uvlocalvores : field notes

Saturday, January 26, has been designated a Global Day of Action, worldwide. In place of the annual World Social Forum convergence, in 2008, diverse social movements representing the interests of millions across the globe will express their shared conviction that “Another World is Possible.” A week’s worth of creative, independently organized activities in rural towns and urban centers worldwide will culminate in a Global Day of Mobilization and Action on January 26, 2008.

I am wondering what we Localvores might plan for this day (and week?) In keeping with the focus on local action, might we each plan an event in our own community? It could be a neighborhood Localvore potluck (or a Localvore lunch with work colleagues), the showing of a documentary, a book discussion, a brainstorm session that leads to a plan, etc.

I’ll tell you what I’d like to do: I’d like to invite my Green Street (Lebanon) neighbors for a Localvore potluck and brainstorm session. Lebanon has a Farmers market (and a Winter Farmers Market for the first time this year!) but there are no vegetable farms in Lebanon. (K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Shaw’s, Price Chopper, Penney’s, Staples, Home Depot, etc. gobbled up prime agricultural land.) What might we do to increase our ability to feed ourselves? A community garden? A community kitchen? A Stone Soup project? Plan a Green Street or Lebanon Garden Tour this summer? Plan Lebanon foraging trips? I’m hoping we can come up with a next-step project.

How about your own community - what’s are the plusses and what might be next steps toward greater food self-reliance, sustainability, security, health,  etc. I’d love to hear from you and will share the good ideas that you send . . . or you can share them yourself by registering and blogging at this site (see “Meta” section in menu)

I’d also like to share with you a quote from Cheryl King Fischer, Executive Director, New England Grassroots Environment Fund:

“Localvore groups are popping up all over the region as part of strategies to keep toxics out of our bodies, to address the global warming crisis, to build local living economies and a wide range of other issues. From independent businesses to “Peak Oil” folks, a call to “relocalize” our food supply is a concept that finds its roots in community gardening, farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture and “Buy Local” campaigns. Those who are battling the devolution of “organic” as it is being adopted by industrial agriculture need a new frame to expose the craziness associated with buying food grown thousands of miles away.

These groups all have a number of goals in mind, not the least of which are: a.) to stop wasting oil to transport food that could be grown locally; b) to support local family farmers; c) to keep more of our food dollars home; and d) to build security into a community’s food supply.

The LOCALVORE movement is giving us a community-based means to recapture control of our food supply and to open the door to much needed thinking and acting about supporting our local economies.

Let us take a lesson from nature and reshape our world around diversity. Thinking and acting LOCAL FIRST is central to freedom and independence – food security, energy security, economic security and our democracy. Take a LOCALVORE CHALLENGE and rediscover your community. Reach out and touch, or is it “taste,” tomorrow. Put community control back in your hands, my hands, our hands.” 

What ideas do you have for putting community control back in our hands?

Pat McGovern

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Sunday October 21 was a beautiful Fall day . . . perfect for our tour of a few of the gardens, root cellars and greenhouses of Hartland, Vermont.

Our first stop was Cobb Hill Co-Housing Community and Cedar Mountain Farm. Our host was Deb Jones who gave the group a tour of the her new hoop greenhouse, the Cedar Mountain Farm greenhouse and the Cobb Hill Community Root Cellar.

* Deb’s hoop greenhouse is 14 x 20 foot; she and her husband built it
for approx $600… in retrospect, it might have been better to use a pre-fab
kit as it req’d many hours to assemble. It’s on wooden skids so it can be
slid to different areas of the garden….plan is to grow cold-hardy greens.

* Two good resources: Four Season Harvest (by Eliot Coleman) for growing cold-hardy veggies and Root Cellar (by Nancy Bubel) for winter storage.

* Root cellar: recommend min/max thermometer; goal is temp in hi 30’s.

* Root Cellar has 2 sections, one for dry produce, the other for food preferring a damper environment. Dry = onions, garlic, squash; damp and dark = apples, potatoes, carrots, beets, leeks, brussel sprouts. They don’t wash the veggies, just brush off dirt.

* Beets, carrots and leek stalks buried in sand or damp wood shavings
in a plastic bag set in a box. Midway through winter, boxes should be emptied, overripe veggies discarded, sand or shavings remixed and box reassembled. (Moisture tends to sink to the bottom leaving top layers too dry and bottom layers too moist.)

* They ripen green tomatoes under newspaper.

* Their best keeper apples: Northern Spy, Hampshires, and Honey Crisp.
It was interesting to note that the apples were stored in a separate cupboard in the community root cellar with a separate ventilation system. Deb explained that apples give off a gas (ethylene?) that hastens the ripening of other produce; not what you want if the goal is season-extending preservation.

