Tag: Words from Tristan

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Local Solutions

When I have an opportunity to use my talents and resources, I jump on it! At Klesick Farms we are in the good food business – we grow, source and deliver good food to our local neighbors in Island, Skagit, Snohomish and King Counties. And each of these counties have hunger issues and together we are a part of the solution.

Our part of the solution has been to deliver local food to the food banks through our Neighbor Helping Neighbor (NHN) program. Year-to- date, through your partnership, Klesick Farms has sent over 384 of our $28 boxes of good food to local food banks.

I am now adding a new partner to our NHN giving program – The Everett Recovery Café. While technically not a food bank, they are also serving a group of our local neighbors. The Everett Recovery Café “is a community of healing, purpose, and hope. This safe haven from the streets provides an ongoing base of support for men and women who have suffered trauma, homelessness, addiction and/or mental health challenges. As these men and women contribute to the café community and develop relationships with peers and staff, they establish stability in housing, mental and physical health, relationships, education and employment.”

If you would like to help us extend a helping hand to the Everett Recovery Café or to the 8 other food banks (Everett, Oak Harbor, Anacortes, Edmonds, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Monroe, Arlington) you can schedule regular donation and we will do the rest. Your regular $28 partnership accomplishes a lot:

  1. Our less fortunate neighbors, who avail themselves of the food bank system, receive high quality fruits and vegetables, instead of the culled, lesser quality produce.
  2. The farmers we work with get to grow and sell more from their farms to help feed local families. This is a big deal. Our NHN food bank boxes have an average of 10 different items in them. For an example, year-to-date, with your purchases, we have sent over 10 extra cases of apples, 16 extra cases of lettuce, etc. Those are real numbers to a farmer and real food to local family!
  3. Klesick Farms matches every 4th box that is donated by you.
  4. We send a year end tax statement for you to deduct your donation.
  5. But most important, your gift of one of our NHN boxes is a gift of compassion and care to local folks who are our neighbors in need.

Our NHN program is one reason why we use the tag line a box of good!

Farmer Tristan

Learn more about the Everett Recovery Café here.

Know Your Produce: Baby Bok Choy

Bok Choy, a member of the cabbage family, has been cultivated by the Chinese for over 5,000 years. Besides China, it is also grown in California and Canada.

Bok choy is high in nutrition, containing several minerals, including potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, and vitamins A, C, K, and a wide spectrum of B-complex vitamins.

Do not wash bok choy until you are ready to use it. Unwashed, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to six days.

Besides being used in stir fries, bok choy can also be added to soups for a delicate flavor, pickled for a refreshing appetizer, grilled or sautéed as a delicious accompaniment.

 

Recipe: Cornbread Panzanella Salad

Ingredients:

8 oz. cornbread, cut into cubes (about 2 cups)

1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup cubed fontina cheese (can substitute gouda)

1/2 cup cubed cucumber

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

  • Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Toss gently to combine.
  • Place in a serving bowl and serve.

Recipe from foodnetwork.com courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

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It is so Simple

At Klesick Farms we say, “Healthy eating made simple.” We also say, “Eat Better, Feel Better.” Sadly, most Americans are eating out of a plastic bag, a can or a box (ouch!). A lot of the food budget goes to packaged food, fast food or packaged fast food, and as a result our national health is getting worse.

Ironically, the antidote is to not eat “their” food. What is “their” food? The stuff in the middle of the grocery store—high carb, high sugar and low fat. Just try walking through the grocery store and try to buy a snack without sugar in it!

When a family makes an intentional choice to not eat packaged food, nutritional benefits go up. They go up because the family will be eating something to replace those carbohydrate-heavy foods with vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and proteins. (The proteins can be vegetarian or meat-based—based upon your choice.)

Close your eyes and just imagine the calm around all the schoolyards of our communities if PROCESSED SUGAR was not on the menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bedtime snack. Shoot, just imagine the calm around the house!

Last week, I actually brought in an old fashioned sugar bowl filled with sugar for a talk I was giving. I also brought in the makings for an old fashioned lunch – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a low fat single serving chocolate milk. Do you know how much sugar is in this good old fashioned lunch? Remembering that 4 grams = 1 teaspoon, and assuming the body processes carbohydrates into glucose (sugar), here’s what I found:  2 slices of wheat bread = 28 grams; 2 tablespoons peanut butter = 15 grams; 2 tablespoons strawberry jam = 20 grams; 8 oz. low fat chocolate milk = 24 grams; total carbs (sugar) = 87 grams divided by 4 grams (1 teaspoon) = 21.75 teaspoons of SUGAR!

