Tag: Newsletters

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Totally Caught Off Guard

Each week I normally log in about 10 – 12 hours of volunteer work on the Sustainable Land Strategy (SLS) forum. The SLS is a non-regulatory group of farmers, tribal and environmental members who were convened by Snohomish County to promote collaboration and build relationships. There are four Farmers and four Environmental members (two Tribal, two Restoration).

Back in 2010, the goal of then Council Member Dave Somers (now County Executive) was to change the adversarial and contentious relationships between Farming and Environmental groups. No small task! A new way of doing business was needed and so with good facilitation, the SLS began the arduous task of bridging damaged relationships and working together.

In 2015 I was asked to join the SLS and in 2016 became the Ag caucus chair. Terry Williams from the Tulalip Tribes serves as the Fish caucus chair. Terry’s years of service in DC and in Snohomish County have laid a path of trust and collaboration to begin this important work.

Every year the 45 Conservation Districts across Washington State have an annual meeting and an awards banquet. This year I had been invited to speak and talk about SLS and the work we are doing in Snohomish County. I had also been invited to stay for lunch. Though I really needed to get back to the farm and my “paying” job, Monte Marti, the Snohomish Conservation District Director, pressed me to stay. I reluctantly relented. About half way through lunch, the proverbial “light bulb” came on. This was an Awards Banquet!

This year, the Vim Wright “Building Bridges” Award was presented to Terry Williams and Tristan Klesick. I did not see that coming. To be mentioned in the same breath with Vim Wright and Terry Williams is an incredible honor.

Vim Wright served both Colorado and Washington and worked tirelessly to build better communities for people and wildlife (especially non-game wildlife). She served on many committees and founded many more. Towards the end of her life she left her imprint on farming and conservation by establishing the Farming and the Environment program and serving on the Washington State Conservation Commission. The words on the award capture her spirit and the goal of the SLS: “We salute and recognize your continuing efforts in support of conservation through collaboration and working tirelessly with traditional agricultural, environmental and tribal communities on conservation projects and helping to develop a better mutual understanding of one another.”

An award is a moment in time, but without lots of people working together, none of it would be possible. My name might be on the plaque, but as I walked up to receive the award I couldn’t help but think of Joelle, our children, the Klesick team, the SLS team, and you, our Klesick customers. This is an award for the entire Klesick Farm Community.

Thank you for believing in Klesick Farms. Together we are doing great things and I look forward to doing more great things tomorrow.

Farmer/Health Advocate

Tristan Klesick

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How to Eat Your BOX (Week of 11/13/16)

Parsnips:

Parsnips are like carrots with attitude. They have an almost peppery sweet flavor to them that comes out nicely when cooked. They don’t eat well raw….at all, they’re much too dense, but they cook just as well or better than a carrot in my opinion. Parsnips are a great alternative to the more traditional baked or sautéed root vegetables!

Try them diced into bite size chunks or julienned, drizzled with olive oil and tossed in a bowl with a little salt and cayenne. Bake in a parchment-lined baking dish on the bottom rack in your oven at 450° for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until edges are browned and crispy. If you received Kohlrabi in your box, you can add those in the mix as well. I recommend cutting kohlrabi into slightly larger pieces for this dish because they cook faster than parsnips.

Red Bell Peppers:

These bright red veggies pair well with most savory dishes and can be added to soup, stir fry, salad, shish kabobs, or simply eaten raw. They are also commonly used for stuffing because of their perfect cup shape. It’s best to eat your peppers right away, while still fresh. I don’t like to let them sit around in my fridge very long because they can lose their crunchy appeal and become rubbery.

Try adding red bell peppers to your chicken salad. I love making chicken salad and using it for sandwiches…or eating by itself…or serving at parties (it makes a great dip with crackers or pita bread!)

What makes the chicken salad option so great is that you don’t need an exact recipe. You can put whatever you want in there! Just cut up your veggies (e.g. pepper, onion, radish, cilantro and apple) into small pieces and add to diced or shredded chicken. Mix in a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise, Dijon or regular mustard, vinegar, and spices, etc.) Traditionally, mayonnaise is used, but you can substitute with sour cream or Greek yogurt.

