ABC 7's Hungry Hound Covers Local Farmer

Meet My Farmer, Farmer Vicki

I should hardly say I have one farmer. I buy a ton of stuff from Chad Nichols at the Thursday Eli's Cheesecake market. I divide my fruit purchases between Hardin and Skibbes at Oak Park. I would buy more from Henry's Farm and Beth Ecles's Green Acres if given the opportunity, but then there is Farmer Vicki's Genesis Growers. She supplies me with a weekly box, Spring, Summer AND fall. The dead of winter, she's been known to have a stash or two of greenhouse veg for sale. We also get our eggs from her, our chicken, and we still eat from a cow she raised. She opens her farm to me a few times each season, and even has let me work it. Meet her in Steve Dolinsky, the Hungry Hound's, latest video.

Get With the Local Beet

I've been reporting on my weekly local acquisitions at the Local Beet and rallying people to buy now when it's most affordable and accessible. Michael tackles the anti's, then opens the discussions. Another good discussion is on what to do with the seasons tomatoes. All this while we are still in soft launch.

Look soon to a guide to off-season CSAs and after that, advice for how to store and put-away your local food. We are working hard behind the scenes to create the best possible guides to local stores, restaurants, markets, etc. The Beet rolls with what's local today and what's local tomorrow.

Old Wounds Still Un-healed? Chowhound

I admit I'm not the food board addict that I used to be. I would venture that I skip over the vast bulk of posts on LTHForum, surely missing some great stuff--not the least bit noticing that someone had asked about surplus cucumbers a day before I raised the question on the Local Beet. Dumb on my part for sure. If I read less of LTHForum than I once did, what about Chowhound/Chicago where I once ruled as the benevolent "mayor". I hardly ever drop by. Yesterday, though, in a fit of non-work pique, I decided to see what was there. What do I find, but a question on farmer's markets, a topic near and dear to me. I post some useful advice, namely a link to the Illinois Department of Agriculture's Agrihappening web site for a person to find a market in their area. Inspired and feeling generous, I find a second post on farmer's markets. I share a bit of my knowledge on downtown markets and vendors. Today, between cases, I decide to see if anyone noticed. They did. Gone! Both of my posts.

Gone! I never realized I was flat out banned from Chowhound. It would be a bit unfair and disengenuos of me not to say that in one of the two posts, I mentioned the Local Beet as a source for eat local discussion. I can possibly see the deletion of that post. How 'bout asking me to edit the reference. Still, why the other post with no reference to anything more than my blog, which I understand is within the CH rules? And why generally the drastic deletion of reference to another site? Years now, CH has allowed links and references back to LTHForum.

The Chowhound rupture ruptured a lot of things for me, personally. I've (mostly) moved on; I am surprised a place like that has not.

On the Road Soon but I Got Something - Local Beet

The Local Beet is on the air. Michael Morowitz, also known as Eat Chicago, has fathered three babies in a short span. Besides two ever growing baby boy's, he's got an ever growing new site dedicated to eating local called the Local Beet. It's in its "soft launch." There is plenty in the works that you should see soon. Still, come and see what is there, participate in the discussions and enjoy the journey.

I promise a very fine day in Southern Wisconsin soon and more praise for the folks at Mado. I'm off again tomorrow, to Michigan. I expect at least two meals at Zingermans as well as a good amount of time in Detroit's Eastern Market. Pay attention here, but pay extra attention to what's happening at the Local Beet.

I'm very excited to be involved with the Local Beet as one of the featured bloggers and also as an editor. We plan on being an outstanding resource for those eating local, and we plan on providing interesting and informative writing, photography and videos and lively discussion.

You know what word I hate these days, no not locavore. It's ginormous. Locavore may be the word of the year, but ginormous certainly seems to be the word of the moment. Now, as much as I hate the word, it's what comes to mind when I think about our eating local scene. We have so many delicious foods. We have outstanding markets. We have multiple organizations. We have forces tasking. We got new stores a-selling and mail order a-shipping. There's a lot of dots out there. One thing, more than anything, with Local Beet, we want to connect those dots. It's ginormous.

