Seacoast Eat Local

What do we want to be made of? The food blog, Macheesmo takes up the question in a recent post and came up with 3 areas to consider, starting with:

You Are What You Eat Eats.

 

The standard statement that we’ve all heard and that we’re taught as children is that you are what you eat. If you eat a lot of junk food, you’re going to be fat. If you eat veggies and fruits, you’ll be healthy and happy!

 

This is, unfortunately, a bit simplistic. Michael Pollan takes it a bit further in his, “In Defense of Food” by saying that you are what you eat eats. You could eat nothing but carrots, but if those carrots are laced with arsenic then guess what. You gonna die.

 

The problem with this idea is that in today’s world it’s really hard to know what you eat is eating all the time.

 

Here’s a few things that might help you:

 

- If you eat meat, try to research where your meat came from, what it’s fed, and how it was raised.  Sometimes packaging is a good start and that coupled with a google search or two can get you a lot of information.

 

- Research how food is grown. Obviously, the best way to know what’s in the food you eat is to grow it yourself, hence my gardening goal this year. But for most of us, it’s just not realistic to grow everything (or even most things) that we eat. One easy step is to find out what vegetables are important to buy organic, and if you can, support those industries.

 

- Read ingredient lists! This one is easy and a great way to see what companies are sneaking into the food you eat. (Check out my Guess The Food series for starters.)

To continue with “You Are What You Use Uses.” and “You Are What You Do.”, please visit www.macheesmo.com. While you’re there, make sure to check out Nick’s new series, The Homemade Trials, where he takes a store bought item, remakes it from scratch, and compares the two on time, cost, nutrition and taste. First up: mac-n-cheese!

Amongst the many great movies being shown in this series are two in particular that folks interested in food and agriculture might want to check out. Tapped, about the bottled water industry, and Dirt! about the importance of our soils and their current state.

All movies are free. Movies start at 6:30 p.m. in the screening room (2nd floor) of Dover Public Library, 73 Locust Street, in Dover, NH. Coffee and refreshments will be served. Open conversation will follow each film.

Tuesday, February 1: Tapped. (2009) Water wants to be free. Website.
Tuesday, February 22: Blue Vinyl. (2002) The other side of siding. Website.
Tuesday, March 8: A Crude Awakening. (2006) The high cost of cheap oil. Website.
Tuesday, March 22: Radiant City. (2997, 85 mins). When bad design happens to good people. Trailer.
Tuesday, April 5: Dirt. (2009, 80 mins.) The human – humus link. Website.

For more information about the Green Movies Sustainability Series of Dover, visit their website.

To help promote buying local and in-season foods, Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School continues their Farm-to-Table Lunch/Dinner & Lecture series with two events on their winter schedule. Dave Dumaresq of Farmer Dave’s, one of our Winter Farmers’ Market vendors, will be appearing at February’s dinner, “Fresh and Wonderful,” featuring produce from his farm.

Winter Farming

Pierre Gignac, Executive Chef, 98 Provence, Ogunquit, ME with George Carpenter of Farm2Chef.com mm

Thursday, January 20, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

$35.

Menu:

• Salad of Winter Mesclun Greens with White Balsamic, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Farmers Goat Cheese

• Braised Cod with Heirloom Tomatoes

• Potatoes and Onions in White Wine Broth

• Calvados and Apple Cake with Brandy Custard Sauce

Fresh and Wonderful

Scott Pelletier, Executive Chef, Evenfall Restaurant, Haverill, MA, with Dave Dumaresq of Farmer Dave’s, Dracut, MA

Thursday, February 24, 6–7:30 p.m.

$50.

Menu:

• Creamy Butternut Squash Bisque, Fresh Maine Crab, Creme Fraiche

• Brown Sugar Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Toasted Ancho Fluff

• Grass Fed Rib-Eye Steak, Creamy Cognac -Green Peppercorn Sauce

• Cinnamon Spiced Crepes with Warm Apple Sun-Dried Cranberry Compote topped with Whipped Cream

For more information about the Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School, please visit www.stonewallkitchen.com.

From the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT):

Organic Apple Production and Marketing (A Beginner’s Guide)

 Free Webinar

Thursday, January 27, 2011, Noon (Central Time)

Commercial-scale organic apple production has entered the mainstream. Once thought of as practically impossible, profitable organic apple production is now a reality for established apple growers from coast to coast. And the techniques for successful organic apple production are backed up by research and recommendations from universities such as Cornell, Michigan State, and Washington State.

But the path to profitable commercial organic apple production isn’t easy. Organic apple growers face many hurdles, from pest control and certification to marketing. But if you’re willing to tackle these hurdles, the profits may well be worth the effort.

To find out what’s involved in profitable organic apple production, and whether this business is right for you, register for our free webinar titled  ”Organic Apple Production and Marketing (A Beginner’s Guide).” 

Presented by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), this organic apple webinar will be broadcast on Thursday, January 27^th, at 12 Noon Central Standard Time.

Some of the topics to be covered in this hour-long webinar include the following:

• Overview and trends in organic apple production and marketing in the U.S.
• Organic apple production techniques for different regions of the country.
• Disease control with organic fungicides and disease-resistant varieties of apples.
• Insect and mite control with kaolin clay, pheromones, and new-generation pesticides
• “Farmscaping” to optimize biological control with beneficial insects
• Control of vertebrate pests in orchards such as deer and voles
• Non-chemical weed control in organic apple orchards
• Economics and marketing of organic apples—how can I make a profit?

The speakers for the webinar are Tammy Hinman, a horticulturalist, and Guy Ames, an experienced apple grower. Both speakers currently work for the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT). Hinman and Ames provide technical advice to apple growers nationwide through the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA), with funding provided by USDA. Ames and Hinman are also coauthors of ATTRA’s new publication on organic apple production, which will be available this winter.

This January 27^th webinar on Organic Apple Production is free, but registration online is required.

To register for the webinar, visit this website:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/282739802