10 Reasons to Eat Local

Grokette

I am so excited about Thanksgiving this year!!!

We are eating wholesome foods...............No stuffing, mashed potatoes, goopy gravy, etc............

You can make some of those things wholesome! I'll be making a gluten free cornbread stuffing, all whole grain and with as much local and organic stuff as I can (local natural butter - which was made Sunday!- and onion, organic free range chicken broth, local herbs, free range eggs from my bf's coworker's back yard).

Mashed potatoes aren't that bad - just depends on what you do with them.

It's the junk like greenbean casserole that is gross to me. StoveTop and the other premade grossness, I totally agree with you on for not being wholesome. But as this thread started out, it goes back to knowing how to cook with real foods.


Kayemme, I'll have to chat with you more when planting and stuff gets closer. My bf's mom is supposedly a "master gardener" but everything she did just died - like her tomato plants were junk this year but mine flourished. So I don't want any more of her input being put into practice. hehehe She didn't warn me about the squash bugs that are around here that ended up coming and killing my zucchini, yellow and crook-kneck squash. (The like 4 zucchini I managed to get were AMAZING though) And she picked my crook-kneck squash too early. She's banned from my garden unless it's weeding. :laugh:

I can't have grains of any kind without having a major stomach ache and feeling achy in the joints for days on end after I eat them and I have never been a fan of white potatoes. I have made gravy low carb style which was pretty healthy, but my hubby isn't a big gravy person, so no reason to make it.

I love sweet potatoes though!!

I get roll butter from the Amish and Mennonites around here which is the best tasting butter I have ever, ever had!!

I am so ready to get in the kitchen and cook - I am soooooooooo excited.

And I am talking about all the box and bagged stuff I see flying off the shelves at the grocery stores.............

TropicalKitty

Grokette, once I figured out my gluten sensitivity, I have no problems with corn, potatoes, or rice. It's really great actually. Previously I thought it was just the starches that were causing me issues, but it was the gluten. I feel so liberated now! This summer I was so happy to have fresh picked corn on the cob and not having some feeling of guilt. I've fallen in love with quinoa, especially the quinoa pasta instead of whole wheat pasta. I think we have a nice similarity on this.

Guess the moral of the story is, if I hadn't found out about the wheat thing I wouldn't be where I am now. It's so amazing once you have that click about how food and your body are connected. I had spent so much time hating my body for not behaving with foods, but my view changed suddenly with the gluten deal. Food was being my enemy, not my body. Being able to find quality local foods that help my body has made me love food again.


Thanksgiving will be interesting if I can keep my mom's ignorance out of the kitchen. She was asking me to do nasty things to veggies last night. Her cooking style makes me and my bf sick. So I'm getting nervous that she's going to mess up my plans for healthy foods on the table.

So, ladies, how do you handle the family members who "don't get it"?

Grokette

Grokette, once I figured out my gluten sensitivity, I have no problems with corn, potatoes, or rice. It's really great actually. Previously I thought it was just the starches that were causing me issues, but it was the gluten. I feel so liberated now! This summer I was so happy to have fresh picked corn on the cob and not having some feeling of guilt. I've fallen in love with quinoa, especially the quinoa pasta instead of whole wheat pasta. I think we have a nice similarity on this.

Guess the moral of the story is, if I hadn't found out about the wheat thing I wouldn't be where I am now. It's so amazing once you have that click about how food and your body are connected. I had spent so much time hating my body for not behaving with foods, but my view changed suddenly with the gluten deal. Food was being my enemy, not my body. Being able to find quality local foods that help my body has made me love food again.


Thanksgiving will be interesting if I can keep my mom's ignorance out of the kitchen. She was asking me to do nasty things to veggies last night. Her cooking style makes me and my bf sick. So I'm getting nervous that she's going to mess up my plans for healthy foods on the table.

So, ladies, how do you handle the family members who "don't get it"?

I love what you said............She asked me to do nasty things to veggies........ LOL - what kind of nasty things was she asking you to do to the veggies????