Kohlrabi:

Mike here in our office is Kohlrabi’s biggest fan so if you need some convincing to try this alienistic vegetable, give him a call! Kohlrabi is typically eaten raw—peeled, sliced, salted, and added to a salad or used for serving with a dip. You can also steam, boil, bake, grill, or roast it. Just peel away the thick outside skin first. Try adding kohlrabi to soup or stew or grate them up and toss with grated carrots or apples to make a slaw! You can also boil and mash them with potatoes or other root vegetables. Stir-fry them with other vegetables, or julienne them and fry them like potatoes. Look for Indian recipes using kohlrabi as they are often used in Indian cuisine. The leaves are also perfectly edible, and can be cooked up like kale.

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Thanksgiving

What! It’s time to be thinking about Holidays? Do you ever think how we eat our way through the calendar? November – Thanksgiving; December – Christmas; January – New Year’s Day and the Super bowl (Go Hawks!).

If we are not intentional about what we eat, the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) will be. The GMA has a plan for the holidays: more sugar, more GMO’s and more processed packaged foods. It is almost as if celebrating is akin to more CALORIES and not good ones, either. But how does the “intentional” part work itself out? Well, has Thanksgiving moved for the last 152 years? NO! it is always on the 4th Thursday of November. But every year millions of Americans are going to buy the same sugary, GMO laden foods and wonder why on Friday after Thanksgiving the bathroom scale has moved the wrong direction and that they don’t feel all that great either! It’s probably because sugar is fleeting and the aftermath is lasting.

One blogger encouraged their readers to wear pants with elastic to dinner so they won’t be as uncomfortable when they over eat! Okay, we are all probably going to indulge a little with our family and friends. Maybe this year we should plan for the indulgences by eating more intentionally NOW! Start moving the scale in the right direction now, so that when Grandma offers/expects you to have another piece of pie, you will have created some margin for Thanksgiving. I can hear it now, “No thank you. The pecan, pumpkin and apple pies tasted great. Three pieces is plenty, really.” 🙂

Be intentional now or be intentional later. We are all going to have to be intentional at some point. Here at Klesick Farms we like to say, “Eat Better, Feel Better.” It even works in November.

How to Eat Your Box

We are adding a new section to our Newsletter this week. We are calling it “How to Eat Your Box”. Original, eh? Anna, my millennial menu planner, felt like people just aren’t cooking and she wanted to provide some helpful tips. Eating well is not mystical or complicated. With just a few techniques you can be “Zen” master in the kitchen. In fact, most fruits and vegetables are easy to use and are at their healthiest when minimally cooked or prepared. Check it out here on the blog.

Thanksgiving Donation Program

We are making our Holiday Donation Box for Thanksgiving available for ordering this week. Last year, our Box of Good Food Family donated 156 boxes of high quality, super nutritious food to area food banks. Please consider donating one or more boxes to a family in need. You place the order, we pack it, deliver it and a food bank volunteer gets it to a family in need. Super simple, super effective!

Farmer/Health Advocate, Tristan

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Hope

Hope is a necessary ingredient in the battle against cancer. We must believe that healing is possible and hope is an underlying cornerstone for healing to happen. Without hope, hopelessness is left and we can’t have that; we must have hope.

Since we started sharing about cancer this month, the ground swell of support and compassion has been huge.

Last week, I met Leah, a cancer survivor and single mom of two at the Snohomish County Healthy Aging Conference. Whenever I attend a conference or event, I always bring a box of good food to use as a raffle item. And you know what? Leah’s name was drawn.

At the same time, a young couple from our church just received the heart-breaking news that their under 1 y/o daughter Vivian has leukemia. Ugh! I can’t even imagine the thoughts, fears, and despair that is wracking that family.

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to an end, I would like to continue our cancer conversation and shift it to one day next week. On Wednesday, 11/2, we want to celebrate, grieve, hope and pray with all the people that you and we know who are battling cancer, won the battle over cancer, as well as for those who lost a loved one to cancer.

To do this, we need your help. We need you to send in the names of individuals and families that are fighting cancer. You can share as much of your/their story with us as you feel comfortable. Because sometimes it is helpful to just write down how you are feeling and get your thoughts out.

We are also just as happy to have you share a first name, because on 11/2, when our Klesick Farms team gathers to pray, we know that God already knows the details and we just want to agree with you for healing from cancer and hope to be rekindled in yours and their hearts.

