Food Preservation at the Close of Harvest

Growing up, I spent summers on our family farm. Rising early and staying on the job until past sunset, day after day, we worked together to bring in the crop (in our case, grass seed), and with each passing year, I understood more the cycle of steadfast diligence and reward.

I watched my dad's efforts across all seasons, patiently waiting on the rain, monitoring pests and disease, investing in the health of his crop. And I experienced the satisfaction of collectively leaving the last field, on the last day of harvest, and celebrating with the crew and our families at pizza.

Harvest took precedent over nearly everything else during those summer months. It was a seven day a week affair, with a late start on Sundays. At the time, it was an incredible treat to leave early on a few occasions in Jr. High to go to summer camp. (Thank you, Dad!)

I'm reminded of those days when I find myself in the kitchen at midnight, attempting to make the most of the summer's bounty. I tell myself that it's only for a season...and that we'll celebrate the fruits of our labor when we sit to enjoy homemade pizza sauce on a cold winter night.

And the thing of it is, I truly love the labor. My back might ache from standing too long...my nails may be stained tomato pink...my kitchen may look like a disaster area...but at the end of it all, I love the satisfaction of pulling out a jar of homemade jam, or canned peaches, or frozen pasta sauce.

Too, I love the reminder of time... The milestones. The recipes that resurface at the turns of the seasons. There is a richness that reminds me to calm from my otherwise frenzied pace. There is a poetry to "...seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night..." - Genesis 8:22

Bethany's Homemade Pasta Sauce

Heirloom tomatoes (Claudia's Country Kitchen & Gardenripe CSA)

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Basil (Gardenripe CSA)

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Peppers (A sweet farmer ~ Lents International Farmer's Market)

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Thyme (Montavilla Farmer's Market)

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Garlic (Community Table ~ Lent's International Farmer's Market)

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Red Onion (Montavilla Farmer's Market)

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Olive Oil (Trader Joes ~ I don't have an olive grove...yet!)

Roasted until the wee hours...run through my trusty food mill...packed up and frozen...ready to make a bright and cheery appearance at dinner~

"Our deep respect for the land and its harvest is the legacy of generations of farmers who put food on our tables, preserved our landscape, and inspired us with a powerful work ethic..."

~ James H. Douglas

For the food on our table, I thank farmer Bill, farmer Claudia, the farmers from the various stands at the market, the interns and crews and employees who labor in the fields to watch and grow and weed and water... And for the lessons in diligence, loyalty, and hard work, I thank my dad, the best farmer I've been blessed to know.

~Bethany

Potato Leek Soup with Sausage

I love soup season! Soups are hearty, economical, and a great way to use up whatever's in your fridge and pantry. Last week I wanted to make a potato leek soup and utilize some sausage at the same time...the end result...a new family favorite!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium leeks, about 1 pound
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
  
• 2 tsp thyme
  
• 1/2 lb sausage (I used some natural chicken sausage)
  
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry (or dry white wine)
  
• 4 - 5 cups chicken stock
  
• 5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
  

Directions:
Cut the Dark green parts off the leek, cut in half lengthwise and rinse thoroughly. (Leeks hide sand in their many leaves). Slice thinly and set aside.

Saute sausage until it is no longer pink. Add the sliced leeks and cook until tender. Add the sherry and bring to a boil. Add the spices, potatoes, chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and the soup is savory.

Lightly puree the soup in a food processor or with an immersion blender until the soup is slightly creamy but still chunky. Stir in the cream. Serve immediately, with some fresh sprigs of parsley and enjoy!

Eat Well!
~Emily

Portland Apple Tasting and the Loss of Biodiversity

Paul and I just returned from the 23rd annual Portland Nursery Apple Festival. If you've never been, you definitely need to make it a yearly tradition! Children's activities, yummy samples, apple tasting of over 60 varieties, and of course, delicious apple strudel were among the attractions.

We live in a culture of ever decreasing crop diversity where it is normal to only see four apple varieties in the grocery store, so it was refreshing to admire the 60 flavor packed varieties at the festival. As we continued to walk around the festival, I started thinking of all the ways we are losing diversity in our crops because of the industrialization of farming, subsidies, and the increase of huge monocultures. At home I started researching about biodiversity and found some shocking facts.

