Charlie presenting to his fourth grade class about the role of local farms and importance of supporting and preserving them.

Charlie is a fourth grader at King’s Highway Elementary School in Westport who has a deep passion for the farming life. It’s immediately obvious that Charlie would rather be farming than anything else, so when his teacher offered him the opportunity to do an independent study project, he jumped at the chance to share his knowledge and passion with his classmates.

"Farms are becoming rare and it's our job to support them."

Working with his teacher, Mrs. Malizia, he spent the last six weeks preparing a multimedia presentation for his class about local farms and their importance to our community. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the class presentation. Charlie very confidently stood in front of his class and gave them an eloquent primer on local farms. “Do you know where your food comes from?” he asked the children sitting on the floor around him. He then presented the basic facts about what a farm is, how varied they are in size and nature, defined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and talked about the history of farming in the area. Corn and apples figure prominently in the area’s agricultural past (and present), but I really enjoyed learning that onions were grown in Westport during the Civil War to combat scurvy in the army ranks and “young boys our age would miss their spring and early fall school terms to harvest the onions.”

Charlie and organic farmer Patti Popp, one of Charlie's mentors and idols.

Charlie has a soft spot for Patti Popp, owner of Sport Hill Farm in Easton and host to almost 200 children in a summer farm camp run through The Unquowa School. During his “Meet the Farmer” segment, Charlie described Patti as “a hard working organic farmer who sometimes works from 7 am to 9 pm in the busy season on her four-and-a-half acre farm.” Highlighting the special relationship Patti has with her CSA families, Charlie pointed out that “once a week people come to pick up their shares that she picks that morning. Sometimes crops don’t do well, like broccoli this year, but there was arugula, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, bok choy, peppers, garlic and Swiss chard.”

Charlie's beautiful animal sketches decorated his story board.

“Farms are important to our way of life and we don’t want to lose them. If we can eat what is in season, it will save a lot of energy and fuel. One way to eat locally is to visit the farmers’ markets” recommended Charlie. “More and more kids are eating closer to home” from local farms and community, school and backyards gardens. “If we had a school garden like Staples and Greens Farms Academy, we could use it for science and maybe use the food in our cafeteria” Charlie suggested. One classmate added “cafeteria food isn’t healthy; I don’t like it” and received a roar of consent from the other children.

A young camper harvesting a root vegetable at The Unquowa School's Summer Farm Camp hosted by Patti Popp's Sport Hill Farm in Easton.

“It is important for kids to visit farms because you could like farms and not even know it” pointed out Charlie.  His best recommendation for   learning about farms and farming is to attend a farm camp. And he should know, he’s been attending them for years. “When I was 8, I went to Shelburne Farms in Vermont to their summer farm camp. It was a thousand acre farm, one of the largest farms I’ve been to. We helped collect eggs, feed pigs, help garden and visit the dairy.” At The Unquowa School’s Summer Farm Camp kids plant, harvest and really get their hands dirty at Patti’s Sport Hill Farm in Easton. They also get to eat what they’ve harvested after cooking it back at the school with Chef Peter Gorman. Charlie’s been attending the camp for two years now and said “It’s fun to get in the dirt and help.”

Charlie was nervous before the presentation that his classmates might not care about farms. The unending questions from his classmates proved him wrong.

After the talk, it was all hands as the children peppered him with questions. “What is your favorite farm animal?” to which he responded “chickens, because they give you eggs every day.” “What do you like to do most on the farm?” elicited  “I like planting, harvesting and working with the animals. Harvesting cauliflower was really hard because we had to twist and turn them to get the heads out of the ground.” “Will you grow up to be a farmer?” really required no response but it was wonderful to hear him say that yes, he would, and he’d be just like Patti raising vegetables and taking care of animals.

Mrs. Malizia manned the laptop to run a slide show on the classroom SmartBoard of  Charlie visiting his favorite farms . When he got to the photo of broccoli and cauliflower, one child responded “Nice!” and the photo of hot peppers elicited a “Oh those are good!” from another. It’s obvious that these children know what real food is and like it! One little girl said her mother is an organic gardener and they even have chickens.

