. With all this open space we started up a new twist on an old as well as missed favorite the Exchange Table has become the Produce Trade. The Produce Trade is located outside on Saturday’s under a green tent and is a meeting place where customers can trade their unwanted produce. We allow you to set the rules or you can use of rate of exchange which is posted and changes weekly.

Recipes are back! Recipes are available to be copied, exchanged, and hopefully create open dialogue between us, our customers, and their love of food. Currently, the recipe swap is located in the right corner of the market (located near the Book Swap) where one can find tasty recipes from staff, neighbors, and friends as well as a sampling of prepared dishes each week to encourage the use of your weekly share of produce in new and exciting ways.

This week you may notice another change: our breads. Our breads and pastries will have their own pastry case made out of reclaimed materials. The reclaimed materials were purchased at a salvage store off of St. Claude in the Bywater/St. Roch area. The materials rang in at only $15 and consist of an old window frame and a two drawer dresser. The window frame and it is panes match up perfectly to the spacing of dresser drawers. Inspiration actually came from the pastry case at Huevos restaurant located on Banks St in Mid City. That particular pastry case is much more streamlined and to be honest never realized that it was made out of window frames either.  The pastries that fill the our case made fresh and “hand thrown thru & thru” by Palace Flophouse which currently operates a few days a week out of community kitchen.

More exciting news: this week you start purchasing bulk items from a small but hopefully growing supply. We will have scales, scoops, and bags available for to bring home some organic red beans, black beans, or long grain brown rice. As customers of the market we would like your input on how best to develop our store as comments and suggestions are always welcome. You can find our comment or suggestion box in the front of the store near the register.

Soon you may notice new additions that we allocated in our budget such as a register and scale. Not be followed too long after by a credit card machine which no doubts make the lines faster and easier on all parties. Shelving should start making an appearence in the new year and then with all your input we to start gradually adding inventory. We look forward to seeing you every Saturday and very soon we hope to see all of our supporters over the past year during the week as we get closer to opening our doors on a more regular basis.

Ciao!

 

Buyers’ Club Week 50: Food, Insurance, & Your Pancreas, We Just Want y’all to Cook.

So, the NY Times has had a rash of simple but thought provoking articles that been sprinkled throughout the newspaper in the last few weeks. The first article is an Op-Ed piece by Michael Pollan, who if you haven’t heard of him by now, is the author of several bestsellers most recently In Defense of Food. In Defense of Food actually started out as a 14 page piece in the NY Times Magazine which Pollan discovered the piece required more expansion. Pollan’s new article Big Food vs. Big Insurance is not in an eye-opening piece and would seem that it is obvious that the connection between diet and insurance are inexplicably linked. We know that because it is fact and not because Pollan told us that it was so. We know that when we eat a few times a week out of ‘necessity’ at an establishment that has a drive-thru or grabbing a bag of chips to hold you over until you get home, say, where the choices are supposed to be better — we know that we have been ‘bad’– we know that we have eaten some processed foodstuff that is supposed to resemble and taste like real food. Sometimes it necessary–absolutely necessary lest you pass out from low blood sugar during the afternoon meeting. Lord knows, I have attempted to wait until I get to a place where the options for food or really just coming out of the haze of low blood sugar has almost caused a few accidents but the point is I am making the effort. Pollan suggests that by reforming health care system is essentially small step toward reform the food industry.

Which is true, the initiatives need to be small instrumental steps. Take out the warming kitchens in schools and replace them with spaces to actually cook and with that you bring back the idea or some re-energized reform of Home Ec.

Have we all forgotten Home Ec.? Have we all forgotten the homework assignments of making a cake and the fun that comes from viewing the results the next day or the slightly bleary-eyed parents who spent half the evening after dinner, spending time with their children, making the same recipe 2 or even 3 times? I know, I know we don’t have time for that anymore. We would rather stop by the big healthy grocery store and pick up a salad bar box and warm some pre-made items from the deli then go home cook the homework assignment.

