yearofplenty

CSA Vegetable Box Programs Growing and Evolving

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an innovation in food selling and buying that has finally broken into the mainstream. These kinds of programs that usually involve a consumer signing up with a local farmer to get a weekly box of seasonal vegetables. In some cases the boxes are picked up at a farmers' market, on the farm, or they can be delivered at an extra cost. These innovative arrangement first emerged in Europe and Japan as a response to hardships experienced by local farms and farmers, and in an effort to bridge the relational gap between consumers and growers. As the interest in locally grown food has skyrocketed in recent years these programs have proliferated.

My favorite CSA in Spokane is the one from Rocky Ridge Ranch, located in Reardan. Gary and his wife So have summer, winter, and spring CSA subscriptions. They also have a meat CSA that's the best deal in town for locally, naturally raised beef, chicken, and pork. The Millwood Farmers' Market, that I help manage, is one of their two CSA pick-up sites.

As more farmers have offered these programs and they have grown in popularity there are some interesting growing pains and ethical dilemmas that are starting to emerge, both for shoppers and farmers. One regular reader of the blog lamented last summer that, after putting up big bucks for a summers' worth of vegetables, the offerings in the box were sometimes dissappointing compared to what the farmer had on display at their farmers' market booth. She discovered the uncomfortale tension that come with a direct relationship with a farmer. What do you do when you're unhappy? It's one thing to talk to the produce manager at the grocery store, which seems safe, but it's a whole other thing to file your complaints with the person who planted, nurtured, and plucked the plants out of the ground. To complicate matters, the skill-set required to be a great farmer does not necessarily lend itself to having good customer-service skills. CSA's make buying food a relational experience, which brings with it the mixed-bag of what we experience in human relationships. Here's how the unsettled CSA customer put it last summer:

But I’m wondering – here, finally, is my question – how you think we might navigate those imperfect relationships, with all of us imperfect ourselves, when we’re talking about non-negotiables, about food? In a local, relationship-based economy, there’s no room for mistakes. What happens if I have a bad day? Grocers, middlemen, long supply chains, all create room for me (and the growers) to be imperfect. How do we live without that when we’re, you know, human?

She makes a keen observation - that one of the hidden efficiencies of our long supply chains in the food system, is that they remove the human, relational element. They give the illusion of a transaction based only on price and quality, and erase the fingerprints of the farmers who grew the food. But this is only ever an illusion. CSA program that put us face-to-face with a farmer ultimately force us to give up our romantic notions, maybe the very notions that led us to sign up for a CSA, and encounter food, people, and land in new and responsible ways. In my mind, the purpose of CSA programs is the formation of community. It's an intentional complicating of life. Yes it's probably cheaper, easier, and more time-efficient to just go to Win-Co and load up your shopping cart on a weekly basis - but sometimes more expensive, more complicated, and less efficient is better. 

Which brings me to my next observation about this fast-evolving market segment. I knew we were in new territory when I saw a "CSA" program show up on Groupon here in Spokane. Full Circle Farm was offering a deal on subscriptions to their CSA program. I was surprised, because I'd never heard of Full Circle Farm, and I take pride in having my finger on the pulse of our local food system. I did a little investigating and was intrigued by what I found. I have a call into Full Circle and will follow up on this post with more details and observations when I have to chance to talk to them. 

USDA New Dietary Guidelines - Eat More Plants, Can't Bring Themselves to Say Eat Less Meat

The USDA has issued new dietary guidelines. According to the executive summary there are four goals that shape the report that are based on their scientific review. 

Reduce the incidence and prevalence of overweight and obesity of the US population by reducing overall calorie intake and increasing physical activity. 

Shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. In addition, increase the intake of seafood and fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products and consume only moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry, and eggs.

Significantly reduce intake of foods containing added sugars and solid fats because these dietary components contribute excess calories and few, if any, nutrients. In addition, reduce sodium intake and lower intake of refined grains, especially refined grains that are coupled with added sugar, solid fat, and sodium.

Meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.  

In summary: Eat Less, Eat More Plants, Exercise More.

I was glad to see that the summary included a reference to increasing the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables through "greater access to farmers' markets." 

Marion Nestle, for the most part, applauds the new guidelines but offer this interesting observation:

They say, for example: "limit the consumption of foods that contain refined grains, especially refined grain foods that contain solid fats, added sugars, and sodium." This requires translation: eat less meat, cake, cookies, sodas, juice drinks, and salty snacks. That's politics, for you. 

This reluctance to just come out and marginalize "bad" foods can also be seen in the new food labeling system proposed by the Grocery Manufacturers' Association.

That looks pretty transparent until you compare it to the labeling system in the UK where they put red warning signs on the particular nutrition content of food items that are unhealthy. 

Top Ten Posts of 2010 at Year of Plenty

According to Google Analytics these were the most popular blog posts on Year of Plenty in 2010.