The last portion of Q&A was directed at Charlie’s special guest, organic farmer Patti Popp. “Do you really have a farm?” one girl asked almost incredulously. “Yes I do but we had to clear a lot of land to plant the farm” responded Patti. “When did you start?” another wanted to know. “It took many years to clear the land so we are now in our fourth year of farming” explained Patti. In response to  “What is your favorite vegetable to grow?” Patti said with great certainty “tomatoes and spaghetti squash - both to grow and eat!” Chickens are her favorite farm animal and she raises Rhode Island Red hens to provide her customers with farm fresh eggs.

Patti talked about the  summer farm campers’ experiences, ranging from  learning that farm chores need to be done “even when it’s hot, rainy and sticky”, to playing zucchini baseball, to cooking and eating the foods they’ve picked. “Fresh picked food tastes different; don’t say you don’t like something until you’ve tasted it” she suggested. Mrs. Malizia summed up pretty much everyone’s thoughts when she said “I want my son to go to your camp as soon as he’s not one!”

Charlie with his mother Christy and grandmother Janet, holding a gift from Patti - cauliflower fresh from her farm.

After the presentation Mrs. Malizia pulled out the latest issue of Time for Kids magazine entitled “From Farm to You: A Fresh Look at Lunch” and shared that she had used it in class and felt it enabled the kids to better relate to Charlie’s message. It’s not often that a student takes her up on an offer to do an independent project, but it seemed she genuinely enjoyed meeting once a week with Charlie to help him manage the project, sometimes working over lunch with him. He told me that with help from his parents, he researched the history of Westport farms at the library and obtained information about the Westport Community Garden on Hyde Lane from Westport Now, a new resource for him. Welcome to new media Farmer Boy.

Time magazine ran and excellent article on August 21 entitiled “Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh. Early in the article he point out “And perhaps worst of all, our food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous. A series of recalls involving contaminated foods this year — including an outbreak of salmonella from tainted peanuts that killed at least eight people and sickened 600 — has consumers rightly worried about the safety of their meals.” I encourage you to read the entire article but I’m going to focus on food safety for now.

As we head into Labor Day and the final summer weeks of outdoor grilling, I feel compelled to share a very sobering number with you: “an astonishing 1,675,600 plus pounds of beef and ground meat were recalled since June 8, 2009″ for possible salmonella and E-coli contamination according to US Food Safety. Some was distributed to Connecticut and could have been further processed into other products by the stores.

If you have some ground meat in your freezer that you bought at a local grocer, I recommend you follow US Food Safety’s advice to throw it out just to be safe. My motto is “when in doubt, throw it out” because E-coli can be deadly.

You have options for buying local meat! Here are quite a few farmers’ markets that have local meat vendors that do not use hormones, steroids or antibiotics and raise their cattle at least partially on pasture:

Fairfield Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk on Saturdays from 9-12 counts Eagle Wood Farms as a vendor. You can call or email ahead to place a special order for pick up at the market. Call 860-379-5978 and ask for one of the owners, Bryan Woods or Dave Finn, or email them using their web form. My favorite so far is their baby back ribs.

You can also find Eagle Wood at:

• Georgetown Farmers’ Market on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
• Monroe Farmer’s Market on Fridays from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Please visit the Fairfield Green Food Guide’s Buying Guide for farmer’s market locations and other information.

Westport Farmer’s Market at Imperial Avenue on Thursdays from 10-2 features Ox Hollow Farm, which just merged with Greyledge Farm and now bears their label. Contact them to place a special order you can pick up at the market. E-mail Tammie at tammie@oxhollowfarm.com
or call her at 203.263.6807 or 860.354.3315. The last steak we got from her was like butter.

Ox Hollow Farm is also a vendor at these farmers’ markets:

• Darien on Wednesdays from 11-6
• Ridgefield on Fridays from 3-6 pm
• New Canaan on Saturdays 10-2
• Branchville sells their burgers on Saturdays from 10-3, to go or hot off the grill.

Please visit the Fairfield Green Food Guide’s Buying Guide for farmer’s market locations and other information.

