 Work in Hollywood? Take a break right now and head over to the new Hollywood Lemon Grove Farmers' Market, which opened 9 a.m. today at 4959 Lemon Grove Ave.
Get there before noon and enter a free raffle to win a basket of market-fresh produce. If you have kids, take them along; Network for a Healthy California is hosting a "Power Play" event for children at 11 a.m. The market will be open until 1 p.m.
Earlier: What $6 gets you at the farmers' market
 Have your organic locally-grown carrot cake and eat it too! The Hollywood Farmers' Market is turning 17, and the celebrations kick off with a carrot cake cutting ceremony at 8 a.m. -- Get there early and enjoy a free piece!
When: Sunday, May 25, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Hollywood Farmers' Market, at Ivar and Selma avenues between Hollywood and Sunset, Los Angeles
Cost: Free!
There'll be face painting and an arts and crafts workshop for kids starting at 9. For the cooks, a chef demonstration with Pace's Sandy Gendel -- a twice-weekly farmers' market shopper -- begins at 10 a.m.
Shop local, eat good cake -- and don't forget to take your own bag!
 If you're like me, you use GMail, Google calender, Google maps, and just plain google.com on a daily basis. So perhaps eating like Google does was just the next step for me. Google employees get free healthful gourmet meals made for them every day -- a fact that fills me with jealousy whenever I ride my bike past Google's Santa Monica office on my way to the farmers market.
Well, now, I can eat like the Google people do, thanks to former Google chef Charlie Ayers. His new book, "Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef who Fed Google," is filled with his environmentally-conscious, locavore-friendly cooking tips -- with more than 100 yummy recipes accompanied by mouth-watering pictures.
Ayers was hired by Google when the company had just 40 mouths to feed. When he left Google in 2005, he was feeding 1,500 people a day! And in "Food 2.0," Ayers tells little anecdotal stories from his tenure at Google while dispensing healthful eating advice. "You're smart. So why don't you eat that way?" he asks.
"Food 2.0" emphasizes that eating healthfully and ethically doesn't have to be time consuming. Many of the easy-to-make recipes are labeled "Grab & Go." Plus there's lots of time-saving tips, from cooking in bulk and freezing for later use, to instituting an effective labeling system for the meats in the freezer. Then there's the eco- and health-conscious advice, like "Stuff to avoid feeding to yourself or people you love" to "4 best herbs to grow at home."
Of course, not everything in "Food 2.0" is simple and easy -- especially to a cooking novice like me. For example, Ayers names his top favorite vinegars to use at home -- all 11 of them -- then gives instructions for making more! I don't even have space for that many vinegars... In addition, some recipes, like those for Lamb Korma or Goan Pork, seem both complicated and time-consuming. Good thing I don't cook meat.
But I drooled over most recipes. The first one I want to try: Smoked salmon-sun-dried cranberries-goat cheese wrap. Prep time: 6 mins. Cook time: 0. I just need to bike past Google tomorrow for the Wednesday farmers' market, where I plan to pick up some local goat cheese from the Redwood Hill Farm booth!
For a taste of "Food 2.0," try the recipes on Ayers' website, or the Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce recipe published on Amazon.
Yes, I knew I could get local, sustainably harvested oysters and mussels at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers' Market, thanks to Katie Ricketts' post. But yesterday, I found out I could get ready-to-eat steamed mussels in a white wine sauce!
So I got a pound of the stuff -- for just $8! There it is, above.
I got to the booth at a lucky time, when only a couple people were in front of me -- but by the time I was leaving with my bowl, about a dozen people were lined up! Many of the benches on Third Street Promenade were occupied by other mussel eaters, but I managed to snag a spot and devour my bounty in about 5 minutes. Afterward, I sopped up the garlicky wine sauce with the bread.
The seafood booth offered a couple other flavors of steamed mussels too, as well as chowder and raw oyster plates. Unfortunately, this booth comes to market only about once a month, according to the woman who was serving the dishes. But now I'm more determined than ever to never miss a farmers' market day.
Photo by Siel
That's Katie Ricketts, community/market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Assn. and contributor to Emerald City, giving out bags of yummy, farm-fresh produce in front of the Santa Monica Main Public Library!
Stop by between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. today and you can meet her in person -- and sign up for the Santa Monica Market Basket Program. Want in-season strawberries but don't want to fight the crowds at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market? If you join the Basket Program, all you'll have to do is choose a pick-up location -- either the SM Main Library or the parking lot at the SM City Hall -- and a pre-packed bag will be waiting for you between 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday.
Cost: $25 for a "classic" bag, which'll contain 8 to 10 pieces of produce. You can opt for a $30 "specialty" bag that includes a few items with higher price points or a $38 family bag. Yes, prices have gone up a tad because some of the summer produce costs more.
To sign up, just stop by either location during the pick-up time on a Wednesday -- or contact Katie at katie@sfma.net or (310) 740-7544. After prepaying (credit card, check or cash), you can start picking up your bag o' goodies every week! Eating local's never been easier.
