Embracing the Abundance of a Day at Market

You may find yourself wondering what to do with the abundance of local foods from one CSA (community supported agriculture) box or one morning at your local farmers’ market.  Well, here’s an idea:  embrace it!

The Fall issue of Edible Piedmont includes a great article, Fearing a CSA Box in a 30-Minute Meal World, on how you can handle what comes in the box or what you may have bought at market and then wondered what you’re going to do with it.  The article also includes a recipe for Honey-Mustard Pork Ham Roast that sounds delicious.

Interested in Local Food and Farming?

While it may not be likely that you’ve been to an agricultural conference in the past, this just might be the year to do it!

Western Wake Farmers’ Market Manager Kim Hunter and President Juliann Zoetmulder will be among the panelists on Saturday, December 4 at the 25th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference hosted by Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA). They will participate in the “Farmers’ Market Special Series: Starting a New Farmers’ Market” workshop. CFSA’s conference, December 3 – 5 in Winston-Salem, NC, isn’t just for farmers, but for anyone who cares about the food they eat and the local food scene.

This year’s conference theme is “Local & Organic Arrives:  Our Opportunity is Now.”  Local and organic food is at a popularity level that we would have only dreamed of a few years ago.  How do we, as a movement, seize this opportunity and take it to the next level?  Keynote speaker and local food expert Michael Shuman will offer some compelling and provocative ideas.

For the non-farmer, this conference offers plenty of great information. Gardeners, cooks, community food activists alike will find workshops of interest, plus lots of great local, organic food, of course!

Early bird registration ends September 15, so check it out if you’re interested. CFSA offers a Work Exchange with partial discounts for working at the conference, and they need help with many tasks before and during the conference.  If you have questions, are interested in participating in Work Exchange, or want to volunteer at or before the conference, please e-mail Cheryl at CFSA.

Tour Triangle farms

The Eastern Triangle Farm Tour is set for September 18 and 19.

The tour features more than 20 sustainable farms in Harnett, Granville, Franklin, Wake, Johnston and Chatham counties. The farms are open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. both days. Tickets cost $25 in advance per carload or $30 at the farms or $10 to visit a single farm.

For more information or to buy tickets, go to http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org.

The tour is co-sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Whole Foods.

New businesses make it convenient to eat local produce

At Papa Spuds' warehouse in Cary, Anthony Tasselli loads boxes of produce for delivery. Papa Spuds works directly with regional farmers and periodically distributes what they grow to Triangle customers.

From farm to fork has long been the rallying cry of the eat local movement.

But getting the food from the farm has been a barrier for some consumers who don’t have time to shop at farmers markets or find community-supported agriculture programs, better known as CSAs, inconvenient.

Enter a new breed of business – a middleman between consumers and farmers – that tweaks the old model.

Traditionally, a consumer who joins a farmer’s CSA pays up to $600 in the winter for a weekly share of produce from spring to fall. Though the programs are popular – there are more than 100 in the state, up from 35 in 2002 – many people cannot pay for a whole season of produce in advance, volunteer on a farm or pick up the food at designated times as many programs require. Other people simply don’t know what to do with an abundance of beets or kale.

That has created an opportunity for local businesses such as Papa Spuds and The Produce Box, which allow customers to pay for their produce as they go – generally $20 to $30 per box. They offer customers more choice and generally stock products from several farms rather than just one. In addition, the boxes are delivered to customers’ homes.

These new businesses are bringing hundreds of new customers to the table, helping to make farming financially viable for more small farmers.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/08/15/629755/new-businesses-make-it-convenient.html#ixzz0y7NwgbG2