Rowayton Farmers’ Market at Pinkney Park on Fridays from 12-5 (new hours) offers Kinderhook Farm’s pasture-raised, grass-fed beef. This Hudson Valley, NY farm boasts “several hundred acres of rolling hay meadows and pastures allow us to raise our beef cattle on a 100% grass and legume diet that includes no grain, antibiotics, growth hormone, or animal by-products.” I haven’t tried this farm’s meat yet, but plan to soon.

What’s your favorite source for local meat?

From left to right, guest Michelle McCabe, Hostess Analiese Paik, and Bill Duesing of CT NOFA

Guests panelists Annelise McCay, Amie G. Hall, Sue Cadwell, Janak Desai, Ken Kleban, Bill Duesing and Deb Marsden

I had a few requests during the event for a list of panelists and exhibitors at the FRESH screening at Pequot Library on Wednesday, August 12 so here they are. These respected members of the  local-sustainable food movement took the time to serve as panelists and/or exhibitors, and also helped spread the word to their contacts, members and customers, resulting in a sold out audience of 200! Check out the pics below to see what a great time everyone had.

Panelists:

Moderated by Analiese Paik, Founder Fairfield GreenFood Guide

1. Bill Duesing, Executive Director of CT NOFA
2. Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner Health in a Hurry
3. Deb Marsden, Founder CT Farm Fresh Express (CTFFE)
4. Environmentalist Janak Desai and Ken Kleban of Kleban Properties, co-founders of Fairfield’s Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk
5. Annelise McCay, Founder Sherman School garden, and Amie G. Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach, Founder Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Woods Middle School square food gardens

A special thank you to Amie G. Hall for finding videographer Janet Luongo, literally at the 11th hour, to tape the event for publication on YouTube and screening on public access television. Janet, thank you so much for enabling us to share this event with so many more people.

A huge thanks to our host Pequot Library. The auditorium and Community Reading Room are such beautiful and spacious rooms that we were all quite comfortable despite our numbers. One of our guests was a blogger from Brooklyn and he posted about the  fine venue and their rather forward thinking leadership.

Exhibitors:

1. Pequot Library
2. Fairfield Green Food Guide
3. CT NOFA
4. CT Farm Fresh Express
5. Health in a Hurry
6. Fairfield Farmers’ Market at The Brick Walk
7. Fairfield Edible School Gardens
8. CT Farmland Trust (at CT NOFA table)
9. Bluebelle Muffins, Jerri Graham
10. Organic Gardening Simplified, Nick Mancini
11. The Double L Farmstand, Lloyd Allen
12. Aspetuck Land Trust, David Brant and John Hamlin
13. Sport Hill Farm, Patti Popp
14. Fairfield Earth Day Committee & Clean Energy Commission, Larry

Nick Mancini's organic vegetables at the FRESH screening

I announced an Eat Local Challenge at the FRESH screening on Wednesday night, inviting attendees to pledge to eat more local food. You set the bar where you feel comfortable. Whether you’re a newbie or already well on your way to eating locally and sustainably, think about one more thing you could do. Stop in a farm stand on the way home? Buy local cheese at a farmers’ market or specialty shop?

10 Ways to Eat FRESH is designed to help you find that “one more thing”. The Challenge doesn’t end; it’s a new way of eating. Email me at info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com to add your name to the growing roster of  Challenge participants. You’ll receive a special monthly e-newsletter providing you with new and interesting ways to eat locally and sustainably and are invited to submit comments about how taking the Challenge is changing the way you eat.

10 Ways to Eat FRESH

Click here for printer friendly version (pdf)

1)      Pick from your own backyard garden. Do you have some tomatoes, fresh herbs or lettuces growing? Add them to any meal to make it a CT Grown feast. If not, consider starting a fall garden, even if it’s just a few containers.

2)      Go foraging for free food! Raspberries and blueberries are in season and you can find them in your neighbor’s backyard (ask first) or along the roadside. Be sure to wash well. Ask your local school garden if they’ll trade volunteer hours for picking rights.

