Gold Beet Borscht

This is an quirky borscht, using a quirky beet. You can leave the veggies in big chunks because they'll be pureed.


1 pound gold beets
2 quarts water, divided
1 parsnip, trimmed and cut in chunks
1 carrot, trimmed and cut in chunks
1 leek, cleaned, trimmed, and cut in chunks
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
juice of half an orange
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Bring one quart of water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the beets, lower the heat, and cook for about 45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, bring the other quart of water to a boil in another medium-sized saucepan, then add the parsnip, carrot, leek, garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary. Lower the heat and cook on a medium-low flame for about 45 minutes.

3. Take a beet out of the pot with a pair of tongs, run it under cold water, and test it to see if you can easily rub off the skin. If you can, peel all of the beets this way, then cut them into chunks. If you can't return it to the pot, cook it for another 5-10 minutes, then try again.

4. Add the peeled, chunked beets to the remaining veggies, along with the orange juice and balsamic vinegar.

5. Drain the veggies and set aside the broth. Puree them in batches, adding liquid as needed. combine the remaining stock with the pureed veggies and serve.

Expensive Meat

These customers are lined up in front of the Sea Breeze Farm booth at the Ballard Farmers' Market, waiting for the day's sales to begin. The line is there every week, rain or shine, because Sea Breeze usually runs out of their most popular meat and dairy products early in the day. The customers line up and wait even though Sea Breeze's meats cost two or three times as much as the meat at the grocery store.

We've come a long way since the 1970's, when angry housewives picketed and boycotted supermarkets over the rising cost of meat. In response to these angry consumers, the USDA implemented a program of subsidizing farmers to grow corn and soy, much of which ends up as cattle feed. This has ensured that the price of meat has stayed relatively low and relatively stable. At the same time, many American households discovered that they didn't need to use meat in every meal, every day of the week.

When you compare meat and dairy prices at the farmers' market with meat and dairy prices at the grocery store, you'll find a much bigger difference than when you compare fruit and vegetable prices at the farmers' market with fruit and vegetable prices at the grocery store. That's because it takes more resources to produce meat and dairy than it does to grow fruit and vegetables.

Bizarre federal policies can bring down the price of meat and dairy at the supermarket, but cows aren't adapted to eating corn and soy. The animals who eat these foods are unhealthy, and their meat is inferior. Low meat prices can't fool these consumers, who line up and wait for Sea Breeze to start selling their meat and dairy, week after week, in every kind of weather.

Anitas Crepes

This is my friend Anita, making crepes. She makes wonderful crepes, using plenty of locally produced ingredients like cheese from Estrella Family Creamery and spinach from Willie Greens Farm.

She'll be opening a cafe in Ballard this spring, on Leary Way in the spot that used to be the Vacuum Shack. In the meantime, you can enjoy her crepes at the U District Market on Saturdays and at the Fremont and Ballard markets on Sundays.

A Glimmer of Spring

Locally grown flowers are not something you often see this time of year, at least not in the Pacific Northwest. These tulips were grown up near the Canadian border by Alm Hill Gardens, in the greenhouses where they grow their berries and tomatoes over the summer. They've actually got some growing out in the fields now as well, but they're not quite ready yet. This is the first year they've grown winter flowers. They certainly fill me with anticipation and hope.

The Bleakest Time of Year

This is the bleakest time of year for us aspiring locavores. Even the winter squash has mostly come and gone, and we haven't really seen anything new popping its head out of the ground in months. Spring is still a month out.

Some encouraging thoughts:

Brussels sprouts are wonderful if you quarter them, toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then roast them. I usually roast some garlic at the same time, then I smash it up and mix it with oil and vinegar, and toss it with the Brussels sprouts once they're ready.

Savoy cabbage is consistently good this time of year.

There are many varieties of beets.

There are many varieties of kale.

Carrots are sweetest this time of year.

Our ancestors ate root vegetables out of necessity. We eat them by choice.

