How was your winter?

Spokane Farmers Market -- 5th and Browne.

I am a college professor so each fall when the new academic year gets underway I ask and am asked a lot "how was your summer?"  But today, the opening day of the Spokane Farmers Market, one of the farmers with whom I have become friendly asked "How was your winter?"  A good reminder that the wax and wane of the year means different things to different people.  They had much to tell as did I.

It has been a cold, wet spring and I have been worried for the region's farmers.  I have heard on the news that the vineyards are weeks behind in flowering and some of the garden starts at the market today were newly out of their greenhouses.  But today, a glorious, sunny and warm spring-turning-to-summer day, the Spokane Farmers Market opened.  There were more stalls and more things for sale than I had expected. 

Golden Morel Mushrooms

I was able to get some really wonderful things.  I got asparagus, spring onions, walnuts cured from last fall, some hard red winter wheat flour, some beautiful eggs and most spectacularly, some golden morel mushrooms.  One pays for those mushrooms dearly, but there is really nothing else like them and here in the inland northwest there are pockets of them that are well-guarded and well-loved.  I am thinking that tomorrow I will make quiche with the eggs, asparagus, mushrooms and onions. 

There were other things for sale, too.  Potatoes, jellies and jams, fresh cheese and bread, radishes, rhubarb, carrots, beef, pork and chicken, and lots and lots of garden starts of many varieties and sizes.

I am back to my late spring/summer/early fall ritual.  Up early on Saturdays and to the Farmers Market, then to the co-op if there is anything I need (although with more meat, cheese and eggs being sold now at the market, trips to the co-op may be fewer this season!), then home and laundry and still some of morning left at that point.  It is a ritual grounded in both the simplicity and necessity of daily life.

 So when my professor friends ask my how my summer was, not my winter, I'll have something both wonderful and ordinary to tell them.  I ate well, talked with those that grew what I ate, enjoyed the city and the country at once, that's how my summer will be.

On Improvising

My thoughts have turned to spring.  It is too early, I know.  Here in the Inland Northwest we could still get major snow storms as it is only mid-February.  But my thoughts and my food thoughts especially, have turned to spring.  Delicate greens rather than winter squash, asparagus instead of root vegetables.

So, Saturday I went to the Co-op.  Surely there, even if not local, I could find some vegetable a pale shade of green that I could justify.  I walked into the store and turned the first corner after getting a cart.  I had some other items on my list, like local flour and coffee, but the produce section beckoned.  And there, in the midst of all these treasures was a bin of Brussels sprouts--yes, I said Brussels sprouts.  Small and pale green, tight little heads.  My sister called them "stinky little lettuce balls" when we were kids the summer Dad accidentally planted them and not broccoli.  But I admit, I like them.

From those little green heads my own head turned to thoughts of the wheatberry roasted Brussels sprouts salad that the Co-op deli used to have before the chef changed.  Could I reproduce that?  Surely that would be more ethical -- fewer Brussels sprouts needed and local wheatberries.  A plan developed. 

I grabbed an organic lemon and a hunk of Parmesan cheese for the dressing, cruised down the aisle passed the wine and cookies, crackers and tea to the bulk section. I took a plastic baggie and a twistie tie for the bulk bin number and went over to the bin for the wheatberries knowing I had only a few tablespoons of them at home.  Then, tragedy struck--the bin was empty!  Ack!  What was I to do?  I left a little dejected.

Improvise, that's what!

So, no wheatberries.  What might I use instead?  I left the Co-op with the veggies, flour and a few other items, but nothing to use instead.  I had not decided what to do. 

I got home and looked in the pantry.  There was wild rice bought on my last trip to Minnesota, orzo pasta, white rice (oh, why did I not have any black japonica, that might have done nicely!).  I had no barley, not enough wheatberries.  Then I decided, quinoa.  Quinoa is not really a cereal grain I learned long ago, but is a good source of protein and was highly prized by the Aztecs.  It has recently had a bit of a comeback.  It is easy enough to cook, and relatively fast--much faster than polenta, faster than rice.  And it has a slightly nutty, slightly grassy flavor and just a tiny bit of crunch.

Now, was my quinoa and Brussels sprouts salad as good as the one with the wheatberries?  No, the texture and size of the quinoa is substantially different.  But the idea was good and it resulted in a perfectly good side salad.  Changing up the grain or "bulk" in side salads can result in something quite good.  This was good, although, next time I see wheatberries I can be sure to stock up!