3)      Visit your local farmers’ market or farm stand and stock up for the week. Fairfield’s newest farmers’ market at the Promenade at The Brick Walk features live music from 9-12 and an ever-growing list of vendors. The Double L Farm Stand in Southport offers an eclectic mix of produce, fruit and artisan foods ranging from foraged berries to local, organic pies on the weekend. Visit the Fairfield Green Food Guide’s Buying Guide to search for farmers’ market and farm stand locations and hours in your town.

4)      Visit a farm and vote local with your dollars. Sport Hill Farm in Easton supplies local families with CSA shares, The Unquowa School with organic food for their cafeteria, and is hosts a Summer Farm Camp. A wide variety of local, organic produce, eggs, bread and honey can be purchased at the farm Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10-6. Ask Patti about upcoming events or visit their events page online at www.sporthillfarm.com.

5)      Go to a farm to pick your own. The CT State Dept. of Agriculture and pickyourown.org both offer extensive lists of pick your own farms and it’s really a fun family outing. Crops available for picking right now include blueberries, corn, peaches and tomatoes. Jones Family Farm in Shelton offers blueberry picking from 9-5:30 Tuesday thru Saturday. Please call (203) 929-8425 the morning you’re picking to hear that day’s crop report.

6)      Buy from a local specialty or independent grocer that makes it a point to carry locally grown and produced food. Palmer’s Market in Darien, Fairfield Cheese Company and The Pantry in Fairfield, and Walter Stewart’s Market in New Canaan carry local fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, honey, artisanal and prepared foods.

7)      Eat at a restaurant that sources local ingredients. Health in a Hurry and Café Lola in Fairfield, The Dressing Room in Westport, Bloodroot Vegetarian Restaurant in Bridgeport, Cobbs Mill Inn Restaurant in Weston, David’s Catering and Napa & Co. in Stamford and Woodway Country Club in Darien all make it a point to source fresh, local ingredients.

8)      Buy CT Grown foods online for home delivery. Order online from CT Farm Fresh Express by midnight Tuesday for a Friday home delivery. You pick what and how much CT-grown food you want from their online store and they deliver it to your door. No minimums, no membership fees and no ongoing commitment. Leave a cooler with ice packs on your doorstep if you won’t be home for delivery.

9)      Get some local seafood straight from the source. Take a drive to Stonington to buy some scallops, shrimp or fish right off the fishing boats or at Stonington Seafood Harvesters on 5 High Street in Stonington, which is open Monday through Friday from 8-5 and Saturday form 9-12. Ask for the prized Bomster scallops - you can’t get fresher or more delicious scallops because they’re flash frozen on the boat within hours of being shucked. Bring your cooler.

10)   Buy some Connecticut wine directly from a winery or wine shop that carries local wine like Harry’s Wine & Liquor in Fairfield. Some standouts I tasted at the Connecticut Wine Festival were Sharpe Hill Vineyard’s Ballet of Angels, the award-winning wines of Hopkins Vineyards, Miranda Vineyard’s Seyval Blanc and Woodridge White, Land of Nod’s Bianca, Taylor Brooke’s Traminette and Connecticut Valley Winery’s Chianti and port-style Black Bear.

Eat Local, Eat FRESH, and Eat Well.

by Eileen Weber

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. Photo courtesy Ripple Effect Productions, producer of FRESH

Joel Salatin is a religious man. He is a believer that nature should be left to nature. But above all else, he is a farmer. Going against the tide of industrialism where hormones and antibiotics are fed to livestock, he lets his chickens have their “chicken-ness” and his pigs have their “pig-ness”. They roam free to peck and forage as they please across Salatin’s rolling hills of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Va. By some, he is considered a lunatic. For others, he is a genius.

Will Allen of Growing Power Inc., a recipient of the 2008 MacArthur Genius Award. Photo courtesty Ripple Effects Productions, producer of FRESH

Mr. Salatin is not alone. There are others who have the same core values he does. Will Allen, a former basketball player and subsequent marketing manager, is an urban farmer in Milwaukee, Wis. growing vegetables without any chemicals or fertilizers on only three acres of land. His secret is compost and he’s not shy about grabbing a fistful to make his point. After being gored by one of his hogs with the resulting infection resistant to scores of medication, Russ Kremer, a farmer in Frankenstein, Mo., is now a proud and sought after hog farmer. He took the extreme measure of exterminating his herd to begin anew, swearing off antibiotics and hormones.