Each of you are also welcome to join us on 11/2 and pray for the individuals and families who are fighting cancer. We will send Facebook and email reminders about the 11/2 details, but for now please click here to submit a name for prayer anonymously, or, email [email protected] the names of anyone you know fighting cancer or DM us on FB so we can gather a list of people to prayer for healing and hope.

Farmer/Health Advocate,

Tristan

 

Recipe: Garlic Butter Mushroom and Spinach Spaghetti

Ingredients:

Olive oil 8 oz package mushrooms, sliced 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons butter 1 bunch spinach, washed, ends cut off Lemon juice, to taste Salt and pepper, to taste 1 package spaghetti Feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta until tender. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water.

2. While pasta is cooking, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat then add the oil. Fry the mushrooms until deeply golden and cooked through. Add the garlic and butter and fry for another 30 seconds-1 minute, until the garlic is a light golden color. Turn off the heat then add the spinach, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Add the cooked spaghetti and a splash of the cooking water. Stir the pasta into the sauce and add more water if necessary.

4. Serve with feta cheese.

Recipe adapted from simply-delicious-food.com

 

Know Your Produce: Gold Beets

You may be most familiar with the red beet, but beets come in a variety of colors. One variety is orange, known as the gold beet. A descendant of a sea vegetable, golden beets are a nutrient-rich food high in fiber and potassium. The beet greens are more nutritious than the beets, containing twice the potassium and high in beta carotene and folic acid.

The difference between the red and the orange beet is the pigment compound. Red beets are rich in betalain pigment while orange beets are rich in b-xanthin pigment. Though their pigment color differs, their nutritional benefits are the same.

Steaming and roasting bring out the best flavor that the beet can offer. The skin must be peeled, which is easiest after it has cooked, as it simply slips away from its flesh. Beets pair well with cheese, bacon, apples, fennel, citrus, potatoes, shallots, vinegar, walnuts, smoked and cured fish. Beets will keep, refrigerated, for up to a week or longer if their tops are removed.

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Toothless GMO Food Labeling Bill Becomes Law

Note: I have covered the DARK Act in a previous newsletter, but wanted to share the perspective of the Cornucopia Institute. The folks at the Cornucopia Institute are advocates the heart and soul of organics and small to medium sized organic farms. In the ever increasing “get bigger or get or get out” model of American business and Agriculture, the Cornucopia stands up and for farmers like myself and consumers like you who support us. Real change comes when concerned people make intentional choices for their families and their communities.

As I have shared in the past, we are the solution: you and I making good food choices, and sending less of our food dollars to companies that promote and use GMO’s in their products.

Organic is better for our health and better for the environment,

Tristan

 

 

Toothless GMO Food Labeling Bill Becomes Law; Corporate Elites Betray Organics

BY WILL FANTLE

The looming July 1 implementation date for Vermont’s first-of-a-kind, historic GMO food ingredients labeling law pushed Monsanto and other corporate giants in retailing, biotechnology, and agribusiness into overdrive as they ramped up pressure on Congress to negate the state law.

Labeling opponents wisely identified Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, as the key to crafting what they described as a “compromise” bill. Stabenow’s bill was able to move enough Senate Democrats to join with an already solid block of Republicans to muscle through its swift passage.

Ardent GMO backer, Senate Agriculture Chair Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) called it “the most important agriculture vote in 20 years.” When signed into law by the President in late July, it preempted Vermont’s new law, mandatory GMO seed labeling requirements in two states, and dozens of related local ordinances.

But what has been rightly called the DARK Act would not have been possible without the behind-the-scenes machinations of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), a few of its most powerful members, and two corporate-funded non-profit organizations – Just Label It (JLI) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

JLI, founded by Stonyfield Yogurt chairman Gary Hirshberg, and the EWG signaled their support for an agribusiness-supported alternative to actual GMO labeling, Quick Response (QR) codes, those inscrutable Rorschach-like images found on some product packaging.

The scanning of these speckled black squares with a smart phone and the appropriate app can provide more product information. These QR codes were sold as a solution to food labeling requirements and became an integral part of the Stabenow Bill. Millions of Americans are now discriminated against by not having smart phones and/or sufficient data plans.