I have added butter sauteed green beans to my menu. They were offered to me by the CSA and I snatched them up.

My hubby and I stay away from the family members that don't get it. We are actually doing Thanksgiving with just the 2 of us and our dogs. We are volunteering at a homeless shelter to serve food during lunch and then we will go home and eat our own.

We will talk to family on the phone, LOL...........

And I do love food also. I just prefer my foods to be protein, veggies, nuts and some fruit. I feel better all the way around with out eating beans, other legumes and grains. My Thyroid is also starting to function normal again with minimal meds.

TropicalKitty

I love my veggies as veggies, I should preface this with. So I'm very happy with steamed plain broccoli or green beans. But she was talking about cooking the green beans in sauteed onion, celery and green pepper - ok yes, not horrible, but when she makes veggies, I get sick. I think it's the sub-par ingredients she uses or something. (Now I realize how absolutely rediculous I sound, but of course there is always more behind the story with someone like your mother hahaha)

I think we compromised where I would blanch the green beans and sautee them quickly with a bit of garlic. My tastes are more fresh, while hers are more disguised. Like she uses oil and butter to pan fry potatoes - I just like a bit of canola oil.

My food tastes like food, not like all of the seasonings and junk to hide what I'm eating. That's the "nasty things to veggies" she does. hahaha

Sounds like you have a nice giving thanksgiving planned.

AKosky585

This is a great idea, and I do shop at local farmers markets when they are in season. In Ohio, they are only open from about May-October. The rest of the time, it is cold, snowy, frost, ice...etc. What about the other 6 months out of the year? I would love to eat local all year round, but I have found it very difficult to find local markets that are open 'out of season'.

Grokette

I love my veggies as veggies, I should preface this with. So I'm very happy with steamed plain broccoli or green beans. But she was talking about cooking the green beans in sauteed onion, celery and green pepper - ok yes, not horrible, but when she makes veggies, I get sick. I think it's the sub-par ingredients she uses or something. (Now I realize how absolutely rediculous I sound, but of course there is always more behind the story with someone like your mother hahaha)

I think we compromised where I would blanch the green beans and sautee them quickly with a bit of garlic. My tastes are more fresh, while hers are more disguised. Like she uses oil and butter to pan fry potatoes - I just like a bit of canola oil.

My food tastes like food, not like all of the seasonings and junk to hide what I'm eating. That's the "nasty things to veggies" she does. hahaha

Sounds like you have a nice giving thanksgiving planned.

Just a bit of information..........Butter is actually better for you than Canola oil.

I understand what your saying though..............I am trying to get through to my hubby that the veggies shouldn't be mushy that actually kills them and they are no longer a living food.. He doesn't understand or get it yet, so I cook his one way and mine the other way for now...............

I will just have to transition him over slowly but surely..........LOL

Grokette

This is a great idea, and I do shop at local farmers markets when they are in season. In Ohio, they are only open from about May-October. The rest of the time, it is cold, snowy, frost, ice...etc. What about the other 6 months out of the year? I would love to eat local all year round, but I have found it very difficult to find local markets that are open 'out of season'.

Perhaps you could look into getting a CSA membership. I am not sure where you are in Ohio, but LocalHarvest.Org is a good site to search for a CSA in your area.

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

hphurley

I just started getting a local organic food box (canada's equivalent to CSA) this month and it's AMAZING!! Tried out so many great recipes that I never would have (because I wouldn't have bought pumpkin, kale or beets). Thai pumpkin soup. Broccoli salads. Kale chips. SO GOOD. So happy!! There's not much local in the winter where I am (no local/seasonal food box for the next 3 months), but I have started canning this year, so i've got some pickles, apple sauce and salsa from the summer months! I love local - it tastes so much better!

