August 22, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

A part-time Special Projects Coordinator is sought to support the work of the Food & Society and Culture & Sustainability initiatives of the UNH Sustainability Academy. The Special Projects Coordinator will organize and implement key special projects, research, and events related to issues of food, local and sustainable agriculture, nutrition, community, culture, and other related issues.

UNH Office of Sustainability seeks Special Projects Coordinator - 30 hours a week, $15/hour

Job posting:

https://jobs.usnh.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=139515

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August 21, 2010 by Debra.

Come and learn more about how to can foods properly — the UNH Cooperative Extension is holding another canning demonstration and program on Wednesday, August 25, at the Rockingham County Complex in Brentwood. This program is free and open to the public, with 60 people attending the most recent workshop there!

Yes You Can! Food Preservation Program

Wednesday, August 25, 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Location: Hilton Auditorium, Rockingham County Nursing Home, 117 North Road, Brentwood, NH, 03833

 

Drop by for a FREE Canning Demonstration and Program by Claudia Boozer-Blasco, UNH Cooperative Extension Educator

 

Learn about…

• Use of proper canning equipment

• Techniques for canning acidic fruits and vegetables safely in a water-bath canner

• Using up-to-date canning recipes

 

Open to the public and handicap accessible

 

Click here to view flyer

 

Also, an additional workshop is scheduled for Thursday, September 2, at Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn, NH. To register or for more information, call Lynn Harrison at (603) 679-5616 or email lynn.harrison@unh.edu.

Posted in author: Debra, learning, putting food by | Print | 1 Comment »

August 21, 2010 by Debra.

Frank Harrison of Harrisons Poultry in Candia, a regular vendor at Seacoast farmers’ markets, is the subject of a recent profile at NewHampshire.com. In addition to poultry and rabbits, he produces honey and Sweet Water maple syrup. Find out more about life at Harrisons Poultry Farm: 

Life on a local farm fits Frank Harrison perfectly

 

Taking care of flocks of chickens, guinea fowl, geese and turkeys, as well as rabbits and bees, is a giant commitment. But for Frank Harrison, it’s a way of life he’s glad to have chosen.

 

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” he said. “And I’m the poorest I’ve ever been.”

 

Harrison owns Harrison’s Poultry in Candia, one of the few small farms in the Manchester area.

He began by selling turkeys in 1995 with his brother and moved to his current location on Tower Hill Road in 2005, where he could expand his farming efforts.

 

Visitors may be surprised to find a farm in the middle of a heavily wooded area. Chickens run free through the woods, while others are happy to stay in their pens. Even Harrison jokes that he doesn’t end up with a farmer’s tan because there’s so much shade from the trees.

 

“Everything here is food,” said Harrison.

 

And it takes a lot of time to grow all that food.

 

His day starts early, feeding and watering what sometimes amounts to 800 chickens. He lets the heritage chickens out, shoveling cages and putting in fresh shavings and cleaning nest boxes. It can take the full morning to make the rounds to all the pens.

 

Afternoons are spent mending, buying supplies and heading out to farmers markets to sell his goods. Evenings are back making the rounds to be sure all his animals are fed, watered and safe.

 

And that doesn’t take into account the gardens he maintains – both on his own property and at other locations – where he grows a variety of vegetables.

 

Once a week he checks his apiary, where bees are busy making honey. Each July and late August to September is the time to get the honey out and package it.

 

Chickens are butchered several times each week, as he meets demand by some customers and for his three weekly trips to local farmers markets.

 

Every spring, he maintains 350 taps on sugar bushes to make maple sugar and syrup, having built his own sugar shack just last year.

 

“The biggest job is just collecting (all the sap),” he said. Once collected, he can produce a gallon of syrup each hour to 90 minutes.

 

Customers, friends and family sometimes pitch in to help Harrison, especially if he needs a day off. And he has a network of friends also in the family farming business through the Seacoast Growers Association and Seacoast Eat Local, which helps promote business and the movement toward “slow local food.”

 

“Sitting down with family and friends with food you prepared – there’s nothing like that,” said Harrison, describing a meal he prepared almost entirely of food he personally grew.