Russ Kremer, founding member of the Heritage Acres Pork Cooperative which raises “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” hogs. Photo courtesy Ripple Effect Productions, producer of FRESH.

We can see these farmers in their fight against an industrialized food system in the highly acclaimed film FRESH. Last night, the Pequot Library in Southport held a viewing of the movie, a film produced and directed by Ana Sofia Joanes. There was a panel discussion afterward and close to a dozen local exhibitors displayed their wares in the library’s adjacent Reading Room.

The event was the brainchild of Analiese Paik, Founder of Fairfield Green Food Guide. With the idea and her enthusiasm, she approached Dan Snydacker, Executive Director of the Pequot Library. The efforts of six tireless weeks of work paid off. There was a huge turnout. While the seating could only accommodate 200 people, there was a wait list for the event and some were turned away at the door. What a clear indication of how important an issue food is to this community.

The film’s subtitle says it all: “New thinking about what we’re eating.” But is it really new? The film celebrates the environmentally aware farmers, Salatin, Allen and Kremer being prime examples. But what each of these men has achieved is not a novel concept. Letting nature be nature without the use of chemicals is an age-old farming technique. Let the grass grow. Let the cows and chickens roam free. Let their manure fertilize the grass so it can grow some more. The cycle of life continues.

“We’re farming grass,” said Salatin of how he sees its role in farming animals. “If we take care of the grass, it will take care of us.”

Michael Pollan, author of such agriculturally provocative titles as The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, inserted his own commentary in the film. “Industrialized food is cheaper but nutritionally deficient,” he said as scenes of well-known brands in a supermarket’s freezer aisle flicked across the screen. “The more processed it is, the less nutritious.”

But many people, especially those in urban areas considered a “food desert” because local produce is not available, will buy the cheap food. In a tough economy, having any food on the table is better than having none. So many kids grow up eating little if any vegetables that don’t come with a colorful box top and a plastic toy.

Karen Parker, Co-Director, Growing Power Inc. Photo courtesy Growing Power, Inc.

That was the case for Karen Parker, Co-Director of Growing Power, Inc., the organization founded by Will Allen in urban Milwaukee. She admitted that she and her kids ate whatever came from the closest drive-thru without ever buying much in the way of fresh produce. After working with Allen, she has changed her tune.

“I used to say, ‘That’s too fresh! My food don’t have a name!’ But now it does,” she said of Allen’s first attempts to get her to eat the different varieties of vegetables he grows.

Too many Americans buy processed food on a weekly basis and eat at fast food chains. As a result, there is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes in this country. Slowly but surely, that trend is starting to shift. But that shift begins within each community.

Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner of Health in a Hurry with Analiese Paik, Founder of Fairfield Green Food Guide

“We are the local food movement,” said Sue Caldwell, owner of Fairfield’s Health In A Hurry restaurant and one of last night’s panelists. “The biggest message in Fresh was showing the labels with that long list of ingredients. They kept talking about food, food, food. But that’s not food.”

“We don’t need to teach kids how to read labels,” said panelist Amie Guyette

Amie Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach, and founder of Fairfield's middle school Square Foot Gardens

Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach working with the Fairfield district middle schools, “because there are no labels to read when you grow your own food.”

So grow your own vegetables. Have pots of herbs. Plant flowers and let the butterflies come. Eat locally and eat fresh. As Analiese Paik said of the resources available in Connecticut, “There’s no excuse for not eating locally.”

Indeed. No excuse.

Our nation’s awareness of the need for healthy, sustainable food is growing and the documentary food films Food, Inc. and FRESH are helping to fuel the momentum. I recommend viewing Food, Inc. first to gain a better understanding of the problems associated with our industrial food system and then joining me for a special night on August 12 to view FRESH, hear from the experts on our local-sustainable food panel and visit with them at their exhibit tables. This is your invitation to join the movement.

