Country Wisdom News

by Phoenix Trent

The Hudson Valley is a bounty of fresh produce throughout the calendar year, but the diverse offerings that the summer brings truly can’t be beat. Summer squash is a gem of the warm months; its versatility allows for endless tantalizing and delicious preparations. A nutritious staple of the Amerindians for centuries, summer squash makes a great addition to a summer feast.

A more delicate and soft-shelled squash variety with thin edible skin and seeds, it has a tender flesh that requires only a short cooking time. Low in calories, and high in vitamin C and fiber, summer squash are often picked immature and eaten within a short period of time since they are very perishable. Take advantage of this short window of summer squashy goodness by whipping up a delicious and nutritious stuffed summer squash as the entrée, or serve it cold with drizzled olive oil, chopped walnuts, and crumbled goat cheese for a delicate and fresh starter.

When at your local farm stand (Saunderskill, Kelder’s, and Wallkill View Farm have great local selections), choose squash that have a shiny, bright-colored skin, are heavy and dense feeling for their size, firm to the touch, and free of bruises and cracks. Avoid squash with a dull and matte appearance, which is an indication that the squash was picked beyond optimal ripeness. Avoid squash that are overly large because although you’ll have more flesh to work with, they are seriously lacking in flavor. A perfect summer squash should be bursting with fresh summery goodness.

Stuffed Summer Squash

• 4 long summer squash

• A few pinches salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 shallot, finely chopped

• 1 stalk celery, chopped

• 1 carrot, grated

• 4 Italian sausages removed from casing (Fleisher’s in Kingston has some great options when it comes to the world of fresh meat)

• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 1/4 cup water (for the pan)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and pull out a standard 9x13-inch dish.

2) Cut squash once, lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh of the squash with a teaspoon, leaving a quarter inch intact, and roughly chop. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the flesh to a glass bowl, and sprinkle the hollowed squashes with a few pinches of salt and pepper and turn them hollowed side down on a cutting board.

3) In a pan, heat extra virgin olive oil (rosemary infused if you have it) over medium heat. Throw in the shallot and sauté, stirring briskly for two minutes. Include the carrot and celery, and continue cooking for an additional two minutes. Add the squash flesh and cook for three more minutes.

4)Increase the flame and add the ground sausage. Continue to stir often for five minutes, and finish with a dash of salt and pepper.

5) Remove pan from the flame and allow the mix to cool for a few minutes. Stir in the fresh ricotta, egg, and parsley.

6) Generously fill the hollowed squash with the mixture. Set the filled shells in the baking dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and add the water to the dish. Bake the stuffed squash for around 40 minutes until the shells are tender when pierced with a fork.

Enjoy with a bottle of ice-cold white, freshly cut flowers, garden-fresh sliced strawberries to finish, and good company. The delicate and light, yet rich flesh of our valley’s summer squash will plunge you into a world of gastronomic delight. Paired with the meaty edge of the sausage, the creamy finish of the ricotta, and the lively dash of fresh parsley, this meal is happiness in a compact, personal-sized culinary package.

Home Cooking brings together family and friends, mends any tiff, and ads an extra kick of goodness to life. A meal featuring the oh-so-wonderful squash is sure to please, and turn simple sustenance into a work of love and art. Our bodies crave the essential vitamins and nutrients that this fruit of our valley has inside. So stray from the norm, indulge and make summer squash the star of your summer meal. You deserve it.

Stone ground ancient grains are packed with nutrients

by Anne Pyburn Craig

Wheat has been grown and domesticated ever since our species has been growing and domesticating. It’s such an ancient and ubiquitous staple that it’s mentioned 39 times in the Old Testament of the Bible. And in the early 20th century, wheat was still being grown and milled in the Northeast.