We would be better off putting the sugar bowl back on the table and adding our own sugar to our plain, unsweetened food.

There is no way that we could pour that much sugar on our cereals, sandwiches or in our coffee!

I think the sugar bowl in America has moved from the table to our waistline!

The good news is that the waistline can “trend” the other direction if we eat more vegetables, fruits and non-packaged foods. In fact, if we committed to eating the recommended 6-9 teaspoons of sugar a day (yes, a day!), we would see dramatic health changes in ourselves and other Americans!

But eating healthy is a spiritual decision. It takes will power and determination to eat differently. As far as I can tell, eating more vegetables, fruits and non-packaged foods looks like a good strategy to be healthier. If we are healthier, we are more than likely happier!

 

Providing good food for you and your family,

Tristan

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Our Food System Is Broken

We care more about our air and water quality than we do the food we eat. Last time I checked, we need to breathe, drink and eat. My cynical side says, “This means the coal lobby isn’t as strong as the sugar lobby.”

The EPA is lowering the boom on coal, but the FDA and the USDA are doing the old “wink-wink” when it comes to our food. The American food supply has been coopted by the sugar and processed food industries, with the blessing of the FDA and the USDA. But what has been the result of this high carb, high sugar, low fat experiment? An unhealthy American population!

The only way we are going to change our personal health is by not buying corporate America’s food! Only by removing the profit from Coca Cola, Pepsi, Starbucks, General Mills, etc. will the health of America change. When we intentionally stop eating their processed “food” they will respond. Of course, first they will advertise more to promote “the benefits” of their products. Then they will lobby Congress to protect them from the consumer, but finally they will produce healthier and more nutritious processed foods to earn your business back. They will do this not because they love you or care about your health, but because their pocket book is hurting! It’s simple. NO SALES, NO PROFIT.

If we are going to effectively change our food system and take it back, we are going to have to do it one bite at a time, by saying “yes” to more organic fruits and vegetables, and better quality dairy, meat, and wild fish.

The easiest way to win this war on our health (waistline) is to not eat their processed sugar laden products! If we consciously choose to not eat their food, we will win this battle. It only takes a 5% shift in their sales and they will respond.

And do you know what else? If you cut back on processed foods (a.k.a., sugar foods), you will avoid eating GMOs.

And do you know what else? You will lose weight just by not eating processed foods.

And do you know what else? You will feel better (after a few days as your body detoxifies) because you are eating better.

WOW, am I ever fired up! If we cut out sugar, we change the food system for everyone, and we will feel better and healthier!

Give it a try this week. Intentionally cut out sugar. Your body will thank you.

Cheers to your health,

Tristan

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It is Getting Closer!

We are slowly working our way towards the starting line. We just planted some sugar snap peas that will be transplanted mid-March, we are finishing up on the last minute maintenance that needs to be done on our equipment, we are checking seed supplies, and we will be “pulling” soil samples in the next few weeks.

The soil sampling is important. It helps us monitor nutrients in our soil and know what organic nutrients we need to order for our crops. We also take leaf samples throughout the growing season to check how well the plants are absorbing the nutrients from the soil. Based on the soil and leaf tests, I will foliar feed my crops to give them some extra nutrition.

You might be saying to yourself that is a lot of “fussing” over nutrients. So what’s all the “fuss” over soil and plant health really about? It is about you! Growing food for you is a privilege, and I want the food I grow for you to help you live a vibrant and healthy life. And food grown without synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides is better for you, the farmer, and the environment. But food grown with nutrition at its foundation is the prize! And that is what I grow for you – nutrient rich food. Bon Appétit!

But I have another prize for the next two weeks!

We are running a Share the Good Food campaign for the next two weeks.* We have teamed up with Theo Chocolate to offer a month’s worth of their 70% organic dark chocolate for every one of your friends who signs up for a box of good food. And as a thank you for referring your friend, I will send you a month of Theo dark chocolate with each of your deliveries, too. A month of free chocolate for you and your friends—now that is worth sharing!

*If a friend you refer signs up for delivery between 2/28-3/13, you will both receive a bar of chocolate with each of your deliveries that fall within the next four-week period, starting with when your friend signs up for delivery. The more friends you refer, the more chocolate you receive!

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Tristan

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Houston, We have a Problem

That is a classic line from the Apollo 13 movie, starring a very young Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon. I hear that line playfully bantered around a lot when there are minor nuisances or inconveniences. But in the movie, “Houston we have a problem” was referring to a calm and calculated response to a very serious situation.

