LocalHarvest Newsletter, March 24, 2011

photo by Capriole Welcome back to the LocalHarvest newsletter. Last year I heard a true story that keeps coming back to me as much of the country approaches the beginning of the local fresh produce season. In this story, one mother is considering joining a CSA. She has heard, rightly, that she's likely to receive many vegetables that will be new to her family. So she calls a friend who has been a CSA member for some time, and asks how their family has dealt with the expansion of their vegetable repertoire. "Easy," says the friend. "If we don't know what it is, first we fry it in a little butter. If that doesn't work, we try it with a little Ranch dressing." Now, I grew up watching a lot of television, including that great series of health education spots that ABC ran in between Saturday mornings cartoons. One was an animated song called "Don't Drown Your Food," in which Our Hero rescues a variety of foods from a surfeit of dressings. "Food's so much better when it's practically plain!" he sings, while pulling a baked potato from a vat of sour cream. Sound advice in the 1970s, and probably even more needed now. The chorus rang in my head when I heard the Ranch dressing story. Still, I think this story points to a greater truth: we all need to start where we are. If it's a choice between familiar but negligibly nutritious tater tots or kohlrabi dipped in Ranch, I say go for the kohlrabi. That might not be the desired end point, but it's a place to begin. Whether we're trying to eat more vegetables, less meat, better meat, or what have you, I think that a real shot at change starts with two things: being honest about where we are starting from, and acknowledging that most change happens incrementally. These first steps remove the false hope that change is going to happen magically, without effort. Thus freed, we can make a realistic plan for how to get from where we are to where we want to be. Maybe it starts with a schmear of salad dressing on the foreign vegetable, and later moves to ketchup, then salsa, and eventually a little swirl of olive oil makes everybody happy. Spring is the time when many of us make plans for how we're going to eat this summer, whether we're signing up for a CSA, laying out a garden, or counting the days until the farmers market opens. We say go ahead and be adventurous this year! It will likely be a lot of fun if you start with small changes and build from there. If your family has had success changing its eating patterns for the better, we'd love to hear how you did it. You can post your ideas here. To Spring and new beginnings! Eat well, and take good care. Erin Erin Barnett
Director
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Around this time of year, I start to get tired of cooking the same old things. At my house we preserve a lot of the garden's bounty - which I love - but by March we are ready for new flavors. It will be a little while yet before our Minnesota garden starts giving us anything green, so this year I am taking a new angle on seasonal cooking and trying a Week of All New Recipes. Whooee! A small culinary adventure.

Recipe...

LocalHarvest.org

Dear LocalHarvest Customer, Last Saturday was the first really nice Spring day here in the Upper Midwest, a day for projects. I spent much of it scraping and sanding some windowsills that were in sore need, while my husband fertilized the garlic. Once Spring arrives, everything needs attention. In years past, The List has sometimes been overwhelming. Projects loom, looming larger the longer they remain on The List. This year I put up a sign on the refrigerator reading, "Just start." It's amazing what gets done once I start, and noteworthy how much more fun things are when they haven't been premeditated to death. For an over-thinker like me, the frig sign been a good nudge in the backside. Sometimes, though, an infusion of information is what's needed to get one's wheels moving. Last week I was introduced to a new book that offers just such a helping hand for people who want to eat more local food this year. The book is called "The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food," by Amy Cotler. With sections on how to shop for local foods, what to do with them once you get home, and how to put an interest in local food to work in your community, this book has a lot to offer those who are just getting into local food. It would make a great gift, too. Thanks to Storey Publishing, we have five copies to give away to LocalHarvest customers. Be the 5th, 15th, 50th, 105th or 150th person to person to respond to this email by ordering something wonderful from the LocalHarvest catalog, and a copy of the book will be yours. To Spring projects, Spring food, and making good on our intentions. Until next time, take good care and eat well. Erin --
Erin Barnett
Director
www.localharvest.org