“There used to be mills all around the Hudson Valley region,” says Community Grain Project founder Don Lewis of Dutchess County. “But that part of the food system collapsed long ago, before big growers started modifying wheat strains for higher yield and longer shelf life. This is an extreme climate for cereal grains, and when the Erie Canal opened, farmers began moving to the Ohio Valley, where there was better soil. Mills went with them, and the ones around here were abandoned.” Later in the 20th century, selective breeding by farmers produced wheat designed to maximize profit.

When Lewis began working with wheat over a dozen years ago at Wild Hive Farms in Clinton Corners, he very nearly had to reinvent the process. “There were no resources and there was no one to teach me; I made a lot of poor flour in the beginning,” he recalls. “And there was no consumer base. Local grain was basically a lost part of the food system.”

The wheat produced by agribusiness doesn’t just lack food value—an issue the industry attempts to remedy by “enriching” flours, breads and pasta with chemical vitamins—it can actually do harm. The 2011 book Wheat Belly by cardiologist William Davis implicates wheat gluten in a host of ills: obesity, arthritis, asthma, and even mental and emotional issues.

But while Davis advocates complete “wheatlessness”, even he admits that modern wheat is the biggest offender. “It’s the product of 40 years of genetics research aimed at increasing yield-per-acre,” he notes on the Wheat Belly website. “The genetic distance modern wheat has drifted exceeds the difference between chimpanzees and humans.”

The 1% of people who suffer from celiac disease must indeed avoid anything wheat-related. But many others who experience lesser ill effects from eating standard wheat may find that the kind of strains Lewis is working with—ancient cultivars such as spelt, emmer, barley and rye, stone ground to retain the germ and bran—produce products they are able to enjoy without ill effects. “I have customers who are gluten-intolerant who can eat my products,” Lewis says. “Especially fresh. All protein gets rancid as it gets old—fresh-milled flour causes many people fewer issues.”

The milling process is an extremely important part of creating healthy grain products. “Mechanized roller mills are much faster than milling with stones,” says Lewis, who nevertheless manages to mill 120 tons of grain a year these days. “But when you roller mill you completely lose both the germ and the bran, which contain the amino acids and minerals. Supermarket bread that’s advertised as ‘stone ground’ comes from running flour that has already been roller milled through stone mills—you still end up with something with no nutrient density and no flavor.”

In restoring density and flavor to the local diet, Lewis found an ally in Eli Rogosa, the woman behind the Heritage Grain Conservancy (growseed.org). For the past two decades, Rogosa has been journeying to the Middle East and Europe, gathering up ancient strains to protect them from extinction. “I maintain hundreds and hundreds of samples from all over the world, and the ones I sell are chosen as the healthiest grains and most likely to thrive,” she says. “I started doing this first because I am originally from the Fertile Crescent and I got fascinated. I am as much an anthropologist of wheat as anything, although I also have a bakery.” The varieties Rogosa collects are the landrace cultivars—strains that have evolved to suit various growing conditions spontaneously, rather than being selectively bred by humans to suit our purposes.

Rogosa’s work is supported by the European Union, Israel, and the USDA; collaborating with the University of Massachusetts Research Farm, she’s been able to experiment with a range of heritage grains. “Modern wheat contributes to the increase in gluten sensitivity. Einkorn is actually not genetically related to [modern] wheat; it doesn’t cause gluten allergic reactions. It’s safe, ancient gluten. I have a problem eating gluten, but I can eat ancient wheat just fine.”

“Since I began, there has been an enormous increase in interest,” Rogosa observes with satisfaction. Lewis agrees: “Demand is tremendous—the main thing is to get growers to start growing again, and there are hundreds of acres potentially being added this year,” he says. “Consumer awareness is at a completely different level than it was fifteen years ago. I started the Wild Hive Bakery knowing that I had to get this wheat into people’s stomachs. I closed it because my energy needs to be going into the Community Grain Project. It’s really coming to fruition, but it needs to keep getting bigger and wider, with more outlets.”