And yet, for all that, I can't wait to see the first spring asparagus, or the first summer tomato.

Food Science

An engineer friend of mine stumbled on this gem. It's a device that tests the structural integrity of peas by poking them and measuring their resistance. Ouch!

The company that makes it also makes a spaghetti stretcher.

Organic Dogma

"Is it all organic?"

I hear this question nearly every day as I cook my vegetables at the farmers' market. I used to answer, "Anyone who tells you their stuff is all organic is lying." (I mean, really, organic salt?) Lately I've been saying, "I think organic certification is a racket."

The fact is, I do use a lot of organic ingredients, and I truly care about cooking and serving good, clean, food. But I also feel a need to shift the terms of the discussion. The food I eat doesn't have to be 100% organic or even certified organic, though I do like to know that the people preparing it are giving some thought to the ingredients they choose. Sure, I'd rather eat food with fewer pesticides, but that's not the only issue that matters to me.

I'd rather buy something directly from a small-scale farmer whose stuff isn't organically certified, than something organic that was grown in another state and handled by a series of middlemen. This isn't just about food miles: it's also about supporting independent farmers.

Practicing agriculture on a small scale rather than on an industrial scale in itself lessens the need for pesticides: you don't need to spray a couple of rows of beets or cabbage nearly as intensively as you would an entire field of a single crop. Insects tend to be narrowly adapted to eat single varieties of plants, so the critter who eats beets will usually run into the cabbage before he can do too much damage.

I've been to stores that have separate bowls for the scoops they use in their organic spices and those they use in the "conventional" ones. Does anyone honestly believe they're going to be harmed by the pesticide residue on the spice residue on the scoop?

I've had people cross examine me about the purity of my ingredients, and then walk by eating hot dogs.

I've been to certified organic farms that had no running water in their bathrooms for employees to wash their hands (apparently the state certification agencies don't require it.)

Anyway, I'm hoping we can all just lighten up a bit and enjoy our food. In the end, that's what matters most.

Cheap Meat

This week we saw the biggest meat recall in history: 143 million pounds, most of it already eaten. Concerned pundits everywhere are calling for tighter regulation. That would certainly help, but legions of inspectors won't change the fact that you've got to resort to some pretty nasty practices if you're going to to mass produce meat and sell it cheaply.

There's something special about meat. The reasons that vegetarians and vegans cite for avoiding it have historically moved others to regard it as a high status food. Eating meat involves taking a life. It takes more resources to raise meat than to grow produce. Back in our hunter-gatherers days we had a fairly reliable supply of nuts and berries, but meat from a hunt was a windfall, and an occasion for feasting.

During the past few centuries industrial entrepreneurs have learned to mass produce meat. In order to do so they've had to displace self-sufficient farmers all over the world, clear the American plains of buffaloes, destroy millions of acres of rainforest, pollute our air and our ground water, inject animals with artificial hormones and antibiotics, and subject these creatures to horrific conditions. The quality of the meat has declined, as the animals are sick, stressed and poorly fed.

And yet some part of our brain continues to look at meat as a special food. That's only natural, considering the fact that we spent millions of years as a species enjoying it only rarely. Contemporary advertisers understand this, marketing meat as a treat or a reward, even though it's now available every day, for every meal.

But there's always a wake up call, like those millions of pounds of suspect meat that we heard about this week, much of which has already worked its way into the school lunch program.

"Maximum Satiation Efficiency"

British government officials aren't the only ones struggling with the messy politics of an anti-obesity campaign. The New York state legislature has passed a bill, scheduled to take effect next month, requiring fast food franchises to clearly post calorie counts next to their menu items.

But they've been banging heads with a Dr. David Allison, new president of the Obesity Society, a concerned group of doctors and scientists. Dr. Allison, who has also consulted with the restaurant industry, is arguing, among other things, against "inadvertently encouraging patrons to consume lower-calorie foods that subsequently lead to greater total caloric intake because of poor satiating efficiency of the smaller calorie loads."

Wow.

