Tag: Locavore

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Q&A With Bestselling Author and Locavore Guru Michael Pollan

If you’ve heard of farm-to-table, you’ve heard of Michael Pollan. Along with Alice Waters, he practically invented the movement. In books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, Pollan showed readers the horrors of industrial food systems and advocated a return to traditional, local, and sustainable fare.

Like many aspiring locavores, I read and I cheered. But Pollan was hiding something from his fellow foodies. He didn’t really know how to cook. In his own words: “It’s not like I was a total novice. I mostly grilled. I would marinate expensive filets and throw them on the grill.”

In Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, Pollan’s new book, the author finally learns to make his own supper. In the process, he takes readers on a mouthwatering journey across the United States, learning to barbecue a whole hog in North Carolina and make sauerkraut in California. The Flyer recently caught up with Pollan to chat about microbes, complex carbohydrates, and good, old-fashioned barbecue.

Flyer: Americans spend just 27 minutes per day cooking. How did we get here?

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan: A lot of reasons. One of them is changing lifestyles. Now you have both men and women working, so you don’t have someone in the home who could be cooking. And rather than develop a new division of labor around cooking, families have invited food corporations into our lives to cook for us. And that’s something the industry has been wanting to do for a long time.

Is the way we eat now making us sick?

Oh, absolutely. Four out of the top-10 killers today are chronic diseases linked to the way we eat. We spend about a trillion dollars a year on health-care costs linked to diet. Just an example: We struggle with very high rates of Type 2 diabetes — 8 percent and soaring. So when you hear the words “health-care crisis,” what you should hear is “the Western diet.”

Why is cooking so important?

The short answer is that it’s only by cooking that we can control the amount of sugar, fat, and salt in our diet. We just can’t count on companies to do that in a responsible way. But that’s hardly doing it justice. There’s the intellectual stimulation, the sensory stimulation. The social dimension. The family meal correlates with so many positive markers: not just nutritional health, but things like success at school and drug use.

All right, I’m coming to dinner. What are you cooking?

Ha. If a guest were coming over? I’d buy a chicken and brine it. The brine would be a mix of salt, sugar, and spices. And some garlic and lemon peel. Then I’d slow-grill it at about 250 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes. That way the skin would be all crinkly and brown and delicious.

Let’s talk microbes. Why should we embrace things like yeast and bacteria?

What we’ve learned is that there is an ecosystem in your large intestine consisting of trillions of microbes. Mostly bacteria. And these bacteria are key not just to digestion, but to things like your immune system and your mental health. The thing is, you’ve got to feed them! Taking care of that ecosystem turns out to be a very important part of your health.

Wow. That’s kind of gross and kind of awesome. What should we feed them?

The thing is, these microbes don’t actually like the Western diet very much. Most of what Americans eat — things like sugars and fats — are absorbed in the small intestine. But these microbes live farther down, in the large intestine. If you want to make it down there, you’ve got to eat complex carbohydrates: plant fiber in all its various forms. Bananas and oats and onions and nuts and avocados.

Memphis is a barbecue town. Can you offer any tips for backyard barbecuing?

Slow down. Most people cook barbecue too fast. Great barbecue is cooked very slowly. Part of that is learning how to control the temperature. If you’re using coals, you really have to wait for them to burn down before you put food on. Then you can add one or two coals every now and then. You really want to be close to 200, 250 degrees. If you’re over 300, you’re not barbecuing, you’re grilling.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Close to Home

CREDIT: by Bianca Phillips

No chocolate. No bananas. No beer. Not a single orange or a slice of bread. And worst of all, no cookies. At the start of my local-food eating challenge, I’m focusing on the have-nots rather than the haves.

For one week, I will only eat foods grown within a three-hour drive of Memphis. I will be a “locavore,” which according to Wikipedia, is “someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles.”

Voted the New Oxford American Dictionary‘s Word of 2007, the “locavore” movement has gained popularity as a way to reduce the mileage from farm to plate, thus curbing one’s carbon footprint. Produce also begins losing nutrients once it’s plucked from the ground, so eating local means fresher, more healthful foods.

“Local food tastes better, and it’s better for you,” Melissa Peterson, editor of local food magazine Edible Memphis, tells me. “It supports local farm families and protects food diversity.”

Though some locavores opt to eat within a very confined radius, such as the “100-mile diet” promoted by local-eating advocates Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon (read about it in their book Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally), my boundaries are determined by the availability of regionally produced tofu.

As a vegan, local beef from nearby M4-D Ranch or Neola Farms is out of the question. But fortunately, tofu and soy yogurt made from regional soybeans are available through Farm Soy in Summertown, Tennessee. It’s about three hours from Memphis, but the tofu is available here at Fresh Market stores.

Other local staples include grits from Oxford, Mississippi’s Delta Grind, wine made from homegrown grapes at Old Millington Winery, and a plethora of fresh produce from local farmer’s markets.

I begin my challenge Friday morning with fried Delta Grind grits cakes. I allow for some “cheater” items — olive oil, salt, spices, coffee, and tea — so the grits are fried in oil and seasoned liberally with salt. After filling up, I head 35 miles northeast to Tyronza, Arkansas, where Jill and Keith Forrester of Whitton Flowers & Produce are busy preparing for the Saturday morning farmer’s market in downtown Memphis.

Former schoolteachers, the Forresters gave up their education jobs to live off the land. “I asked Keith for 50 pounds of sunflower seeds and one pound of zinnia seeds for my birthday a few years ago,” says Jill, as she leads me around the farm. “I planted them and they bloomed, but I didn’t know what to do with them.”

A neighbor suggested selling the flowers at the Agricenter Farmer’s Market. The young couple gave the market a shot one Saturday and came home with $400.