The full Senate vote was only made possible when its backers invoked an obscure procedural gimmick that hadn’t been used in more than 40 years to push it forward.

Its next hurdle would be a cloture vote, a 60-vote threshold required to halt a filibuster and debate on a bill and force a final vote on the Senate floor. By early July grassroots organic and pro-labeling forces were mobilizing to fight the cloture vote.

The nation’s largest consumer organization, Consumer Reports, along with the Organic Consumers Association, the Center for Food Safety, Food and Water Watch, Cornucopia, and dozens of others were publicly calling on the Senate to reject the bill, hundreds of thousands of their members flooding Senate phone lines.

Key Senators also spoke out against the bill. And the Food and Drug Administration – the primary agency overseeing food labeling – issued a damning assessment of the bill’s many deficiencies.

Behind the scenes, the OTA and its leadership quietly worked for passage. This activity persuaded enough reluctant Democratic Senators to ignore what had become a loud call for rejection from fellow Senators, 286 public interest organizations, thousands of phone calls from the public, and broad condemnation by the organic community.

Along with executives from companies like Stonyfield, Organic Valley, Smuckers, WhiteWave, and Whole Foods, OTA lobbyists assured Senators that “the majority of the organic industry supported the Stabenow Bill.”

One senate staffer told the bill’s opponents that OTA’s lobbying convinced 15-20 senators who might have opposed the bill (and had opposed an earlier version of the DARK Act) to instead support it.

The corporate-organic industry sell-out facilitated a successful cloture vote that passed by a 65-32 margin. Senate and House passage of the actual bill followed shortly.

Aside from overriding state and local laws, what are some of the DARK Act’s other fundamental deficiencies?

• There is no requirement for on-package labeling of GMO foods.

• As many as 100 million Americans lack the ability to find out product specifics by not being able to access QR codes.

• The biotech-friendly USDA – not the FDA – is charged with creating the law’s actual labeling rules over the next two years.

• The bill leaves totally unclear what will be considered a GMO food and/or ingredient. According to the FDA, most foods typically thought of as being produced or made with GMO ingredients will not be covered by the bill’s narrow definition of genetic engineering. The USDA might raise the threshold for incidental GMO contamination from the currently accepted .09% to as high as 30% while still calling that non-GMO!

• The bill suggests that the USDA harmonize its ultimate definition of genetic engineering with the organic law’s definitions – something that could create a huge loophole into organic’s current strict prohibitions on GMO technology.

“The passage of this law will deny, for the foreseeable future, the right of most American’s to know what is in the food they are eating,” observes Cornucopia’s senior farm policy analyst, Mark Kastel. “It is vitally important that we double down on our efforts to protect the integrity of the organic label, the marketplace alternative to untested GMO technology.”

The Cornucopia Institute and a number of our allies in this fight are researching joining forces in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of some of the aspects of this draconian piece of legislation.

 

This week’s guest blog & newsletter post from The Cornucopia Institute.

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Wow!

One would think that after almost two decades of farming I would have this farming game figured out! I do have the basics mostly down, but every year, around Father’s Day, I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with what? Thanks for asking. WORK! All of the sudden, everything needs to be harvested: lettuce, spinach, peas. Everything needs to be weeded: lettuce, spinach, peas, beets, tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers, strawberries. And more needs to be planted: lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, squash, beets, kohlrabi, corn, etc. I know it is coming, but it always catches me off guard, like a sneaker wave at the beach – all of the sudden you’re wet.

A lot of this has to do with timing and trying to figure out the changing climate patterns and the changing availability of willing workers. The climate impacts are just unpredictable. Last year at this time we were burning up and this year we have had huge swings in temperatures and a fair amount of rain.

This year I got out early and planted some summer loving, heat loving crops in early May, expecting it to get hot early, but June is looking more like “Junuary.” Although hitting a high of 58 degrees in early June really slows down the crops, it also keeps things from bolting, like spinach and lettuce, and peas from burning up. This is farming though: I do my best, I get the weather I get, I adapt, then I get to harvest what crops liked the weather best.

But the weeds, well, they love all types of weather. On our farm we are a hand-weeding operation, and it is hard to find people excited about rows and rows of vegetables to be weeded, sometimes with a hoe, other times on your hands and sometimes we just throw up our hands and use a tractor and start over. We have managed to stay almost caught up, but you can see the “tide” of weeds rising. This week will be the week to stem that tide!