Further proof of the growing sustainable food movement is the groundbreaking passage last week of Chicago’s Green Food Resolution encouraging widespread community support for the expansion of farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, community gardens and other ways to provide healthful plant-based foods. Here is an excerpt:

“BE lT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council encourages individuals, civic associations, and community based organizations to grow local, organic gardens, and institutions and businesses to offer more plant based foods; and

BE lT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council promotes the expansion of the number of Farmers’ Markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, community gardens, and other venues which provide healthful plant based foods.”

According to currentgreen.com. “A similar resolution was introduced for New York City calling for a citywide FoodprintNYC initiative to reduce the city’s climate foodprint, which is a more significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation systems combined, and create greater access to local, fresh, healthy plant-based food, especially in low-income communities, as well as city-run institutions. So far, 11 City Council members have signed on as co-sponsors.”

Looking to introduce a Green Food Resolution in your city? Farm Sanctuary has launched a campaign to introduce Green Food Resolutions similar to Chicago’s in cities throughout the U.S.  Visit their site to find some helpful tips on how to introduce a Green Food Resolution and obtain a Sample Draft Resolution.

Slow Food Connecticut's Tomato Tasting 2008, Courtesy Urban Oaks Organic Farm

Extreme weather is wreaking havoc with our crops. My organic CSA reported exploding cabbages in the field from excessive rain and recent summer squash harvests bore the scars of a hail storm. I am also very sad and disappointed to inform you that the annual Slow Food Connecticut’s Tomato To-mah-to 2009: Heirloom Tasting Feast scheduled for Sunday, August 23rd has been canceled, for the first time in eight years, due to the tomato crop loss suffered by hosting farms.

According to Slow Food CT: “Urban Oaks Organic Farm in New Britain and Upper Forty Farm in Cromwell are suffering greatly from circumstances related to this unseasonably cool and wet weather.  It is unclear if there will be any field grown tomato plants surviving in four weeks.  Flooding and blight are taking an enormous toll on everything.  At this point, the areas at Upper Forty where we normally set up the tents and park are saturated with rain to the point that they have been swamp-like for weeks.”

Slow Food Connecticut has established a Tomato Fund in support of the farmers who have generously hosted this event for eight years. Proceeds will be equally divided between Upper Forty Farm and Urban Oaks Organic Farm. Please send a check with your tax-deductible contribution made out to “Slow Food Connecticut” and mail to Susan Chandler, 1870 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT  06117.   Note “Tomato Fund” on the memo line.

The First FRESH Screening in Connecticut Was Held on August 12, 2009!

Read Full Story: FRESH: Getting Back to Basics, by Eileen Weber

Join the Eat Local Challenge: 10 Ways to Eat FRESH

Meet the Panelists & Exhibitors and View Event Photo Gallery

This was the positive, uplifting event that we had all hoped for. Thank you to the 200 guests who were the most engaged audience an event organizer could ask for. You rock!

Looking for a FRESH DVD? The copies we had for sale at the event sold out in 10 minutes! Please visit the producer’s web site to order a DVD online.

To join a waiting list for a future screening in the area, please send an email to marketing at fairfieldgreenfoodguide dot com.

The Fairfield Green Food Guide has teamed up with the amazing folks at Pequot Library in Southport, CT to present the first community screening in Connecticut of the newly released documentary food film FRESH on Wednesday, August 12 at 7 pm in the Library’s auditorium.  FRESH, a widely-acclaimed production of documentary filmmaker Ana Sofia Joanes offers “new thinking about what we’re eating” at a time when the potentially lethal consequences of our industrialized food system have become standard items in our daily news diet.

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, a 2008 MacArthur’s “Genius Award” fellow; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, who is creating a new market model for our family farmers. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. FRESH’s focus on these inspiring individuals and their initiatives around the US provides the audience with actionable solutions. FRESH is a call to action.

This film beautifully portrays the rapidly growing local-sustainable food movement and the critical role we each play in supporting local farms and creating a local market for sustainable products. The guest panelists and exhibitors participating in the screening will offer practical ideas about small but important steps we can take to join and strengthen this grass roots movement.