TropicalKitty

I love my veggies as veggies, I should preface this with. So I'm very happy with steamed plain broccoli or green beans. But she was talking about cooking the green beans in sauteed onion, celery and green pepper - ok yes, not horrible, but when she makes veggies, I get sick. I think it's the sub-par ingredients she uses or something. (Now I realize how absolutely rediculous I sound, but of course there is always more behind the story with someone like your mother hahaha)

I think we compromised where I would blanch the green beans and sautee them quickly with a bit of garlic. My tastes are more fresh, while hers are more disguised. Like she uses oil and butter to pan fry potatoes - I just like a bit of canola oil.

My food tastes like food, not like all of the seasonings and junk to hide what I'm eating. That's the "nasty things to veggies" she does. hahaha

Sounds like you have a nice giving thanksgiving planned.

Just a bit of information..........Butter is actually better for you than Canola oil.

I understand what your saying though..............I am trying to get through to my hubby that the veggies shouldn't be mushy that actually kills them and they are no longer a living food.. He doesn't understand or get it yet, so I cook his one way and mine the other way for now...............

I will just have to transition him over slowly but surely..........LOL

The butter v canola oil isn't the issue - its the combined flavors she uses of olive oil and butter that are disgusting.

Also, the dairy had been sold out of butter for awhile while I was going in, so I was "stuck" with oil - I go on Fridays and they make butter on Sundays. (ideally I would make my fried potatoes in butter, that's how it was originally made back in Germany, and it's yummier too) But now that the cows are happy making more milk in the cooler weather, they have a lot more product. Picking up 3lbs today! hahahaha

Oh the bf can either eat what I make or figure it out on his own. But, he's realized that I am a great cook. Granted it took some work with him - like I got him to eat asparagus by telling him he had to eat at least 5 spears to make his pee smell funny. BOYS! It worked though hahahah

TropicalKitty

This is a great idea, and I do shop at local farmers markets when they are in season. In Ohio, they are only open from about May-October. The rest of the time, it is cold, snowy, frost, ice...etc. What about the other 6 months out of the year? I would love to eat local all year round, but I have found it very difficult to find local markets that are open 'out of season'.

Perhaps you could look into getting a CSA membership. I am not sure where you are in Ohio, but LocalHarvest.Org is a good site to search for a CSA in your area.

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Expanding on what Grokette said, I networked with the farmers during the summer. So I found one that is doing a small thing during the "off season" through email orders. You'd be surprised what you can find out after you get "into" the scene. One of the beef family suppliers is doing the same thing (actually the veggie farmer convinced them to do the email order thing).

Also, I thought everything was done by now - like in the town I live our market is closed, but in the bigger city near by they have a year round one. Another municipality has a year long one as well. It may just take some hunting around to see what you can find.

Grokette

I love my veggies as veggies, I should preface this with. So I'm very happy with steamed plain broccoli or green beans. But she was talking about cooking the green beans in sauteed onion, celery and green pepper - ok yes, not horrible, but when she makes veggies, I get sick. I think it's the sub-par ingredients she uses or something. (Now I realize how absolutely rediculous I sound, but of course there is always more behind the story with someone like your mother hahaha)

I think we compromised where I would blanch the green beans and sautee them quickly with a bit of garlic. My tastes are more fresh, while hers are more disguised. Like she uses oil and butter to pan fry potatoes - I just like a bit of canola oil.

My food tastes like food, not like all of the seasonings and junk to hide what I'm eating. That's the "nasty things to veggies" she does. hahaha

Sounds like you have a nice giving thanksgiving planned.

Just a bit of information..........Butter is actually better for you than Canola oil.

I understand what your saying though..............I am trying to get through to my hubby that the veggies shouldn't be mushy that actually kills them and they are no longer a living food.. He doesn't understand or get it yet, so I cook his one way and mine the other way for now...............

I will just have to transition him over slowly but surely..........LOL

The butter v canola oil isn't the issue - its the combined flavors she uses of olive oil and butter that are disgusting.