1. Newsflash: Dairy Industry Wants You to Eat More Dairy - What's So Controversial About That?

This post created quite a stir. It got picked up by the president of Dairy Management Corp. and was emailed to all of his contacts. The folks at Domino's Pizza linked it all over the internet. James McWilliams at the Atlantic Monthly credited Bill Bishop at the Daily Yonder with being the first to grasp the way this story was being misreported, but I think I was the first one on the story. My first official big scoop.

2. World Comparison: Fresh vs. Processed Food Consumption

Google placed this high on their search criteria, so it has received a steady flow of clickers all year and also got picked up in some online communities.

3. How My Little Blog Out-Reported the New York Times

This was my follow up to the Newflash post about Dairy Management.

4. Roast House Coffee Newest Roaster on the Spokane Scene

This year I actually started doing some in-the-field reporting, visiting local businesses and writing up short narratives. Roast House was one of the first.

5. What Would You Do If You Had One Year to Live?

This was my first and only blog post to get "Dished," meaning Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish linked to it as one of his "Quotes of the Day". 

6. Wendell Berry: Gardening as Health Regimen and Holy Sacrament

This post got picked up a couple different places on the web.

7. American Farm Bureau President Declares War on "self-appointed and self promoting food experts" 

Unlike the post on Dairy Management where large ag interests were eager to see my blog as an asset, this post led to quite a push back from folks at the AFB and the conventional farming community. The AFB PR took issue with my characterization that the AFB president had declared war on consumers concerned with large ag. practices. 

8. Why You Shouldn't Rototill Your Garden

I did a whole series of gardening posts last Spring and this was the most popular of the bunch. Other popular gardening posts include; How to Turn Your Lawn Into a Vegetable Garden, Planning Your Garden Plot (Companion Planning, Rotation, and Location), How to Make Your Own Professional Seed Starting Soil Mix, Tips for Planting the Garden, 

9. How to Get Started Raising Chickens in Your Backyard: Choosing You Chickens

This was part of a series of posts on raising backyard chickens. The other posts included one on building and designing a chicken coop and another on convincing your spouse it's a good idea.

10. Year of Plenty | The Book

I'm told the book goes to print on January 15 and will be released on March 1, 2011.

Thanks for everyone who has contributed and commented on the blog in the last year. If you want to follow along in 2011 you can sign up for the RSS Feed here, you can follow the blog on Twitter here, or click the Like button below to follow on Facebook.

Sweet Potatoes Making a Comeback at the Dinner Table

As the above chart shows, sweet potatoes at one time had a small niche in the American dining repertoire. But after WWII for, some reason they fell out of favor. It could be because we started eating so much cheese:

and chicken...

But there are indications that the sweet potato is making a comeback, especially in Europe:

With U.S. consumption growing slowly, farmers have found a market for the vitamin-packed, cholesterol-free sweet potato on the tables of health-conscious Europeans. Between 2005 and 2009, the value of U.S. sweet potato exports more than doubled to $51.4 million, with much of that growth coming from Europe, especially Great Britain.

I tried to grow sweet potatoes in the garden a couple of years ago without much success. I'll have to give it another go next summer. In case you're wanting to grow your own, you have to order them as small dry root plants that you then plant in the ground. It's different from other varieties of potatoes. Irish Eyes is a good place to order the starts online.

The Potato is Becoming the Unlikely Hero and Villain of Current Food Debates

The public debate about food has run into a surprising crossroads, with some heralding the potato as the hero of the local food movement and others villifying it as a scourge on poor families. I took the above picture at Spokane's recently opened Five Guys burger sensation. When you walk into the fast food parlor the first thing you see are the bags of stacked potato bags next to the line of people standing in front of the cash register. When you look up from the retaining wall of potato bags you see the sign pictured above proclaiming, "Today's potatoes are from Warden, WA, Hatch Farms." It's one of the most simple and compelling local food messaging strategies I've seen in a restaurant.

The potato is quickly becoming the food of choice in marketing the local food message. They store for a long time. Most regions have local sources to tap into. They are cheap compared to other locally sourced foods like beef. And people are always looking for another good reason why they should eat a huge cup full of french fries. McDonald's has even gotten on the locally sourced potato bandwagon.

Like I've said before, I think this kind of development is generally great news. The more the local food ethic is mainstreamed into our everyday food lives the better. It's always good for people to be more connected to where their food comes from. I think this should be considered a victory for the local food movement.

But on another front-line of recent food system debates the potato is being singled out as enemy number one. Under pressure from health advocacy groups, the USDA recently pulled potatoes off the approved list of foods that can be purchased through the WIC (Women Infant Children) program for low-income families, and is considering pulling potatoes from school lunches as well. The potato industry is responding as reported by Northwest Food News;

The executive director of the Washington Potato Commission is on an unusual campaign to protest a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chris Voigt is on day 22 of a diet that even he admits is a little crazy. He’s eating 20 potatoes a day for 60 days. Chris Voigt is eating nothing but potatoes to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s attention and the public’s too. Voigt says recently the USDA excluded potatoes from its list of subsidized foods in low-income programs. And now the agency is deciding whether potatoes should be allowed in school lunches.