Interest is spreading: on the website of the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s New York website are announcements of upcoming workshops entitled “Producing Heirloom Wheat for the Personal Homestead” and “Diversifying Your Farm with Value-Added Grains.” Rogosa says that growers in Vermont and Massachusetts and at Cornell University have begun working with heritage wheat. But it’s not quite as simple as growing your own tomatoes: the hand-harvesting process involves stages like threshing that are labor-intensive and no longer a part of common knowledge, and then there’s the necessity of having a nearby mill that will grind your crop into flour.

Thanks to Lewis and his Community Grain Project, the growers of the Hudson Valley have the milling piece of the puzzle in place. And food-aware chefs and consumers have taken notice. Celebrity chef Mario Batali uses Wild Hive products extensively at his Eataly NYC artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace, and at Bread Alone in Boiceville, Sharon Burns-Leader uses Wild Hive flour to create a spelt bread described as “sweet, earthy and good for customers with digestive issues.” Hudson Valley outlets for Wild Hive’s flours include Mother Earth’s Storehouse in Saugerties; Woodstock Meats and Sunfrost Farms in Woodstock; Adams Fairacre Farms in Lake Katrine and Poughkeepsie; New Paltz Health and Nutrition Center and Taliaferro Farms in New Paltz; Red Hook Natural Foods; Rhinebeck Health Foods; the Beacon Natural Market; and Nature’s Pantry in Fishkill.

It bears repeating: Celiac sufferers must avoid all gluten. But for people who experience milder gluten reactions, ancient grains may offer a way to enjoy and obtain the health benefits of baked goods without unpleasant effects. Researchers, including Rogosa, are investigating the effects of ancient grains on those who suffer from non-celiac gluten allergies and sensitivities.

For the rest of us, the growing availability of heritage grains is great news; the difference in nutrient density is undeniable. But most of all, there’s the taste—a sensory experience that neither mass-produced breads nor gluten-free substitutes can equal. “You can almost smell and taste the field,” says Lewis of breaking open a fresh loaf of for-real stone ground. “The future of bread is awesome.”

Tool to strengthen and coordinate Hudson Valley agriculture

by Philip Ehrensaft

American consumers are increasingly inclined to buy food from local, identifiable sources, produced with environmentally sustainable practices, and preferably from family farms as opposed to large-scale agribusiness. There are many farmers who would be all too glad to oblige them.

But there's a frequent disconnect that prevents those mutual desires from being realized. That disconnect is the lack of an agricultural transportation, warehousing, processing and distribution infrastructure that can cost-effectively move local, source-identified farm products to the buyers who want them. Our food system is predominantly organized by large-scale agribusinesses that run a fine-honed network for collecting, processing and distributing farm products to supermarket chains, large institutional purchasers like cafeterias in public institutions, or major private companies.

In effect, farmers can build the baseball fields, and many consumers want to sit in the stands, but the infrastructure for getting the two parties together is weak. One rapidly growing organizational tool for merging the two parties is a “food hub,” a combination farm marketing, farm family support, and often community-building tool that is being actively analyzed and encouraged by the United States Department of Agriculture.

The Hudson Valley Food Hubs Initiative, a policy research project sponsored by the New World Foundation's Local Economies Project, is one of the most ambitious and thorough investigations to date of this new way of linking farmers and consumers. The lead researcher, Sarah Brannen, from Upstream Advisers in Poughkeepsie, has produced a must-read analysis not only for Hudson Valley citizens focusing on agriculture, and economic development in general, but for a national audience as well. localeconomies-hv.org/food-system/food-hub

That's by virtue of Brannen's combing the experiences of food hubs nationally, choosing 12 for looking at best practices, and seeing how these lessons might or might not apply in Hudson Valley circumstances. The Hudson Valley is a region with one of the highest potentials for food hubs to link local producers and consumers, and thus bears national attention.

The Valley still has plenty of good agricultural land that hasn't been paved over; much of the land is suitable for high value per acre, sustainably produced fruits and vegetables, or craft dairy and meat production; the Valley is one of the only regions of New York with substantial population growth, and a relatively high proportion of its consumers are inclined to buy local, source-identified food; it is next door to the country's largest single food market, where there's also high enthusiasm for sustainably produced local food, not to mention copious vitamin pills and herbal supplements to counter the lousy air and sheer stress of the place.