Also, the dairy had been sold out of butter for awhile while I was going in, so I was "stuck" with oil - I go on Fridays and they make butter on Sundays. (ideally I would make my fried potatoes in butter, that's how it was originally made back in Germany, and it's yummier too) But now that the cows are happy making more milk in the cooler weather, they have a lot more product. Picking up 3lbs today! hahahaha

Oh the bf can either eat what I make or figure it out on his own. But, he's realized that I am a great cook. Granted it took some work with him - like I got him to eat asparagus by telling him he had to eat at least 5 spears to make his pee smell funny. BOYS! It worked though hahahah

Where do you live again? Your in Pennsylvania correct? Is your butter Amish made butter too? I don't know what they do to the butter, but the Amish roll butter is better than anything I have ever had, well the Irish Gold butter I sometimes buy from Trader Joe's is very close............

I can't eat regular butter any more either...........

My hubby eats grilled asparagus, again likes it cooked til its limp, I mean soggy - YUCK!! Same with brocolli. green beans, kale, collards, etc.....I could go on and on.

kayemme

I got him to eat asparagus by telling him he had to eat at least 5 spears to make his pee smell funny. BOYS! It worked though hahahah

hahah!

i once told a group of kids i took blueberry picking that if they ate enough blueberries they'd have blue poop. you should have seen the fury by which they picked!!

in my case, it's my bf who's the vegetarian, but i do most of the cooking. he's a good cook, too, now, but when we first met he was just a regular eater - he didn't buy meat replacements (which i thought was cool) but he didn't really use a lot of real vegetables. i feel pretty lucky that we've been doing this local/seasonal thing together and in a much more challenging climate.

we moved from california to rhode island a little more than 3 years ago. we didn't get into the local/seasonal thing there because, well, it's california: it's all seasonal all the time and even if the food is local, it still comes from enormous farms, at least where were were living (central coast).

so moving here into a literal food desert really opened our eyes. now we live in a regular neighborhood, but the first apt we lived in had literally no decent grocery store within 5 miles. we had one large colombian market which sold really really crappy produce, but had a good deal of dry beans and canned goods. i started making our breads because i cannot eat the kind of bread that comes in plastic sleeves. it always sticks to the roof of my mouth and my italian blood refuses ultrasoft bread.

so it's been an interesting process, but certainly has not occurred overnight. and we still have trouble finding local food in the winter because, honestly, stuff doesn't really grow here in the winter. stuff coming from greenhouses, even if local, provide a higher carbon footprint than the trucks that deliver food from california, or hell, even china. so we're pretty much eating a lot of turnips, parsnips, carrots, leeks, kale, potatoes, apples and squash plus whatever we have saved from the summer: tomatoes, peppers, berries and jams.

it's not such a bad gig.

TropicalKitty

I'm in middle Tennessee - we do have Amish here around Clarksville and there were some ladies selling the Amish butter at the famer's market this summer.

The dairy I go to is just a regular family dairy. They pat it into block sort of looking things wrapped in butcher paper. So wonderful and totally has a different consistency from standard grocery store butter. It's fun when you cut into it and can see some of the bubble holes that you dont find in brandname products.

With what you said about your hubby, that's along the lines of what my mom does - over cook. Like she lets the broccoli steam so long it starts to turn brown-tinged. Everything is cooked so long its mushy. Maybe that's why my stepdad and bro don't like veggies?

TropicalKitty

it always sticks to the roof of my mouth and my italian blood refuses ultrasoft bread.

My heritage is German (I'm the first American on my mom's side, she came over as a child) and I understand. Real bread isn't fluffy like Wonderbread. I was reading some article back when I was trying to figure out my body's food issues back in May, and this one baker was saying how the American production system destroyed bread. Everything was about getting the product out quick, which isnt how real bread is made.

My grandpa told me about when he was a POW here, all the Germans were confused by the wimpy bread.

I grew up on real rye, pumperknickle, and sour dough breads. Good stuff. And so much more satisfying than the standard American junk.

