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By Elizabeth Keyser

Michel Nischan founded Wholesome Wave to make fresh, locally grown food more affordable and accessible to the underserved.

Local hero Michel Nischan is taking healthy, local food national - and making it available to low-income families. The Double Value Coupon Program, the hallmark Nourishing Neighborhoods program of Nischan’s nonprofit Wholesome Wave, doubles the value of food stamps used for locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Since 2007, it has expanded to 160 farmers’ markets in 18 states and Washington, D.C.  And the Double Value Coupon Program was recently given a shout-out in the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President.

Their research shows that the double value program has increased use of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Women Infants and Children) benefits at farmers’ markets by 300 percent.

Nischan has pulled back from his role as the executive chef of The Dressing Room, a Westport restaurant featuring local and sustainably sourced foods that he started with his pal the late Paul Newman, to focus on Wholesome Wave. He’s currently a columnist on The Atlantic’s Food Channel. His previous on-camera work on PBS’s Victory Garden earned him a James Beard Foundation award.

Nischan's third cookbook inspires us to cook simple yet delicious meals using local, seasonal ingredients.

His recently published cookbook, “Sustainably Delicious: Making the World a Better Place, One Recipe at a Time”, has 100 recipes that revel in Nischan’s Midwestern heritage and use humble, seasonal ingredients like parsnips. His two previous best selling books, “Taste: Pure and Simple” and “Homegrown: Pure and Simple,” won accolades and a James Beard award.

Nischan, who lives in Fairfield with his wife Lori and five children, is one of Fairfield County’s favorite figures, known for his charisma and communication skills in spreading the world about the importance of a sustainable food system.

Fairfield Green Food Guide caught up with the busy Nischan for a brief Q & A:

Q. What are your favorite winter, spring, summer and fall foods?

A. Spring — sweet peas, Summer — heirloom shell beans, Fall — kabocha squash, winter — rutabaga.

Q. What’s the one thing you’d like to see changed in Connecticut agriculture? National agriculture?

A. I’d like to see more support for Connecticut agriculture from Connecticut consumers. I’m amazed at how many affluent Connecticut residents “swear” by BJ’s and Costco. These are folks who can afford to choose locally grown foods and keep Connecticut ag productive, beautiful and vibrant. I actually know someone who owns a large sailboat and power boat who shops at these stores for their food because the “love how cheap it is.” I would estimate that taking one less trip across the Sound this summer would save enough gas money to afford the cost difference to upgrade to two full year’s worth of food from the farmers’ markets. I would also like to see Connecticut adopt laws that create agriculture zones, offering different tax rates for existing farmers in productive areas while offering tax incentives to those who put new land into production. The combination of more demand for Connecticut grown foods, coupled with better land use laws, would go a long way to stop the loss of thousands of acres a year in Connecticut farmland.

Q. What’s one recommendation you have for families trying to eat more healthfully and sustainably?

Families should not feel the pressure of having to do it all because it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. I would recommend families on a tight budget actually find a Costco or BJ’s to buy some of their food, and utilize the savings to spend more on specific items. I always recommend families choose one to three foods that children love the most — like apples, broccoli or milk — and buy those three things from the farmers’ markets. Imagine what would happen if just 40% of American families made this choice this season. It would change each of these industries.

Q. What’s your favorite family meal to cook?

A. Chicken and dumplings is my very favorite, other than Thanksgiving dinner.

For more information on Michel Nischan, Wholesome Wave, The Dressing Room, and “Sustainably Delicious” please visit: http://michelnischan.com/, http://wholesomewave.org and http://www.dressingroomhomegrown.com/.

Related posts on the Fairfield Green Food Guide:

• The Dressing Room Changes Toques & Introduces American Tapas Menu

• Michel Nischan Endorses Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm

• Cooking with Michel: Spring Parsnip Soup

• If You Take a Student to the Farm Stand…

• Park City Harvest Brings Farm-Fresh Food to Underserved Community

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