Why Go to Market in the Winter? 5 Reasons Besides the Veggies

Mississippi Honey by NatalieMaynor, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License  by  NatalieMaynor This week, the Portland Press Herald’s Natural Foodie provided us with a timely reminder of the local proliferation of farmers markets in our state. If you live in Midcoast Maine, you already know that the area excels when it comes to indoor markets. It’s where you’ll find Brunswick’s Fort Andross, for example, with its 56 vendors selling their wares. According to the article, the inspiring 1,000 shoppers it attracts on Saturdays has served as a model for others as winter markets respond to public demand for year-round local, fresh foods.Winter Farmers Markets Go Beyond Veggies 

It’s not a surprise that Maine has experienced an indoor market boon. The Department of Agricultural Resources says there’s been a 400% increase in the number of winter markets since 2009. It’s becoming a weekly must for shoppers wanting to load up on vegetables to maintain nutrition throughout the winter months, and a way to find inexpensive, delicious fresh food that helps provide income to sustain local farmers. What more could you want in a shopping experience?

Actually, there IS more to farmers markets during the winter season. We did a little digging of our own and found local markets offer much more than squash and potatoes (although they have those too!).


5 (Other) Reasons to Visit Winter Markets

  • Holiday supplies. Local markets are a surefire way to get in the spirit of the season. They almost always have vendors offering holiday wreaths, poinsettias and holly during December.
  • Party fare. Local cheesemakers can help you make a party plate for a gathering that will blow your guests away. We love Hahn’s End, available at the Bath Winter Farmer’s Market. They offer artisan cheese made with raw cow’s milk aged in their aging cellar in Phippsburg. Pick up flowers and some local wine, and you’re done.

  • Honey. Sweet gold from the bee is so popular that there’s a new business in Portland dedicated to it. You’ll often find honey at farmers markets in the winter. Try Tom’s Honey & More at the Portland Winter Market.
  • Gifting. Winter farmers markets are gift central during the holiday. Crafts and homemade foods are thoughtful for local friends and family, and they are especially unique to those who live away. Markets bulk up on ideas for gift baskets in December, such as teas, canned jams, relishes and salsa, and other non-food items. Find hand-braided sweaters from Braid a Rug at York’s Winter Gateway Farmers Market, along with handmade jewelry from Catrina Marshall Creations, and soaps and lotions from Maine Herb Farm.

  • Organic meats. If you are looking for a reason to head to a market on a cold Saturday morning, an array of organic and farm-raised meats, poultry and duck is one. Try all-natural angus beef, beef jerky, and mother-fed, free-range rose veal from Eastern River Cattle Company, all raised on a 118-acre farm in Dresden. Track them down at the Brunswick Winter Market, where you’ll also find holiday turkeys, chicken sausage and turkey pie from Maine-ly Poultry. If you’re looking for poultry that’s less evolved, you’ll find farm fresh eggs at most winter markets – nothing beats them.

Read more about how indoor markets keep local food handy all year and get a list of markets in southern Maine.

Not in Maine? Find a winter market in your area at Local Harvest.

It’s National Farmers Market Week!

Celebrate By Targeting These 5 Market Fresh Foods Farmers’ Market by NatalieMaynor, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License  by  NatalieMaynor It’s not unusual to get a hankering for a bag of farm fresh potatoes (bursting with a variety of phytonutrients). Around the time when the urge hits, wouldn’t it be great to watch them instantly turn into a Garden Vegetable or Zesty Corn and Potato Salad? You can! Maine Foodie Finds digs deep into Maine’s farmers markets and comes up with gorgeous red potatoes and glowing yellow string beans, all fresh from the ground and vine, then uses a little culinary magic to turn these summer nuggets into foodie gold.

It’s easy to get inspired with seasonal ingredients when there is so much pleasure in the hunt. Take a lesson, and hit your own kitchen with your take. It’s the perfect activity for National Farmers Market Week. In July, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack proclaimed August 7th to the 13th, 2011 as National Farmers Market Week – again. It marks the twelfth year markets have been given the national nod.