I believe the Basket Program's still trying to implement a viable bag reuse program, but having a hard time making the process simple and feasible for produce buyers. Got suggestions?
Photo by Siel
A guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.
I first met Nina when someone yelled out at the farmers' market,
"Hey marshmallow lady!" Marshmallow lady? My curiosity was sparked and I quickly weaved
through the crowd to track her down and find out what the story was.
A
week later, I and a few others encircled
Nina, three chocolate bars, and two packs of specialty flavored
marshmallows. Each bar and every marshmallow was handmade, and as I held the
box in which she brought them, I considered taking a run for it,
ditching the rest of the group, and hoarding them all for myself. Heaven.
Nina is a young chocolatier who is the brains and the talent
behind Bon Bon Homemade Candy Bars, a candy bar company that lends itself not
only to making great tasting sweets, but is eco-friendly in practice and
product. Nina gleans as much of the
product (generally the fruit and nuts) from the Santa Monica Wednesday Farmers' Market, making her item truly and uniquely local to the area. Made on the weekends in an L.A. kitchen, Nina's chocolates and marshmallows
are found in trendy places like Joan's on Third and Market Gourmet on Abbot
Kinney.
Starting off with the single malt scotch bar (I mean, who
wouldn't?) I knew I was in for a serious treat. My favorite was the Malt
Bar, which is, simply put, a classic candy bar done perfectly.
We're certainly featuring her in the upcoming Santa Monica Farmers' Market Chef and Farmer Gala Dinner on May 18 at the
Fairmont,
which will showcase some of L.A's most innovative chefs and celebrated
farmers who support the Santa Monica Farmers' Market. Nina will be donating a basket of chocolates and marshmallows
for our silent auction… that is, if they make it from my office to the
event....
Michael Pollan knew this would happen. Back in Oct. 2006, in the aftermath of that E.Coli in bagged spinach issue, the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" wrote this for NY Times Magazine:
I received a rather coldblooded e-mail message from a friend in the food business. "I have instructed my broker to purchase a million shares of RadSafe," he wrote, explaining that RadSafe is a leading manufacturer of food-irradiation technology. It turned out my friend was joking, but even so, his reasoning was impeccable.....
And today comes this headline from the L.A. Times: USDA scientists say irradiation could be key to food safety:
U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists said irradiation could be key to destroying pathogens in hard-to-reach places inside and on the surface of fruits and vegetables.... Robert Mandrell, research leader at the USDA's Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit in Albany, Calif., said consumers and producers might be more willing to accept irradiation if illnesses linked to leafy greens continued to grow.
Why is it unsurprising that irradiation's getting serious consideration? According to Pollan, it's "Because it's easier to find a technological fix than to address the root cause of such a problem. This has always been the genius of industrial capitalism--to take its failings and turn them into exciting new business opportunities."
The root of the problem, according to Pollan: "Our highly centralized food economy is a dangerously precarious system, vulnerable to accidental--and deliberate--contamination." Yet a move towards irradiating food would further push us towards this centralized food economy:
So what happens to the spinach grower at my farmers' market when the F.D.A. starts demanding a Haccp plan--daily testing of the irrigation water, say, or some newfangled veggie-irradiation technology? When we start requiring that all farms be federally inspected? Heavy burdens of regulation always fall heaviest on the smallest operations and invariably wind up benefiting the biggest players in an industry, the ones who can spread the costs over a larger output of goods. A result is that regulating food safety tends to accelerate the sort of industrialization that made food safety a problem in the first place. We end up putting our faith in RadSafe rather than in Blue Heron Farms--in technologies rather than relationships.
The solution Pollan points to is more local, sustainably grown or raised food. If you're against irradiated spinach, support your local farmers' market!
And relatedly, support strong organic standards. At the moment, produce that's been irradiated can't be certified organic. As more big businesses focused on just the bottom line enter the organic market, it'll require more consumer involvement to keep that and other organic standards in place. Get involved now by signing up for the Organic Consumers Association's free e-newsletter and staying informed.
Photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
We have no shortage of pop stars that get famous then start going in and out of rehab. But after winning a bunch of awards for her music, 23-year-old singer-songwriter Missy Higgins started -- composting.
"I just bought a compost bin yesterday," said Missy (below) when we met up at Flore Vegan Cuisine. "I think it's called Happy Farmer!"
This musician from Melbourne, Australia's been greening her tours for a while now by recycling, opting for organic produce, buying offsets, and driving in hybrids instead of flying. Now, newly relocated to Silver Lake, Missy's lost no time getting settled into a green lifestyle. In addition to composting, Missy's picked up a copy of Greenopia, started shopping at the nearby Saturday farmers' market, and embraced a pedestrian lifestyle. In fact, she walked the half mile from her apartment to Flore -- a distance many Angelenos would have opted to drive.