Stupid gluten.

kayemme

Maybe that's why my stepdad and bro don't like veggies?

it's so true! i thought i didn't like vegetables until i started eating them from my CSA. My mom is a terrible cook - by which I mean she doesn't really cook, she pours from bag or box and serves. Growing up, all our vegetables (by which there were few) were canned or boxed (dehydrated).

now i can't even eat certain frozen vegetables (like broccoli) because the texture is just so off. in this way, i have become a total food snob.

and i'm the same as you, really, in that i like my vegetables to be vegetable-y. i don't want them drowned in sauce or disguised. i save that for meats (haha) which i rarely eat.

hotpickles

This is such a great post. I love the summer months here, because that's when you can buy all kinds of local produce at a very reasonable price. Now that it's the off-season, not so much.

I like your post about bread. My grandmother, who is 82, still bakes her own bread by hand. It makes all the difference in the world. I can't remember the last time I bought a loaf of mass-produced supermarket bread.

L.

kayemme

like kitty & grok said, just do some poking around. you'll find that there's more out there than you think. once you get "in" the local foods movement, it's hard to see why there aren't more people taking advantage of it.

it's only off season for off season stuff there's still plenty of food even in the grocery that is in season, but ya gotta know what it is first. usually it's the least expensive items.

you can also urge your grocer to supply more local foods from small-to-midsize farms. it sounds like a lot of work, but it's really only a letter now and again.

you're already halfway there with eating fresh, local & seasonal for half the year!

edit: i love your nickname - hotpickles. haha! great!

Grokette

I'm in middle Tennessee - we do have Amish here around Clarksville and there were some ladies selling the Amish butter at the famer's market this summer.

The dairy I go to is just a regular family dairy. They pat it into block sort of looking things wrapped in butcher paper. So wonderful and totally has a different consistency from standard grocery store butter. It's fun when you cut into it and can see some of the bubble holes that you dont find in brandname products.

With what you said about your hubby, that's along the lines of what my mom does - over cook. Like she lets the broccoli steam so long it starts to turn brown-tinged. Everything is cooked so long its mushy. Maybe that's why my stepdad and bro don't like veggies?

That is so weird, because that is how my husband like his veggies - which really grosses me out!!! But I figured at least he is eating them, we will work on lesser steaming as we progress along. I just cook our foods separately for now.

I have to do steak the same way...............he will only eat it if it is cooked all the way through, then he complains that it is tough?!?!?!?! I cook my steaks medium and they are perfectly delicious. Grass fed beef has far less fat than grain fed or grain finished beef, so when I have to cook it all the way through it dries it out and make it tough - but that is how my husband wants it.

I am just going to have to keep working at it slowly and I think he will come around.

I love the Amish and The Mennonites. They have such a simple life full of hard work, yet it is generous and I feel grateful that they share their bounties with us modern people.

I get cheese from Baejte Farms - they are at the farmers market in Soulard (Down town St Louis) every week and in the summer time they are at the other farmers markets on different days. They make the creamiest, most luscious and tasty goat cheese in like 9 or 10 different flavors - it is heaven in a wedge!!!

I am a Proud Polish with some Czechoslovakian and German in me also. My family migrated to this country starting with my great grand parents, so I am 3rd generation American.

I feel fortunate with the way I grew up. I grew up with eating only local, sustainable and in season products. Very little, if anything was bought from the grocery stores. My mom canned, froze and dried a lot of foods for us to have over the winter and meats were hand picked from a family farmed and a weekend was made to render and process the meats for the season. We would have pig, cow, chickens, turkey, deer, etc...........steaks, roasts, deer sausage hand made, etc..........

I got far away from this mentality and way of thinking when I went into the Military and people thought I was weird for being a food snob. That was my downfall - going away from my roots.

TropicalKitty

I grew up in West County, so there wasn't a lot of "local" food emphasis there. My grandparents kept the tradition of having a garden in the backyard, but that's about it. It was quite a trip to go to Soulard (man I thought the mini doughnut machine was so cool!). Most of our produce came from Dierberg's, at least in the fresh part, I think.

I like my meat cooked(med-well to well for steak), but the stuff I get doesn't really dry out. I get a good sear on it to keep the juices in and then cook slowly. Even the stew meat I have was super tender and juicy.