If I'm understanding this correctly, the good doctor is arguing that if we eat lower calorie foods we'll just be hungrier, and that will ultimately cause us to eat more.

I wonder how anyone managed before the fast food companies came along to help us achieve satiation efficiency.

Peppermint Stick Beets

Speaking of beets...One of the market vendors does a nice display where he cuts open a chiogga beet so you can see the pink concentric circles inside. It made me think of peppermint stick ice cream, or candy canes, and I got to thinking about a way to prepare them that made this connection.

This is what I came up with. It's really nothing like peppermint stick ice cream or candy canes, but it is minty, and it is yummy.

4 medium sized chiogga beets
1-2 Tablespoons oilve oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh spearmint
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Peel the beets with a paring knife, then cut each one in half lengthwise and cut it into thin slices. Steam the beat slices for 5-10 minutes, until they're reasonably soft.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and cook them for 2-3 minutes or until the shallot is soft and transluscent.

3. When the beets are ready, add them to the garlic and shallot mixture, cook for a minute longer, and serve.

Frankenbeets

This spring American farmers will start planting a strain of genetically modified sugar beets, which will be resistant to the pesticide Roundup, coincidentally manufactured by Monsanto, the very company behind the sugar beet seeds.

Most of the table sugar manufactured in this country comes from sugar beets, rather than sugar cane. The sugar extracted from the two plants is chemically identical by the time it's processed into the white powder we know so well, although bakers insist that the two substances behave quite differently.

These beets will be the first new genetically modified food crop introduced in the United States since the 1990's. Years ago candy companies such as Mars and Hershey's balked at the idea of using GMO sugar in their products because they feared consumer reaction, but now they've somehow gotten the impression that consumers don't care as much as they did a few years ago.

It's true that during the past few years we haven't been hearing the uproar over genetically engineered crops that regularly made news headlines eight or ten years ago. Perhaps that's because no new GMO crops have been introduced lately, at least until this sugar beet venture.

I think Monsanto and the beet growers are going to be in for a expensive surprise. There has already been a lawsuit filed by the Organic Seed Alliance and a group of other plaintiffs against the USDA for insufficient oversight. I know that when I use table sugar, I'll be looking for brands that are made from cane, rather than beets, at least until they start genetically modifying that, as well.

The Staff of Life

The price of wheat has been soaring lately, in part because of bad weather pounding crops all over the world. American reserves are at their lowest level in half a century and countries from Taiwan to Venezuela have been increasing their consumption. There's more competition for a dwindling supply.

These countries have been consuming more wheat in part because their standard of living has improved. Wheat is, and always has been, a high status food. You can grow a lot more barley than wheat on an acre of land, which is part of the reason people in Western cultures have tended to favor wheat over barley.

Wheat also makes better bread, in fact, once folks learned to use yeast to make their bread rise, they started growing varieties with more gluten, or better bread making properties, instead of the early strains of spelt and emmer, which have more protein.

This spike in wheat prices isn't so much a food shortage as much as a shortage of a food that we tend to think of as better than some other foods. Ironically, this spike in prices will put it outside the means of poorer people in developing countries, which will make it more desirable, which will up the demand, which will once again raise the price...

Lentils and Barley

Lentils and barley are among the earliest foods cultivated in the Near East, where folks probably first started to farm. Someone could have made almost the same meal 8 or 10 thousand years ago.

This dish is a great example of how you don't have to spend a lot of money to eat local, organic foods: you can use 90% organic ingredients, including greens and garlic from the farmers' market, and still make this recipe for $1.50-$2.00 per person.

4-5 cups water
1 cup dried lentils
1 cup pearled barley
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon dried spearmint
1 bunch greens, cut in 1 inch strips (use kale, collards, chard, mustard greens, spinach, beet greens, etc.)

1 cup plain yogurt (optional)


1. Bring the water to a boil. Add the lentils, barley, garlic, salt and pepper.

2. Lower the heat and cook for about 20 minutes, then add the parsley, spearmint and greens.

3. Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes longer, until the lentils and barley are soft and most of the water is absorbed. Serve with yogurt, if desired.