“Screening FRESH at the Library fits perfectly with our commitment to make the Library a greener place and share the newest information about sustainable living with our patrons so we can all reduce our environmental impact at work and at home” explains Dan Snydacker, Executive Director of Pequot Library.

Immediately following the film, I’ll moderate an educational panel discussion by the leaders of our own local-sustainable food movement including Bill Duesing, Executive Director of CT NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut); Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner of Health in a Hurry; environmentalist Janak Desai and Ken Kleban of Kleban Properties, co-founders of Fairfield’s Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk; Deb Marsden, Founder of Connecticut Farm Fresh Express; and Annelise McCay and Amie Hall, founders of three of Fairfield’s organic, edible schoolyard gardens. Following the panel, a wide variety of exhibitors in the Library’s community reading room will offer practical advice about how individuals can contribute to and benefit from the local-sustainable food movement.

Seating is limited to 100 200 guests and tickets must be pre-purchased online for five dollars plus a small processing fee at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/75164. All event profits will be donated to the Pequot Library and a local-sustainable food initiative. The event is being organized and sponsored in part by the Fairfield Green Food Guide, LLC and hosted by Pequot Library. Thanks to a generous donation by Steaz, guests will enjoy a complimentary organic, fair trade beverage. State-of-the art sound is being provided by our sponsor M Communications.

See you at the FRESH screening!

A delicious, local strawberry-rhubarb pie

You might make some pie or tarts or compote together and have a great time eating super locally. I got a phone call from a neighbor one afternoon last week asking “Hey I’m at my parents’ house and there’s a ton of rhubarb in the garden and they won’t be back for four more weeks, you think it’ll keep until then?” I didn’t think it would so I suggested she harvest some and cook it up. “Uh, what do you do with this stuff?” was the response. My thoughts jumped to strawberry rhubarb pie and since I had about eight pounds of strawberries in the fridge that we had just picked at Jones Farm in Shelton, I offered a pie baking lesson at my house plus strawberries in exchange for the rhubarb.

Winds up the rhubarb is wild, imported from Canada last year. Her parents own some property up there and it was growing wild in a marshy area. Don’t ask me how they got it through customs but here it is thriving in a soggy backyard garden in Fairfield County. And this is big, bright, beautiful, unblemished rhubarb.

Starting a baking session at 4:30 with four boys between the ages of 3 and 10 is not advisable. Luckily I had the foresight to make the crusts ahead so we JUST had to prepare the filling, assemble and bake. That was between pleas to help (which we gave in to), demands for snacks (which required running across the street in the pouring rain to retrieve apples) and various and sundry little boy shenanigans (think light sabers). It’s a wonder we made anything, but we did, and they came out great.

I wanted to share the pie recipe because it’s pretty simple yet very delicious. This crust is the very one I learned to make in cooking school; known as pate brisee, it is classic French pie and tart crust. Trust me, you can make it in 5 minutes in the food processor. Buy good butter - unsalted organic or Plugra, which Trader Joe’s carries, and keep all your ingredients very cold.

Classic French Pastry Crust (Pate Brisee)

yield: two 9″ pie crusts

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus additional flour as needed for pastry board and pin
• 1 tsp. salt (not Kosher)
• 1 T sugar
• 1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces (kept refrigerated)
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water

Preparation:

1. In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined.  Add the butter, coat with flour by tossing with the end of a dull knife, and process with pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds).
2. Pour 1/4 cup ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched.  If you notice that some flour/butter mixture at the bottom of the work bowl is not being incorporated, stop processor and remove lid so you can turn it a few times with a rubber spatula. Add remaining water, if necessary (I had to use 1/2 cup).  Do not process more than 30 seconds.
3. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and use the wrap to help gather it into a ball.  Divide the dough into two equal pieces, flatten each portion into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using.  This will chill the butter and allow the gluten in the flour to relax.