Iron Chef + Iron Chef Summer Squash Recipe

You think I'm bitter about my lack of reference in the CTrib's Sunday front pager on eating local [ed., won't give one that one up, huh?], what about the lack of notoriety I got for breaking the Paul Virant Iron Chef news. My sole blog scoop! Anyways, in anticipation of seeing my favorite local chef (although these days he's ably challenged by so many others, especially Rob at Mado) on a forthcoming epsiode of Iron Chef, my wife and I have have taken to recording and watching the week's episodes each Sunday on TV Food Network. We had more reason to catch this week's episode because it featured the judging of Chicago food writer and woman of the world, Louisa Chu.

Would we watch Iron Chef America but for the inclusion of people we know? Probably not. We barely watched it until we learned of PAUL VIRANT IRON CHEF CHALLENGER. Still, we now watch regularly. Flat out, it's not close to the original. Sure, you cannot duplicate the camp value of that one, from the giggling ingenue du jour to the What's Up Tiger Lily voicing to the older woman judge whose varied titles include soothsayer. Still, we miss many features of the original.

Foremost, the competing version of Iron Chefs contain competing versions of what it means to be a secret ingredient. It seems that secret is not quite as secret in the USA version. This is apparent in the USA version. As soon as the bell rings, the chef-testants know what they are doing. Contrast to the original where there was a true sense of improvisation. You could literally see them thinking and planning their meals. The rules in our version specify five dishes. In the real version, you never knew how many dishes the chefs could create. There were episodes where the chefs could barely manage two dishes. My wife and I like watching what the chefs create on the US version; how they treat the ingredients, and especially, the techniques employed. We watch mostly because it is the best cooking show on the station. It is not, however, as challenging or as riveting.

Our other complaints are mostly of style. The original's opening montages, the overly dramatic introductions of the histories of the Iron Chefs and the biographies of the challengers is not duplicated in the least. Moreover, the upstart version misses the rivalries, contrived or not (I say not) running through the series: the Ohta Faction, traditional vs. modern, redemption of family honor. Nothing against Alton Brown, who brings some wit and food expertise to the program, but he cannot come close to Dr. Yukio Hattori who could whip out some obscure culinary tidbit out of his tush. Finally, the US version excludes one of the key moments in the original, the over-the-top voice-over descriptions of the prepared dishes. My wife and I watch, but we know what we are missing.

Beyond the inclusion of Ms. Chu, this week's episode hit home for the localvore, summer squash. The judges and commentators maligned the vegetable, but anyone eating local about now is happy to get recipe ideas. Not to give away too much if you have not seen the show yet; one dish really appealed to me, zucchini in a harissa-spiked vinaigrette. I made my version last night.

4 smaller zucchini (think about six inches)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of Aleppo pepper
5 (or so) beads of allspice
1 lemon
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. From the small end, cut in 2; from the fatter end, cut in 4--if your squash is fatter cut the whole thing into fourths.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add the zukes, cook for about five minutes until tender.

Crush the garlic, Aleppo pepper and allspice, then salt and pepper, add the juice of one lemon. Let the flavors mingle and the pepper hydrate.

Combine the cooked vegetable with the dressing. Pour only a bit of olive oil over. It should taste bright and spicy.

Hear Me Talk Local

Chicago Amplified

Cathy(2) Lambrecht and the Midwest Foodways Alliance provided me a platform (in fact a cool Emerlesque cooking theater) about a month ago to talk local. For those interested in what I said, you can now find the podcast at WBEZ's Chicago Amplified page.

I'm Not Bitter - Blogday

I am NOT motivated to blog all day by my bitterness towards all things Chicago Tribune. I mean if I refuse to look at the paper this morning, the Cubs might have won yesterday. Besides, does Gerry Smith know I'm a Tribune vendor. It's just with the holiday and all, I'm very behind in my blogging. I've been blinded by bitterness, but I've got lots to say.

First, some link love. I hope you all have seen MikeG's video on local, the guy with the passion for roof tops and roof top gardens as well, Bruce, now has a blog. Check it out.