"Apples in America are a $1.7 billion industry today. Large markets favor industrialized agriculture practiced on a vast scale; the bottom line is consistency and efficiency. This factor combined with changes in American family life, has meant that within a century, the number of apple varieties available has shrunk to a tiny fraction of the 700 plus grown in the this country when S. A. Beach wrote The Apples of New York in 1905." (Cornell)

"The genetic diversity of apples has continually eroded from a high of 7000 worldwide commercial varieties described between 1804 and 1904 to the present, when most of the world's commercial production is based on two varieties, Red and Golden Delicious and their offspring." (Emphasis mine) (Cornell)

Suddenly the 60 varieties of apples at the Portland Nursery don't seem so impressive.

The saddening facts reach far beyond just apples, check out these stats by (Oregon State University)

• In 1903, US seed catalogs listed 408 pea varieties; only 25 can be found now (a 95% decrease) and by 1970, just two pea varieties comprised 96% of the US commercial crop.
• Seventy one percent of US corn acreage in 1991 was planted to just six varieties.
• Nine varieties of wheat occupy half of all the wheat land in the US.
• Genetic diversity of livestock has been similarly diminished over recent decades.

Speaking of diminishing livestock diversity, as Thanksgiving approaches, did you know that:

• 99% of all turkeys raised in the U.S. are Broad-Breasted Whites, a single turkey breed (Sustainable Table)

I guess I'm feeling bitter sweet after attending the apple festival. I'm frustrated by what we have already lost, but hopeful of all the varieties left to preserve.

So what can you and I do to help preserve the diversity in our food crops? Here's a couple of my ideas:

• Add more heirloom fruit, vegetables, meat, and grains into your family's diet
• Start a garden with heirloom seeds and learn how to save seeds
• Ask your local grocer to stock more heirloom fruits and veggies (You'd be surprised how much grocers will accommodate you if the interest is there)
• Don't use pesticides on your yard and garden, and avoid supporting companies who use them
  

Here are some more suggestions from Sustainable Table:
"There are still small farms throughout the US and Canada that specialize in producing heirloom and heritage foods. Visit the Eat Well Guide to find a farm, market or restaurant near you that sells meat, eggs and dairy products from heritage animals.
Try cooking with heirloom crop varieties to add exciting new elements to your meals; heirloom fruits and vegetables have unique colors, textures, and tastes that can't be found in factory-farmed industrial produce. They can often be found at farmers markets around the country."

Join me in doing our part to put a STOP to decreasing crop diversity!

This post only touches the surface of this issue; I encourage you to check out the following sites:

• American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
  
• The ARK USA
  
• Breeds of Livestock
  
• New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy
  
• Seed Savers Exchange
  

Eat Well!
~Emily

Emily's Autumn Empanadas

Last week Bethany called asking if I would take some of their overly abundant CSA produce. I gladly accepted, but she failed to tell me she was going to leave a small farm on my doorstep. As you can see from the picture above, we had an abundance of tasty freshness to help spur some creative cooking.

I've had an acorn squash sitting in my kitchen waiting to be used and I wanted to try my hand at Empanadas so I thought this was the perfect opportunity! Empanada literally means "wrapped in bread" and is a common stuffed pastry in Spanish and Latin American cuisine.
These were flavorful and fun to make. I loved the process of making mini stuffed pastries so much that I started brainstorming of other yummy stuffings. A couple days later I made the dough and stuffed it with pizza toppings for mini calazones...(or should we say a healthier hot pocket!). Make extras and freeze them for an easy dinner at a later date.

Emily's Autumn Empanadas
Dough:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
5 1/2 Tbsp water

Filling:
1 Medium size acorn squash
1 Medium onion, diced
1 Green pepper, diced
3 Ears of corn, off the cob
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
2 Tbsp raisins
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Mix flour and salt. Cut in butter. Stir in water until you have a smooth dough. Set aside.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise (Acorn squash have very hard shells, so be careful). Scoop out seeds, sprinkle with salt, and set in a baking dish cut side up. Fill the baking dish up a 1/4 inch with water and bake at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes or until squash is tender but not mushy.

