Local Produce and Sustainable Farming Websites

The Department of Massachusetts Agriculture has a nice Massgrown website with a map (see above) to local produce. The site has handy quick links for Farmer's Markets, Dairy Farms, Tourism-Farms, Wine and Cheese, and Pick Your Own.

Tufts University has its own New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.  This site has information on specialty crops. ethnic foods and a recipe index.  It also has guides for selling produce at a farmers market.

TB

Community Supported Agriculture

Many farms now have community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, a good way to get fresh fruit and vegetables if you do not have your own garden.   I recently joined the Chestnut Farms CSA for grass-fed meats and chickens.

There is a CSA for fish (CSF)  being offered by Cape Ann Fresh Catch (CAFC).  They have lately added a delivery site at Volante Farms in Needham.  I signed up for the biweekly fish delivery and have received two deliveries (each delivery equals two pounds of fish). 

The first delivery was hake - a mild, white fish that I had heard of but never tasted.  CAFC provided recipe suggestions which I used to cook the hake and it was very good.  The next delivery haddock.    I don't know how much time elapses from catch to delivery, but I must assume that it is very quick - I have never tasted haddock as flavorful as the one I received from CAFC.  One charming side note to the fish delivery is that CAFC tells you what fishing boat your delivery came from. Check out  http://www.capeannfreshcatch.org/.

I read an interesting article in the Boston Globe about a grain CSA that operates from the western part of the state.  A share of this CSA is $375.00 for 2 bushels of unmilled grain.  That seemed a bit beyond what I could handle, but I was tempted.  If you have information about other CSA programs, please share them!


Janice Coduri, Director
Wellesley Free Library

Local food movement in Vermont becomes model for success

The food crisis is looming large both in this country and around the world affecting our health and our very survival. Ben Hewitt promotes the idea of local sustenance, sustainable agriculture and community in this inspirational book, The Town that Food Saved : How One Community found Vitality in Local Food.  His home in Hardwick, Vermont is the setting for his book which has received much national attention.

The following is a review from Publisher's Weekly, February 2010. " Through the last decade the Northern Vermont town of Hardwick, population 3200, gradually evolved into a nationally respected source of 'local food' and  began to reap benefits. Hewitt, an area resident and family farmer, previously wrote about the area as a potential example of localized agriculture and economics, especially for a population whose residents' median income was below state average. But curiosity and healthy skepticism, along with his own investment, spurred him to this deeper investigation into the local personalities (and characters) driving the movement, and to observe, participate and reflect upon such odiferous activities as pig slaughtering. The resulting blend of analysis and reflection highlights the possibilities and perils of what Hewitt argues will impact the agricultural and economic future for better of worse."

-DB

Second Time Around

Four years ago, when I first read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in the dead of winter when nothing was growing except my longing for spring, I found Kingsolver’s family’s experiment interesting, but not compelling enough to make any major changes in my family’s way of eating.  Regardless of the strength of the Kingsolver clan’s arguments, as a busy family of five, we didn’t have the time to grow our own ingredients, much less preserve them. Our backyard garden had provided us with delicious herbs and rather interesting looking tomatoes, but these were nice to haves, not a primary food source for our family—particularly in January.  While we did purchase organic foods when the process yielded familiar, enticing, and reasonably priced items, adding locally sourced to our criteria seemed like too much of an undertaking. 

Knowing that Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was one of this year’s Wellesley Reads Together selections, as we set off for a trip to Tuscany this past summer, I tossed my tattered copy into my suitcase along with a blank notebook—what writer ever travels without some vehicle for recording her observations? In my first journal entry I asked myself:  “What will I come to realize from this trip?” Within a few days an answer began to surface.

Surrounded by terraced hills, thoughtfully planted with vineyards heavy with grapes and olive groves, the fruits of which will be harvested in November, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle took on a new relevance. As we savored five course meals prepared with simple and fresh local (nostrale) ingredients that were pared with brilliant local wines, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle began to have a new, personal context for me.

Tuscan chefs are obsessed with freshness and quality.  One local chef said:  the finished food you prepare can never be better than the quality of the stuff you put in. Fortunately, much of Tuscany has retained its agricultural focus and so it isn’t hard to gather the freshest of ingredients daily.