* A caution: Deb noted that Cobb Hill residents who have stored produce often forget to check in on their goods; spring cleaning involves clearing out a lot of rotten veggies. Out of sight, out of mind.
**********

Next stop was the garden, hoop house and root cellar of Jeffrey Hamelman and Chiho Kaneko; their beehives (and honey) and beehive oven were an added attraction.

* Chiho talked about the challenge of timing in relation to hoop house and root cellar. Who would have guessed that we would have such an extension of warm weather?! She and Jeffrey planted greens in the hoop house anticipating cold weather; they were having trouble keeping up with the profusion of greens and some had bolted in the warm conditions. They also found that produce harvested and stored in the root cellar would have done better if left in the ground - the root cellar was too warm for the harvested goods. Every year is a different situation - a hard call!

* Their root cellar has a very simple air exchange system - one pipe for intake, one for outgo, with ends stuffed with insulation depending on temperatures.

* Jars of canned tomatoes stored on shelves outside the root cellar were a reminder of other produce from their garden and the commitment they have to becoming more self-sufficient.

Our last stop was the garden, greenhouse and root cellar of Sylvia Davatz. Sylvia is a seed saver and does considerable trial testing of vegetables, looking for the best season-extenders and the varieties that do best in her climate. She experiments with wheat varieties, grows sweet potatoes and peanuts and many varieties of greens, tomatoes, giant rutabagas, etc.

* As a seed-saver, Sylvia values open-pollinated varieties from local seed companies when possible. (She mentioned FEDCO, Pinetree and High Mowing as sources for seeds. See http://www.seedalliance.org/index.php?page=SeminisMonsanto for some interesting background reading.) Sylvia encourages support for Seed Savers Exchange in Chocorua, NH.

*Sylvia’s garden is put to bed in the Fall with a layer of compost covered with layer of hay til Spring.

* Her favorite Sweet Potatoes: Amish Bush, LaceLeaf, and Maryland 810* Dig them carefully. Need HOT soil! She uses landscape fabric for heat retention plus remay when first planted.

* Be sure to cure onions and garlic: keep their stems and hang them in the garage…Then tumble between fingers to remove excess dirt (no water!!) and cut off stems.

* We were all impressed with Sylvia’s harvest of peanuts which were drying in the sun in her greenhouse. She grew two varieties: Tennessee Red and a black-skinned variety. (Imagine being able to make your own Localvore peanut butter!)

Many thanks to Deb, Jeffrey, Chiho and Sylvia for opening their homes and gardens to us, and for providing so much useful information!

This post is the collective memory of Shiela Swett, Mary Bender and Pat McGovern

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Kudos to all who took part in the September Localvore Challenge and/or supported a growing regional food self-reliance! You shopped at farms and farmers markets, grew your own veggies, experimented with new localvore recipes, organized potlucks, canned, and froze and pickled and dried foods, learned more about our local food shed, and, in general, helped bring power over our food system back into our local communities. Thanks to all who took the time to respond to the Post-Challenge Survey. (If you didn’t officially register or didn’t take the survey, your comments are still welcome: email pmcgovern(at)valley.net ) Here are some of the results:

What did you get from taking the September Localvore challenge?

“As always, it was great to take advantage of all the great local food we have.”

“I tried some new things this year. I made pizza dough for the first time in my life, and it really wasn’t too bad. And I tried polenta . . . I did try recipes both from the upper valley localvore page and from some of the other localvore links. I was better organized this year, and prepared some things in advance of the challenge period, which helped tremendously.”

“I found it EASY to made bread (and with sourdough starter, not yeast), found my old pasta maker, made polenta, no problems there! I do historical cooking at it was interesting how much was NOT localvore - people did trade, (salt pork, things like allspice, salt cod).”

“A feeling that the tide is beginning to turn . . .”

“a greater awareness of the variety of foods that are available to us and how much I take for granted the availability of locally made, but not locally sourced, food”

“I learned with a little extra planning, I can eat locally a fair amount of the time.”

“Always positive; a good feeling of self reliance.”

“Made me more aware of foods that are available in the area.” “Enjoyed trying to plan meals using local products, although not always successful at it.”

“My husband and I found it wonderful to see and hear how many people were doing it! I found that more people in the UV were doing it than over the hill in Chelsea where I live. I loved the recipes that were around–a big hit at our house was the cantaloupe salsa.”

“I found it more difficult to adhere to it this year, as compared to last b/c the kids eat so much more than they did last year and always wanted something “NOW” which contained peanut butter. Early on they also became anit-vegetable, which had never been a problem in the past… then I found a new cookbook (“Farmer John’s Cookbook” from the Angelic Organics CSA in Chicago) and we got back on track.”

“Each time I have attempted the challenge, the main effect is that I increase my awareness of local food issues. It is enjoyable, and I never do as well as I would like.”

“I was surprised how much better I felt eating food with fresh ingredients. And totally removing any processed food from my diet. I realized just what is available in our area to eat during Sept.”