Other things that should show up today or soon:

Eli's Cheesecake hosts a farmer's market on Thursdays. They are also hosting a series of lectures on local food related topics (a series that seems to have slipped by everyone's radar). Last week Lloyd Nichols spoke. Next week it's Terra Brockman of the Land Connection.

Bitterness aside, I don't buy this quote from the CTrib's article

"Illinois does not have a lot of local vegetable producers, so when you go to farmers markets you see folks from Wisconsin and Michigan," Slama said. "It's a regional approach if you still consider yourself someone who eats primarily local food."

It is true that when you go to farmer's markets in the Chicago area you will find farmer's from Michigan like Hardin Farms, who grow the best stone fruits or Walt Skibbies with an outstanding selection of apples and pears, but when it comes to vegetables, market shoppers are most likely to find Nichol's Farm at their market. They can also buy vegetables from Farmer Vicki's Genesis Growers, Henry's Farm, Kinnikinnick Farm, Sandhill Organic; there's the Midwest Organic Farmer's Coop that Robin "Winter" fronts at Daley Plaza; hell there's City Farm who show up each week to the Logan Square Farmer's Market. And speaking of Logan Square, what about Farmer Rob and his Montalbano Farm. He's also at the Ridgeville Market in Evanston that needs your love. Of course, maybe you are not a market shopper, there's that small outfit out of Illinois serving the CSA needs of many, called, um, Angelic Organics. I could go on, but I have other things to not blog about.

Scotch Hill Farms, who oddly enough, are in Wisconsin, but show up at the Oak Park Farmer's Market, are seeking interest in a milk and cheese CSA. The CSA, with a delivery at Oak Park, would provide high quality local products such as Sugar River Dairy yogurt. Stop by their stand and tell Tony or Dela you are interested.

I've had Mado on the mind for reasons that will be revealed some other time, but 'cause of that, my wife and I decided to dine there last night. It's been good before, quite, good, but last night was the best meal so far. Still, despite Rob's promises, they're not serving bread. I'm not bitter about that either.

No, grapes are not in season yet, but the market is awash in new products. Concentrate now on the products with the most fleeting of season. Chad Nichol's tricked us into buying fava beans with this clever conceit, he grilled them for us. We bought a pound and a half. Unlike last year, the Chicago area locavore has apricots to eat. Grab 'em now.

Besides apricots and favas, we keep on getting other local foods, including a whole half-a hog (which my wife did a masterful job of squeezing it into the freezer). I'll be updating the inventory soon.

Hey you, don't eat local. Instead of a year on a 100 mile diet, try a lifetime of reasonable eating.

I have infusions to write about and pics from a lavish Shabbat dinner, but until all that, go read Valeree's blog, it's very good. She's not the least bit bitter.

I'm Not Bitter - Chicago Tribune Front's Local

While the story should run on the front page of Sunday's Chicago Tribune, it's already front and center on their web site. I'm entirely happy that the Trib's profiling locavore's. The challenges of eating local will diminish as more people eat local. I believe, have remarked often, that demand, consumer demand, will make local happen the most. Want more farmer's markets; shop at farmer's markets. Same with winter markets. Don't just dabble. Let your wallets talk. Demand can achieve year round local produce, right here in Chicago. Demand can create meat that's not frozen all the time. Demand will get you more and more restaurants with local food. So, I'm happy first of all that the article highlights a few others that are keeping local, with various degrees of extremism. I am happy, obviously, with the top of the news placement, and I am happy that the article will encourage more people to eat local. I'm not bitter that my comments to the reporter last week were not included. The story is mostly a good primer for eat local starters, and I'm not bitter over the fact that I asked the reporter to mention this humble blog, and he did not.

Really, I'm not bitter. I'm not a bitter kinda guy. My family calls me Mr. Not Very Bitter. It's just that I did not start eating local last month, nor did I commence my web site (this one) in 2008. Been doing it, my family and I, for three plus years. Not giving it a whirl, not a one week challenge and not in time for the duration of farmer's markets. We do it summer and winter. We maintain it because the reasons for eating local, all the reasons for eating local, do not go into hibernation when the farmer's markets pack away. And, we do it, surely a bit, for the challenge too, to see that we can continue to do it. We know the challenges. Just because my family and I believe we have as much, nay more experiences on eating local in our area, we're not bitter. If I was a bitter kinda guy, I'd be bitter. Instead, I'm happy the Trib's got the Eat Local beat.