So precisely what is this “food hub” beast? And how effective can it be in building up effective transportation, storage, processing and marketing links between local farmers who want to produce source-identified food rather than anonymous commodities shipped into the agribusiness system, and regional consumers who would like to buy what farmers want to produce?

A new national USDA research report—The Role of Food Hubs in Local Food Marketing by James Matson, Martha Sullins and Chris Cook—first cites a working definition of a farm hub: “a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail and institutional demand.”

Then Matson, Sullins and Cook immediately nuance the definition on two counts: 1) Community-building and environmentalism. Many hubs evolved from educational or social missions to bring consumers and producers together. Besides selling local foods, they educate buyers about the importance of retaining food dollars in the local economy, and conserving farmland; 2) Virtual organizations. In this Internet era, very functional hubs exist that do not consist of brick and mortar facilities; rather, they “live” primarily in a virtual context and are thus able to transmit information quickly among local buyers and sellers.

So food hubs assume diverse organizational forms in pursuing a core mandate of linking local producers and consumers, ranging from private for-profit companies delivering to wholesalers and large institutions, and on to community nonprofits facilitating direct contact, both economic and social between farmers and local consumers, and a strong emphasis on helping small and medium-sized family farms survive and thrive in a food system tilted towards big farms.

Among the 168 food hubs that were studied by the USDA researchers, there were 67 private companies, 54 nonprofit organizations, 36 cooperatives, 8 publicly held companies, and 3 informal arrangement. Criss-crossing these ownership forms, there was also diverse targeting of clientele: 70 focused on farm sales to businesses or institutions; 60 focused on sales to consumers; and 38 did both.

Foods hubs are an experiment in progress. Sixty percent of hubs inventoried by the USDA have existed for less than five years, another nine percent for six to ten years, and only nine percent for 29 years or more.

Brannen's mandate was to take a systematic look at how each of these diverse approaches to organizing food hubs might or might not work well to advance farming in the Hudson Valley. The report pulls together a very large body of information on the 3,100 farms working 474,00 acres, and generating $322 million gross farm sales in the nine counties along the Hudson River from Westchester and Rockland through Columbia, Greene, and Sullivan counties—in addition to the New York City food market's potential for Hudson Valley farming. Brannen also interviewed 117 farmers and food business people; organized seven food hub listening sessions involving 200+ people, and assembled an impressive expert advisory board to give her advice and feedback as she proceeded. One also has the distinct impression that she read every study, major and minor, of the food hub experience in the US.

One surprise in the Hudson Valley Food Hubs Initiativereport, a well-founded surprise, is its conclusion that projects for creating a big, central regional food hub for the Valley would not be an optimal move. Given the diverse nature of farming here, sales and distribution networks are equally diverse. One size does not fit all, as it might, for example, if Illinois and Iowa organic corn and soybean farmers wanted to band together to reach adjacent urban markets. In the Hudson Valley, farmers and merchants in the fruit, vegetable, dairy, meat and poultry sub-sectors are already performing some typical farm hub functions appropriate for their quite different respective sectors. This ranges from direct farm sales and farmers' markets to Community Supported Agriculture, and on to farmer co-ops and farmers using their own trucks for delivery to local retailers.

With respect to existing food-hub-equivalent arrangements for reaching individual consumers and small retailers, Brannen advocates solidifying and extending what has already started.

In contrast, a new effort is needed for building organizations that overcome predominantly weak links between the Valley's farmers and the large-scale purchasers who are the big sluggers in our current food system. That includes big supermarkets and food wholesalers, food services in the Valley's large private firms, and big public institutions like hospitals or schools. This will require building new capacities, like on-farm quality controlled packing of produce, and especially recruiting management and sales people who know how deal with the big purchasers. Given increasing consumer preferences for local source-identified food, and the desire of the big purchasers to make money delivering what consumers want, that can be done.

