MANNA does the local thing

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Check out what the organization I work for, MANNA, is doing to “go local”.

Bike Fresh Bike Local

A friend (thanks Trish!) sent this awesome event info over to us:

Bike Fresh Bike Local – September 26, 2010 – 25, 50 or 75 mile ride to tour local farms, with a complimentary beer from a local brew co., Triumph!  Join us.

A bit away, but if you need to start training, get to it!

100 Mile Happy Hour

Need a happy hour this Friday?  Check out one serving local brews and chews, there are more in the area, but here’s one we found recently:

Sample some of the area’s best brews at City Tap House this fall!

Every Friday from 5pm – 7pm enjoy $2 off all beers brewed within a hundred miles of the city! www.citytaphouse.com.

What’s purplish-black, oblong and yummy?

EGGPLANT!

Have been readily available for the the last couple of weeks, so we put together some yummy meals as a result:

Eggplant Chips

• 2 eggplants, sliced thin
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt/pepper to taste
• hot pepper (spices available at Headhouse Square Farmer’s Market), but fresh peppers are available at several of the local markets, diced

Directions: Lay eggplant slices on a plate.  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and the hot pepper.  Heat a frying pan to medium to high heat. Cook each side of the pepper 3-5 minutes until brown.  Eat, or Save.  I’m going to attempt to re-bake mine to make them a bit more crispy.

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Eggplant Parm

• 1-2 eggplants, sliced (any area farmers market will most likely have eggplants for the next couple of weeks. We found ours at Headhouse Square’s Sunday market)
• 1 can of tomatoes, or 4-5 tomatoes (canned tomatoes can be found at Fair Foods in Reading Terminal Market) for Sauce
• 1 can tomato paste for sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tbs butter (or oil), for grilling
• Pasta – local pasta can be found at Reading Terminal Market (Amish stands), or Whole Foods (S. Street), cooked
• Fresh basil, parsley
• Salt to taste (the closest salt we’ve been able to find is from ME. It obviously doesn’t make the 150 miles, but is a lot closer than the salt you find in a regular grocery store)

Directions: to make the sauce, crush tomatoes in a small pot and add fresh parsley, garlic, a touch of salt, and tomato paste and simmer 10 m. Remove from heat and set aside.  Grill the eggplant until brown on each side.  Add eggplant to the pasta and top with sauce and mozzarella. Bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Add fresh basil and serve.  This is a really good side dish minus the pasta as well.

Share the Harvest – If you have one.

We don’t exactly have a harvest,  but we did get our first tomato :).

Awesome, eh?

But if you do have a harvest, or just some extra veggies to share, donate them to Philabundance between now and September, through their Share the Harvest campaign.  For more information visit: Philabundance.org.

I scream you scream we all scream for…

yup. ice cream.

Cool off with some local ice cream (if you’re not too engrossed in BCCC – ha) during these hot, sticky days.  Plenty of local versions available.  We found some at Whole Foods and a couple versions at Reading Terminal Market (Bassett’s pictured below):

Saving Green

Cost-comparison not convincing enough?

Here’s how the challenge is saving us some cash:

• Making our lunches instead of buying out saves us each about $15 – $50 per week – multiplied over 3 months and we’re talking around $60-$150 bucks!

• Growing our own vegetables and herbs – we’ve already figured we’ve broken even between what we’ve spent on soil and seeds, so now, with more of these little guys (cherry tomatoes) everything is money saved (see our post: Growing Our Own):

• Making our own stock from what would be waste (vegetarian stock at the grocery store isn’t cheap – each time we make our own we save between $2.00 and $5.00):

• Buying in bulk and freezing.  Bought a pound of beans at Headhouse last week for just over $2.00.  Soaked, boiled and cooked this pound made well over 3 regular-sized cans I would normally buy at the grocery store for about $1.00 each.  Savings? Yup.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses – a cost-comparison

“It must be sooooo expensive to buy local”

Maybe. Maybe not.  Take a look at our cost analysis and how we’re actually saving green (in more ways than one) as a result of the challenge, and decide for yourselves.

Product	Farmer’s Market Find (FMF)	Grocery Store Find (GSF)	FMF vs GSF
Peppers	$1.00 – $1.50 each	$1.99 lb or about $3.00 for two peppers	$0
Tomatoes	$2.50 – $3.00 for about 4 or 5 in a pint (or about 2 lbs – 2.4 lbs) = $.65 – $.75 per tomato	$1.49 lb (beefsteak or salad tomatoes weigh about .4 of a lb. and would cost about  = $.60 each.)	+$.05 – $.15
Peaches/Nectarines	$1.00 – $1.99 per lb	$1.49 – $2.49 lb (peaches weigh about .4 of a lb. and would cost about  = $.60 – $1.00 each.)	-$.50 – $1.50 or +$.50
Milk	$3.50 per pint	$1.29-$2.29 Org. Pint	+$1.20-$2.20
Eggs	$2.50-$3.50 per dozen	$3.29-$4.29 Free-range, vegetarian-fed eggs	-$.80 – $1.80, or +$.20

These are prices we have found pretty consistent over the summer, however, part of the beauty of consuming at farmer’s markets is the prices aren’t strictly consistent. Too many tomatoes that are going to ripen soon? Price drops.  Unlike at chain grocery stores with consistent (besides sales) prices, farmer’s will adjust the prices according to the amount of crop they were able to get for that week.  Regardless, you can see that somethings are more expensive, some are the same, and some are actually cheaper (cutting out all of the middle wo/men needed to get the produce to you, the consumer).

