CNN Article by Chef on the Rise of Local Food

April 14th, 2011 05:00 PM ET Share Comments (8 comments) Permalink 5@5 - Chef Alfred Portale 5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. If you think you'll go for a walk outside now, and the spring sun is in fact, calling your name - pick up some asparagus at the farmers market while you're at it. For the last 25 years, Alfred Portale has been at the helm of the storied New York City restaurant Gotham Bar & Grill utilizing local purveyors for seasonal, of-the-moment dishes. Under his watch, the restaurant has won a James Beard Foundation Award for "Outstanding Restaurant" and earned one Michelin star. Chef Portale was also recognized as the James Beard Foundation's "Outstanding Chef" in 2006. Five Reasons to Shop Local - Now: Alfred Portale 1. Variety "Walking through the Union Square Greenmarket is a great inspiration for me. The variety of produce and even the colors help me develop our seasonal menu changes. Greenmarket farmers grow over 100 types each of apples and tomatoes. Biodiversity not only produces a host of flavors and colors it also helps protect our food supply as greater genetic diversity means less vulnerability to disease and pests." 2. Safety "We are finding more and more of our customers are asking where our products are coming from and how they are grown. Knowing the actual farmers and how they grow their products makes me that much more proud of what we offer at Gotham. Buy your food from the person who grew it - knowing where your food was grown ensures accountability and traceability." 3. Taste "Maybe the most important for us is the fact that fresher/better ingredients make better dishes. The Greenmarket produce is as fresh as it gets, we actually couldn’t do what we do without these great ingredients. Greenmarket produce is picked when it’s ready to eat – not left to ripen on a supermarket shelf. Plus, fresher food is better for you as it contains more nutrients." 4. Community  "We make every effort to work with our local farms year round and many of these farms feel to us more like friends than purveyors. I think it makes all the food taste better when you know the person who grew it. People from all backgrounds come together around food. Fresh air, locally grown foods, trying something new, the chance to meet your friends and neighbors -shopping at farmers markets is a great experience." 5. Preservation "By giving farmers an outlet to sell their produce, Greenmarket helps keep agricultural land in production. Over 30,000 acres of land are dedicated to small-scale food production and open space thanks to Greenmarket farmers." http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/04/14/55-chef-alfred-portale/?hpt=Sbin

The Day I Killed the Squash

A careless action caused the stem of my only remaining squash plant to snap. I tried to save it by wrapping medical tape around it. The other two squash plants actually died the same way. The stems snapped when I tried moving them. Lesson learned-just leave it alone.

It's a bit sad because it was showing buds; a sign that the squash were about to come in:

Take your power into your hands and start an action

We sell California on the sunshine, the ocean, the golden opportunities and the glamor. But we also strive to achieve all these selling points, to prove it. Even the people born and raised here can be caught up in the selling points and turn a blind eye to situations that go against the California dream.  It's time to take the power YOU have and take action.

I live in California, a state that can feed the entire nation at full production. As it is California provides over half of the nation's food with the strength of 1.1 million farmworkers. The irony is which many organizations such as Oxfam's program Sisters on the Planet (see my post -925 million hungry) points out the very people who grow, tend, harvest and pack our food to be sold are oftentimes the ones who are hungry. Do you know how many people in the US are hungry at this moment, all this year? Nearly 50 million out of the 925 million worldwide. The US where we waste nearly a 1/3 of our food has 50 million hungry people (for more information please visit http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx.

Hunger is about inequality. Hunger is infuriating to think about. We have food rotting in warehouses, in your local grocery store, in your house, we have food sitting in our own yards going uneaten when a mile or two or 10 away there is a shelter wondering if they will have enough food to feed the homeless Sunday morning.

Isn't this insane? Isn't this stupid? We say many things and yes, people are stupid but the hunger problem worldwide is stupid. Politics and economy (prices for commodity crops could go sky-high meaning a country or two will not be able to afford it; meaning more hunger) and greed and complacency keep people hungry.

So take the power you have and take action. The founder for Food Forward (foodforward.org) began his organization with the help of two friends and one neighbor's tangerine tree. In 2009, in one day from that one tree they picked 85 pounds of tangerines eventually picking over 800 pounds from that one yard. About three months later Food Forward was created, and today they have picked and gathered 393,011 pounds of food that would have lain in people's yards and served it to the hungry.

Please visit this organization for more information: http://foodforward.org/about/.