Cook– it seems like a dirty word, a word that implies. . .work. Sure its work, but it is also sensual: smell, taste, texture, it is all there ready and waiting in the form of completed dish or dessert. Most of time it hits you, the senses, right before it is ready boiling its aromatic self throughout the house. Sharing the work that goes into the meal with friends or family is the probably the best form of entertainment whether there’s success at the end or not. Sometimes you may find yourself just going through the motions because actually cooking something, actually cooking, is the final phase– everything done before that reflects in the final outcome although sometimes the last step is the part where it could all go to pieces. Those are exciting moments–don’t believe it ask any enthusiast or professional cook– we all talk about the same thing: adrenaline rush that comes even just getting it all to come out at the same time for example the classic holiday dinner, the turkey, the homemade dressing, the green beans, etc. they all have to come together at precisely the same moment and the reason why it feels like work is because in the beginning of the processes you have to think–think and be organized.

Julia Child said it best: “Noncooks think it’s silly to invest two hours’ work in two minutes’ enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet.” Most of us will live to taste that perfect meal again whatever it may be–your palate craves it and physiologically as well as psychology so does your body & brain. Did you know your brain requires cholesterol in order for one thought to pass and connect to the other? You know why we crave what we crave: fat, sugar, & salt? Because we need those three items in some quantity to maintain homeostasis.

So back on track, another article in the NY Times recently “An Organ of Many Talents, at the Roots of Serious Ills”

The organ they speak of is the pancreas. The pancreas is responsible for many jobs: hormone regulation, insulin, digestive enzymes and those responsibilities are key to breaking down carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Do you remember that saying you are what you eat? Well there is another quote that while not completely accurate is still beneficial: All disease start in the gut. I know, it is not completely accurate– some diseases are hereditary or genetic and some are habits that have we continue to have regardless of the knowledge from the start like cigarettes.

Most diseases, however the preventable ones at least, are ones that we have a lot of control over and need to manage but not until the point of guilt or even to the point of low blood sugar. Instead of singling out whole food groups, saying that you can’t ever have an item why not moderation? A few tablespoons of bacon fat in a pot of greens isn’t going to kill you and certainly back in the day served 2 purposes: supplying one with even fat to maintain homeostasis and well it tastes good– for flavor. When was the last time someone cooked for flavor? Certainly we eat for flavor but when was the last time we had an array of veggies and fruits that we had no idea what to do with and had to make something up? Guess what you were cooking for flavor– because you know what those items taste like individually but what might they taste like together? Together with some fruit type reduction drizzled over the top? And before you know it you are thinking but using memory, maybe even what is called taste memory, for the last time you tried this or it brings up a similar dish your mother used to make, the list goes on. Fresh fruits and veggies are nothing to be feared and while it may be work and you may be tired as well as famished by the 9:30 pm sit down dinner, it’s going to be good whether it looks good or not it, it will taste better because you made it. from. scratch. Whether you made by yourself, with someone else, or with your family the point is whether or not it has a few tablespoons of bacon fat in it or the fact that you have a million other things to do, you, yes you have crossed over without even realizing it, you now have skill that you are working on–one dish at a time– and it is cooking.

 

Buyers’ Club Week 48: It is Remarkable How Closely the History of the Apple Tree is Connected with that of Man.

The apple is a pomaceous fruit of species Malus domestica which is actually a member of the rose family. The apple tree originated in Central Asia and there are over 7,500 cultivars bred for a range of desirable traits. The apple has its place in history, of course, the most well known is the story of Adam & Eve with the Apple representing the forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. However, there is the belief or argument rather that it wasn’t an apple but actually a pomegranate that was consumed. The apple might have been a better fit in the terms of the symbolism it represents. The apple throughout history has had it is place in religion and art in which it would symbolize knowledge because of it long cultivation throughout history’s most influential cultures and regions of the world that by consuming an apple would mean it would be akin to consuming worldly-ness.

