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Letter from a Farmer,
133 Billion pounds of food is wasted in the United States every year, which is 40% of the food produced in our country. That is a staggering number. Especially when we know so many members of our communities are food insecure. According to Tristram Stuart who wrote Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal, the food wasted each year in the world (through its production) creates enough greenhouse gases to fall just behind China and the U.S. as the most polluting entities on our planet. Stuart states that the amount of fuel used to produce the food wasted in the U.S. per year is 70 times more than the oil spilled during the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Huffington Post is calling July their food waste awareness month. There will be articles and videos to teach readers about how to waste less food in their own homes, how to support organizations that do “food rescue”, and what exactly food waste even means. Food waste is a hot topic all of sudden which is great. Even our local Hannaford grocery store now has an ugly fruit and vegetable display with cute cartoons on the bags and the prices discounted to get us to eat less than perfect produce. It is another way we are becoming aware of how our food system has gone down the wrong path and how we forge a new path.
Reading about Stuart's book on the National Geographic Society website the types of food waste is broken down further. Each year we waste over half of the fruits and vegetables produced in the U.S. and 60% of our roots and tubers are filling up our landfills. About half of these numbers is wasted on farm through culling for imperfections and post-harvest care problems. The rest is lost in distribution, stores, restaurants, and our own kitchens.
Eating “ugly” vegetables is something all of you are quite used to in your kitchens. As you notice we do not sort for industry standards of the perfect carrot, tomato, or potato. You receive twisted and forked carrots and tomatoes and potatoes of all sizes in your share. They all taste the same, delicious. We do have a few wholesale accounts who demand a certain size and shape and it is difficult to sort out perfectly good food because it is not the right shape. Fortunately, the majority of our produce can find a home even if it is not a perfectly round tomato exactly four inches wide.
CSA in its design reduces food waste. Having our members purchase shares in the beginning of the season means farmers can produce only the food that will be eaten. The farmers know exactly how many feet of carrots to plant and how many heads of lettuce they need each week. We also have two computer programs that help us seed the right amount of broccoli, corn, onions in the greenhouse to have 1100 head of broccoli for week 3 of the season, and 5500 ears of corn for week 7. We don’t want to grow too much food. But, the last two seasons our CSA membership hasn’t reached our goal of 1100 members. So, we do have food in the field that will need to find a home and that we need to sell to meet our budget needs for the season. It is an uncomfortable feeling.
Any extra food delivered to the CSA sites is not wasted. Each of our sites is connected to a food pantry or community kitchen. Any veggies or fruits not picked up are delivered to the food pantries that become meals cooked in their kitchens or go home with their clients. Many of our food pantries tell us that fresh vegetables and fruits change the way their clients feel about the food pantry experience. We go to two farmers' markets and donate the left over produce to a local church who distributes to food pantries and now Long Table Harvest, a new gleaning initiative in our county. Long Table Harvest has a route through the county each Monday to pick up the leftovers from many farms from their weekend markets. They fill up a van each week but could probably fill up many more if the group had capacity.
We do grow food that is bruised or damaged during growing and harvest (or a zucchini hiding on the vine that grows to baseball bat size). All of that food goes to the pigs. Our mama pigs and the pigs we raise for pork love tomatoes, winter squash, beets, and carrots, they have quite the sweet tooth. They will eat zucchini and eggplant if they are bored. Eating the veggies makes the pigs healthier and gives their curious minds something to do.
We do loose some crops to insects, weed pressure, or for instance this spring the heat caused a whole planting of arugula to go to flower. These crops are plowed under to feed the soil. We don’t see it as waste as it returns organic matter to the soil. Some crops like arugula can help us grow healthier fall spinach as the chemicals in the arugula fight off a soil disease. Other crops like peas bring nitrogen from the air into the soil. For full disclosure: The only ugly vegetable that goes to waste on our farm is rotten potatoes. The potatoes can host a disease, late blight, that can destroy our tomato and potato crops. You don’t want them in your compost pile as they can grow up and host the disease without us really paying attention. Pigs and other livestock can’t eat potatoes unless they are cooked. But no one wants to touch a rotten potato, raw or cooked. So, we do put our rotten potatoes in the dumpster to get them off of our farm.
Eating close to the farm and supporting a farm so that they can deliver funny looking food makes all the difference in how much food goes to waste. We don’t have to waste our vegetables because you don’t want us to do that. You are willing to take that funny bunch of carrots and potatoes of all sizes. You don’t demand all “chef size” potatoes. When you go to a farmers' market and buy an apple with a tiny blemish or one that is not perfectly round you help the farmer waste less of his/her/their product. Which is what we all want - the food we work so hard to grow, arriving at our customers' kitchens and plates to become beautiful and delicious dishes. ~Jody
For more information go to:
National Geographic
Huffington Post
Tristram Stuart's work
Long Table Harvest (Columbia County)
City Harvest (NYC)
Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY (Capital District)
County Harvest (Westchester County)
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6 am cabbage harvest. Getting them in the barn while it is cool outside.