Meanwhile saute onion, green pepper, corn, and spices until tender. Stir in raisins. Peel cooled squash and cut in to small chunks. Stir the squash into your skillet.

To Assemble:
Roll dough until it is between an 1/8 and 1/4 in thick. Use the rim of a glass to cut out rounds. Take the individual rounds and roll out until they are about 5 inches in diameter. Spread about 2 Tbsp. in each of the rounds. Fold in half and pinch edges firmly to seal. (If you want to freeze these, do so now). Place on and ungreased baking sheet and brush with beaten egg. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Hope you all enjoy these savory empanadas, we sure did!!
~Emily

First Azure Standard Drop!

Food Group's first Azure Standard drop was successful! Six food group members placed orders and Bethany and Allison helped unload the semi truck on delivery day.


We are hoping to place orders once a month depending on interest since drop minimums must add up to $550. If you are interested in joining our drop site, please email me for details and requirements.

It was pretty fun having a semi truck come down our little street with a delivery just for us!


Here's to having great food delivered to your doorstep!
~Emily

Local Food: Equity in Actions & Truth

Last weekend, Ted and I attended a Community Food Forum. A small online notice caught my eye a while back. I posted it to the Sustainable Food for Thought Facebook page (mostly as a more-reliable-than-a-bookmark reminder to myself) and was grateful to be able to participate in the Saturday morning event.

Individuals from local non-profits and churches, the Montavilla, Lents, Cully, and Parkrose Farmers Markets, the Multnomah County Chair's office, and the community at large filed in to the meeting held at a neighborhood church just a handful of blocks from our home. The discussion revolved around equity of access to healthy food for for east Portlanders, in particular, our disenfranchised and low income neighbors in Montavilla.


As Ted and I have been seeking to engage and build camaraderie with the under resourced members of our community, the event's conversations were timely.

Kyle Curtis, the Associate Manager of the Montavilla Farmer's Market, opened the morning asking, "How can we make healthy food more accessible and affordable in east Portland?"

We were asked to consider:

What kind of food system do we want, and how can we encourage it through policies, programs, and partnerships?

How do we ensure equity in the new food systems we create?

Can small farmers make a decent wage selling affordably priced food to low-income customers without subsidies?

~

And he shared with us a number of telling maps from the Portland Plan from the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, showing recent inventories of neighborhood access to grocery stores, community gardens, Oregon Food Bank food assistance programs, fast food establishments, and changes in food stamp usage over the past few years.

Karol Collymore of county chair Jeff Cogen's office shared about the health disparities related to the way we currently offer the "least of what we have" (i.e., packaged, processed, nutrient-void foods from corner markets, gas stations, and the like) to many or our resource-isolated areas. She raised questions of of how to incentivise healthy business development in neighborhoods where current economic viability is questionable. She spoke of New Seasons' practice of locating grocery stores in areas of high college education rates and the trouble of under resourced areas remaining so in the face of improvements in more affluent areas of town. She shared about the Multnomah Food Initiative and gave avenues to educate ourselves and become a part of the dialog.


Did you know that if you spot a vacant plot of land within the urban areas, there are mechanisms in place to work with the county to do a tax and title search and then transform that space into a spot for growing healthy food? Check out Groundwork Portland and Janus Youth Programs' urban agriculture projects.

~

Kyle Curtis relayed to us that the recent Montavilla Food Co-op survey taken over this past summer had a very small percentage of respondents from non-white, low-income zip codes, despite the high rates of those populations within geographic proximity to the Montavilla Farmers Market, local food buying clubs, and other neighborhood food initiatives. Clearly, there is much to be improved in the way our food system engages and supports families of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds...

Did you know that there is a 2-3 year waiting list for the Vestal Elementary School community garden here at NE 82nd and Couch? It's discouraging to see the sky-high numbers of fast food and chain restaurants up and down 82nd and the surrounding thoroughfares...and to see the high prices at the farmers markets that can be luxuriously justified to me, but sincerely unapproachable by my dear neighbors here at Stepping Stone Apartments.

Many members of the local community shared their experiences over the past few years here in the Montavilla area. Progress is being made. Positive changes are happening. Areas for work and improvement are being identified and addressed.

Encouraging, yes.

But also a strong reminder that care and concern require hands and feet.