Here's a celebrity that literally walks the walk, instead of simply buying offsets to greenwash a less-than-eco-friendly lifestyle. While Governor Schwarzenegger has no problem commuting from his SoCal home to Sacramento by private jet, Missy's decision to move to Silver Lake was in part due to environmental reasons. After realizing her flights between Australia and the U.S. were huge contributors to her carbon footprint, Missy decided to settle in Silver Lake -- at least for a year, while promoting her latest album, "On A Clear Night."
"I really don't want to fly unless I absolutely have to," Missy says. And for the most part, Missy stays out of the car too, with the help of her fold-up bike. Silver Lake's a very pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, Missy says, with great cafes, bars, and shops nearby. Pointing to KellyGreen and Reform School, two eco-friendly stores in Silver Lake, Missy optimistically says Angelenos seem to be pretty eco-minded. "All these resources are becoming so accessible," she says.
My own less sanguine view's that many people don't actually take advantage of these resources -- whether it be green stores, walkable neighborhoods, or farmers' markets -- as much as they could. Still, if a newbie Angeleno like Missy finds it fairly easy to green her life, hopefully many others will follow suit.
To that end, Missy's been talking a lot about her own efforts to green her life and tour, even creating five little webisodes (below) that follow her on her eco-adventures, from talking to environmental scientists to visiting an eco-school in Nevada:
Missy starts her biodiesel-fueled tour in May, with two L.A. performances on May 13 and 14 at Santa Monica High School.
Top photo by Siel
A guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.
One
of the best-kept farmers' market secrets is back again this year in a
BIG way. Green garlic is as hip to LA restaurants and chefs as
neon-colored t-shirts and slap-stick bracelets
are to LA fashionistas. Still relatively unknown, green garlic is
poised to take foodies around the US by storm; crunchy, sweet, juicy,
and easy to prepare it's a perfect mix of sweet and garlicky onion
goodness.
Jerry
Rutiz, the farmer behind Rutiz Family Farms -- one of the few at
the Santa Monica Wednesday market that grows this fantastically trendy
product -- tipped me off that the best part to use is the
white bulbous end up until it becomes light green, which can be diced
and separated in rounds. As Jerry noted, chefs in LA are using the
green garlic for all kinds of things raw (yep, it's just that sweet)
atop salads, or thrown in towards the end of a stir-fry for added color
and some flavor punch. I can imagine it being great in dressings and
marinades as well. With such warm weather upon us green garlic can be
wrapped in foil with a tad of olive oil and cooked on the BBQ—serve it
atop burgers or in grilled sandwiches.
If you need even more inspiration (or frankly don't have the time/will-power to make Lucques green-garlic aioli with lamb), here's a quick pasta dish recipe:
Pasta with Green Garlic and Basil
- 1 bunch of green garlic
- 1/2 lb pasta (penne works well)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sliced basil
- Handful of spring vegetables (broccoli, carrots, fava beans, even chard or kale) blanched
Blanch any vegetables you may be using in boiling water for 1-2 minutes (broccoli, carrots, fava beans, peas) and then place in cool water to halt the cooking process. Vegetables should be just al dente. Set aside. Boil water and cook pasta until just tender. In another pan, heat skillet over moderate heat and add one tablespoon of oil and tip to coat pan. Add green garlic and toss to brown lightly (2-3 minutes depending on heat). Set aside. Drain pasta and toss in warm serving bowl along with a tablespoon of olive oil, green garlic, half the basil, and a big squeeze of lemon adding salt and pepper to taste. Add more basil, oil, lemon juice, and seasonings to taste. Adding some broccoli, english peas, or fava beans (just make sure to soften them by boiling for a few minutes) for a great spring-time dish.
A guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.
Eat fresh and buy local with the Farmers' Market Basket Program -- now with a new drop-off location on the east side at Occidental College!
The Farmers' Market Basket Program is a weekly farmers' market delivery service offered by the Santa Monica Wednesday Farmers' Market and the Southland Farmers' Market Association. The program is intended to make shopping at farmers' markets and supporting sustainable California agriculture and small local farmers more convenient to North-East Los Angeles residents and businesses.
Every other week, participants receive a basket full of fresh fruits and vegetables, hand-selected from the market based on taste, quality and seasonality.
 New this month is a drop-off location at Occidental College for east-side Angelenos looking to get farm fresh produce direct from local California farmers.
Delivery for April and May at Occidental College will occur every other Friday beginning on April 4. Participants may pick up their basket anytime after 1 pm.
Each basket costs $35, and comes with a newsletter that includes recipe ideas, farmer bios, farm news, and information about market happenings and restaurant/chef events around L.A.
Interested individuals: Email me at katie@sfma.net for more information and to receive a sign-up packet.
Photos by Katie Ricketts
A guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.
With the onset of spring, you're guaranteed to find one slinky, skinny, stalky vitamin-packed vegetable. In fact, California-grown asparagus is the signature start to California springtime produce. Of course, you've probably been pushing your cart past small bunches of asparagus since Christmas at the grocery store, but California asparagus (especially if it's from a local producer and picked at maturity) cooked well is something different than the nuked-by-microwave limp stalks that were often served to us as kids.
