CSAs and Our Contest Winner!

Random.org tells me that a random number between 1 and 15 is 7.

The lucky winner is SandyU. SandyU, please contact me, and I'll hook you up with your $50 gift card from Sonoma Grille and Seviche as promised last week!

SandyU commented that she uses Kretschmann Farms for her local food source via their CSA program. I participated in their CSA two summers ago and loved all the vegetables, so this is a great opportunity to highlight Kretschmann and CSAs in general. Unfortunately, my schedule and location make it easier for me to go to the Farmer's Markets than participate in a CSA but if you have a convenient drop-off location and a consistent schedule, I can't recommend them enough. CSAs encourage you to change up your recipes and cook more food on the fly. Plus, you end up trying vegetables that you'd be less likely to pick up normally. I learned that I love fennel because its pungent anise flavor mellows when it cooks. You'll also eat a ton more salads and make lots of friends when you give away any extra vegetables you can't eat. Their season begins the first week of June.

Friends also rave about Penn's Corner Farm Alliance for their variety of produce, cheeses, and other local products and their flexible plans. If you're desperate for fresh veggies, their "cabin fever" plan starts up next month April 13. They also have a "harvest" share that starts in June, and the full-season share which runs from April to November.

City of Pittsburgh Farmer's Markets should begin in May. With convenient locations throughout the city (and prices cheaper than most grocery stores), you have no excuse to not eat fresh local vegetables this summer.

Small Green Business Tuesday: Contest Edition

Last week, when I was contacted about doing a contest for the two local restaurants, Sonoma Grille and Seviche, I scoffed. What could these downtown restaurants have to do with a "green" blog? Then I looked at their menus and talked to their chefs.

Seviche

When I asked about local foods, Mark, the chef at Seviche, pulled out his iPhone and brought up the extensive order form for Penn's Corner Farm Alliance. Though he complained that in order to get their great selection, you need to order early in the week. His backup choice is Green Grocer. He says that whenever he can he uses local foods in the restaurant. (As a side note, Mark told me a little known fact, most mushrooms in the United States are actually grown in Pennsylvania. So anyone who eats mushrooms is basically eating locally. Did you know that Penn State has a mushroom research program?) But back to the food, clearly a fish and mojito restaurant like Seviche can't survive only buying local meats and vegetables. However, if you order their salmon, you can rest assured that it is farmed sustainably. I can't assuage your doubts about the limes in the mojitos though. Even if you don't win the gift certificate, I recommend stopping by Seviche in downtown Pittsburgh for happy hour to try their drinks and tapas at a great price.

Sonoma Grille

Drew, the chef at Sonoma Grille, has a passion for local meats. In addition to using sustainably farmed salmon, he has also incorporated local beef and lamb on the menu. When he brought my partner and me a burger, he asked us to savor it. "Can't you just taste the grass? Cows are intended to eat grass." He's especially proud of his kitchen-made corned beef and swears by the grass-fed beef from Ron Gargasz. Drew says that when the restaurant changes their menu every season, he attempts to introduce another local item, but he has to do it slowly in order to insure that they stay in business. Green meats are not cheap. Randy, the wine guy who talks to everybody to insure they're having a good time, told us that 1/4 of their wine list is organic or sustainable and they even have a vegan wine offering. He gave us a few samples of these "green" wines. In particular, I recommend the Parducci "Sustainable Red" as a reasonable, tasty, feel-green wine on their menu. This Pittsburgh restaurant also has a great happy hour and one of the best wine selections in the area.

The Contest

Now, I'm pleased to announce the first ever "Green is Good" online contest. Leave a comment on this blog entry with your favorite local food (or place to eat it). Next Tuesday March 16, I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner of a $50 gift card good for each restaurant. May the luck of the Irish be with you!

*Disclaimer* I received a free, delicious tasting at these restaurants as part of this contest. I get free food. You get free food. We all win.

Tips for a Happy Green Thanksgiving

1. Compost. You're going to be having lots of vegetable side dishes, right? What better time to start a compost bin. From Thanksgiving alone (with its loads of apple pies and mashed potatoes) you may be able to generate enough soil to do a lovely container garden next year. Here's a quick do-it-yourself-compost-bin perfect for the holidays. Did you know you can compost those left-over newspaper ads, too?

2. Use those Leftovers. This is where Pittsburgh really shines. Recently we were ranked 4th in the nation for using reusable containers and 7th for eating leftovers. What better time to exercise those skills than Thanksgiving?

3. Make Stock. The day after Thanksgiving while everybody else is running to Best Buy and Target like their heads are cut off, cut all the good meat off of your turkey, and drop the carcass in a big pot of boiling water. A few hours later, you'll have the basis of lots of good meals this winter. Toss in any leftover raw vegetables you have for added flavor and richness. You can use the stock for turkey soup, risottos, gumbo, and more.

4. Take a Walk. Pittsburghers are famous for hopping in the car to go short distances. In the same study as the leftovers study, we ranked "worst in the nation ranking was for driving on trips that are less than two miles from home." If Uncle Jim lives closer than 2 miles, try walking there this year. It'll even help you burn off all those extra calories from eating the meal and upcoming leftovers.

Do you have more tips for a happy green Thanksgiving?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is Good

When it comes to fresh organic food, the best place you can get it is from the person who grew it - the farmer. In the Pittsburgh, one of the best cities for farmers markets, we are lucky to have numerous options fresh produce or grass fed poultry / beef straight from the farm. The problem is that farmers markets are only one or two days a week and so we still did quite a bit of shopping at the grocery store, that is, until earlier this year when we became members of a local CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. What is CSA you ask?

From localharvest.org:

CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

Subscribing to a CSA is awesome. Here is how it works. Each Friday for the past several months we pick up a bag or box full of fresh organic greens, veggies, eggs, fruits, etc from a sponsor who volunteers to be the drop off point for the farmer in that neighborhood. We are fortunate enough to be within walking distance from the current sponsor. In most cases you should be able to find someone sponsoring a CSA within a reasonable distance from your home. Our current subscription, which runs for about six months, averages out to be about $20 a week, and in addition to the items mentioned above we have additional options, such as ordering cheeses, whole grass fed chickens, or even ground beef or steaks from grass fed cattle. The variety of the food you get each week depends on the time of the season and of course the part of the country you live in. Right now we're getting a lot of greens - romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, etc, but the contents will vary some between different growers. Pictured at the right is the latest batch of goodies we received from our CSA.

The change in our eating and shopping habits is dramatic to say the least. We no longer purchase meat or greens at the grocery store. In addition to saving us hundreds of dollars a month from our grocery bill, the CSA we belong to gives us REAL organic food - harmful chemicals are not used on its produce. Additionally, we're saving literally tons of carbon emissions since the food is grown right here in our own backyard instead of on the other side of the country.

I encourage everyone reading this, regardless of where you live in the US, to look into subscribing to a CSA. If you want to eat healthier food you can continue to spend your paycheck buying organic at Whole Foods, or you can get the same quality food for less money while having the piece of mind that you are supporting local farmers. What are you waiting for?