How to be a GREAT Customer

There are all kinds of manuals instructing business people on how to provide great customer service. I think customer service is actually a two way street, and respect should flow both ways. Here are some thoughts from the other side of the counter, basic things that I wish every customer could know. I speak as a farmers' market vendor, but these guidelines could help you be a great customer in all kinds of retail situations.

1. Look for signs before you ask questions.

2. Get your money ready while the vendor is handling their end of the transaction. This saves everyone time.

3. Use smaller bills if you have them or, better yet, exact change.

4. Chatting is a beautiful thing, but if you engage a vendor in conversation when there's a line behind you, they're losing money.

5. If you're waiting in line, decide what you want before you get to the front of the line.

6. Pay attention to how things are flowing. If there's a line in one place, don't stand someplace else and ask for service.

7. Don't hand your garbage back to a vendor. Look around for a trash can. I guarantee, you'll find one.

8. Above all, be respectful.

Have a great day!

My Favorite Processed Foods

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food", and it got me thinking about my favorite processed foods.

My diet is pretty close to the ideal one that Pollan recommends--mostly vegetarian, plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, tasty meals cooked from scratch--but there are a handful of processed foods that I'd hate to never eat again.

1. Fantastic Foods' Instant Hot and Sour Soup-I'm a sucker for instant noodles in a bowl. I choose this stuff sometimes even when I have homemade soup available. I'll probably go to eco-hell because of the packaging, but at least I'll see some of my friends there.

2. Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup-That's right, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. It's not the soup itself, but the fact that nothing else works as well in a tuna-noodle casserole. I've substituted sustainably caught albacore for the Bumble Bee brand. I've even found some relatively clean fried onion rings at Whole Foods and Trader Joe. But I have yet to find a decent substitute for that white trash cream of mushroom soup in a can.

3. Red Vines-It's a texture thing. I've heard that candy companies rarely change their recipes because people are so attached to the exact flavor and mouth feel they remember from their childhood. The ones in the package are much softer than the ones you buy individually from the big plastic container, but I tend to buy them individually so I can stop after one or two.

4. Annie's Macaroni and Cheese-I've been eating this stuff since it was made by a small company in Putney, Vermont. The product is made by a much larger company now, and I still eat it from time to time.

Yes, We Have No Bananas

I love this kind of marketing: turning a weakness into a strength. You can't get the variety at the farmers' market that you find at the supermarket, but that's actually a good thing because most of those supermarket items are picked too early, stored too long, and shipped too far.

There's been a lot of talk lately about the issue of food miles, or the distance our food travels to get to our tables. But that's not the only reason it's important to eat locally. Locally grown food is more likely to be produced by independent growers rather than monster corporations.

People who live and work independently tend to also think independently. It's no accident that the earliest successful democracy--ancient Greece--was an agricultural society built on a system of small, independently owned farms.

At the other end of the spectrum there's the "banana republic," which calls to mind everything from petty tyrants to frequent revolutions to an impoverished population growing a single variety of food to enrich shareholders of foreign corporations.

Yes, we have no bananas...

Good Food- Worth the Price?

I was talking to a farmer over the weekend who mentioned that he'd just raised his prices because he'd realized that people were willing to pay more for his produce. He was conflicted about the change, and worried that his stuff was less affordable now for people who really couldn't pay the extra money.

A few days earlier I'd been shopping at Pacific Food Importers, one of my favorite spots. I was deciding whether to try a new brand of olive oil or stick with Adolpho's, my long time favorite. I got to talking to one of the guys who works there, and when I mentioned my preference for Adolpho's he said, "Yeah, that's great stuff, but he finally figured out what it was worth, and jacked up the price."

Now, I appreciate a good deal as much as the next person, but part of me is also glad to see people who produce fine products getting fairly compensated for their efforts. I've written before about farmers' market pricing, and the fact that organic produce at the market is often cheaper than comparable fruits and vegetables at the grocery store.