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Ailsa Craig Onions: These onions are also called fresh onions or green onions. They are eaten right out of the field and need to be kept in the fridge. Unlike other onions that are cured and dried, Alisa Craigs don't dry and store. They are our favorite onion, partly because of their short season. Sweet and great raw or grilled. You can use the tops, too.
Golden Beets: Remove the greens and store them separately in a plastic bag (use them like chard) in the fridge, too. You can peel them or keep the skins on. Use them like any other beet.
Ailsa Craig Onion Pie
1 pie crust (bottom only)
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups thinly sliced onions
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
a few slices of cooked bacon, crumbled up (optional)
Line a standard-size pie plate with the crust and set aside.
In a large skillet or shallow kettle, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onions and caraway seeds until the onions are nice and soft. Let this mixture cool slightly and then spread it on top of the pie crust.
Combine the flour, salt, paprika, cheese, eggs, and milk. Mix well and then pour this over the onions. Another pinch of caraway seeds makes a nice topping. If you're into bacon, you can also sprinkle some of this on top.
Bake at 400 degrees F. for 30–40 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the top is nicely browned. Let the pie cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving it.
http://www.diaryofalocavore.com
Golden Beet and Beet-Greens Salad with Yogurt, Mint and Dill
2 pounds medium golden beets in skin, well washed (or red or other beets)
12 to 16 ounces beet greens (or chard or other greens)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
⅓ cup red onion or shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon toasted cumin-coriander mixture
Pinch cayenne
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE YOGURT SAUCE
1 cup full-fat plain yogurt
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne
1 teaspoon toasted cumin-coriander mixture
2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons freshly snipped dillfor garnish
Roast the beets: Put them in a baking dish in one layer (if some beets are larger, halve them so they will cook evenly). Add about 2 inches water to the pan and cover tightly with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for at least an hour, or up to one and a half hours, until fork tender. Remove the foil, pour off the liquid and let cool for a few minutes, then peel while still slightly warm. Cut into wedges and set aside.
Cut beet greens into 1-inch ribbons, then wash well 3 times in abundant cold water to remove any sand or grit. Bring a large pot salted water to boil. Add the greens and cook briefly till wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain, cool under running water, then squeeze out excess water.
In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant and just lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Grind to a coarse powder in a mortar or spice mill.
Make the vinaigrette: Put the onion, garlic and vinegar in a small bowl and leave for 5 minutes or so, then whisk in the remaining ingredients.
Make the yogurt sauce: Put the yogurt in small bowl. Add the garlic, salt and pepper, cayenne, cumin-coriander mixture, mint and olive oil.
Season the beet wedges lightly with salt and dress with half the vinaigrette. In a separate bowl, lightly salt the greens and dress with remaining vinaigrette. Arrange dressed beets and greens on a platter and top with a little smear of the yogurt sauce. Sprinkle with dill, and pass the rest of the yogurt sauce at the table.
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Mini cabbage
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COMING NEXT WEEK: broccoli or cabbage, snow peas, chard or kale, tatsoi, salad mix, carrots, scallions, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, Ailsa Craig onions,
head lettuce, parsley, and cilantro.
REMINDER THE FRUIT SHARE STARTS NEXT WEEK:
We will have blueberries
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GARLIC HARVEST PARTY: Join us THIS SATURDAY - July 9 - for our garlic harvest and BBQ. We will start the day at 10:00 am and share in a potluck lunch with our own BBQ grass-fed hamburgers at 1:00 pm. Wear clothes that can get dirty and bring gloves, water bottle, sunscreen, and a dish to share at the potluck. Please sign up at your CSA site so we know how many burgers to prepare. Hope to see you at the farm!
BRING YOUR SWIM SUIT OR WADING CLOTHES IF YOU WANT TO COOL OFF IN THE CREEK AFTER A MORNING OF HARD WORK.
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CSA SHARES AVAILABLE: We need more members to reach our goal of 1100. Tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family to sign up. (The share price will be pro-rated for the weeks they missed.)
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ROXBURY FARM GRASS FED BEEF
We have plenty of beef available for you to order all season long. Go to our website and order by the cut. The order will come to your CSA site along with the invoice. After you receive your order you can send in a payment to the farm.
Click here to see what cuts are available.
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