A typical meal might start with antipasta, perhaps a selection of locally cured meats, sheep’s milk cheeses (peconno), and crostini, followed by pasta made fresh that morning.  A meat or fish dish, depending upon how close you are to the coast, would likely comprise the secondo course (which is technically the third course if you’re counting).  A seasonal salad or vegetable may then be enjoyed before topping the meal off with dessert—generally fresh fruit or gelato.  Bread is always featured, often drizzled with olive oil made from the most recent pressing, or covered with bruschetta, of which vine-ripened tomatoes are a primary ingredient.

It didn’t take us long to realize that Kingsolver was right:  once you’ve tasted just-picked fruits and vegetables, it’s hard to go back. Daily trips to Florence’s Mercato Centrale where there were seemingly endless varieties of fresh pasta, meat, poultry, salami, mushrooms, and cheese made eating local seem quite simple and accessible. But how much work would it take to source fresh, local ingredients upon our return?

I set out to answer that question.  With notebook in hand, I tracked down several farms and farmers’ markets located close to Wellesley.  In the four years since I had originally read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, many more grocery stores, restaurants, and even food delivery services had begun to offer locally produced items.

A sampling of what I uncovered follows.  Have any additions?  Please do share.

Farmers’ Markets:

Framingham Village Green, Thursdays, 12:30-5:30

Natick Center Farmers Market, Saturdays, 9:00-1:00 

Waltham, Main at Moody Street, Saturdays, 9:30-2:30

Local Farms with Markets:

Allendale Farm, Brookline

Blue Heron Organic Farm, Lincoln

Codman Community Farm, Lincoln

Dover Farm, Dover

Dowse Orchards, Sherborn

Hansons Farm, Framingham

Land’s Sake Farm, Weston

Natick Community Organic Farm, Natick

Powissett Farm, Dover

Sunshine Farms, Sherbourne

Volante Farms, Needham

Grocery/Specialty Stores with some Local Options:

Roche Brothers, Wellesley

Russo’s, Watertown

Wasik’s The Cheese Shop, Wellesley

Whole Foods, Wellesley

--Lisa Leslie Henderson

Waging Peace in the Garden

This Sunday, October 9, at 2:00 pm in the Main Library's Wakelin Room, Massachusetts Master Gardener Laurel Landers will present a thought-provoking discussion of how we look at our landscape, and how we can look beyond the marketing to find a new way to garden that is more natural-- not merely organic -- but one that embraces the beauty of nature in all its imperfect glory. Free and open to the public. Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries.

Super Size Me

For a more amusing take on bad eating, try Morgan Spurlock's 2004 movie Super Size Me.  Spurlock decides to eat only McDonald's food for 30 days.  He agrees to try every item on the McDonald's menu at least once and get the "super-size" portions when suggested by a McDonald's employee.  It's quite entertaining.  The business and culture of the nation's fast-food industry is examined, and they don't come out looking good.  As part of the Wellesley Reads Together Film Series, we'll be screening Super Size Me at the Main Library on Friday, October 14, at 6 pm in the Wakelin Room. Join us!

maf

The Buzz About Bees

Did you catch Tony Lulek's library program about bees on Sunday? If not, you can still learn more about those amazing, social insects from two fascinating books.

For the younger set, The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe by Loree Griffin Burns, describes the mystery of the vanishing honeybees, which began in the winter of 2006 when beekeeper Dave Hackenberg inspected 400 of his 3000 hives in Florida and discovered that 20 million bees had simply disappeared.  We will discuss The Hive Detectives at The Reading Club, a book group for children in 4th and 5th grade on Monday evening, October 17 at 7:00 p.m. Are you the parent of a 4th or 5th grader? Read the book with your child and drop in to join our discussion!  Light refreshments will be served.

For adults, The Beekeeper's Lament, by Hannah Nordhaus, describes the ins and outs of beekeeping, disorders of bees and what the life of a beekeeper is really like.  It will make you appreciate honey so much more.  Honey is is a great sweetener in cooking.  You have to be careful when using honey, as the sweetening power is higher than sugar.  Approximately two-thirds of a teaspoon of honey equals one heaping teaspoon of sugar.  Honey also attracts moisture, so baking with honey will make your baked goods more moist. For more information about all things honey, check out the
American Honey Producers Association.

Janice Coduri, Library Director