 

Harrison is well aware of what life is like for most people, having spent 20 years as a CAD engineer, drawing the artwork for microwave circuits. As the business started to cut back, he thought more and more about going into farming.

 

“I’ve never worked as hard,” said Harrison. “Today, there’s a sense of purpose in what I do, helping people have a better life.”

 

Learn more about Harrison’s Poultry Farm at www.harrisonspoultry.com, or call 587-0323. He can be found at the Hooksett Farmers Market on Wednesdays.

 

To read article online >

 

Harrisons Poultry may also be found at the Exeter Farmers’ Market on Thursdays. 

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August 20, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

The Natural Heritage and Agricultural Fair is next weekend, August 28 + 29. It will be held at Warren Farm in Barrington, NH and is going to be fantastically fun and filled with locally grown goodness.

Help spread the word by sharing the website, agfair.wordpress.com

and

Downloading and printing our a few fliers (.doc) for friends/neighbors/coworkers/neighborhood store/library (and so on!)

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August 20, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

Next up in this excellent series:

Dover Cassily Community Garden’s Children’s Summer Activity Series

Exploring the Compost Pile!
Saturday, August 21st at 10:00am.

This week we will be exploring (read: digging in and climbing about) our two compost piles; one finished and one working. We will also be harvesting and caring for existing plantings. Come ready to dig! Tractors, trucks and diggers welcome!

Children of all ages are welcome to participate in DCCG’s free children’s program. No preregistration is necessary. We will meet at the DCCG shed at 10:00am and walk out to the garden together. It is a good idea to wear sunscreen and a hat and bring bug spray, water and a snack.

More info at dovergarden.org or email Traci, Youth Outreach Coordinator at the.mogget@yahoo.com

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August 20, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

New Roots Farm is offering pre-orders of fresh (not frozen) pasture-raised chickens for pickup at the Exeter Farmers’ Market on Thursday 8/26.

New Roots grass-fed chickens are raised on certified organic pasture in the Joel Salatin style as seen in Food, Inc.  We will be offering whole roasting chickens (4-5 pounds) for $4.50 per pound and half-chickens for $5.50 per pound.  The chickens are humanely processed on our farm in Newmarket and are shrink wrapped, sealed and labeled for pickup.  Limit two whole birds per customer.

Order your chicken by emailing Jeff and Renee Cantara at farmers @ newrootsfarm.com or by calling 292-5902

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August 19, 2010 by Debra.

Imagine 380 500 million eggs — that’s the number of them now being recalled. We’re often asked about the price of local food compared to those found at the supermarket, and this latest recall perhaps helps to reframe the question to: How is it that industrial food can be produced and made available so cheaply? The hidden and not-so-hidden costs are many, and salmonella is just one of them.

Two recent interviews further explore the issue of cost. One with Michael Pollan, with prescient timing, asks “A Dozen Eggs for $8?“

WSJ: Is eating well just an indulgence for people who can afford it?

 

Mr. Pollan: If you’re in the supermarket buying organic versus not buying organic, you are going to spend more. But buying food at the farmer’s market, if you compare it to the prices at Safeway for stuff that’s in season, it actually beats the prices in my experience. People shouldn’t assume that they are going to go broke at the farmer’s market.

 

WSJ: What do you wish people here understood about their food that they don’t now?

 

Mr. Pollan: We’ve been conditioned by artificially cheap food to be shocked when a box of strawberries costs $3.

 

But it’s important to know that farmers aren’t getting wealthy. When you see strawberries being sold for $1 a box, picture the kind of labor it takes to pick those strawberries and the kind of chemicals it takes to produce those kinds of strawberries without hand weeding.

 

Eight dollars for a dozen eggs sounds outrageous, but when you think that you can make a delicious meal from two eggs, that’s $1.50. It’s really not that much when we think of how we waste money in our lives.

 

To read full Pollan interview >

The other, with a program manager at the Intervale Center in Vermont, discusses what goes into producing local meat:

And now for the question we’ve all been waiting to ask … why are local meat prices so high?

 

I get this question a lot! It’s funny how many people think that all food is the same and perhaps it should all have a comparable price. I know when I shop for a new car or a can of paint I have the understanding that the product that has a higher price is almost always of a higher quality. I’m surprised that more skeptical people don’t wonder how they can buy non-local meat at such a low price.