Not sold yet? I appeal then on taste, nutrition, and historical importance. First, high in fiber, folic acid, and potassium, asparagus is used in a variety of cultures and cooking styles. Stir-fried in Asian food, boiled and paired with butter, hollandaise or olive oil in the French-style, asparagus lends itself to a variety of textures and combinations.
For all those foodies and socially conscious eaters concerned about the plight of small farmers, Media that Matters put out a great little short "A Stalk-umentary" on the US asparagus industry that's both entertaining and insightful.
And now, for a bit of inspiration.... Michael Kuntz, someone who works very closely with me on the Santa Monica Market Basket Program, (you can listen to our interview on KCRW's The Market Report here) cued me towards this great Shiitake Asparagus he devised:
Shiitake-Asparagus Risotto
Making risotto is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy. Despite thoughts of risotto being too complex or time consuming, adventurous cooks need only good quality ingredients and strong resolve to stay with their pan for 30 -45 minutes.Feel free to use this recipe as a template for experimentation.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp butter
1/4 c. olive oil
1 large bunch of asparagus (about 1lb and cut into 1/4 inch rounds)
1/4 lb of shiitake mushrooms (remove stems from caps and cut into 1/4 inch pieces)
1 small onion, diced
Salt/pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. Arborio
1/2 c. dry white wine
5 c. vegetable / chicken stock
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese grated
Juice and rind of one small lemon
While preparing your ingredients, bring your 5 cups of stock to a simmer in a large pot. You'll want to keep the stock at a low simmer throughout the cooking process. In another heavy-bottomed, 4-quart sauce pan, heat oil and 2 tbsp butter. Saute asparagus and mushrooms over medium heat for about four minutes or until they soften. Remove about 3/4 of them and set aside for later use. Add onion, salt, and pepper and saute until translucent.
Note that risotto is cooked by continually adding moisture/stock slowly, as opposed to regular rice which is cooked in a pot of water right from the start. Add the Aborio rice to the pan with the butter and onions and stir gently until moisture is absorbed. Then add in white wine, again stirring until absorbed (generally about 3 minutes). When you pass the stir spoon across the bottom of the pan and space remains, then is the time to add more stock. Do this until the rice softens to the consistency of al dente pasta. Should you run out of stock, add warm water. When the risotto is done, add the remaining butter, lemon, cooked vegetables, and top off with Parmesan cheese. Make sure risotto flows freely by adding another ladle of stock right at the end. Divide into bowls and enjoy!
Need more ideas? I've had great luck with both the Asparagus Parmesan Soup and Tahini-Asparagus Rice Bowl.
Photo by Liz via Flickr
>> The Santa Monica Farmers' Market gets controversial, now that big companies are snapping up the sweet peas. Some local restaurant chefs are angry that big companies are buying up the good stuff before market day. Farmers, however, say that all these chefs have to do is call and the sweet peas could be theirs.
- Farmer Phil McGrath says just call: "Look, I don't want to make anybody mad, but is it so hard to pick up the phone?" he asked plaintively. "Can't they call us up the day before and say, 'Hey are you coming down tomorrow? Could you bring some peas?'"
- Quinn Hatfield of Hatfield restaurant says calling ahead ruins spontaneity and culinary inspiration: "If I'm going to have to pre-order things in order to be sure I get them, I might as well just stay in bed an extra of couple hours every Wednesday morning."
- Mark Peel of Campanile says what chefs are complaining about now was what regular shoppers were complaining about in the past: "Farmers markets started as a way for farmers to sell directly to home cooks, then chefs started going there and home cooks would moan about the chefs coming in early and scooping up everything good.... Now the same thing is happening to us."
I'm glad my local farmers' market seems to be doing so well --
>> Here's the L.A. Times review of the new local, sustainable, organic food-focused Akasha restaurant. Earlier: Akasha: Culver City's new green restaurant.
>> Unlike Schwarzenegger, a number of Republicans oppose California's bid to set its own car emissions standards. Oddly, Republican presidential candidates voiced support for California's bid at a debate a few months ago.
>> A primer to selecting the greenest paper. Earlier: L.A. to buy only 100% post-consumer recycled copy paper.
>> Cow manure to power California! PG&E started producing natural gas from cow manure at a dairy farm in Riverdale, Calif. The Vintage Dairy Biogas Project is hoped to provide the natural gas needed to power 1,200 homes a day.
Photo by Siel
I made it to the Santa Monica Farmers' Market just before it closed today, Katie's salad recipe in hand. Katie wasn't exaggerating -- Local strawberries are all over the market -- and they're huge!
And I managed to get all the ingredients for the salad from the farmers market -- sans the cheese, because I'm lactose intolerant. The produce, of course, was a given, but I also found walnuts from Peacock Family Farms, local honey -- even apple cider vinegar from Ha's Farm in Tehachapi, Calif., to substitute for sherry vinegar (I don't know enough about vinegars to know if the two are comparable, but...).
I already had some leftover farmers market garlic and olive oil from Adams' Ranch in Strathmore, Calif. The only non-farmers market ingredient was the optional Worcestershire sauce!