As always, we work hard to grow the healthiest, tastiest and freshest fruits and vegetables for you and your family. We want to be that bright spot in your week, where on your delivery day a box of good food brightens your day and nourishes your body.

More locally grown good food is on its way.

Cheers to your health!

Tristan

 

Recipe for this week’s box: Asian Cucumber & Carrot Slaw

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

1 cucumber

2 medium carrots, peeled

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (or other oil of choice)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

  1. Using a julienne peeler or grater, shred the cucumber and carrots into long strips.
  1. Toss the vegetables in a medium bowl, along with the vinegars, water, sugar, and sesame oil.
  1. Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro.
  1. Chill until ready to serve. Best served cold.

Recipe adapted from wayfair.com

 

Know Your Produce: Stonefruit 101

IMG_20150427_100811

“Stonefruit” refers to members of the genus Prunus, which includes peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, cherries, and apricots. The season for summer stonefruit is short-lived, and delicious! With the fruit coming and going so quickly, we don’t want you to miss out by having to toss spoiled or improperly ripened fruit. Here’s some info on proper storage in order for you to make the most of these short-season gems.

Care – Store unwashed fruit at room temperature until ripe (usually only 1-2 days), then place in sealed container in the fridge.

Ripeness – Gently press around stem and when flesh gives slightly to pressure fruit is ripe. Stonefruit ripens from the inside to the outside, so if fruit is soft all over it is more likely overripe.

Tips for Preventing Spoilage – Stonefruit’s biggest enemy while ripening is moisture coupled with lack of airflow. Set ripening stonefruit on a cloth or paper-covered countertop or in a place where it gets plenty of airflow. Try setting them stem side down to ripen. This lessens the chance of then rolling and bruising. Once your stonefruit is ripe, it deteriorates very quickly. Within a day of being fully ripe, if left out of refrigeration, you can have overripe/spoiled fruit and some very attracted fruit flies. Check daily and place in refrigerator as soon as you notice the stem area has begun to soften. Take special care when handling your stonefruit – never squeeze to check for ripeness! Even a small bruise will be cause enough to turn into a rot/bruised spot on your fruit as it is still ripening.

Use – Once fruit is ripe, and you’ve placed in the refrigerator, plan to use within a day or two (this gives you a total keeping time of about 4-5 days). Stonefruit is refreshing as a healthy breakfast paired with yogurt or hot/cold cereal, as a topping to a green salad, and as an ingredient in fruit salads. For grilling, or for topping green salads: use slightly less ripe fruit, it will hold up better without breaking apart/juicing. All Stonefruit bakes up fabulously into crisps, pies, and sauces!

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A Time To Plant

I was talking to a group of second graders the other day about farming. I found that they ask some amazingly insightful questions; an insight, I think, that comes from their simplicity. A few were already well on their way to a life of healthy eating.

But as we talked back and forth, I wanted to impress upon them that eating good food starts with the soil and ends with a choice. Choosing an apple or carrot (the most popular vegetable) will help them grow up smart, healthier and strong. I explained to them that healthy plants don’t get sick, and the healthier we are, the less sick we get. It was a delightful 30 minutes with young ones eager to learn.

I too have a choice. I choose to farm without chemicals and work with nature to raise food in a watershed, in a local community, on a family run farm.

Thank you for the choice you also are making. You have chosen to support a farm that raises food without chemicals, in your watershed, in your local community, run by a family on a farm. That choice will make all the difference in the world for your health, your family’s health and your community’s health.

That is why planting the first crops of spring are so special for me, because I get to raise food for local folks – who get it!

Last week we took advantage of the nice weather and got a goodly amount of healthy lettuce and peas planted! It feels so good to get some crops in the ground.

Hang on, the local season starts with planting and ends with good food on your plate!

Tristan

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I Really Like Farming!

I can hardly contain my excitement! Every year I get a little winter’s rest and then the first crocuses show up and I am chomping at the bit to get out there and get going. As a matter of fact, I already planted my two green houses to spinach and radishes. I am planning on another early and warmer spring.