In terms of consumption the apple is as diversified as its history. One of history’s most beloved characters, Johnny Appleseed was believed to be spreading the good works and gospel of the times with every seed that he planted. Johnny was planting wild varieties of apple seeds which are similar to citrus in terms that neither citrus or apples come from true seed and the apples that grew on those trees were most likely inedible because of the bitter taste. What those orchards actually provided its surrounding human inhabitants  was juice and eventually hard cider or wine. Eventually there would be cultivars that would exist for desired traits and fresh consumption.

Apples have their classic role in many desserts and can also be paired with stewed meats for a savory comfort food combination. Be sure to check out epicurious.com for inspirational recipes for Fall the bring the best of comfort food and what the season has to offer in terms of variety and flavor.

In the coming weeks, the contents of your Buyers’ Club box will change dramatically–everything will eventually be hues of greens, yellows, and oranges.

Bon Appetit!

 

Buyers’ Club Week 47: Oryza sativa (rice) & Zizania aquatica (wild rice)

Every week or just about every week since the start of the Buyers’ Club, HM&F has had the pleasure of supplying a wide variety of fresh fruits & vegetables but has also supplied your weekly box with a cultivated grass known as Oryza sativa or rice in which there are several hundred varieties. Rice is an important part of the culture here, actually pretty much the world over, and then came the realization that there had yet to be quick & dirty post on the history of rice.

It is believed that the rice we commonly eat today originated in India and the Isle of Sunda and would have been introduced into China 3000 years before Christ. Rice has a rich history of traveling West, for example, it was introduced to Sicily by Arabians. Rice, Oryza sativa, was introduced into Virginia by Sir William Berkeley in 1647 and was distributed later in 1694 by a Dutch brig from Madagascar into Charleston, South Carolina for cultivation in which there is currently still the argument that the Carolinas produce the best tasting rice. Why? Most likely the reason rice grows so well there is because of what is referred to as the ‘lowcountry’. The ‘lowcountry’ is naturally occurirng low lying wetland along the coastal South Carolina region from Charleston and south a few hundred miles.

However, rice existed in the Americas long before the introduction of Oryza sativa, it was another type of grass known as Zizania aquatica or wild rice which originates in North America and Eastern Asia. Zizania aquatica is found primarily in swampy borders with shallow water tables, and mucky bottoms. It is believed that it has furnished food from the early times to the Indians who would have most likely gathered the seeds and made them into bread which would make sense because there are no known wild species of Triticum, wheat, that exist in North America but there was however corn and rice which are still the number one and number two food commodities respectively followed by wheat.

The flour that the Zizania aquatica could have offered would a been instrumental in terms of survival because of sugars, carbohydrates, and storage for consumption at a later date. Research has shown an arce of wild rice is comparable to an acre of wheat in terms of nutritional content. Wild rice is high in protein and dietary fiber which would be another reason for its importance in the diet. Wild rice is gathered by pushing the canoe against the stems and shaking the heads over the boat.  Bet you didn’t know that the red rice you find in the Cajun Grain Brown Jasmine is a naturally occurring wild rice. Wild rice has  been as much a part of history not only here in Louisiana but has been a main staple for cultures the world over and by eating wild rices (there are several varieties of those as well) you are actively participating the culture and its history.

This coming Tuesday, tomorrow, some the staff from HM&F will be accompanying the Food Network to cook up some fresh tasty wild rice.  We’ll keep you updated!

 

Buyers’ Club Week 46: A Tree is Known by its Fruit . . .

The seasons are definitely changing! Starting this Saturday (9.5.09) you can definitely expect to see citrus is your Buyers’ Club box. The limes and pears are coming to an end but this upcoming Saturday we will be able to put the very first pickings of satsumas into your box. According to LSU Ag Center the variety of satsuma, which is ‘St. Ann’, has been culitvated to come in around early September to mid-October. The fruit itself is slightly acidic, juicy, and sweet similiar to your usual ‘Armstrong’ variety but with a bit of zing.