Getting out of the kitchen, and then back in

I've been getting out of the kitchen a lot lately, that is, doing a lot of outreach related to local, ethical food. In just a few weeks time I was on a panel talking about organic, local food at the local temple for their Hadassah group and two programs in the residence halls. Well, two for residence life, one was in a hall the other was at the farmers market, but a program run by a residence assistant.

Doing these kinds of programs always excites me, but makes me a little nervous, too. It is exciting because I get to talk about something I am passionate about to a whole new group of people, people not yet "converted" usually to the virtues of local, organic, sustainable food. And nervous because I never know exactly how to pitch a non-academic talk. I am much more comfortable talking to academics or in the classroom.

The talk for Hadassah was over brunch and with two other local food experts. The Jewish women of the group were almost all dressed up. They were excited to be kicking off some of their programming for the year. It was really nice and fun. I grew up in a community with a lot of Jewish families and it had been a long time since I had been in that community. And, there is no lack of interest when talking to Jewish people about food--it is such an important part of their culture and religion. I even got through a couple of lines of the blessing in my head before I forgot what was coming next. But I suppose as a Catholic I can be excused for not knowing Hebrew.

The two residence life programs were very different from one another, but both really interesting and fun. The one last weekend was entitled "Girls Go Green." They walked to the farmers market from campus and I met them there, gave them a little tour, talked about local food issues, the Co-op and answered some questions. They were polite and at the same time, distracted by the bounty that was available. We talked about cooking and how to make meals more sustainable. It was a glorious day weather wise and I think they had a nice time. And one thing about GU students that always impresses me, they are thankful--I got a note from the RAs who planned the event, signed by all the girls who went. I hope they are now more thankful for their food, too.

And Thursday night I did a little cooking class. The RA who approached me about this program also works in my department office. We planned a menu of my chicken tortilla soup and cornbread. It was not a glorious night weather wise, it was rather, a dreary, rainy night as we get deeper into fall. Soup was appropriate. I had forgotten how poorly equipped Res Hall kitchens tend to be. I brought some cooking equipment with me, but we still lacked a few things that would have made things a little easier. Nevertheless, though, we made enough soup and cornbread to feed 26 college students in half and hour. As the soup finished simmering and the cornbread got that lovely golden color to the crust, I talked to the students assembled about local food and sustainable food and how this food really is healthier. As the students ate, I walked around to each little group and we chatted about what was important to them -- when the farmers market is open, could they get Filipino food at the farmers market, what about Chinese food at the farmers market, what do we do on campus, is any of the food in the caf local. The RAs for this program washed all the dishes and things I bought and had the thank you note to me the next day. These students, too, know how to be thankful for a meal.

People want to know about their food. The food system has just gotten so complicated that it makes it difficult and lots of people threw up their hands in frustration. But that frustration seems to have been turned into action as more and more people want to learn and then do something about it, change the way they eat.

The more people I meet and the more I talk to about the ethics of food the more I find who are interested. A few years ago when I started doing this people either thought it was weird or were surprised there was such a thing. No longer. More often now I get questions about when my class meets, will it be offered again, and from non-student adults I get the question of whether or not they could audit the class.

I take all of this as a good sign. People do care and are getting primed to act. These are all activist rebel types. They tend to be educated folks who are realizing that their food dollars are supporting things they wouldn't otherwise support and are concerned about their health and the environment's health. this is where things come full circle. I know I have inspired some to make changes about their food and they in turn inspire me to continue to do this work.

Mingling at the Market

I know I blog about the co-op a lot. But it really is great and I want to support it in any way I can. In the short months it has been open, not even a year, yet, I have become dependant on it. Shopping there is stress-free, they have similar food values as I do and just generally pleasant, people are friendly and chat. It is much more of a human experience than shopping in a large grocery store where everyone is anonymous.

Last night the co-op hosted an event, Mingle at the Market. It went so well they are planning on doing it again, maybe even monthly. Tickets were reasonably priced $20, which included the service charge for the ticket re-seller. The 40 people there (a full house, they turned people away at the door) got an abbreviated tour of the co-op, a chance to ask questions, samples of 7 eastern Washington wines, and tons of snacks from savory to sweet.