“I spent several discrete days 100% localvore, but found a whole month too overwhelming. I did work hard to eat only local produce, but my spouse was not willing to give up certain items that are only non-local (such as lemons/limes). I found myself very aware of what I was eating on any given day. Some easy switches were to only buy VT dairy.”

“This was my sixth Localvore challenge so the learning curve was not so steep. I really enjoyed the Kick-Off at King Arthur - all the buzz about local food . . . and the delicious melon salsa and frittata!”

What did you find most difficult?

The most common comment was lack of time – lack of time to look for and to prepare local foods. Ex. “I fell into ruts of eating the same foods daily instead of trying new things.” “fitting it into a hectic schedule” “Shopping and meal preparation was more rigorous and time consuming. “

Other comments included frustration at not having beans, grains and pasta, vegetable oil, peanut butter and salty snacks, lack of family support; the absence of “local” labeling at the Hanover Co-op (with appreciation expressed for the good labeling at UVFC); difficulty finding unsweetened soy milk; difficulty in eating away from home.

Note:

* Our society has changed dramatically now that more women work outside the home and many people are working very long hours; one societal response has been convenience foods, most of which are not healthy. Localvores will need to develop a repertoire of easy-to-prepare recipes . . . and maybe we all need to find ways to slow down, to share the task of food preparation, and to enjoy shared meals?

* As to lack of dried beans, NOFA-VT had a session on Dried Beans at their Winter Conference in an attempt to encourage farmers to grow more. Ben Gleason of Bridport grew 1400 pounds of beans for the first time this summer, and they were all gone in two weeks! Farmers need to know that there is a demand before they commit to growing a new crop – the demand is definitely there.

* Vegetable oil: Butterworks supplies the Upper Valley Food Co-op with their sunflower oil and it is the only local oil that we know of. It comes in a liter bottle and carries a hefty price – some of us split the bottle so as to make it more easily affordable.

* Lack of local grain is a problem. Growing wheat in our wet climate is tricky. Great River Farm lost their “bread” wheat crop this summer, and they and Butterworks lost their “pastry” wheat last summer (lost to fusarium). There is an effort through UVM Extension to breed a wheat that will do well in VT. There is also a rice-growing experiment in Westminster, VT.

Is there anything that would have made the challenge easier?

“Living in southern Italy/Greece? Support network here is better than I would have expected so, really, all that would have been better is better planning on my part - something I very much plan to take to heart for the winter challenge.” ( Most people mentioned availability of certain goods, better labeling at grocery stores, or better organization of their own lives. Some who had taken the challenge for a month said it was too long; it is likely that Upper Valley Localvore Challenges will be week-long in the future.)

Did you take advantage of any of the participating restaurants?

Respondents ate at The Farmers Diner, UVFC, Seasons, Tip Top, the Norwich Inn, and Stellas. Some commented that most of the restaurants were high-end and too expensive for their frugal lifestyle. There were several raves about Seasons, and many appreciations for UVFC. At least 2 groups went to Norwich Inn and found waitstaff knowing nothing about a Localvore Challenge. The motivation to get restaurant participation is 2-fold: To provide a break for Challenge-takers and to encourage local restaurants to develop a repertoire of meals using local ingredients. Not sure that this was worth the effort of those of us who worked on restaurant participation.

“I was really wowed by Seasons Restaurant, the food was terrific. I had a nice meal at the Tip Top Cafe as well — not as elaborate as Seasons, but still nice. I really appreciated being able to take a couple of nights off from cooking.” “The waiter (Norwich Inn) had no idea they were participating and told me I could have a green salad. “ “Tip Top didn’t have the localvore special when I anticipated it.” “The UV Food Co-Op is knowledgeable and great” “ I really enjoy the Farmer’s Diner, and ate there frequently BEFORE the challenge. I don’t like that they started closing earlier DURING the challenge. I tried to go there for dinner once with my family, and they had closed at 3 pm.” (Note: The Farmers Diner had had a break-in; a safe was stolen and their office and computers were trashed.) “Farmer’s Diner is very uneven - staff, food both - but we continue to persevere in order to support the concept.” ” Stella’s and UVFC are consistent pleasures.”

Any other comments?

“This was fun and really interesting. I think I will keep going at a certain level. The first thing I did when the month was out was eat chocolate.”

“Pleasantly surprised by the substitution of wheat berries for steel cut oats as breakfast cereal as well as rice and other grains.”

“Great fun, but a bit long this time. We will be focusing on eating more seasonally this winter.”

“I wish grocery stores–especially the Hanover Co-op–would really embrace local foods and stop promoting all their international produce.”

“We will continue to buy much more locally, thanks to this experience. ”

“I love eating locally, thanks for organizing the challenge!”

Pat McGovern

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