Lunch was local and yummy.
Photos by Siel
Your eco-questions, answered:
 Question: I am happy that I've been indulging in the organic produce lately and have been frequenting farmers markets mostly except the times I don't I have experienced an annoying abundance of stickers! What to do with them?!
I will get a bunch of tomatoes, already separated in a plastic container at Trader Joe's, yet each individual one has those pesky stickers. And the bananas that are in a bunch, each one of them's stickered. Maybe this is necessary, but can these be recycled, or is there some other repurposing I should know about? Thanks. -- Klara
Answer: At first I was gonna tell you to chill out 'bout this small (in the scheme of things) sticker problem -- but then your question actually introduced me to some fascinating contemporary collage art -- so thank you, Klara, for your sticky conundrum!
So: Let me introduce you to the sticker man, a.k.a. artist Barry Snyder (via curbly). This dude upcycles produce stickers to make 4-ft-sq mosaics -- mostly homages of other famous works of art. Check out his oeuvre by watching this short video:
 Then send the stickers to Barry -- who calls himself an "Almost World Renowned Food Sticker Mosaic Artist" -- to benefit his S.O.S. Foundation (Save Our Stickers). Yep -- All you gotta to is mail them to Barry “Wildman” Snyder, POB 301, Erie, CO 80516. Your stickers will then be reincarnated into pop art. You can even support sticker upcycling by buying one of Barry's pieces, which go for $20-$265 a pop.
To avoid un-eco hassles, try to avoid that over-packaged Trader Joe's stuff, which bugged me so much that I opted for an organic produce delivery service -- until I moved to Santa Monica, within biking distance to my nearest farmers' market. Over time, I hope TJ's will get the message and stop jailing produce in annoying packaging.
Lastly -- In case you were curious about what those weird numbers on the stickers stand for, here's an explanation. Basically, opt for the produce with sticker numbers that begin with 9.
Top photo by C Dozo via Flickr; bottom photo courtesy of stickermanproduceart.wordpress.com
A guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.
Oh
February. You amaze me. Really, for being smack-dab in the dead of
winter, the surplus of incredible produce you bring is truly
remarkable. All month we've been enjoying carrots in buttery yellows
and deep purples, munching on snap peas and checking the oven to see
how our roasted golden beets, parsnips, butternut squash, turnips, and
potatoes are doing. De-lish.
But
then, THEN you hearken in the best treat of all. For the last three
weeks we've seen a few here, and few there but this past week... oh
wow. Strawberries have hit the market -- and they are better than ever.
Teasing and reminding us of the sweet stone-fruit summer to come,
February varieties are texturally different than their summer
counterparts, a bit crunchier but no less sweet. Perfectly suited to
keep their shape and flavor in your spinach and arugula salad and ready
to stand up to a steaming hot bowl of oatmeal, I picked up a pack from
Jaime Farms... and I'm sad to say that the majority didn't make it all
the way to my fridge.
____
Spinach & Arugula Salad with Sherry- Honey Vinaigrette and Farmers' Market Cheese
-
Handful of spinach leaves (remove most of the stem and wash very well -- spinach is very sandy!)
- Handful of arugula (same directions as the spinach)
- Around a pint of strawberries (tops removed and cut into bit sized pieces)
- Some great soft, rich cheese
- Handful of walnuts, pecans, or other seeds
Dressing: Adjust all to taste
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1 garlic clove (preferably ground with a mortal pestle) mixed with 1/4 tsp sea salt.
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2-3 tsp honey
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
You can get most of the ingredients at the Santa Monica Wednesday Market:
-
Cheese: Pick from one of many cheese vendors. I would go for a soft, rich cheese similar to goat or cheve.
- Honey: Energy Bee Farms / Pacific Honey.
Don't know what honey to pick out?
As a point of reference, note that the avocado honey has the most
robust flavor while wildflower and orange blossom are both delicate
and extremely sweet.
- Strawberries (winter varieties): Jaime Farms and Tamai Farms
- Spinach: Tamai Farms and Rutiz Family Farms
- Arugula: McGrath Family Farms and Coleman Farms
- Walnuts/Pecans: The Kennedy's have a variety of nuts and dried fruit year round, and Dave Eakin has pecans in the shell! I never knew pecans could taste so fresh, crisp, and flavorful.
To healthy and sustainable eating!
A guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.  Wow. Laura Avery,
Market Supervisor of the Santa Monica Farmers' Markets, I salute thee.
The Santa Monica Market has kicked it up a notch. While poking around
the market today browsing about for interesting things for a few
clients, I passed by a strange vendor. My first thought, you must be new, came just before I noticed his three metal bins on his table. And what IS that you have there?
Clams! Mussels! Oysters! Abalone! Oh my!
The vendor was busy getting interviewed for KCRW's' Good Food
which will air this Saturday at 11am, but that didn't stop me from
gasping and practically hugging the nearest onlooker. We're talking
sustainably harvested, eco-friendly 100% California genuine farm-raised
shellfish from Carlsbad at OUR local market. Amazing!