Prepare the filling while the dough chills.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie or Tart Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh rhubarb chopped into 1/4 inch pieces, stalks only (leaves are toxic)
• 1 lb. washed, hulled, and sliced strawberries (in 1/2 inch pieces)
• 3/4 cups sugar
• ¼ C minute tapioca (available in supermarkets)
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 lightly beaten egg white

Filling Preparation:

• Mix together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, zest and juice of lemon, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large bowl and let sit for 15 minutes while you roll out the crust. This will give the tapioca a chance to become moistened with the fruit juices that flow from the addition of sugar.

Preheat Oven to 425 degrees Farenheit

Assembly:

1. Once the pastry has chilled for at least 30 minutes, remove the two disks of pastry from the refrigerator and let sit 5-10 minutes to warm a bit so they don’t crack upon being rolled out.  On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk out thin enough to line your pie plate.  Always start from the middle with the rolling pin and lift and turn as your roll to ensure a round shape and make sure it isn’t sticking. Roll prepared crust onto rolling pin, dust off excess flour with a pastry brush and carefully place into pie plate, gently pressing in to place. Trim any excess dough even with pie plate using a paring knife.
2. Fill the bottom crust with well stirred filling. Roll out second disk large enough to fit on top, roll onto pin, dust off excess flour and carefully place on top. Trim dough to within 3/4 inch of pie plate, fold top crust under bottom crust so both are even with the edge. Seal by pressing together top and bottom and crimping with a fork or with your fingers into the classic triangle pattern. Vent crust in four places using a paring knife. Glaze with egg white.
3. Place in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to firm up the pastry before baking. You want very cold butter to get a flaky crust.
   

Baking:

1. Place well chilled pie onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Lower to 375 degrees and bake another 45 minutes or until the filling begins to bubble from the vents.
2. Let cool on a wire rack completely before eating so it can set up. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The pie can be warmed in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes.
3. Serve alone or with freshly whipped cream.
   

Maybe you already know this, but there’s a Love Your Farmers’ Market Contest under way sponsored by Care2 and Local Harvest. They invite you to vote for your favorite farmers’ market,which can win $5,000.  Sadly their list is out of date; changes effective this season are not reflected. No worries!You can email them to get your favorite market added to their list. Please tell them to check the Fairfield Green Food Guide for complete market information!

Farmers’ Market News

Fairfield at the Brick Walk (Sat. 9-12) now has an organic vegetable and fruit vendor, Twombly Farm in Trumbull. Stop by and tell Barry I sent you and ask him to do a watermelon tasting when they’re ripe (he’s growing a few varieties). Also new to the market is Pumpkin Paul Farm in Tolland which grows strawberries and other fruit and fresh vegetables.

Ridgefield Has a New Green Market - Branchville Railroad Station Regional Green Market
Sat. 10am- 3pm, June 20 - Nov. 21. The market is located at the north end of the Branchville Railroad Station parking lot and offers a wide variety of locally grown fruits, vegetables, and meats, and artisan baked goods. Mark Nicyper and his business partner, Lolly Dunworth-Turner (Whistle Stop Bakery), worked for almost three years to start the Green Market. Surely you must have met them over the winter at the indoor Farmers’ Market at the FTC in Fairfield.  For more information read the full article online from the newstimes.com.

Westport, Imperial Avenue (Thurs. 10-2) Did you know they were hosting a series of professional chef cooking demonstrations? July 16 - Hot New Westport Restaurant Manolo will be cooking fresh from the market.

Westport II-Farmer’s Market & CSA

Westport has two farmers’ markets after all. A second market is being held on Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, behind the Saugatuck Congregational Church, at 245 Post Road East, through Nov. 22.

According to Westport Now, “Vendors will be selling farm fresh fruits and vegetables, plants, flowers, herbs, award-winning pies, bread, baked goods, eggs, honey, maple syrup, goat’s milk soaps, organic doggie treats, pesto, mozzarella and more. Vendors include Gazy Brothers Farms, Michelle Pies, Beldotti Bakery, Goatboy Soaps, and Herb’s Place serving hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob and baked potatoes available hot off the grill.”

The article also mentions a 10 week CSA for $200 starting July 12. I am assuming it’s coming from Gazy Brothers Farm since Alexis Gazy is the executive market master. Call Alexis at 203-723-8885 or
email her at gazybrothersfarm@sbcglobal.net if you are interested.