As a parent, I feel like Washington, D.C., isn’t getting it.  Our nation’s health is spiraling out of control. America has a serious health crisis that is going to impact every area of our nation: health care, military, political, family, the environment and education. Since the 1970s, when Jane Fonda was encouraging us to “exercise,” to the “Biggest Loser” today, what has changed?

We have been encouraged to exercise, eat low fat, and eat lots of grains and carbs, regardless of where those calories are coming from. And what has been the direct result of following the recommendations to exercise, eat low fat and a grain-based diet? More childhood obesity, more cancer, more heart disease, more diabetes, more health issues.

Yes, Washington, we do have a problem! And your pandering to the food, farm and biotech lobbies is at the heart of it.

I believe the underlying issue is sugar! It is in practically everything. There are over 600,000 grocery items in our stores and 80% of them have sugar added to them. Sugar is in our cereals, our coffee, our sodas, our breads, and our ice cream. If a food is processed, some company is trying to add sugar to it.

I contend our nation would be a lot healthier (and skinnier) if we swore off sugar or at least 90% of it.

But here is where good health meets dark health. The grocery manufacturers of America like to sell groceries, and since 80% of their products have sugar they lobby to protect themselves and their constituents.

To complicate the matter, the sugar beet and corn farmers also have a stake in the fight because they grow the sugar for the grocery manufacturers. If Congress makes any meaningful change in legislation that would curb the use of sugar or call it out as a health issue, they will get an earful from these farmers. To complicate the issue even more, the farmer’s primary supplier to help them grow all that sugar is none other than Monsanto and other biotech companies who have shoved genetically modified technology down our throats.

And so it goes. Our senators and congress people have to stand up against the grocery manufacturers and the farm and biotech lobbies if they are going to make any meaningful food policy changes. Ironically, these lobbies also happen to be the same ones that spend millions of dollars to make sure that GMO labeling never gets a foothold.

This situation hasn’t changed for decades, and it doesn’t matter whether the Clintons, Bushes, or Obamas are in office or the Bushes or Clintons are in back in office. They didn’t improve our food when they had an opportunity and I sincerely doubt they will this time around either.

The only thing that is going to make a difference is not supporting that food system. That food system doesn’t care about your family’s health, they care about profits, and no sales equals no profit! The less we eat of their food the healthier our family will be.

Thanks for supporting a different food system. Let your friends know where you get your real food!

Real food grown here!

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Farmer 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!

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Tristan

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Our Magnificent Starry Heavens

The other night our family dog, Bandit, was barking to beat the band. This is a new phenomenon. Usually things are pretty quiet on the farm, but something is triggering his need to bark. Maybe coyotes, as they do tend to howl—a lot—when the train is going by. Sometimes you would think they are right off the back porch. Naturally, Bandit started barking just as I was getting into that all important deep sleep.

The moment he begins barking I usually lie in bed, asking the Lord to quiet him down. The answer always seems to be “no.” Then I ask, “How come I am the only one in the house that hears him barking?” Of course this is a rhetorical question. Everyone else in the house knows that Dad is the one who gets up to make sure things are okay and to quiet the dogs. This is so ingrained into their psyche that, if for some unimaginable reason, I chose to not get up, they wouldn’t even know that Bandit had been barking all night!

I do like to sleep, but I also like to make sure that my neighbors can sleep too. Which is another reason I get up when the dog is barking. Do you know how cold it is outside at 2 a.m.? Cold. So I put on some sweats and a sweat shirt, grab a flash light, and head out towards the barking. I found Bandit out by the greenhouses, barking away. After calling him over and we walked back to the house. Even though he was 100 yards from the house, he technically was still in our yard – at least in his mind! I would consider that to be more of the farm and not the yard!

One benefit of getting up to quiet the dog, even though it is freezing outside, is the quietness of the moment (after Bandit quits barking). In that stillness, I look up and the sky is full of stars. I see the Big Dipper shining bright, bold, and magnificent. As much as I would love to still be asleep, in that moment I stand there mesmerized by the night sky—its beauty, its depth, its brilliance. I soak it all in and say, “Thank you Lord for letting me see the stars tonight.”

I head back in, but since I am awake I thank the Lord again for providing me with some great material for this newsletter, which I finished at 3:23 a.m. Good night.

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Farmer Tristan

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Good Choices

A recent study by Harvard Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business determined that shoppers who brought their own reusable bags to the grocery store tended to buy more “organic” or “green” type products, but then tended to fill those bags with items from the middle section of the grocery store (i.e., high fat, high sugar and packaged). They were able to track these trends because the shoppers with reusable bags received $0.03 bag credit on their receipts. Ironically enough, the environmental good accomplished by using a reusable bag was offset by the items they were purchasing. And to compound the issue, the health benefits were more perceived than experienced because of what they were purchasing.