And with all the depressing news
about how aqua-farming is hurting our oceans and coastline ecosystems,
sustainably minded aqua farms are they way to safely enjoy these
delectable goodies.
I picked up a dozen Luna Oysters which were harvested just a day ago for a mere $8. Carlsbad Aquafarm will be at the Santa Monica Wednesday market each week. Run oyster lovers, run! Photo by juliefaye via Flickr
 The following is a guest post from Katie Ricketts, community / market organizer at Southland Farmers' Market Association.
The
potato is back on top! This year, the spuds take over the limelight as 2008 marks the Year of the Potato.
And no, this isn't a gimmicky ploy by the French fry industry or the chip
lobby. The potato reaches for a higher cause this year and brings us
back to what all foods are supposed to do: Give us nutrients.
The potato is being hailed for its ability to play a huge role in the fight against global poverty and economic development for rural communities.
The Year of the Potato also brings attention to the rapid loss of
potato farmland in North America. In 1900, more than 300,000 potato farms
speckled America, growing all kinds of potato varieties that each have
their own flavor, color, and texture profile. Now, only 12,000 potato
farms remain in the U.S. In fact, Europe and America have been surpassed in
potato production and consumption by Asia.
Like its counterpart rice, which had its own year back in 2004,
the potato is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, protein,
and vitamin C. Easily grown and harvested, increased attention and
focus on potato farming globally means economic development for poor
farmers and preservation of our small potato farmers here.
So go on, give the spud a second chance. The Potato Famine of the
1800's is wayyy behind us now and we gotta give some love back to the
potato! To get you started, look for these potato farmers at the Santa Monica Wednesday Market: Jerry Rutiz Family Farms, Weiser Family Farms, Pritchett Farms, Xiong Pau (japanese yams, sweet potatoes), and Windrose Farms.
And try this spud-inspired recipe with your local, farm-fresh produce!
----
Year of the Potato-Leek Soup
- 2-3 leeks
- 1 small yellow onion
- Approx. 2-3 potatoes (russet, yukon golds, butterballs)
-
2-3 cups of chicken/veg stock
- 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pinch of pepper
Place
a deep pot over medium heat and melt butter. Add leeks (dice up the
white/light green part only!) and chopped onion and sweat until both
are very tender and translucent. Add 2 cups stock, diced potatoes, and
salt. Raise heat to medium high and boil. When you see large bubbles
reduce heat to simmer and recover to cook for 15 more minutes, until
potatoes are tender when pierced. Let soup cool and puree in blender
or food processor. Work in batches so as not to overfill and return
pureed soup to pot. Adjust consistency by using remaining stock if
needed. Reheat gently, stirring until visibly steaming. Ladle into bows
and enjoy!
 Do you take the Big Blue Bus to the Santa Monica Farmers' Market? I sure don't. Instead, I bike there pretty much every Wednesday. And I actually don't know ANYONE who takes the farmers market shuttle to the market.
Maybe that's why we're going to discuss the possible discontinuation of service to the farmers markets at the next Big Blue Bus community meeting:
When: Thursday, Jan. 3, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Fairview Library, 2101 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica.
Other topics up for discussion at that meeting: upcoming changes to the Sunset Ride service, and potential changes to Line 6 and Line 7 service.
If you're affected by any of those lines, make sure you show up to put in your 2 cents. Because Jan. 8, the Santa Monica City Council will hear from the Big Blue Bus -- and the public -- at its regular meeting at the Santa Monica City Hall, 1685 Main St., starting at 6:45 p.m. On the agenda: possible cancellation of the farmers market ride services in February.
Can't make it to the BBB or the City Council meeting? Then e-mail your comments to Bus-Info@BigBlueBus.com or write Big Blue Bus, 1660 7th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401, Attn: Dan Dawson.
If you have questions about any of this, contact Dan Dawson, customer relations manager, at (310) 458-1975, Ext. 5831 or Dan.Dawson@smgov.net.
Photo by Siel
 Can't make it to the farmers market because of work? Then bring the farmers market to you. The new Santa Monica Market Basket Program does just that, assembling a wide variety of fruits and veggies into a basket and delivering it to your workplace for you to pick up during a break or at the end of the day.
Sure, we have organic produce delivery companies in L.A., but why not get both organic AND local, enjoying farm fresh produce AND helping out your neighbors who've grown them?
That's where the Santa Monica Market Basket Program comes in. The first deliveries started earlier this month, and so far, takes about 70 baskets to Santa Monica City Hall employees each Wednesday. And according to Katie Ricketts, Market Basket Coordinator, the program's actively seeking new businesses to take advantage of this basket program.
To get signed up, all you need is about 50 people (Katie says she'd try to work with smaller groups too) at your workplace interested in getting weekly farm-fresh produce. Then, Katie will work with your workplace to hash out some basic logistics, and in a week or two, you and your co-workers will be able to pick up yummies from the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market without ever leaving the office.