Even if organic produce at the market is generally cheaper than what you'd pay at the store, it' still usually more expensive than "conventional" produce, because it's a higher quality product.

As contemporary Americans we spend a smaller share of our income on food than any other society in the history of the world. I've heard figures ranging from 9 to 13 percent but, whatever the exact number, we're pretty spoiled in this arena. The low cost of food gives us more money to spend on clothing, entertainment, vacations and high speed electronics, among other things.

The fact is, we spend our money on what matters to us. I know people who are barely scraping by who buy most of their food at farmers' markets, and I've met people who live in mansions but fill their cupboards with processed garbage from Costco. What matters to you?

You Can't Stop a Revolution with an Ad Campaign

According to today's New York Times, the British government is running into trouble with a new ad campaign aimed at promoting weight loss. Junk food companies trying to get in on the action want to use the campaign's logo. TV stations continue to run ads for foods high in sugar, fat, and sodium, undermining the government's anti-obesity message. Things aren't going smoothly for these well-intentioned government fat-fighters.

Many contemporary social critics blame our collective weight loss issues on modern developments such as the invention of high fructose corn syrup and government subsidies encouraging the mass production of cheap, low quality food. At the risk of grossly oversimplifying an extremely complex issue, I'd argue that the root of the problem actually goes back several hundred years, to the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Ironically the Industrial Revolution first caught on in Britain, home of the faltering anti-obesity campaign. As eighteenth-century businesses developed the tools and infrastructure they needed to mass produce consumer products, government policies such as the Enclosure Acts made it difficult for independent agriculturalists to keep living off of their land. Forced to move to the cities, these displaced farmers became workers in the country's emerging industrial economy. They became wage earners instead of self-sufficient homesteaders.

The same government which had forced them off their land softened the blow by encouraging mass-production of all kinds of foods that had previously been available only to the wealthy. Aggressive colonial policies secured cheap supplies of sugar and tea. The same Enclosure Acts which had been the death knell of small scale farming ensured a steady supply of meat, which most eighteenth-century Englishmen had previously enjoyed only on special occasions.

These events set the stage for the past two and a half centuries of unfortunate eating habits, which American culture has inherited from our British ancestor. Food has become a consumer commodity, a reward for an unrewarding day's work.

You can't change this kind of history with an ad campaign. We won't start eating well until we start living well and doing meaningful work.

Wilcox Farms to Stop Producing Milk

Wilcox Farms, a fourth generation family-run operation, will soon stop producing its popular locally made dairy products. Their rBST free and organic milk will no longer be available after March of this year, although they will continue producing cage-free and organic eggs.

They're making the change because they've found it hard preserve their ideals while competing in an industry that's increasingly geared towards industrial-scale production.

I'm always grateful to find reasonably priced clean food, and Wilcox milk has been a great value from a company which seems to have integrity. At the same time, I've wondered how they managed to sell their milk so inexpensively. The clean milk I see at the farmers' market sells for nearly twice their price.

In my own businesses, I've generally found it a good idea to consolidate, keeping things as simple as possible. It's probably a good move on their part to focus on their egg operation. Still, I'm going to miss their products. I wish them well.

Genetic Diversity

There used to be one hundred thousand varieties of rice grown around the world, a landscape of flavors and textures and subspecies that could thrive in all kinds of microclimates and types of soil.

One of the casualties of our modern industrial food system is that big businesses grow huge quantities of a limited number of plant varieties, usually subspecies that ship well, have long shelf lives, or are easy to harvest with machines. As a result, traditional varieties of all kinds of plants are growing extinct.

Enter the farmers' market, the ideal venue for innovative producers to revive forgotten heirloom seeds. Market shoppers tend to value flavor over convenience, and they love to try new (old) things.

During the twelve years that I've been vending at markets I've seen a tremendous growth in the available varieties of different fruits and vegetables. One farmer will experiment with something which catches on, and before you know it everyone is growing some obscure variety of zucchini or cauliflower.