Certainly, a bitter guy would not share the three challenges to eating local I mentioned to the reporter the other day. After all, if they were not good enough for the Chicago Tribune, could the be good enough for here?. The challenges to eating local in Chicago:

1. Tracking down one's food. To eat local in the Chicago area means working for your food, whether it's shopping at farmer's markets or figuring out how to have local meat, it's not just a question of hitting the closest supermarket.
2. Can local be done year-round? To eat local in the Chicago area in the winter means a combination of winter shopping and storage. I'm not sure which is the bigger problem. Do you have the time to run to Madison? Do you have the space and resources to horde food?
3. Time. As I have said often, local needs time. It needs time to figure out what works, how to do things that work for you, and it needs time to prep, to get your local food on the table.

As to resources, there's plenty here, including my trademarked best seasonality guide. Look over the links on the sidebar for any help you need to eat local. If I was bitter, I'd go an erase them all right now.

I look forward to your participation in the Eat Local Challenge. I'm with you all the way. Not the least bit bitter.

Next Iron Chef?

As far as I can tell, no other source has picked up on the latest in Vie news. Look here for more details soon. Good luck Chef Virant.

Perhaps the secret ingredient will be hearts of palm...paw-paws? heritage turkey? gooey butter cake?

Vie News

Yes, there's a new menu online, been online for days now. Yes, it'll make you hungry for spring with roasted Klug farm asparagus, Spence farm garlic mustard and ramps, cream of stinging nettle soup and lovage and sorrel playing their herbal tune. That's not my Vie news.

Nope.

Here's the news. The Chicago area's ablest pickler and restauranter most committed to local (at least until I know the Mado people) has also caught the eye of a certain Chairman Kaga or whatever his nephew is named. Hopefully the secret ingredient will be morels. Keep here for more updates.

Eat Local For the Earth

The Inevitable Earth Day Thing I Did Not Get Around To

The Eat Well people launched a blog (Green Fork Blog) on Earth Day. They press release:

Happy Earth Day!

This year, Eat Well is celebrating Earth Day with the launch of our newest venture, the Green Fork Blog. The Green Fork is the official blog of the Eat Well Guide, your resource for finding thousands of farms, grocery stores, restaurants and other "green" food outlets throughout the US and Canada. Our new and expanded listings now include produce farms, farmers markets and vegan restaurants, as well as water-conscious ratings that let you know which of your local restaurants are helping to "take back the tap". If it's been awhile, come back for a visit, and see what's new. The Eat Well team is currently at work on new cutting edge features that will make it easier than ever to eat greener, including an interactive mapping and travel feature due later this summer.




On the menu at the Green Fork Blog:

food and farming news
farm tours and seasonal food information
interviews with food activists and leaders of the sustainable food movement
book reviews
food for thought
We started off Earth Day with a list of 20 ways to green your fork--click here to check it out and learn delicious ways to tread lightly while eating well! As Earth Day reminds us, one of the most vital things people can do for the environment is to change what they eat--to more locally-grown, sustainably-produced food.

Leslie Hatfield, who you may remember from The Daily Table at Sustainable Table, is our primary blogger and editor, but the whole team will be chiming in often, and we're hoping to pass along lots of stories about how people are providing and promoting sustainable food. We want the Green Fork to be a robust, busy blog, with lots of voices so don't be shy--email us at blog@eatwellguide.org to share or suggest a story.

First of Many

Time Out Chicago 2008 Eat Out Award to Green Grocery Chicago

The envelope please:

Best Localvore Leader
Green Grocer Chicago
Unless you live in some fairy-tale neighborhood whose local market brims year-round with local produce, freshly butchered, grass-fed meat and still-warm bread, you have to expend a lot of effort to be a localvore in Chicago. That is, until Cassie Green and Gary Stephens decided to jam as many local products as they could get their hands on into their five-month-old Green Grocer Chicago. They pack a lot into their small store: Papa Lena’s veggie chips, Temptations soy ice cream, Mu Tofu tofu and tempeh, Terry’s Toffee, Metropolis Coffee, Bennison’s breads…all made right here in Chicago and all finally under one roof. 1402 W Grand Ave, 312-624-9508.