Participants can pick from 3 tiers of baskets. The $20 classic bag will give you about 10 farm fresh staples -- all the basic items needed for a person for a week, based on the USDA requirement of 31.5 cups of fruits and veggies -- as well as newsletter with recipes, market news, farmer bios, and other tidbits. You can get double that by opting for the $38 double person bag, which Katie says is really enough to feed a small family for a week. Then there's the $30 specialty basket, which has all the items in the classic bag plus some extra goodies -- perhaps eggs, honey, or special fruits with a higher price point.
Interested in signing up? Contact Katie Ricketts at katie@sfma.net or 310.740.7544. And if you're stressing about the "best" way to eat, fret not -- Here's my simplified guide to eating like an environmentalist.
Photo by Siel
Get your locally-made holiday wreath at the farmers' market! I found Santa Monica-based company Designing Endeavors' colorful wreaths at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Arizona yesterday.
A small undecorated wreath costs $15. I seriously considered getting one -- especially once I found out the greenery is locally grown in California, according to the woman at the booth -- but I'd already bought too much stuff and couldn't fit a huge wreath (even the smalls are pretty big) on my bike.
Maybe next week. I'm considering a poinsettia plant too -- Those were also all over the market. Many booths were offering gift basket type goodies. I might get the bulk of my holiday shopping there --
In addition to the Wednesday Santa Monica market, you can find
Designing Endeavors at the Pasadena Farmers' Market on Saturdays and
the Pacific Palisades Farmers' Market on Sundays. Or you can call to
put in an order: 310.395.7944.
Photos by Siel
 I successfully made a yummy, organic, local soup this week -- and am proud to share how I went about it:
1. Find a local-friendly recipe that's not all about taking stuff out of cans and defrosting frozen goods in the microwave. In my case, I found a Hearty Spinach and Chickpea Soup recipe in Body+Soul magazine.
2. Get fresh produce from the local farmers market. I got onion, garlic, baby spinach and fresh rosemary from my Santa Monica farmers market!
3. Snatch up unexpected local goodies. At the farmers market, I also found some local stuff I didn't know I'd be able to get: gouda cheese original super aged, made with whole raw milk from Winchester Cheese in Winchester, Calif., olive oil from Adams' Olive Ranch in Strathmore, Calif., and fresh shitake mushrooms from -- that mushroom booth I always forget to write down the name of....
 4. Hit an organic-friendly grocery store. At Co-opportunity, I found Cali-grown organic brown rice from Lundberg Farms, organic veggie broth, and a can of organic chickpeas
5. Start cooking, salt and pepper at hand. My soup was super yummy, if I may say so myself. The recipe made four servings -- which meant I had to refrigerate some to eat the next day -- by which time the "soup" had turned into a sort of risotto due to the swelling of the rice. Luckily, I heart risotto --
Think eating organic is expensive? It's not, if you put a little time into cooking. My homemade, local, organic soup was way cheaper than the canned, shipped-from-afar, pesticide-ridden, artificially flavored stuff -- and yummier and healthier too!
What's your fave locally adaptable recipe?
Photos by Siel
 Zucchini never tasted so sweet -- because by zucchini, I mean zucchini chocolate chip cookies! (PDF)
That recipe I got from "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life," a yearlong memoir of sorts by Barbara Kingsolver that documents her family's life of trying to eat as locally as possible in southern Appalachia.
And they ate good food! Barbara brags about how she got kids to eat zucchini with these cookies: "They asked for seconds. Ha!" Of course, that's not exactly surprising when you consider that the butter, honey, brown sugar and chocolate chips outweighed the locally grown zucchini content by about 3 to 1....
 Why did Barbara decide to eat local? The same reasons lots of other people are trying to eat more locally these days. Basically, people are developing a distaste for pesticide-ridden tomatoes that were shipped here via fossil fuels from thousands of miles away and taste anything but fresh and yummy. People also don't like their tax dollars going to farm subsidies that support big farm corporations growing genetically modified corn, which is then used to produce high-fructose corn syrup that gets sold to us in soda and fast food, making us fat and sick.
So the reasons to eat local are rather doom and gloom, but the book itself is fun and tasty. After all, Barbara is not a purist like Alisa and James of 100-Mile Diet fame, who promptly lost 15 pounds when they started their super-strict diet. Barbara's family grows and gets local everything they possibly can, but makes some exceptions for things like organic fair trade coffee and of course, chocolate chips.
The work sounds rather arduous at times. I mean, this family tends a rather large farm-garden, as well as a small flock of poultry. That said, Barbara's take is that it's enjoyable work that lets her enjoy the outdoors and develop a useful hobby while connecting her with community and family. Plus, there's a certain hilarity and satisfaction in getting her turkeys to mate and produce little turkeys naturally -- apparently no easy feat!
I found "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" inspiring, even though I'm not exactly inspired to keep a chicken coop on my apartment balcony. We just live in very different places, Barbara and I. Barbara does a lot of farming and canning and jamming, which is cool if you enjoy it, but not as necessary for Angelenos who can get fresh local produce at the farmers market year-round.