 

So why are many local meats priced higher than standard meats at the supermarket? In most cases you’re looking at a superior product: see if you can taste the difference or decide if you derive value from the other attributes like grass fed, humane treatment or paying a VT farmer a better wage.

 

Processing for a small-scale producer can cost more; slaughtering animals and cutting and wrapping meat is a significant component of the final sale price.

 

Many grass-fed animals may be carried through the winter on stored feeds before the animal is ready for harvest. That means more money for feed, more time for the farmer and more space taken up in fields or the barn. Compare that to a Midwestern feedlot steer who is fed surplus corn on an accelerated growth plan. Corn is cheap in those parts of the country and, after all, time is money!

To read full Intervale interview >

 

For farm-fresh, local eggs  and some of the places to find them, see our guide to local food, Seacoast Harvest.

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August 18, 2010 by Heather.

A recent article in the New York Times tells the story of three clinics in Massachusetts that are “prescribing” local farmers’ market purchases for youngsters. “Eat an Apple (Doctor’s Orders)” by Natasha Singer details what Boston mayor Thomas Menino says could be the first of its kind:

Doctors at three health centers in Massachusetts have begun advising patients to eat “prescription produce” from local farmers’ markets, in an effort to fight obesity in children of low-income families. Now they will give coupons amounting to $1 a day for each member of a patient’s family to promote healthy meals. . . The pilot project plans to enroll up to 50 families of four at three health centers in Massachusetts that already have specialized children’s programs called healthy weight clinics.

To read the entire article click here.

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August 17, 2010 by Debra.

It’s mid-August and, though the days are getting shorter, they’re no less busy with preserving and canning moving into full swing. After last year’s scarcity of tomatoes, we are taking full advantage of their abundant availability to restock our pantry. Once the jars have been set aside to cool, we like to end the day with something simple for supper — pasta with a pesto made from an extra pint of cherry tomatoes, blended in with some fragrant garden basil and a handful of toasted almonds. This pesto may be frozen for later use but enjoy it now for the bright, clean flavor of summer tomatoes at their ripest.

Fresh Tomato Pesto

3/4 to 1 pound (about 2 1/2 cups) cherry or other ripe tomatoes

12 large basil leaves

1 large garlic clove, crushed and peeled

1/3 cup whole almonds, lightly toasted

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 extra virgin cup olive oil

1 pound spaghetti

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1. Rinse cherry tomatoes and pat dry. Rinse basil leaves and pat dry.

2. Using a blender or food processor, add tomatoes, basil, garlic clove, almonds, chili flakes and salt. Blend for a minute or more, until finely pureed. Scrape down bowl and blend again if any large bits remain.

3. With machine running, pour in olive oil in a steady stream, emulsifying puree into a thick pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings. If using within a couple of hours, leave pesto at room temperature. Otherwise, pesto can be refrigerated 2 to 3 days; let it return to room temperature before cooking the pasta.

4. Place pesto in serving bowl. Cook pasta in salted, boiling water until al dente or just done. Drain pasta and add to serving bowl containing pesto. Toss quickly to coat pasta with tomato pesto. Add grated parmesan and toss again. Serve immediately while still warm.

Notes: Adapted from ”Lidia’s Italy” by Lidia Bastianich. This dish originates from Southwest Sicily, where it is known as Pesto Trapanese. For those interested in further exploring other pestos collected from Southern Italy, see the “Mini-Cookbook of Pesto Recipes“.

Posted in Market Notes, author: Debra, recipes | Print | No Comments »

August 17, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

The folks at Protein U want to help us all learn more about butchering, a critical skill in a local food system. To that end, they held a video contest, and now have announced the top 20 for voting. There are pig videos and beef videos, and for those of us looking to learn something for our home kitchens, there are also helpful rabbit and duck videos.

One of the finalists is Amy Winans, part of the UNH ecogastronomy and hospitality programs, showcasing the start of making a prosciutto like ham. Go vote, then spread the word! 

Posted in author: Sara Zoe | Print | 1 Comment »