I had been lamenting to one of the co-op's board of directors that I would hate to plan a ticketed event in Spokane. People never seem to get tickets early--waiting until the last minute. This makes planning for food and beverage difficult, so I am glad that they sold out of tickets in advance. Maybe the folks that came day of will get tickets ahead of time for the next event.

The co-op's eating space was turned into three elegant banquet tables with linens and paper flowers. Printed menus of the food and wine were at each place setting. After an early glass of white wine we got our tour of the market. While we were doing that, they were setting up the food. We came back, got our food at the buffet and settled in to chat with new friends interrupted only by the pouring of the next wine and a little information from their knowledgeable wine buyer on everything we were drinking.

The standout was definitely the Washington Malbec from Kennedy Shah in Woodinville. Who knew a Malbec from Washington state. It is lush and rich without being heavy. It is totally drinkable and good paired with food. A great find for under $15 a bottle.

I sat with people I did not know. There were some folks who wandered in that I did know, but I had bought my ticket alone and decided I was going to talk to people I didn't know. But there was something I knew about each and everyone there--they were at least interested in if not yet committed to the idea of local, sustainable, ethical food. Having something about food in common, and eating and drinking sure breaks a lot of ice between people who have not yet met before.

It was a lovely evening with good food and good wine and good company. When I was back at the co-op this morning after the farmers market I was really happy to chat with some employees about the previous evening's event and so happy to hear that they are going to do it again. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

So, if you are in the Spokane area and want to support or get to know the co-op these events are a great way to do it. I'll be sure to post the information when it is available! Cheers!

Dining for Dollars and Making Sense

An old high school friend, Allie, has been reading my blog (thank you!) and she asked about eating ethically on a budget. This is something that my college students ask about, too. And something that is important to consider as eating ethically concerns everyone and poverty issues about food and food security are not immune to consideration here.

So I made myself a challenge--this week I am going to write about ethical eating on a budget and post some recipes that can be done ethically easily and for low cost. This is not about compromising quality or ethics and I'll still be eating well.

I started on Sunday, and this meant prepping ahead for the week. I did some cooking on Sunday that will carry me through much of the week. This is a necessity for me during the academic year if I want to eat healthy, ethically, and less expensively. I know a lot of single professionals who eat a lot of take out, which gets expensive, and honestly, I would rather buy good quality ingredients and shoes than spend all my money on take out.

One caveat before I post my recipes and cost calculations for them, I am not a math whiz. So, if you find an error, let me know and I will correct it.

Sunday Breakfast: Coffee and Waffles
Roast House Fair Trade, Organic Shade Grown Coffee, bought on sale at the Main Market Co-op at $7.99, minus my member discount. I weighed the beans and it came to 1 ounce, so it was $.45 for the pot.

Waffles--I used to be an avid Bisquick user, but now I make a homemade version of Bisquick. This does involve using some less than ideal ingredients on occasion, but I can use local flour.

The recipe for the homemade "bisquick" is:

8 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups dry milk
2 cups shortening

For waffles, 2 cups of this mixture ($1.20)
1 1/2 cups organic milk ($1.08)
1 local egg ($.50)
1 tablespoon oil ($.05)
1/4 cup local oatmeal ($.10)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts ($1.50)
1/4 cup organic shredded unsweetened coconut ($.50)

Served with local butter ($.12) and real maple syrup bought on sale ($.29), comes to $.45 per waffle. If you skip the nuts, etc, in the waffle mix (reduce milk to 1 1/3 cups), the cost comes down to $.29.

Not bad even if you have two waffles.

Sunday Lunch: Pizza
I admit, I love pizza. And I love it even more if it is homemade. Something about it reminds me of good childhood dinners. I have written about making pizza before, so this will be a bit quicker.

The pizza I made had a mixture of local white and wheat flour for the dough, organic crushed canned tomatoes, whole milk mozzarella from the co-op, some Parmesan, and a collection of red peppers, pappadew peppers and pepperoncini. About a dollar's worth of flour, a negligible amount for sugar, salt, oil and yeast, but let's put a price tag of $.35 for all of it, likely the yeast is the most expensive part. Cheese came in at $2.05, tomato sauce at $.42 (I buy organic tomatoes by the case--I used to do it at the local grocer's case sale, but will do so now at the co-op), and assorted peppers $1.00. That's $4.82 for the whole pizza by my estimation. It serves about 3, so we're talking $1.61 per serving. Again, not bad.