~

At the conclusion of the event, we were given additional ways to be involved. I'm happy to share them here as well, in hopes that word will continue to go out...

Volunteer at local markets - Montavilla, Cully, Lents, Parkrose (or one in your own back yard!)

The Lents International Farmer's Market

Attend the various upcoming Multnomah Food Initiative Workshops (10/19 Healthy Eating, 10/28 Local Food, 11/1 Social Equity, 11/3 Economic Vitality)

Consider applying for a seat on the Portland-Multnomah Food Policy Council

Participate in local food buying clubs: Lents Grocery Co-op, Lents Food Buying Club, Lents Grocery Buying Club, Montavilla Buying Club, Portland Eastside Buying Club (or, added plug, our Sustainable Food For Thought group!)


Connect with Friends of Family Farmers

And I would add a few more ideas to the list...

~Share a meal, in your home, with your neighbors. Learn about their stories and their needs and desires. Learn about the foods that they enjoy most! Seek out opportunities to share resources that are meaningful and practical to them in their particular circumstances.
~Check with your local CSA or farm stand and ask if they have sponsorship opportunities for reduced cost subscriptions to be made available to low income participants.
~Grow a garden and share your bounty with people up and down your street.
~Eat with gratefulness, and share your best.

As Ted and I have chosen to change our habits of purchasing and consuming, and as we've conscientiously used our dollars to vote for changes in the food system, it still comes as a deeply troubling reality that so very many of our fellow Portlanders are without a voice, without the luxury of dollars to vote, and without the access to foods that promote health and nourishment.

We've not come to answers yet. Only to continued questions and invitations to conversation. I am challenged to put my blessings to work...to revel in the goodness and bounty of the seasons and to participate in restoring the Creator's hope and vitality to the neighborhood in which we live.

Leviticus 23:22 When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the...the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Proverbs 21:13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.

Luke 14:13-14 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Join me as we learn to carry the truth and live out the calling?

~Bethany

Autumn Warm Fuzzies

Fall is the time of year when I feel the most kinship with food. Though summer provides a bounty of fresh produce, most of my culinary aspirations were put to the wayside as weddings, schoolwork, family, and work pressures took priority. My yearly blueberry picking and jam making sadly remained on my to do list, as the season seemed to slip by in just a few short weeks.

But as the air turns more crisp and we retreat indoors, all the other things that previously seemed so important are suddenly brushed aside as I find myself drawn to a warm stove and my dutch oven. There is something so irresistible about throwing together a rustic vegetable soup, or coring and peeling apples for a cinnamon-laced fruit crisp. My almost impulsive urge to cook is so prevalent during this season that my family can hardly eat all the food I make. Our refrigerator is overflowing with leftover braised chicken, chili, and various other comfort foods. I make hot biscuits just so I can share them with the neighbors, and any hint of an extra guest is just one more excuse to whip up a batch of molasses oatmeal cookies.

And even with all these fulfilling culinary endeavors, why is it that I continue to live in a perpetual state of regret for all the things I haven’t done? Though I do my best to plan healthy, nutritious meals for my family, some days end up being frozen pizza days. Though I want to buy natural and organic ingredients, often my lack time and money get the best of me. Coupled with a husband who could care less about the quality of his food (his last independent grocery purchase included hotdogs with beef hearts listed as the first ingredient), I often feel I have to constantly compromise my ideals with reality.

Last month at food group we discussed living in a state of inspiration vs. condemnation. While the movement toward sustainable food is definitely a positive trend in our culture, it also has the ability to fill us with dread about how we are going to live up to a standard that at times can feel overwhelming, expensive, and time consuming. However, I am beginning to understand that small steps are the only way that I will ever attain the healthy way of living I so desire for myself and my family.

Instead of viewing the sustainable food movement as a stamp of disapproval on the way I live day to day, I am trying to simply be excited when I do get the chance to make a positive step in the right direction. Instead of lamenting that I couldn’t afford organic chicken, I will rejoice in the fact that I was still able to make my own delicious msg-preservative-additive free chicken stock. So let’s ditch the guilt and get on with the comfort food already.

Want to make a comforting, inexpensive, one-pot meal? Try making Braised Herb Chicken Thighs with Potatoes. Happy cooking!