According to the USDA, the number of farmers markets have multiplied continuously since in 1994, increasing by 16% just last year – these beloved gathering places for fruits and veggies (and other things, like meats, breads, and cheeses, of course) currently number 6,132 nationwide. Year-round markets have increased as well. It means better access to local, fresh food for more people more often. That’s something to celebrate.

In honor of National Farmers Market Week, the Portland Farmers Market  in Portland Maine is challenging everyone to prepare at least three meals this week using ingredients entirely purchased at the Market. The food gauntlet is down!

5 Fresh Fruit & Veggie Finds for August

What’s healthy and delicious in August for your (at least) three market-sourced meals? Here are five fruits and vegetables that are likely to populate your local shopping hot spots this month. Get them while you can, and make the most of this seriously servings-rich season.

Wild Blueberries

The verdict is in! It’s harvest time for the tens of thousands of acres in Maine and Canada currently being stripped of their glorious blue color. If you aren’t already smothering your plate with antioxidant-rich disease-preventing wild blueberries, now is the time to start a healthy habit. Initiate yourself with a handful for your salad, sauté some up with a little red wine for a sauce or vinaigrette, use them to lend a spark to fish (try this Tuna Carpaccio with Wild Blueberry Wasabi Sauce), chicken or pork (Wild Blueberry Rhubarb Pork Chops anyone?), and finish with a charlotte or a crumble. The big, blue world is open to you!

dogs n corn by 46137, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License by  46137 

Corn

Nothing tastes more like August than corn fresh from the garden. August is the month when those pencil-thin stalks start growing to edible size, and the golden gems of summer offer up their sweet taste straight off the stalk, if you like. Get your fill of the essential summer taste of corn by grilling it with a shake of cayenne or cilantro. Make some summer corn chowder, or use it in a colorful salad. While buttered and salted may be a family favorite, we’re up to our ears in ways to leverage this classic summer veggie. Here’s ten sweet recipes from The Kitchen.

Tomatoes

Whether you put their taste on display in a classic caprese salad, in an elegant tomato and lemon mascarpone tart or stuffed with fresh summer corn, tomatoes are the best ever in late summer. There’s simply no taste like a late summer tomato warm from the sill, and thanks to their lycopene, they provide superior health benefits to boot. Eat up, or save your take for a midwinter marinara by preserving them says, the Portland Press Herald.

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License 

Peppers

There’s a lot to love about peppers, and while bell peppers can be found year round, late summer they are at their shiny, tasty best. Peppers are a good source of vitamin C, thiamine, vitamin B6, beta carotene, and folic acid, and they contain large amounts of phytochemicals, providing exceptional antioxidant activity. Not to mention, they are a perfect ingredient: they provide sweetness, crunch, and bright color to hundreds of recipes. If you love a stuffed pepper (go meat!) now’s the time. But don’t limit yourself to stuffing. Make it simple, with a sweet and sour bell pepper salad, or try Gourmet Magazine’s logic-defying Chilled Red Bell Pepper and Habanero Soup, a sensational cold soup that’s also hot.

Summer Squash

Summer squash peaks at summer’s end and these long, green vegetables are plentiful for good reason. While they may not be known as one of the antioxidants powerhouses, summer squash is a very strong source of key antioxidant nutrients, including the carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, which could play a role in preventing memory loss, vision loss and heart disease. The skin of summer squash is particularly antioxidant-rich, so leave it intact when you can. (You can read up about the health benefits of summer squash at Livestrong.com.) This versatile veggie can be your go-to summer food during all of August and beyond. It is perfect for stuffing, grilling, tossing with feta and tomatoes, or even putting it in a cupcake.

How are you preparing your (at least) three meals this week using ingredients entirely purchased at the farmers markets? Tell us!

Eating Local? If Not, Something’s Fishy

Something fishy happened recently to a Wild About Health reader.

On a quest to buy fish in the midcoast Maine area, he found swordfish from a local monger. It had just come in that day – from Uruguay. “Why am I buying fish from that far away when I live in midcoast Maine?” lamented local food aficionado D. Speer. “And,” he added, “it may have been ‘just in’, but when was this fish actually caught?”