Sunday Dinner: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Weirdly, the first time I had chicken tortilla soup was when I was living in Minnesota. I went to a Christmas time soup party. We made two kinds of soup and ate and everyone got to take some soup home. It was like a cookie swap for soup. I have no idea what the other kind of soup we made was, but this one I really liked and have been making and modifying it ever since.

I love making soup, too. It is great to take for lunch to school. I am always the envy of those who are having canned soup in my department. It can be healthy, is a great way to eat your veggies, and by making it yourself you can adjust the sodium level a lot. Plus, making soup is economical and makes a lot of servings. This recipe makes 12 1 cup servings, which could be lunch and dinner for a single person for most of a week. I tend to make several kinds of soup over several weekends freezing some so I can have different kinds for lunch during a week.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, organic, ($3.50)
32 ounces organic, free range chicken broth ($2.00) on sale
16 ounces frozen corn kernels ($1.99)
can of organic black beans ($1.29)
organic, local onion ($.75)
organic local red pepper ($1.00)
lime ($.39)
2 cans fire roasted organic tomatoes ($2.78)

Comes to $1.14 per serving, with garnishes of organic corn chips and cheddar cheese (another $.30) it's $1.44 per serving.

That means for Sunday my meals cost $4.40. That's about the same as a medium flavored latte on campus. That really puts it into perspective, I think.

Eating ethically on a budget does require some forethought and some planning. It requires some time in that I have to cook myself and not rely on prepared, processed or packaged.

I'll be back later in the week with some more about how my ethical eating on a budget goes this week and where I likely faltered some! Happy eating!

Coffee Talk

This morning I visited a local coffee roaster, Deborah Di Bernardo, at Roast House Coffee. They are doing some really great things there with coffee. Beyond fair trade, Roast House is developing what is now being called "relationship coffee." The idea is that fair trade is great, but if you can get to know those who are growing the coffee, guarantee them a place to sell it season after season, help them figure out how to grow coffee in the best way for them, for the environment, for the market and for taste, even better.

Over half a cup of a new blend and a cup of their Guatemalan blend, we talked ethics and coffee and food. We talked sustainability, making small different choices that lead to big differences, and the best ways to educate gently about the choices we all make. We even talked a little philosophy as Deborah told me how she thinks of things and my response was--that's Aristotle! And we talked like only two Italian American women from northeast cities can talk -- a hand gesture here a polite interruption there that leads to the fullness of conversation.

Deborah told me that some of the people they buy from used to grow their crops, come down from the mountains to the streets and hope someone came by to buy from them. That's just not sustainable--people have to be able to make a living. Growing coffee is hard work, it's hot work, too. Relationship coffee takes some of the risk out of the endeavor for the grower and that is a good way to support the value of the work. These are people growing this coffee and they are trying to eek out an existence on it.

The coffee from Roast House is the private label coffee for places like the Main Market Co-op and other local restaurants and shops. It's organic, meets standards that are higher than fair trade, and shade grown. This coffee is what I call "trifecta" coffee. "Shade grown" is just starting to get into people's coffee vocabulary. A lot of places where coffee is grown were clear cut to put in the coffee trees, but that is completely unnecessary and reduces the habitat for birds and other creatures that make for a balanced eco-system. It also means the workers spend more time in the blistering sun. So the concern over shade grown is one of the environment, one of animal welfare, and one of working conditions as well. And as a student wrote in an essay on her final exam, we should look for fair trade organic coffee, and if you want to be a "super star" shade grown, too.

I guess that makes Roast House a super star!

Thanks much to Deborah and Dave of Roast House for their hospitality this morning. It was a delight. (And thanks for the cups of coffee to get me through my grading, the good conversation and the beans, too!)

If you want to learn more about Roast House you can find them at www.roasthouse.net.

Gardener's Glory

This is the first, small, green tomato in the garden this summer. It isn't much to look at right now, but some day it will be a beautiful ripe tomato. And there is nothing better than a garden rip tomato eaten right in the garden. I can't wait!

This is the joy of growing one's own! I know where the organic start came from (Main Market Co-op), I know who planted it into the ground (I did), I know who tied it into its cage (I did), I know who watered it (I did as well as some student helpers), and I know who will be there when it gets picked -- I will. Can't get more local than that!