This past weekend you may have noticed some unusual varieties of produce on the lagniappe table: ’star of david’ okra and a bowling pin-shaped squash known as a Cushaw pumpkin. ‘Star of David’ okra is cooked in the same manner as you would for the traditional ‘clemson spineless;’ some people like to cut down one side and remove the seeds as they are rather large and then chop the ’star of david’ okra. The Cushaw pumpkin like most other squash are great for soups, pies, and custards. It is best to cut it into manageable chunks to remove the seeds and stringy pulp. While some people suggest ‘peeling’– which I never quite figured out exactly to do that — it just seems easier to crank up the oven to 375, roast the halves or quarters for 60 to 90 minutes until tender and scoop out the soft flesh for whatever dish you may be preparing. Less work and less chance for injury (at least in my case.)

Speaking of preparing items that seem daunting in your Buyers’ Club box some of the staff have noticed that the popularity of the pears is, well, not that popular. Being the buyer for your weekly box and picking up the produce often affords me to land some, well, actually a lot freebies from the farms. For the past two weeks I am sent home with at least 10 pounds of pears from our friends at A & K Citrus. I can’t help but think what am I gonna do with all this fruit?!

So the inspiration for the recipe this week it is really incredibly simple: poached pears. Yes, while we strive to supply our customers with dishes that involve at least 4 items for that week’s box it is important that you know just how great poach pears are. Poaching the pears made the whole house smell like Christmas and speaking of holidays you can freeze what can’t eat (trust us, you’ll want to eat all of them) use them for desserts for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Think–bread pudding with layer of poached pears on the bottom and drizzled with some of the honey from the market. Go ahead and give those pears one last try and don’t forget about the rice pudding with pear & lime from last week.  Hope y’all enjoy.

Recipe: Poached Pears

 

Buyers’ Club Week 45: Satsuma Cafe

45 weeks down & only seven more until the one year anniversary–it seems almost a little surreal. Seasons change and before you know it all those strawberries in the freezer are still frozen still left unused for all those summer time plans you made. The good news is that there is most certainly a long anticipated change in the seasons that we all know is hard to resist: citrus. Growing up a 6th generation Floridian I must say Louisiana most certainly, hands down, grows the juiciest and tastiest citrus I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing in my life.  In the coming months in mid-October you can expect to see satsumas start to appear in your weekly buyers’ club box. Around the holidays and after; oranges (2-3 different varieties), grapefruit, tangerines, and many more will be in your box simultaneously.

Speaking of citrus, a new, very new, cafe opened in the Bywater just about two weeks ago: Satsuma. Satsuma is located at 3218 Dauphine St. and is open Wednesday — Monday from 7:00am to 3:00pm. They offer an ever-changing menu of tasty salads and is a great place to do Sunday brunch; while they don’t offer a brunch menu it is easy to sample just about everything on the menu. The menu offers fresh squeezed organic juices, salads, and sandwiches, as well as, of course, coffee. Our choices from the menu included 2 BLT sandwiches on sourdough at $6 each. We also tried the Kale salad which included dill, chard, fennel, pea shoots, parsley, chopped egg, tomato, avocado, tamari pumpkins tossed in a Parmesan dressing for $8 which is easily split between two people but I could have ate it all-savory and delicate. We also ordered a fruit bowl which definitely is a portion for one but we split it anyway at $3 and for drinks, of course, a double latte for myself at $3.50 and a 16 oz fresh juiced limeade for John at $6. The total bill: $32.16 not bad for a relaxed, no wait for seating, surprisingly Fall-like Sunday morning in August.