And even if it was all more expensive, the broader, less self-centered picture tells us, it’s not just about our bottom-line. It’s also about our perceived role in consumer-based activism and the idea that the direction of our dollar, added with a like-spending/minded other person’s dollar, multiplied across the country and world, has the power to change the course of business, politics, and the environment.  And, on top of price, there’s the knowledge that the environment, the taste of my produce, and my own health are affected by my foods’ distance traveled (2,000 miles vs. 50 miles is no small difference).

We also saved money in other ways, stay-tuned to find out how.

Still not feeling the price tags, check out these articles on urban foraging:

Urban foraging a pick-your-own buffet. Philadelphia Inquirer. August 2010 Although, I strongly suggest taking a good read at this before you head out – sounds more promising than it seems to be.

Foraging for Fruit Gains Popularity NYTimes. June 2009

National Farmer’s Market Week

Uncle Sam declared it, it must be…(hmm), regardless, check out a local market this weekend in your celebration of National Farmer’s Market Week:

Today

• Graduate Hospital: 22nd and Carpenter, 3 – 7 (heard its good, we’re planning on stopping by tonight).
• East Falls: Midville Ave at Ridge, 3-7

Tomorrow

• Rittenhouse 9:30 – 3
• Chestnut Hill: 9:30 – 1
• Fitler Square (23rd and Pine, Philadelphia) 9:00-2:00
• Manayunk: Main Street (Canal View Park) 10:00-2:00
• Collingswood, www.collingswoodmarket.com – for more info.

Sunday

• Headhouse Square: 10:00-2:00
• Reading Terminal’s outdoor market: 9:00-5:00
• North Wales, Whole Foods, 11-3

Also, here’s a couple National Farmer’s Market Week blogs and articles, for more information:

America’s Favorite Farmer’s Market: national contest in celebration of the national farmer’s market week with a short review of Farmer’s Market growth over the last several years. Collingswood, NJ’s Saturday Market is in the running for the second year!

uwishunew: this pretty cool blog posted an informative article on Philly’s farmer’s market growth and local food-sector growth in general.

Growing our Own

Next year my garden is going to be off the hook. Said it (or a variation of it, not sure I ever actually said off the hook) every year for a couple years now.  Last year, we had the space and gung ho neighbors to lighten the work load, and we all (4 of us) managed to fail, miserably.  But, it’s actually not as hard as we made it out to be. Taking advantage of my new S. Philly yard (about a 10 x 5 food cement slab in the back), I have a couple vegetables doing alright.

Here’s the status of my attempts via photos and what I did right/wrong:

Basil (started from seeds)

Lettuce (2 of the 3 I bought are thriving - have provided enough lettuce for about 6-8 small salads)

Cherry Tomato Plant (the lone survivor of the early-July hail)

Pea Plant (planted just a couple weeks ago, intended for Fall harvest - looks good!)

Started small – as mentioned, we can definitely be a bit over zealous at times.  In the past we’ve planted inside and then out dozens of plants (multiple varieties of tomatoes, beans, herbs, spinach, etc).  This year, with much more success than any of the previous attempts, I started 4 tomato plants from seeds back in April, 3 small lettuce plants (bought for about $2.00 at the Headhouse Farmers Market back in May), some herbs (planted throughout the summer), and two pea plants (planted in mid-July)

Didn’t get pots with enough drainage.  Thought I knew this but with the heavy rains/hail we got, I realized that the pots I was using to house some of my tomatoes were not good enough – water backed up and ruined the soil.

Should have got some free compost (only thing we did right last year) – soil was the most expensive piece.  In Philly we’re lucky enough to have this option:  See the Fairmont Park website for more information and make sure when you go you bring a big container.  Based on the amount of lettuce and basil I’ve already used, I think I’m probably already in the green, in a cost vs. profit analysis. Easily, buying this much basil and lettuce, I could of spent well over $20 which was about how much I paid in potting soil.  The pots we’ve had (people get rid of these non-stop – can find at any thrift store) and the seeds totaled about $5-$6.

Found some helpful resources:

• http://www.gardenguides.com/686-guide-container-gardening-2.html-this one helps you figure out which varieties of vegetables grow best and what size container you need

• http://www.yougrowgirl.com/- really pretty blog – pictures and tips on growing your own.

• You Bet Your Garden on WHYY (local npr station)- Takes a little to…umm how shall i word this?…get over the host, but the information is really helpful. Here’s a recent story about keeping your tomatoes happy in this heat. To get right to the good stuff jump to minute 45:00.

Next year my garden is definitely going to be bangin’.