Another study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School recently followed shoppers through the grocery store. The study was designed to discover what shoppers were buying and how they flowed through the store. When the researchers were digesting the data, they discovered an interesting trend: customers who placed kale in their carts immediately followed that selection with ice cream.

I believe I understand what was going on in these studies:  the shoppers “felt” better about their purchases because they were using a reusable bag and putting better “packaged” food in them. Granted, those “organic” or “green” packaged products are better than their nonorganic counterparts, but they are still not ideal for healthy living. This study is more intriguing because these consumers were purchasing fruits and vegetables and then treats. In both cases, the real desire to eat better, live better or do right by the environment was a driving factor, and since a good choice was made, a little latitude was granted to make a less healthy choice.

Many of us go through similar choices every morning. We wake up and stand on the all-knowing “barometer of life”—the bathroom scale—and at that moment we decide, “Uh oh, better eat better today L ” or “Yay! I am down a couple pounds, I have room for another latte, donut, ice cream bar, etc. J”

I think it is human nature to offset a good choice with a less than good choice. And while many of you, like me, had the luxury to eat like that in our younger years, I would contend that that window of luxury has passed. Today I need to make a more determined effort to stay healthy. The nice thing is that eating better leads to feeling better. Now all that needs to happen is to say “yes” to more fruits and vegetables and position myself to be successful. This is what you have done because you have a box of good food delivered to your home!

Enjoy!

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Grandparents

I heard John Maxwell share this story when he was talking about grandchildren. He was talking about how he is convinced that intelligence skips a generation, because his grandkids are considerably more intelligent than his children ever were.

Anyway, John’s son was in the audience and just after the session ended his son met him backstage. John of course reassured him, “That was all fun and games and, of course, nothing was meant by those comments.” But his son stopped him, “Dad, I think you might be right.” At this point John is looking a little perplexed. And then his son elaborated, “Grandpa and I had a similar conversation last week about you!”

Now that Joelle and I have three grandchildren, this Christmas is going to resemble some of those Christmases of old. For me, having grandchildren focuses me on the future, and all those same hopes and dreams we had for our children are coming forth again in this next generation.  After all, Christmas is about the birth of a baby named Jesus.

When I hold one of our grandbabies, life just slows down and a whole bunch of “really” important things get put on the back burner. I just look into their eyes (while I am doing the Grandpa two step) and pray for them, connect with them and let them know they are loved and I am going to be here for them. Always.12313729_1012241812183156_6440637861751532491_n

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Tristan Klesick

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Together we are making a huge difference

We are currently running reports on all the food bank, water well and holiday donations that you have given through Klesick Farms in 2015, in preparation for sending out end of the year tax donation receipts. I am completely humbled by the generosity and kindness of each of you.

Our partnership is a force for doing “good.” So far this year, together we have donated over 975 boxes of high quality organic produce to 10 different food banks. Of these boxes, 799 were generously donated by you (156 of which were the Thanksgiving holiday donation boxes) and 176 were donated by Klesick Farms as part of our customer donation matching program. We also send our “seconds”/culled organic produce to the food bank weekly.

The real benefit of our partnership comes from blessing others, blessing those who need a little extra help to feed their families and blessing those who serve them. Those acts of kindness are what makes a community our “box of good” community. But we are not done yet, as you can now order a Christmas Blessing Box for this holiday season and continue spreading hope! You can also still donate a box to the food bank option of your choice, and for every four boxes donated we will donate one extra.

In addition to the Christmas Blessing Box, we have two other great social causes we are blessing this holiday season. Crossway International and She Is Safe are two great international outreaches. Crossway drills wells in Africa and She Is Safe helps women escape sex trafficking. Both organizations improve the lives of women on the other side of the world.

The Klesick family personally knows both the area directors for these organizations and personally supports their work. These two organizations do some amazing work in some of the hardest areas in the world. Maybe I can’t go to these places, but I can sure help them improve the lives of women in India and Africa.

This Christmas and holiday season if you would like to join us in doing good, as a thank you we will send you the fun and lively Christmas CD from Matty Ride, I’d be Fine with Christmas, for any donation of $20 or more.

These are the hardest newsletters for me to write, as I am brought to tears thinking about our partnership with passionate people who care about the lives of others and organic food.

Together we are a force for doing good!

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Tristan Klesick