Above all, Hudson Valley citizens' organizations must make it very clear to their governments, nonprofits, and large private firms that they want firm commitments to buy local, source-identified food.

When life hands you lemons

You can make a lot more than just lemonade

There are so many wonderful and economical uses for lemons besides summertime’s favorite beverage—from household cleaners and garden weed killers to beauty products and healthy remedies. Since antiquity, scholars have known the wonders of the citric acid contained in the sunny bright lemon.

For a Fragrant Home:

• Consider throwing a few lemon peels in to the flames of a fireplace fire on a cold night for a cozy and aromatic winter night.

• Freshen and moisturize the air on dry winter days by making your own room scent, which doubles as a humidifier. For a wood-burning stove, place a enameled cast iron pot filled with water and lemon peels, cloves, and cinnamon sticks on the stove top. Voila…a simmering humidifier that smells delightful. No wood-burning stove? Do the same on your stovetop and simmer the water.

• Neutralize cat-box odor or freshen bathroom odors by cutting a couple of lemons in half and placing them, cut-side up, in a pretty little dish in the room. Makes the air have a lemony-fresh smell.

• To salvage a smelly sponge, saturate it with lemon juice and rinse thoroughly.

• Grind up lemon peels and put in a dish or plastic bag with holes to keep your own cats off countertops and furniture.

• Deodorize your humidifier when it starts to smell funky by pouring three or four teaspoons lemon juice into the water. Repeat every couple of weeks to keep the odor from returning.

• Before vacuuming, put a few drops of lemon juice in the dust bag. It will make the house smell fresh.

• Deodorize your garbage disposal by saving leftover lemon and orange peels and toss them down the drain. Repeat once every month.

• Freshen up and sanitize your plastic cutting boards after chopping up onions, crushing garlic, cutting raw and cooked meats and fish. Just cut a lemon in half and rub the cut side over the surface. Or, wash it in undiluted bottled lemon juice.

• For wooden cutting boards or butcher blocks, sprinkle coarse salt onto the board and scrub it with the fleshy side of half a lemon. It'll get into all the nooks and crannies and deodorize as well as disinfect, as lemon juice is a natural sanitizer. It also works on wooden rolling pins and bowls. Rinsing is not necessary as wood will absorb the juice and work effectively.

• Remove refrigerator odors by dabbing lemon juice on a cotton ball or sponge and leave it in a dish in the fridge for several hours.

For Household Stains:

• Brighten dull aluminum pots and pans and give them inside and outside sparkle. Just rub the cut side of half a lemon all over and buff with a soft cloth.

• Clean tarnished brass, copper, or stainless steel by making a paste of lemon juice and salt (or substitute baking soda or cream of tartar for the salt) and coat the affected area. Leave on for five minutes, then wash in warm water, rinse, and polish dry. The same mixture also cleans metal kitchen sinks also. Just apply the paste, scrub gently, and rinse.

• For rust removal, mix one tablespoon of lemon juice with two tablespoons of salt and scrub on affected area.

• Marble is typically thought of as stone, but it’s actually petrified calcium (old seashells), which is extremely porous and easily stained and damaged. If regular washing doesn’t work for stubborn stains on marble, cut a lemon in half and dip the exposed flesh into table salt and rub the stain vigorously. However, only do this as a last resort as acid can damage marble. Make sure to rinse well.

• Get rid of mineral deposits and polish tarnished chrome faucets and small appliances by rubbing a lemon rind over the chrome for a sparkling shine! Rinse well and dry with a soft cloth.

• Clean discolored utensils with a cloth dipped in lemon juice. Rinse with warm water.

• Dull chinaware can return to its original luster with a gentle scouring of one part lemon juice and two parts salt. Rinse and enjoy the glistening.

• Scrub-a-dub a porcelain tub or sink to get rid of rust, soap, mineral and water stains by using the fleshy side of a cut lemon dipped in coarse salt for a natural scouring pad that contains no harsh chemicals to harm the environment. Repeat for stubborn rust stains. This also works great against mold build-up.