Everything is made to order so it does take a little time, about 15-20 minutes, but it is worth the wait. The building itself and decor is a funky mix and match of chairs and tables, textures, color, fun artwork, vibrant but earthy tones makes a great place to tuck into when you might want to avoid actually going into the office since they also offer Wi-Fi. It is well worth the trip to have an alternative to usual option of eggs, bacon, & toast–so please next time a Sunday rolls around try something a bit different and support a new local establishment.

As for the upcoming changes in your weekly box be sure to keep an eye out for more guavas & guava jelly, avocados (yes, I said avocados), young tender mustard greens, squashes: butternut, blue hubbard, delicata, and more! Right before Labor Day you can expect pastured goat & lamb and be sure to look for another article on pastured meats in the September 1st newsletter.

Recipe: Rice Pudding with Pear & Lime (It’s low fat & tasty!)

 

Buyers’ Club Week 44: Grazie!

Hollygrove Market & Farm is fast approaching the year mark for the Buyers’ Club and it just continues to grow and there have been a lot of changes along the way. Change is a good thing just like the seasons it offers us new opportunity, growth, and experience (hopefully for the better). HM&F has been through a major transformation in the last year with addition plots/growing fields, renovations to the interior, chickens, and ever expanding composting all these things are absolutely amazing and would not be possible with out you coming week in and week out. Change is again on the horizon as Ashley Locklear, our farmer coordinator, has fulfilled a year term of service through Americorps as of August 22nd and will still continue to be involved on a part time basis.

With September just around the corner you will start to see new items appearing in the box: all type of greens (mustard, collards, turnip) and yes folks, we are getting close to citrus season with satsumas being the first to come in around the end of September. Not too far behind is lettuce, swiss chard, kale, and everything green. We should have one more round of early fall corn, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, peas, and beans.

Not too far from now we will have lamb, goat, and pork available for purchase on Saturdays and will do our best to answer any questions that you may have about preparing those items. Also if you wish to reserve a whole pig, lamb, or goat please be sure to send an email to the info account. Around the holidays which aren’t too far away we will be sourcing and hopefully reserving turkey and duck.

Grazie!

Recipe: Pea Salad with Cilantro Dressing

 

Buyers’ Club–Week 43: Remotest Antiquity. . . Pears

Every week since starting the Buyers’ Club almost a year ago now we have continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Originally we started with a distribution of 25 CSA-style (community supported agriculture) boxes to close family & friends now on average we are putting together well over 200 boxes a week! The Market & Farm staff has learned a lot this past year ranging from the level of cooking skills while trying to remain dedicated to eating seasonally to reading endless books about the local urban homesteading movement the seems to know no bounds to sourcing awesome produce that is grown right here in our own city — mostly community plots are just right around the corner from where you live.

If there aren’t any community plots nearby then by all means do some research look up and around you because you have figs, bananas, payapas, and pears in season right now which very well maybe the edible type (do your research) and are right outside your window or waiting for you at that stop light on your morning drive to work. There is nothing more exciting than finding food; free food growing so close by.

This past week you had the pleasure of having two new items in the box: pears and limes. The some of those pears were sourced right here in the city just blocks away from the Market & Farm. The pears that you found in your box are ‘cooking’ pears but are actually perfectly good to eat out of hand as well — you maybe surprised to find that their firm texture has no direct correlation to just how juicy they are.

The history of the pear dates back to ‘remotest antiquity’ according to some  quick research and actually the Romans are to be credited with the cultivation of pears. However, the Romans never ate raw pears but they stewed them with honey and to this day there is a classic recipe that is still very popular: Patina De Piris or Roman Pear Pudding.  Pears are native to coastal mild temperate climates and are harvested in the mid to late summer, maybe, a bit into early fall.

Pears are chucked full a vitamins like A, C, E, as well as, a few minerals like copper and potassium.  So, this week we have a recipe generously donated to us by one our citrus growers and while it may not use several items in your box from Saturday it certainly is tasty and will inspire you to use those pears.

Recipe: Savastano Pear Cake