It is tax-deductible to participate. If you live in California and have some fruit trees with more fruit than you know what to do with, you can contact them for a Food Forward member to come and gather fruit/vegetables from your yard which will be distributed to local food kitchens/pantries. Of course if you only have one tree with about 12 apples on it...and don't want it...take it to work?

A solution literally sits in your yard. A solution to a problem, any problem that may concern you could possibly be sitting in your yard, in your garage, in your voice. Take that strength of yours and apply it for some good. And in my first opportunity to use some Latin here: Carpe Diem  :)

Recipe Time

I found this recipe on the website The Daily Meal  (http://www.thedailymeal.com/quinoa-feta-cilantro-and-hearts-palm). This recipe is by Yasmin Fahr. For more of her recipes please see The Daily Meal website. 

Quinoa with Feta, Cilantro and Hearts of Palm

Quinoa, a protein-packed grain, has a nutty quality to it that works with a variety of dishes — maybe none easier than this one. The quinoa was still warm when I added it to the rest of the ingredients, so it caused the cheese to melt a little, which was clutch. Because of the creaminess from the feta, there was no need for any additional fat or oil. A splash of red wine vinegar or lemon doesn't hurt if you feel like you need it, but honestly, I don't think you will. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• Salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup crumbled feta, preferably Bulgarian
• ½ cup grape tomatoes halved lengthwise
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 or 4 stalks of hearts of palm, cut into small rounds
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Splash of red wine vinegar or lemon juice (optional)

Directions

Pour the quinoa into a saucepan and cover with 1 inch of water. Add a pinch of salt and the oil, then turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 7-10 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. 

While the quinoa is cooking, use this time to prep the remaining ingredients, combining them in a serving  bowl. Add the quinoa and mix together. Season to taste and serve. 

Details

Serves 4 as an appetizer or side dish and 2 as a main course

Total time: Less than 20 minutes

Read more: http://www.thedailymeal.com/quinoa-feta-cilantro-and-hearts-palm#ixzz1JI1HJQet

A little side-note: Hearts of Palm is indeed from certain types of palm trees and is very delicious. But I imagine it would be somewhat difficult for the average or not so average gardener to cultivate and harvest. 

Cilantro is easy. You can grow it on your windowsill. In fact it should have been one of the plants I should have chosen to grow for this blog. The stats on growing this plant is: 6-10 days to seedling and 6 weeks total to harvest. Can grow all year-long. 

Grape Tomatoes: About 70-90 days or a little over 2-3 months to harvest. 

Feta: Unless you have a goat or sheep in your yard...

Olive oil: Again, unless you have olive trees in your yard...

Update on the garden

It's been quite a while since I've last posted photos. I've been focusing instead on the larger issues surrounding food security and reasons why people garden their own vegetables and fruits.

I'm going to post photos soon but I have to say out of the 3 squashes I planted only one survived the transplant to a bigger pot.

not a photo of my squash but it does looked like how my plant looks at the moment

A pet got to some of the micro-greens and mesclun seedlings and ate some. So I've had to plant some more recently.

This is actually what my micro-greens looked like before my pet got to it.

The radishes are good. I can't tell if it's growing radishes though since it's underneath the soil.

I really hope to see this in a few weeks in my own garden.

925 million people worldwide experience chronic hunger. Oxfam's Sisters on the Planet focuses on the inequality of power that creates the majority of the 925 million people to go hungry when food is available and accessible. See how you can give power and accessibility back to women who are often the caretakers, the home-makers of households worldwide. Give them the power back to feed themselves, their families, your neighbors, your friends, your fellow man.

For a fact-sheet please go to: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/files/food-for-all-fact-sheet.pdf

For the direct website, go to: http://oxfamamerica.org/whoweare/sisters-on-the-planet

Another reason people grow their own vegetables and fruits

During the past week the blogs on this site have addressed trade issues, possible food shortages, genetic modification and today it is pesticide. There is no way around it but pesticide is unsafe to consume. Of course we wash our produce but we still consume trace amounts. This is one concern that has led to the organic movement but it has also led people to grow their own produce as well. Because the gardener knows exactly how the vegetables and fruits have been grown and what has gone to accomplishing this. 

Studies to pesticide ingredients are always on-going. And here's the latest research and debate. How much do we sacrifice in the name of economy, to the name of making a living over things that impact our quality of health?

Is this common ingredient glyphosate found in herbicides connected to cancer? Top farm organizations and of course the company that uses glyphosate argue that it is too beneficial to crop-growing to give up. Even if there is a possible relationship between the use of this chemical and cancer? 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/hl_nm/us_glyphosate_epa