• Whiten and brighten white linens and clothing by soaking them for 30 minutes in a vat of water with a 50-50 ratio of lemon juice and baking soda before regular laundering. For bad stains, give each your attention by scrubbing them with a lemon wedge before washing. This is especially useful on delicate fabrics where ordinary chlorine bleach can cause iron to precipitate out of water and cause additional stains.

• Another way to lighten or get rid of stains on whites is to rub lemon juice on the affected area and lie on a clean patch of grass overnight. The combination of the dew and sunlight is not just an old-wives-tale. It works…provided no animals decide to trample over the cloth.

• Get darkened white cotton socks bright again by boiling them in water with a slice of lemon.

For the Chef:

• Prevent potatoes and cauliflower from turning brown when boiling by squeezing a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice into the cooking water.

• To keep your rice from sticking together in a gloppy mass, add a spoonful of lemon juice to the boiling water when cooking. Let cool and fluff.

• Keep your prepared guacamole green and fresh for when it’s being served by sprinkling a liberal amount of lemon juice over it. The lemon juice is a natural preservative and allows you to prepare the dip ahead of time.

• The same goes for preparing fruit salads in advance. Just squeeze some lemon onto any white fruits, such as apples to keep them snowy white.

• With the help of a little lemon juice you can toss soggy lettuce into a salad rather than into the garbage. Just add the juice of half a lemon to a bowl of cold water and add the soggy lettuce; then refrigerate for one hour and it will become crisp. Completely dry the leaves before putting into salads or sandwiches.

For Household Cleansers:

• Rid your microwave of caked-on bits of hardened food without scratching the surface with harsh cleansers or using tons of elbow grease by mixing three tablespoons lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups water in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for five to ten minutes, allowing the steam to condense on the inside walls and ceiling of the oven, then easily wipe away the softened food with a dishrag.

• After washing the interior of an oven or fridge remove remaining soap film by putting fresh lemon juice in the rinse water.

• A mixture of lemon juice and salt gets rid of grease build-up on pans, stovetops and countertops.

• Dishwashers don’t always get caked-on particles off cheese graters. So, slice a lemon in half and use the fleshy side to give the grater a good scrub. This softens the cheese particles, cleanses, disinfects, and all you have to do is rinse with water.

Keeping traditional vegetables alive and well.

by Rebecca Horwitz

The gardening season is over, but hardy root vegetable crops grown in the fall can help keep us full throughout the winter, as you’ll see when visiting one of our local winter farmers’ markets. Root vegetables include carrots, potatoes, radishes, beets, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, and sweet potatoes (also called yams, but aren’t really). Our pioneer ancestors knew how to grow, store, and use these hardy vegetables and were far more familiar with them than most of us are today. I mean, everyone knows what to do with a potato, but when’s the last time you cooked a rutabaga or turnip—and your kids gladly ate it?

To make things more interesting, you can buy seeds for heirloom root vegetables that come in surprising colors. How about “albino beets,” “black Spanish radishes,” or “cosmic purple carrots”? These are just a few of the varieties available in the All-Heirloom Root Vegetable Collection, from the Local Harvest website, www.localharvest.org. Closer to home, the Hudson Valley Seed Library offers many interesting and unusual seed varieties that are all heirloom, such as the new Brilliant Beet Blend, which comes in one of their famous Art Packs. Local artists design the seed packets, resulting in something you want to frame, not throw out. www.seedlibrary.org

But what is an heirloom seed and why do they matter? An heirloom seed produces a plant that was once commonly grown during earlier eras of human history, but which is not used in modern industrial-style agriculture. For this reason, many traditional varieties of fruits and vegetables have all but disappeared from the modern dinner table. We now are familiar with only a few kinds of potatoes, yet there are actually many more heirloom varieties.

Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination. Today, because of groups like Seed Savers and the Hudson Valley Seed Library, it is possible to join the trend of bringing back some of these heritage seeds into our own gardens. We are actually preserving our agricultural heritage, instead of letting agribusiness decide which kind of hybrids we can have. And, rest assured, these seeds are certainly not GMOs! The Hudson Valley Seed Library proudly states on their website: “At the same time as more and more seed sources are gobbled up by these multi-national corporations, we’re busy collecting, preserving, growing, offering, and celebrating seeds in all their diversity.”

Looking to try something a bit more unusual in the root vegetable world? Jicama is a starchy tuber that originates in North America, and is better known in Mexico than the US. It is said that jicama is most popular in China. Crunchy and mild, it can be used as a substitute for water chestnuts or bamboo shoots in a salad or stir-fry. According to another source, it makes “a crisp and delicious low calorie peel-and-eat snack.” Jicama thrives in hot climates, so it’s not always easy to find in our area, but I have seen it in bodegas and some grocery stores.

I will now share with you two of my favorite ways to prepare root vegetables. The first is, very simply, Roasted Root Veggies. Take three or four vegetables—some small potatoes, a turnip, a couple of carrots, and maybe a beet—and wash and peel them. Cut them up into fairly evenly sized pieces and put into a mixing bowl. Clip a few sprigs of rosemary—fresh is much more flavorful—and chop it up a bit, removing the woody stems. Cover the vegetables with the rosemary, salt, pepper, and a few tablespoons of oil, and spread them out on a baking tray. Roast for half an hour or so until a fork easily pierces them. After they are done roasting, and have cooled a bit, you may wish to add feta cheese and some chopped walnuts. They will make a lovely accompaniment to your dinner, or maybe even the main course.

Another favorite root veggie dish is so easy, it doesn’t even require an oven. I call it Black Bean and Radish Salad and it makes a great potluck dish, and also goes well with tacos. To serve 4, mix one 15 oz. can of rinsed black beans, 4 sliced or chopped radishes, and chopped fresh cilantro. To that, add a dressing of 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, and a good shake of the salt and pepper. Mix well and serve!

Stuffed Summer Squash

Fruit of the valley provides essential goodness.

by Phoenix Trent

Stuffed Summer Squash

• 4 long summer squash

• A few pinches salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 shallot, finely chopped

• 1 stalk celery, chopped

• 1 carrot, grated

• 4 Italian sausages removed from casing (Fleisher’s in Kingston has some great options when it comes to the world of fresh meat)

• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 1/4 cup water (for the pan)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and pull out a standard 9x13-inch dish.

4)Increase the flame and add the ground sausage. Continue to stir often for five minutes, and finish with a dash of salt and pepper.

5) Remove pan from the flame and allow the mix to cool for a few minutes. Stir in the fresh ricotta, egg, and parsley.

Farm- to-School Slow Foods—On the Fast Track in the Valley

by Mimi Quinn

The expression “farm-to-school” is being heard more and more around the Hudson Valley. It’s a term that includes the efforts to connect schools with locally or regionally grown fresh fruits and vegetables for the school cafeterias.

The main focus of this venture is procuring minimally processed and locally sourced foods as the main offerings on a school menu. It also involves other measures to create awareness, such as school gardens, field trips to local farms, and nutritional cooking classes.

Local resident and pioneer of healthy foods for children, Nicci Cagan is the director of From the Ground Up (FTGU,) which she describes as a wellness initiative with its roots in the soil.

Marbletown Elementary school kids enjoying local salad.

“We are growing a community that cares about their food, environment, and the local economy,” Cagan said.

She’s also a member of the Rondout Valley Central School District’s (RVCSD) Wellness Committee representing Marbletown Elementary School, was also a granted employee of the Rondout Valley Growers Association (RVGA), and made a district-wide survey and marketing plan for farm-to-school in the RVCSD.

Cagan is also thrilled that the money made from a Marbletown Elementary fundraiser provided an opportunity to model for farm-based education in the district, “and bring 30-percent local food to our schools within three to five years. People want farm-to-school, and this is exciting!”