That said, I tried a rather lax 100-mile diet awhile back and have pretty much stuck to it since! Tomatoes are yummier fresh from the farmers market.
As for gardening: The only things I've grown successfully in my balcony garden so far are herbs, but I have high hopes for next spring.... In the meantime, check out Jenn and Nat's urban lawn garden in Santa Monica for inspiration.
 What I really need to work on now are my cooking skills. I'm great at salads and sandwiches and, um, bowls of cereal that I can just add soy milk to, but not so much at anything else. Sure, the zucchini cookies turned out, but then it's pretty hard to make a dense combo of sugar, honey and chocolate chips taste bad.
My eggs in a nest (PDF) were passable but not spectacular (left); my veggie frittata (PDF) barely edible. The Asian veggie rolls (PDF) turned out pretty well, though -- perhaps because there wasn't too much actual cooking involved. I need a local cooking class.
But I'm a proud member of the local eating movement. Join me!
Thanks to Lisa for sharing the book with me.
Photos by Siel
 What you'll need: A tote or two, depending on what you can fit in your bike basket. Some old plastic bags for reuse. And in my case, those green strawberry baskets that came with my half-flat purchase last week.
Who here doesn't have a tote yet? If you've got one, use it -- It'll make your farmers market experience so much -- less plasticky. Don't have one? Let me know in the comments, and I'll try to hook you up.
And carry that thought to the bags that go in your bags too. The number of new plastic bags I see would-be-locavores toting around bugged me so much I wrote a long post about it. Point is, you probably have plastic bags at home. Reuse them. They last forever, whether in landfills or in your locavoring hands.
About those little green baskets: Farmers market peeps reuse those! So don't put th'em in your black bins; take them back to the market and hand them to the people at your fave stand with a smile --
I spent all of 15 minutes at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday -- and left with $17 worth of yellow peaches. Clearly, I'm not dealing with the looming end of peach season very well. One fellow customer actually asked me if I'm stocking up for winter. He'd bought only four peaches. Me: That's not even one per day!
Of course that's assuming one goes to the farmers market only once a week.... I tend to do odd things on farmers market days -- like eat five peaches for dinner. Not particularly unhealthy, but also not really a square meal....
In case you have leftovers: Let the Vegetable Orchestra inspire you! We're talking edible music -- a carroty flute, among other audible veggie curiosities (via Ethicurean):
De-car-ing: Bike!
So I hear back in the day, each lil town had a guy who'd come around once in a while to sharpen everyone's knives and scissors. Now those people seem to've disappeared -- but in Los Angeles we have Gary to help you out at a farmers' market near you.
Gary's booth -- creatively named Gary's Knife Sharpening -- opens on the eastern end of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Arizona on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
I had my first sharpening experience a few months ago. The whole process took about a minute -- Gary took my dulled veggie knife, sharpened it right away, and charged me $2.
Me: But it says $2.50 on the price sheet --
Gary: Yeah -- $2's easier.....
Well okay then. Gary says he sharpens 50-100 knives at this farmers' market, partly because a lot of local restaurants bring their knives to him for sharpening.
Unfortunately, in today's disposable consumer culture, lotsa knives and scissors simply get thrown away, just because people don't think about reuse, or don't know where to get these tools back into working shape.
But now you DO know! And despair not if you don't live in Santa Monica; Gary's always on the move. Try the Manhattan Beach and Culver City Farmers' Markets on Tuesdays, the Mar Vista Farmers' Market on Sundays, or a lil shop called International Silks & Woolens on Beverly Blvd. on Fridays. Plus, Gary does house calls!
Stay sharp --
 A half flat of organic strawberries: $7
5 huge ripe yellow peaches: $4
 2 cantaloupes, 5 heirloom tomatoes, a head of romaine lettuce, and a basket of cherry tomatoes, all organic: $6
Okay that last $6 line was a special deal from Tutti Frutti farms because I helped them work the stand for 3 weeks last summer. But still -- really yummy fruit's really cheap at the farmers' market!
Do you dare to eat a peach? Hit up your nearest farmers' market. If you're at least minimally web-savvy, this little Farmers' Market Mapplet by Don at L.A. Stories will let you figure out exactly where your nearest farmers' market is on any given day via a color-coded google map mashup.
You'll save money short and long term: A new study says healthy living could save the US a trillion bucks. But seeing as the latest farm bill's kept the high-fructose corn syrup subsidies intact for the next 5 years, save yourself some money -- by biting into a sweet and juicy farmers' market peach.
Good health: Priceless. But you'll need cash, not Mastercard, for the farmers' market.
So get to know your neighbors and local farmers, and say bye-bye to the tasteless rubbery produce at conventional supermarkets. Also -- Remember to take your own bags!
Photos by Siel
|
|
Work in Hollywood? Take a break right now and head over to the new Hollywood Lemon Grove Farmers' Market, which opened 9 a.m. today at 4959 Lemon Grove Ave. 
Emerald City calendar