Lunch at the Co-op

I just love Spokane's new food co-op--the Main Market Co-op. One of the things I like the most about it is the excellent selection of healthy, local, sustainable prepared salads and sandwiches at the deli/take-out area. Now that the weather is good, there are four tables outside to eat at and the larger, communal table inside. But here's the thing, yesterday, when having lunch at the co-op with a friend, we sat outside. While I was waiting for her to come out I wondered if the level of comfort people had developed from eating together at the communal table would be affected with the four picnic tables. Color me thrilled when two women asked to join us at our table. I had the faro salad which is a new favorite, a fruit salad with spinach, a scone and an all natural, cane sugar sweetened gingerale. It was a good lunch. The prepared salads are made right there in the real kitchen in the store by real chefs. I can feel good about this food.

Another thing I like about the co-op is that they share a lot of the same values about food as I do. So, it is easy for me to shop there. They do a lot of the thinking for me. I still read labels, but have less to worry about. Nothing in the place has high fructose corn syrup for example. Lots and lots is local or bio-regional, including much of the bulk food section (including flour) and there are a whole host of local producers that are members of the co-op sharing a stake in the store.

Having a co-op or another store that has similar food values as you do is a great way of making it easier to eat more ethically. It cuts down on confusion. And if it is a co-op and you join as a member owner, then you have some clout when making suggestions. A place where local producers know their products will be show-cased is good for the local economy as well and gives those producers another venue to sell their products -- be it produce, meat, cheese, milk or eggs.

This past spring at the MMC's first real member meeting we had a chance to hear from a local egg producer. A question was raised about the co-op's location -- it is very close to the downtown farmers market and the off-season farmers market. This egg farmer said that he was happy to have the Main Market right where it is--he has another place to sell his eggs reliably and it meant something to him that there was a store wanting to stock the kinds of food he thinks are important and that they were able to pay him a fair price. He even teared up a bit. Let me tell you, seeing an older man, who works hard on the land, tear up in front of a bunch of city-slickers at the co-op meeting is something I will not soon forget. He was encouraged by the people at the meeting, taking an interest in what he does and wanting to make sure that the co-op was not hurting his livelihood. This was justice in action.

This is the hard story to tell about eating ethically. We have few like him left. To have a sustainable, ethical, and secure food system we need to have more of these small producers and more places in more cities like the co-op to bring the small producers usually superior products to those who want them and will pay the premium for them. It is encouraging to me that over 500 food co-ops opened in America last year. I just hope some of them have the ethical values our little own Main Market Co-op in Spokane has.

Post Party Wrap Up and a Few Odds and Ends

There's a lot to say today about my adventures in ethical eating. First, the dinner party. It was a smashing success. Everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed the meal, the wine, the company. We even spent a few moments talking about ethics and food. I was asked if the food we were to eat was ethical, and I think by and large it was. But there is one ethical value associated with food that I think is often overlooked--community.

We generally enjoy food more when it is shared with others. Family gatherings, dinner parties, meeting for coffee or a drink, dinner dates, etc., are all reminders of this fact. Last night's dinner, shared with good friends, who all shared in the bringing of the food to the table in one way or another, make the meal a more ethical one just by being there and sharing. Sometimes this ethical value competes with others, sure. But I do enjoy the laughing and the talking that comes along with the eating when eating together.

A note of thanks, therefore, goes to my guests who brought with them great wines, good salad, decadent desert, and a reminder of our time together in Italy. But most of all for the sharing and celebrating we did last night together. You all have my gratitude!

Today, lunch with friends at the Main Market Co-op in downtown Spokane. Always a treat! Good company there, too. And some unexpected company, too as another friend joined those I was planning to meet there. Gotta love the co-op--always fun to meet on purpose and accidentally there!

If you haven't been to the co-op -- go! You don't have to be a member to shop or eat there, but shopping and eating there might entice you to join. For lunch I had the faro salad (absolutely a fabulous mix of this old grain, celery, dried cranberries, asparagus and onion) and a spinach, strawberry, pear and fennel salad with a really nice, very light, lime yogurt dressing.

And last but not least, as the photo above indicates, my early arugula (planted the first week of April) has bolted. I guess that means some arugula in things for a few days, and better plant some more greens over the next day or so. Not sure if it will be arugula or mizuna, depends on which seeds I find first.

Thanks for reading and remember eating ethically can be easy--a few conscious choices like shopping at the co-op or growing your own food shared with friends makes for a meal that feeds the body, nurtures the soul and does well by the earth. Happy eating!