It’s the irony of global food commerce. Lisa Turner, owner of Freeport Maine’s Laughing Stock Farm reasons in her new book The Eat Local Cookbook that while it’s a wonderful thing that crops like wild blueberries from our state can be enjoyed by others around the world in the same way she enjoys imported foods like coffee, what doesn’t make sense is buying imported apple juice when cider is available down the street. Her book – a cookbook of seasonal recipes – is based on making meals that take advantage of local treasures that actually are down the street, with a heavy slant toward vegetables and unprocessed foods.

So, how did the swordfish turn out? Speer was frank: “It was mushy.”

Small Growers

A benefit of living in the state of Maine is that local growers are everywhere. There are over 160 farms and over 6500 “shares” in Maine – some are big, some are small, some harvest herbs, some mushrooms; some grow veggies, while some offer milk and cheese. Community residents commit themselves to buying local, and farmers reciprocate by providing the best product they can. As a result, thousands of dollars remain within communities rather than being distributed around the globe.

More than ever, Maine communities are embracing the local food movement. One notable model exists in Washington County, where the Machias Marketplace provides a local buying club for residents.

One day each week, fresh, local food straight from farmers is brought to about 100 families and to the local co-op, providing residents with access to fruits and veggies, milk, meat and baked goods.

Another hint that local, seasonal eating is a growing passion in the state can be found in the trove of seasonal cooking classes and books that focus on seasonal cooking. As a complement to books like Turner’s, a series of classes taking place this spring and summer at the Portland Public Market in southern Maine adopts a hands-on approach. As part of the series, sponsored by the Maine Real Food Project, local chef Frank Giglio teaches attendees how to cook directly from the state’s bounty – both land and sea.

Reasons to Eat Local

Perhaps the best reason to eat local is that your health will benefit. You’ll get plenty of whole, unprocessed foods as well as a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables. But there are plenty of reasons in addition to health to start eating primarily food in your proximity.

  • If you are experiencing meal-making ennui, eating local can throw a wrench into your cooking, in a good way. You’ll be forced to do new things and get inspiration from new ingredients.
  • It’s all about flavor. Plain and simple, local foods are given a chance to ripen longer, and that means better taste. Foods that travel to get to your local store are usually picked prematurely so they keep longer. Those foods rate high on looks but low on flavor. (That’s why IQF, or individually quick frozen foods, are a great alternative in winter, or any season when fresh isn’t accessible.) And, when food travels less, that’s better for the environment.
  • Another reason that local foods shine in health? Because the nutrients of prematurely picked foods suffer, too. Farmers also make efforts to use nutrient-rich soil and reduce the use of chemicals. Ask a local farmer about their growing methods.
  • Eating local is good for the local economy, and it supports local land development. In addition to supporting your neighborhood farmer, it keeps dollars close to home.
  • Finally, eating local is fun. Picking up local foods means you are making a connection with the earth, with your community, and with local farmers. You get to make colorful choices, and pick from a variety of options. And that will make you feel not just healthier, but happier.

5 Ways to Start

Inspired to start eating local? It’s the perfect time! Here’s five great ways to start:

1. Find a farm. If you are in Maine, you can use the MOFGA website’s food map to find the closest farm near you, or head over to Eat Maine Foods for a map of your closest CSAs. Then, get to know the ropes of local farms so you feel at home there. You can use our tips for shopping farmer’s markets.

2. Commit to spending a set amount of your grocery budget on local food. Try one-third to one-half to start. In the summer, depending on you accessibility, there is often no reason to purchase non-local produce, and local meats are available from farms and some markets.

3. Join those who eat only food grown in a 100-mile radius of wherever they live. Or, start smaller by deciding to make one meal a day out of strictly local foods.

4. Try one new local/seasonal fruit or vegetable each time you shop.

5. Buy a cookbook that provides recipes based on the season like Turner’s Eat Local, or take a class on eating local, seasonal foods.

What’s your community doing to foster healthy eating through local food? Give us a comment or email us at editor(at)wildblueberries.com and let us know!