High Prices at the Farmers' Market: Fact or Fiction?

One of the biggest hurdles faced by local farmers' markets is the perception that market food is too expensive. (The other big hurdle is the lack of convenient parking, but I have nothing useful to say about that.)

Last spring an economics class at Seattle Central Community College explored the question of whether farmers' market prices really are higher than comparable prices at the supermarket. They compared the cost of organic produce at the nearby Broadway Farmers' market with prices at QFC, Safeway, and Madison Market.

In almost every case they found that produce at the farmer' market was actually cheaper than stuff at conventional stores. So why the negative perception?

Perhaps a trip to the farmers' market feels expensive to some people because it involves preparing meals from scratch. Shopping for ingredients and cooking a real meal tends to be more expensive than eating fast food or frozen convenience food, although it's certainly cheaper than buying a decent meal at a restaurant.

Fresh herbs, in particular, tend to much more affordable at farmers' markets, and the bunches are much bigger than those tiny, overpriced plastic packages at the supermarket.

And I haven't even touched on the question of quality...

Sulfite Saga

This wine was made without sulfites, yet the label reads,"Contains sulfites". Why would anyone want to claim that their product contains a harmful chemical when it doesn't?

It turns out that winemakers who claim on their labels that their wines are free from sulfites have to pay extra fees so the government can test their product and make sure they're telling the truth. There's some wisdom in this: sulfite allergies can be dangerous, so untruthful labeling can have dire consequences.

Sea Breeze Farm, which makes this wine, also sells meat and dairy products from grass fed, pastured animals. Their practices exceed the standards for organic certification but their food is not certified organic because they're not interested in the extra fees and paperwork that would come along with the right to use the word "organic" on their labels.

Fortunately, they sell most of their food and wine at farmers' markets, where they can explain to customers in person about their production methods. I'm glad to have strict labeling laws for products in supermarkets that pass through the hands of a series of middlemen, but when you can look a producer in the eye and ask questions for yourself, it's just not necessary.

"Without Corn, There is no Country"

Mexican farmers have been flooding the streets of Mexico City protesting againts the NAFTA provisions which went into effect earlier this year, allowing American corn and beans to enter Mexico without tarriffs. They're finding it hard to compete against the low prices charged by American industrial farms.

In case you haven't heard, American corn is heavily subsidized by agricultural policies that encourage farms--especially big farms--to produce a lot more corn than we really need. The extra grain goes to feed cattle and is also used to create all kinds of processed food products, like the high fructose corn syrup that's been taking its toll on our health. Now our corn is going to Mexico at very low prices, threatening the livelihood of small-scale farmers there.

Some of those farmers will migrate north in search of work, fueling our already charged immigration debate. The situation is not entirely the fault of NAFTA; American agricultural policy is also at fault, as well as the Mexican government's unwillingness to support its own subsistence farmers.

In any case, the whole sorry situation is another very good reason to eat locally, and to buy our food directly from the people who produce it.

Save the Surplus Schools

There's a bill currently going through the state legislature that could have a real effect on Seattle's farmers' markets. House bill 3291 and Senate bill 6872 officially designate old school buildings that aren't being used as schools anymore as community assets, to be used for the good of local communities.

The University District Farmers' Market is hosted by one of these schools, the venerable University Heights Center. The Phinney Neighborhood Center, also a former school building, is home to a farmers' market as well. Many of these sites are already being used for the common good, the bill would just make it official, and it would provide some funding.

At present there isn't a single Seattle farmers' market that has a secure, permanent home. Some sites are threatened by developers; others simply have to be renegotiated year by year. This becomes a more pressing issue as land values increase, and workable sites become increasingly rare. There's been some movement towards a symbiotic relationship between the Parks Department and market administrators, which could open up all kinds of new options. This bill would be also be a big step in the right direction.

Please contact your state representatives, and let them know that this is important to us.