Do you know what my favorite crop is to grow? The one I am harvesting! If my plantings make it to harvest (most do), that is always my favorite crop at the moment. Picking it at the height of nutrition and flavor, packing it, and getting to you—that is exciting! And the nice thing about growing vegetables and fruit is there is almost always something to harvest.

I was just out in my fields, checking in on some overwintering curly parsley and chives, and you know what I found? Beets! Those beets were too small to harvest last fall, so we left them in the ground and now they are ready. The tops aren’t in the best shape, but the beets are solid and tasty. I wish I had planted more! Which is another nice thing about farming—I get to try it again next year! So, I will plant beets a little earlier (mid-August) and I will plant more of them, then I will have more beets to sell in the spring.

Now I might be the only farmer writing this newsletter, but a whole lot of you are chomping at the bit to grow some vegetables, too. Which is why Klesick Farms is now carrying vegetable seeds from High Mowing Organic Seeds. This is where I buy most of my seeds. I recognize that if we are going to have healthy food for generations to come, we are going to need genetic diversity in our seeds.

There are two ways to support organic seed production:

1. You can buy vegetables from growers who use organically grown seeds (if you are reading this letter you can check

that off!).

2. Or you can plant them yourself and still buy some of your vegetables from me.

If you are a gardener and would like to support organic seed production, you can buy them through our website or you can go to: highmowingorganicseeds.com/klesick and order them directly. Either way, shipping is free.

Also, we have arranged with Michael, at Rents Due Ranch, to have organically grown tomato, peppers, basil, and strawberry plants available this spring, so stay tuned for updates in early March for their availability.

Bring on spring!

tristan-sign

Tristan

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Eating Healthy in the Midst of a Full Life

 

One of my favorite photos is of our kids in 2003 when we first moved to our Stanwood farm – crowbar in hand and ready for the remodel!

IMG_9778Klesick Family

Well, I guess you could say that a lot has changed in the past 12 years. Life is full, and so is our front porch!  More importantly, our hearts are full! We feel incredibly blessed. But, I have to admit that when juggling so much love, sometimes the simple day-to-day tasks can become overwhelming. One of the things that continue to be important to us is providing nourishing food for our growing family. Without determination and a plan, this can feel impossible. I have put together a list of a few things that we’ve done that have stood the test of time and helped us pursue healthy eating.

First of all, make sure “good” food enters the kitchen. Receiving a Box of Good is a practical and convenient first step. Besides produce, we also carry a wide array of healthy staples. Remember that when our foundation is good, we have something great to build on.

At the beginning of the week, or when you receive your produce, take a look and see what items are most perishable and should be used first and then plan your meals accordingly. Take 5 minutes each night and think about the next day’s meal. One of the biggest hindrances to eating healthy is running out of time at the end of a busy day. I like to think of creative ways to make my healthy food “fast food.” When you receive your Box of Good, plan to take 20-30 minutes to prepare your produce items for the week. This will reduce meal time stress and greatly decrease the prep time when it comes to actually making meals. This alone will help you and your family eat healthier.

*Take your lettuce and any greens that you have and wash them right away. Put the leaves in a salad spinner or dry thoroughly, and then store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

*Take your vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, celery and carrots, and wash them. Then, with a quality kitchen knife, chop them into bite-sized pieces and store in the refrigerator. They are ready to be snacked on with a good dip or thrown in a stir fry. What could be easier? This is fast food at its finest.

*Use your prepared veggies to make a quick sandwich, pita, or wrap. You can skip the bread and use the cleaned lettuce as a wrap itself.

*Experiment with homemade soups. When you order your grass-fed beef from us, make sure you request beef bones. Make a super nutritious broth! Add veggies to the broth that you may not otherwise use, and get all their health benefits. Then make your soups or stews ahead of time and they’ll be ready to eat on a hectic evening when you don’t have time to cook. Better yet, make extra and freeze.

*Find ways to sneak in veggies by grating zucchini or carrots and putting it in your tuna or egg sandwiches. Add bits of veggies to fried rice, pastas, meatloaf, or burgers. Keep trying new things. Don’t give up on picky eaters. Usually over time, taste buds change.

*When serving salad, serve it first, separately and then you know everyone has eaten their veggies. Experiment with homemade healthy dressings and find one that the kids like.