Healthy Eating from the Farm

How To Be Part of a Rare Food Relationship

Farmers markets showcase the edible gems of the local community. Of course they provide access to a rich, fresh selection of foods to fill our kitchen and our plates. But farmers markets do even more good. If you take a moment to consider the benefits of these local gathering places ornamented with veggies, fruits, meats, cheeses and flowers, you can’t help but get the picture that the food extravaganza in your town is more than just colorful commerce.

First, and perhaps most importantly, farmers markets provide a remarkably rare opportunity for farmers and consumers to develop a relationship. Farmers meet the mouths that they feed, and consumers see where their corn is picked, what dairy farm their goat cheese comes from, and what goes into (and doesn’t go into) the foods they are toting home. It’s a wonderful way to develop a connection with our food and our local farmers while simultaneously providing them with direct remuneration for their dedication.

Furthermore, finding the freshest foods of the season can help us branch out when it comes to eating. Spontaneous buys based solely on availability and interest are not only allowed at farmers markets – they are part of the experience. Haven’t had okra for a while? Bell peppers missing from your plate? Been years since you made a blueberry cobbler? Use the season’s foods to take advantage of new ways of eating and to revisit old friends. And, farmers markets help you eat safely and organically. Looking for foods without antibiotics or growth hormones? Seek out organic farms, and ask smaller farmers about their growing philosophy. Some may not have the paperwork for organic certification, but they may still abide by a no-pesticide or no-antibiotic rules.

Finally, since one of the most important principles of eating well is to put a rainbow of hues on your plate, farmers markets are rife with color. One visit can be the in-road to eating your way through the color spectrum and radically enhancing your health. Start with wild blueberries, add some luscious deep greens, berries, or squash, and round out your bag with a few bright yellow and red tomatoes, and presto, you’ve got a rainbow in your bag.

Ready to go to market? Here are some ways to make it efficient and fruitful:

Set aside some time.
 
Don’t think of your trip as the same as popping in to the grocery store. You’ll want to browse the selection of wares, and you’ll need the patience to make your way through the crowds. Think of your visit as an event, where browsing, chatting, and enjoying the summer morning is part of the experience.

Timing is everything. 

While intuition says arrive early, about.com suggests that going early or late can mean you are market savvy. Early provides the best selection, while late can mean deals for items that farmers don’t want to tote home.

Comparison shop. 

It’s just Farmers Marketing 101 – browse the entire market first, then purchase. You’ll see many of the same foods showcased, and prices and quality always vary.

Connect.
 
Where else can you look the person who grew your food in the eye and ask them anything you want to? Farmers are a wealth of information. They’ll help direct you to products you want, give you tips for your own garden, and often provide you with a sample. They probably also know a favorite recipe for the wares they are selling.

Bring your own.

Don’t forget to pack: You’ll need reusable bags and cash – preferably ones and fives, so sellers can go easy on the change.

Have a meal plan.

It’s easy to pick up lots of items that look great, but when you get home, it might be hard to develop a meal around raspberries and zucchini blossoms. Hard core marketers suggest a little advance planning. You can leave some wild cards for those spontaneous purchases.

Do some taste testing.

This neat tip from ivillage.com can only be done at the market: Buy a sampling of fruit, peppers, tomatoes, garlic or whatever you fancy from several vendors, then take them home for a taste test. You’ll know where to bee-line next week, and you’ll learn about the characteristics and a particular fruit or veggie – in other words, you’ll be on your way to being a farmers market pro.

 A Note on Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs

Helping yourself to the local bounty can be a major inspiration to be part of Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs are communities of individuals who pledge support to a farm by paying a set price to receive part of the farm’s bounty. As a shareholder, growers and consumers share the risks and benefits throughout the entire growing season, and take advantage of a weekly share of fresh seasonal foods for up to 25 weeks.

Find out more about CSAs and find a farm in your state or zip code. Part of a CSA this season? The Crisper Whisperer has great ideas for what to do with that box of wonders.

There’s More Online

At MyPyramid.com there are some practical tools to get the most out of the season’s riches. The MyPyramid Menu Planner will help assist you in your quest for health, and you can also search for a Farmers Market – their database contains 4,800 of the country’s markets.