And keeping her connected on international forms of food and farm-based education, she also posts daily information on her Facebook page. Cagan recently posted that Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced that the USDA will commence a nationwide investment in farm-to-school programs. The grant program initiative is being administered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA). It is authorizing and funding the program through grants, and program implementation will assist eligible educational facilities with technical assistance in implementing farm-to-school programs, thus improving access to nutritionally sound foods and increasing market opportunities for local food producers. The strategy will also embrace other educational ideas in a hands-on way for students. More information on the grant program and USDA's farm-to-school efforts are online at www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/f2s.

Cagan said that the RVCSD also has school gardens in all five schools. She said, “When food is energized by nutrient-rich soils, sunshine and good water, the flavors are exceptional and it enlivens our bodies and beings. What could be better?”

The local concern in the Hudson Valley about how mass-produced foods affect health involves many who are taking measures to provide wholesome produce with community-supported gardens.

Another person who has pioneered healthy eating and the procurement of local foods for over three decades is Dutchess County resident Joseph Baldwin. Having graduated the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1974, Baldwin has since endeavored to bring what he learned at the Institute “to the tables” of the Valley with a local food advocacy group that he administers called "Earth to Table," located in Pleasant Valley.

Baldwin believes in the Slow Food Movement and its many meanings: Taking one’s time thinking about what’s best to eat; ingest only foods that grow nearby (he nicknames that the “caveman diet”); and follow a diet that includes locally grown foods as much as one can (he suggests within 100 miles from your residence).

Baldwin oversees a number of school and community gardens—his own farming focuses on stevia, herbs, greens, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and edible flowers.

Stevia? Yes said Baldwin who has worked with local doctors to fan a wildfire about the merits of this South American herb whose extracts are used in the FDA approved sweetener, Rebiana. Baldwin not only grows the herb, he gives demonstrations on how to dehydrate, boil, and grind it to make syrups and powders for use in cooking or sweetening your iced tea.

The Red Hook Community Garden is one of the gardens Baldwin administers and provides advice for. “Many are from the Red Hook School system, which helped with the gardens as part of their AP studies,” said Baldwin. “Marist, Bard, CIA, and BOCES are also working with us…agriculture is the future of the world, we might as well use what the country has left.”

As they say, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and his son, Russell Baldwin who owns Rusty’s Farm Fresh Eatery in Red Hook specializes in locally grown, fresh ingredients throughout his menu.

“I learned about healthy eating from my father—he inspired me to use as much, if not all, seasonally fresh foods as I can,” said Russell, adding that his father is the reason he’s so passionate about healthy foods.

“My father is the hardest working, most generous person you’d ever want to meet and he’s the reason my restaurant is so successful,” he said.

Also working hand-and-hand with Baldwin is Victoria Digilio, owner of Victoria’s Healthy Creations in Hyde Park, who’s reinventing her mom’s recipes for diabetics and those who wish for healthy desserts sans sugar.

“I make savory pies, cookies, and biscotti for those who can’t have sugar and want to eat low-fat goodies—I’m doing this in honor of my Mom who passed from diabetes,” said Digilio.

“Make Your Health Be Your Wealth” is Baldwin’s slogan. He believes if you’re healthy you’re “rich” in energy—along with saving money on medicines and healthcare.

More information can be found at:earthtotable.ag; farmtoschool.org; Nicci Nashban Cagan on Facebook; farmtoschool.ag.

THIS JUST IN!

At press time CWN learned that Federal funds amounting to $1 million are being made available to enhance the competitiveness of New York specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, maple, honey and horticulture crops. The Hudson Valley is noted for its vegetable crops and apple orchards. The State Agriculture Department is seeking research and grower education, food safety, and marketing-focused projects that must have general applicability and statewide significance to the state’s specialty crop industry. Government organizations, nonprofits, and educational institutions are eligible to receive funding, starting at $30,000 per project up to a maximum of $100,000.

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