I guess that amounts to 20 potatoes a day.

The USDA is basing its actions on a report from the Institure of Medicince.The basic argument is that schools need to offer non-starchy vegetables. Potatoes are cheap and therefore schools rely on them to meet their vegetable requirements. 

So which is it? Hero or villain?

Spokane Area Farm to Offer Winter CSA Meat and Vegetable Subscription

Living in a northern climate means short growing seasons and extra challenges finding local sources of food during the winter. This year Rocky Ridge Ranch, a farm small sustainable farm in Reardan, WA, is going where no other Spokane area farm has gone in helping consumers with this dilemma. They are offering a winter CSA program.

CSA's are a wonderful innovation in local food but it's likely you have no idea what a CSA is. They are basically subscriptions for a weekly supply of fresh local fruits, veggies and meats. Go here for previous posts that will help bring you up to speed and go here for a first hand account of someone's experience with a CSA. CSA's are a win-win for farmers who need steady reliable cash flow and consumers who are often too busy to hunt down local sources for food.

Rocky Ridge Ranch produces some of the areas best meat, eggs and produce so this is a great opportunity.

Here's the description they give of a typical weekly delivery;

Meat
Chicken or Roast (beef or pork or lamb.)
Beef Steak, or Pork or Lamb Chops, or Beef, or Pork Cutlets
Sausage, Bacon or Links
Ground Beef or Beef Stew Meat or Ground Pork or Ribs
Soup Bones, etc. as available
(Substitutes of comparable value may have to be made from time to time.)

Produce
Salad Mix or Spring Mix or Spinach
Salad onions or radishes
Lettuce, or Winter Greens
Beets,or Carrots or Potatoes (Stored or fresh)
Squash or Cabbage ( Brassicas we succeed with.)
Herbs (dried or Fresh.)

Go here for the full run-down.

Idaho Potato Commission: Local Food Movement a Threat to Idaho Potato "Global Brand"

Picture: Mashed potatoes from last year's potato harvest featuring the natural colors of the potato flesh.

Northwest Food News has a great report on how local food advocates and the Idaho Potato Commission recently butted heads in the Idaho legislature.

A resolution was brought before the ag committee simply proposing that the Idaho legislature endorse local food. In response to this rather tame, teethless proposal Frank Muir, the CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission stood up as the lone opponent;

Well Mr. Chairman, Representatives it will probably come as somewhat of a surprise that the Idaho Potato Commission is here to testify in opposition to HCR-56 and on the surface I would be shocked too because it sounds positive, in support of the grower, in support of eating locally and the problem that we have with this is that Idaho Potatoes is not local.  Idaho Potatoes is a global brand.

He went on to explain that the growing emphasis on locally grown food led Walmart to shift gears;

The largest retailer in the country discontinued Idaho potatoes in 5 distribution centers – not 5 stores – 5 distribution centers.  Not because Idaho potatoes wasn’t selling; it was because they were now focusing on buying from the local farmers.

There are several fascinating aspects to this development. For one, stores as big as Walmart are shifting gears in the way they distribute food. I've always said that any substantial shift toward local food would take change at the large retailers and it looks like that is actually happening.

The other interesting aspect is that this shift creates dilemmas for places like Idaho that have low populations and high production of food. A big portion of the Idaho economy is built on exporting milk, potatoes and other agricultural products. When McDonald's in Seattle starts bragging about using Washington grown potatoes that's a problem for Idaho potatoes. They can't compete with that. People that have gone to great lengths to nurture "global brands" are coming to grips with a new marketplace that values local brands.

The whole story is worth a read or listen. If you're interested in local food in the Northwest, Northwest Food News is a must follow on Facebook or Twitter.

Vegetables: Beauty on the Inside

Here's a sampling of vegetable cross-sections from this year's garden. Anyone want to take a stab at identifying them? Yes, I know it's a cucumber, but what kind (clue: the skin has not been removed.)

August 10 is the Deadline for Spokane County Fair Entry Forms

For the last five years we have entered items in the Spokane County Fair. Mostly vegetables, last year we entered our chickens, this year I'll try some photographs. The deadline for getting in your entry forms is tomorrow, August 10.

Entry forms must be postmarked or received on or before August 10.  Staff will be available in Bay 4 at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on August 10 to assist exhibitors with completing their entry forms.  Please access the facility from the South Gate off of Havana Street for this special event.

Adult Photography must also submit their photos August 5 to 10. All remaining categories have their arrival date listed at the beginning of their department information.

Livestock Exhibitors: Entry fees must accompany the entry form in order to be accepted.

It's a wonderful experience for the kids. Maybe this year we'll get that 100 lb pumpkin we've been trying for. If you're not in Spokane look up your local county fair and get involved.

Anatomy of a Fourth of July Cookout

Mint.com has an interesting infographic about the likely sources of food at our 4th of July cookouts. Click on the picture to enlarge it and read the stats - odd are hamburgers from Texas, hot dogs from Iowa, baked beans from North Dakota, lettuce from California, tomatoes from Florida or California.