Congragulations!

In other Green Grocer news, Cassie e-mailed me this weekend on some of her ever expanding inventory of local stuff:

Fresh lettuces and greens from Windy City Harvest (greenhouse at 28th and Western) [this is a new one for me, very intriguing and exciting]
Tilapia, lettuces and herbs from Aquaranch (IL)
Mu Tofu and Tempeh (Roger’s park)
Rishi Tea (Organic tea, fair trade offices in Milwaukee but tea is clearly not grown locally)
Grass fed, pasture raised beef (steaks and ground beef) from James Family Farm (Sherman, IL)
Grains and flours from Ted’s Grains (IL)

Stop by to try the new products. And give her and her husband to be, Gary Stephens, congragulations.

Eat Local Cheese

NYTimes Highlights Wisconsin Cheesemakers

I bought the NYTimes yesterday, partly for the Spring Travel Mag; then I noticed that part gone when I sat down to read. I found it soaked, this morning, in the backyard. I must have dropped it. Luckily, Daisy on the Mouthfuls site tipped me off to the great spread on Wisconsin cheesemakers in the magazine that I could find online.

The piece gets it pretty darn right. Profiling (briefly) the really famous, Uplands; the almost as famous, Carr Valley; the one known to those in the know, Bleu Mont Dairy; the one who's almost just as known for not being able to have her cheese, Fantome Farm, and the one who's working hard to be known, Hidden Springs Creamery.

It's certainly a who's who of my favorite cheeses, with Bleu Mont's bandaged cheddar and Hidden Springs spreadable sheep milk being about the two best cheeses in the bungalow right now--being given some competition from some Hook's 10 year old cheddar I found hidden in our basement fridge.

Yesterday's Must Read

3 New Farmer's Markets

Actually this was Saturday's Must Read but I'm just getting 'round to catching up on a lot of things to blog. My friend Monica Eng reports on the good news of three more farmers markets opening, and the especially good news that they will be serving "food deserts", areas generally lacking in fresh food options. The good news is somewhat tapped down by the reporting

Farmers markets sponsored by the city have strict rules that allow only those who grow the food to sell it and prohibit the sale of prepared foods. The new hybrid market in Bronzeville will allow cooked foods, antiques vendors, music, re-sold produce and other items prohibited at regular markets.

As I have become friends with Robin, who did such a fantastic job organizing this season's winter markets (which ended with a bang yesterday), I've learned that there's some tension between antiques, crafts and the what-not and farmers at markets. Essentially farmers don't seem to like the artsy types. Me, I not much for that kinda stuff either, although my wife can spend as much money as I do on food as on home-made earrings, but I think any thing that drives traffic to a farmers market is a good thing. I, obviously, have problems with the re-sold produce.

The rationale for the third party produce is that the neighborhood has such limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables in the first place."We wanted the opportunity to have some resale of things like citrus and bananas," [market manager] Johnson-Gabriel said.

Me, I think that's a recipe for trouble, a vicious circle in the making. Too many market visitors will get tempted by the lower prices of the re-sold produce. Local farmers will give up on the market. I mean during the farmers market season do people need access to citrus and bananas? I would be more sympathetic to that argument if the market ran year round. I also know I'm being overly cynical and perhaps a bit, no it's really not racist because I see all kinds of people sticking to the least local food at the Oak Park Farmer's Market, but what, classist, I do not know, but I certainly don't trust people to make the local choice (always) on their own. I'm an eat local Trotskyite.

Today's Must Read

Factory Farmed

From today's CTrib, a California dairyman looks to bring Cali-style milk farming to the Midwest. The words that give away the game:

Much of the feed for the cows he milks on his dad's land comes from the Midwest, and a good portion of the milk is shipped back to the Midwest. Bos said it doesn't take a business genius to figure out how to increase profits. "It's more expensive getting feed to California and hauling the milk back," he said. "It's more efficient to put the cows where the feed is."