*Offer a choice for snacks, but keep them both healthy. Kids love choices.

*Know which fruit stores best in the refrigerator and which store best on the counter. Display counter fruit in a pretty bowl on the table and it’s sure to be one of the first things your kids ask for.

*If your bananas get over-ripe peel them and chop them into 1-inch rounds and freeze them. Use the frozen bananas for your smoothies or banana bread.

*Use fruit with yogurt to make smoothies. Buy or make cereals with less sugar and use your apples, pears, and bananas to sweeten your cereal. Chop up fruit and use as a topping over pancakes, and use less syrup. Add sliced bananas to your toast. Use fruit as a dessert or use it to make your desserts more nutritious.

Eating healthy in the midst of a busy schedule is obtainable and can be rewarding. Set your mind to it, make a plan and be creative.

Joelle

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Baker Awakening

About 20 years ago, while training to make artisan bread, the concepts taught were a return to the old ways of baking—developed over thousands of years prior to the invention of large scale milling and centralized agriculture. I learned about long, cool and slow fermentation of dough drawing out the hidden essence of the grain and bringing natural sweetness to the loaf as the starches broke down into simple sugars. How these sugars caramelized the crust, deepening the layers of taste and aroma throughout the bread. This drew me to the craft: my love of fine food and rich flavor.

I soon realized there was even more to this magic of baking than I was imagining. My lessons since have taken me on a journey of understanding and imparted upon me the responsibility to feed people not only delicious bread, but more importantly, a healthful and nutritious loaf.

Touring Kansas on a busload of bakers was an eye opener. I saw the shear impact large agriculture has on our environment and communities. Wheat can grow any place, it’s a grass. It is mono-cropped in the Midwest not because this is a great place for it to grow, it’s one of few things that can be kept alive there…on a life support system of synthetic nitrogen, herbicide and pesticide. The farmers themselves would not eat the grain from their fields, but instead cultivated a side crop, unsprayed, compost fertilized and home milled for their own consumption. Their towns are nearly vacant.

Weston Price and Sally Fallon introduced me to Phytate, a molecule in the kernel of wheat binding the vitamins and minerals that the future plant will need to grow. When this seed begins to germinate, an enzyme releases the bonds. If the wheat is instead ground into flour, and the dough fermented quickly, there isn’t time for these nutrients to unlock. They are not available to your body. Extended dough fermentation, especially sourdough, mimics germination, releasing the nutrients for human absorption.

Andrew Whitley (Bread Matters) quantified the Price/Fallon work for me. The brain receives the hunger signal when the body is asking for nutrients, not just calories. For most of us, hunger means “eat food”. When we choose food with little nutritional value (or availability), we gain the calories, though the hunger signal returns. We eat again, until the nutrition finally adds up to what the body needs to operate. The calories add up as well. In our country, this has led us to obesity, childhood & adult-onset diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. It’s vital for me to make food providing more nutrition per caloric bite.

I shouldn’t mention gluten. I love the stuff. This substance allows me to turn a hard seed of wheat into a light, soft, airy, palatable and nutritious food. My life revolves around gluten. People have consumed gluten for over 5,000 years and prospered. But we aren’t actually set up to digest straight grains.

Every culture from the dawn of agriculture has pre-processed any grain prior to eating. We learned to boil, soak, sprout, grind, and/or ferment our grain; maximizing digestive and nutritional qualities. This was bread making until the 1940’s when the world at war had to produce food faster with fewer people. Automation and chemical additions to bread dough produced edible loaves in less than 4 hours. It’s no ‘wonder’ we can’t digest this stuff. In fact, gluten may not even be the culprit.

 

Artisan baking is a revival of earlier baking methodology. These bakers ferment grain. I have many customers who eat our bread and none other because it’s digestible without issue. I suspect they would manage fine with most long fermented breads.

(note:  Celiac Disease is a unique case of gluten effecting the lining of the intestine and subsequent nutrient absorption by the body.  Our bread does not keep this from occurring.)

Now, I am a different baker than I was when I started. As I learn, I adapt. I understand the importance of my loaves as community builders, as environmental stewards, as nutrition, as health. Staff of life, indeed—by making bread well, the world around us vastly improves.

by Scott Mangold, Owner of Breadfarm