Me, I prefer my milk from cow's that eat grass, on pasture.

Factory dairymen taut the economic benefits they bring, transforming a sagging part of the agricultural economy in Illinois.

He estimated the farm would create 40 jobs, paying about $10 per hour.

Wow

Now, I'm not against business and commerce and success. Farmers should be able to make money and best use their land (cf what's wrong with the current farm subsidies), but there's also good farming and bad farming. This is bad farming. Bad animal husbandry (I know I've toured a factory milk operation in Arizona), bad tasting milk (cows need grass), tremendous enviromental risks (google Smithfield). For forty jobs. Instead, try producing good milk that can demand a premium at the market, local milk.

Eat local encapsulates a lot of things for my family and me. We use local milk--I would say drink, but 95% of our milk purchases goes into morning coffee, so it's more like a condiment than a beverage--as part of our greater commitment to local. Local means supporting good farmers. Local means supporting sustainable agriculture. Local means finding products that tastes great. You can have it all. Here in the Chicago area we can chose from such dairy as Crystal Ball Farms or Oak Grove Organics or the most accessible, Farmer's All Natural Creamery from Kalona, Iowa. (Compare your milk here.) Be willing to pay the small premium for this kind of milk. It's worth it.

Today's Must Rant

Phil Vettel, Tired of Root Vegetables

In today's CTrib, Phil Vettel writes:

No more rutabaga! I mean it. Don't get me wrong; I love root vegetables. Roast me up some beets, throw a turnip in the blender and I'm a happy guy. But it's the end of March. Subterranean vegetables have been a part of Chicago menus since, oh, October. And if I have one more hunk of braised meat on a bed of parsnip puree, I'm going to do something drastic. Like move to Mexico. I've given a name to my pain: Culinary Cabin Fever. It's caused by a prolonged, harsh winter and an endless stream of seasonal menus.

I hear your Phil. I mean who's suffered more from the endless winter then me and my apple loving daughters. I should be like, "right on bro", right? I'm not. Sure, I get the bit of humor in his rant, but frankly, the bit did not ring true. I think the end of the article gives it away.

Chicago's most respected produce wholesaler offers this advice to Phil:

"We're starting to get strawberries," he says, "and the answer is, look to Florida. I love the Florida berry. And in the early spring, first off, we'll see the fiddlehead ferns, morels from the woods, ramps. Green garlic—it's wonderful for soup. Then the rhubarb, and finally the California delta asparagus."

Does that sound like a man living off his root cellar?

Eat Local On Air

848, Friday

Listen in this Friday as David Hammond discusses eating local, cooking local and all things Virant on his segment for WBEZ's 848. 848 airs from 9-10 AM. I do not know when in the broadcast the eating local segment will appear. Podcast will be available here.

PS
Pay heed to a certain higher pitched but yet bellowing voice here and there in the segment.

Eat Local in the News

C'est Moi

I hope you all had a chance to read the piece I did for the Chicago Tribune this week. Thanks to Colin and Monica for the opportunity. I read great (better) with editors.

For the many people dropping by for the first time, sorry I could not put up something interesting today. My daughter was glued to the computer for a school project.

For those looking to learn more, check out some of the sites to your right, especially the Eat Local Challenge Blog, which I contribute.

Eat Local In the News

Keep your eye on the Chicago Tribune's Perspective section this Sunday.

Save This Restaurant

Orange Garden Chop Suey

This week's CTrib At Play was the Chris Borrelli 'zine. There's pupusas, there's a great piece on Nighthawk diners (hint: Chris, come to me for the follow-up). More importantly, he highlights one of the true treasures of Chicago, Orange Garden Chop Suey (1942 W. Irving Park Rd.). Sure, Chris's experience was like mine every time I visit, awful. This restaurant must be saved no matter. Of course the exterior with its stainless steal sign and red enamel is worth it, and I can see some misguided preservationist stopping there, but the purity of its art deco interior is just as special. This place needs to be landmarked PDQ.