“We got hooked on seed catalogs, and now we’re able to support ourselves with what we grow,” says Jill, pointing to a field of vegetables in their earliest stages of growth.

Tomatoes are tiny green stalks, and carrot tops barely peek from the ground like blades of grass. But a small hothouse is ripe with numerous varieties of baby lettuce and arugula, which the couple will be selling at the Memphis Farmers Market. I make a note to add baby lettuce to my mental shopping list.

I arrive at the Saturday market at Central Station at the indecent hour of 7:30 a.m. I usually hit the market around 11 a.m., and this time of year, that means coming home with one or two measly items.

Early spring produce is sparse, so a prompt arrival is key to ensuring I eat for the week to come. I have a stash of frozen local veggies and canned tomatoes from last season at home, thanks to my grandma, but I’m hoping for a nice haul of fresh produce.

Fortunately, I beat the crowds and lug home a mother lode of veggies: baby arugula, baby mesclun mix, squash, kohlrabi, French Breakfast radishes, Japanese turnips, green onion, baby bok choy, sugar snap peas, kale, broccoli, cabbage, an organic cucumber, organic strawberries, and (gasp!) early peaches from Jones Orchard in Millington. I also purchase some rainbow Swiss chard from Downing Hollow Farm in Olive Hill, Tennessee. Both former members of Memphis rock bands, Alex Greene and Lori Godwin-Greene moved to the country to take up farming. Now they grow heirloom tomatoes and all sorts of other vegetables to sell at the downtown market.

by Bianca Phillips

“There’s so much more opportunity now to sell in the city, because people are starting to open their eyes to unsustainable corporate farming practices,” Godwin-Greene says. “The small farm is dying out due to factory farming, and eating locally is a way to revitalize rural areas.”

Ken and Freida Lansing own Windermere Farms, a small farm in Raleigh where they’re currently growing juicy organic strawberries. People can pick their own on-site or buy pre-picked berries at both the downtown market and the Memphis Botanic Garden’s market. Later in the year, they’ll have squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and other veggies.

“Growing and eating local foods helps to build the local economy,” Lansing says. “And people can actually go out into the fields and see what’s going on.”

Throughout the week, the Lansings’ berries provide a breakfast accompaniment to my soy yogurt, peaches, and toasted pecans from my uncle’s pecan trees in Arkansas.

For dinner one night, I sauté Godwin-Greene’s Swiss chard with Farm Soy tofu. Another night, I stir-fry bok choy, carrots, squash, and kohlrabi. Local foods keep me nourished throughout the week.

But I crave chocolate from day one, and the off-limits tortilla chips in my pantry laugh in my face every time I open the cabinet door. Other than raw veggies or fruit, there aren’t many options in the “between meals” category. Giving up nonlocal foods is harder for me than giving up cheese when I went vegan three years ago.

But in the end, I know I’ve reduced my carbon footprint just a little bit more. I’ve also given one week’s hard-earned grocery money to local farmers rather than corporate supermarkets. And that feels (and tastes) pretty darn good.

Resources

• Memphis Farmers Market

Saturdays, through October, 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

Central Station Pavilion, Front Street at G.E. Patterson

memphisfarmersmarket.com (575-0580)

• Memphis Botanic Garden

Farmers’ Market

Wednesdays, through October, 2-6 p.m.

Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry

memphisbotanicgarden.com

(576-4100)

• Agricenter International

Farmer’s Market

Mondays-Fridays, through fall, 7:30 a.m.-

5:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Agricenter International, 7777 Walnut Grove (757-7777)

Community Supported Agriculture:

Join these programs and receive a weekly share of the participating farm’s harvest.

• Whitton Flowers & Produce

Offering 10-week subscriptions: July 12th-September 13th, or September 20th-November 22nd; $100-$250.

whittonflowerandproduce.com

• Downing Hollow Farm

$100 per week; subscriptions are filled, but interested persons may sign a waiting list.

downinghollowfarm.com

Other Information

• Delta Grind

Grits, corn meal, and polenta available at Miss Cordelia’s Neighborhood Grocery

(737 Harbor Bend).

gritgirl.net

• Farm Soy Tofu

Available at Fresh Market

(835 S. White Station; 9375 Poplar)

farmsoy.com

• Old Millington Winery

“Crying Angel” red table wine is produced from homegrown grapes.

6748 Old Millington (873-4114)

oldmillingtonwinery.com

• Windermere Farms

Pick your own produce.

3060 Woodhills

(386-2035)

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

The Here and Now

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

When most people first hear the word “locavore,” their response is apt to be, “What?” But it will most certainly be used more frequently now that Oxford University Press, publisher of the New Oxford American Dictionary, announced that “locavore” is the word of the year.

The term was coined in 2005 by a group of women in San Francisco who challenged residents to eat locally for the month of August. They defined “local” as foods grown and harvested within a 100-mile radius of the city. They also encouraged people to can and preserve food bought by local growers for the winter months.

It’s estimated that most produce in grocery stores travels an average of 1,500 miles before reaching the table. Locavores are trying to increase awareness of the damage this transportation costs, not only in terms of higher prices but also in increased air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions. Additionally, instead of supporting local farmers in the community, money is sent to food conglomerates across the country and even around the globe.

While the word “locavore” is new for many, the movement to eat locally is not.

“It’s nothing new,” says Steve Lubin, owner of Good Life and Honeysuckle, a local health-food and supplement store. “This has been preached for years: Eat fresh, eat local, eat as organically as you can, which means eating seasonally.”

In today’s global marketplace, consumers can purchase fruits and vegetables year-round regardless of season. For instance, it’s not hard to find melons in most major grocery stores this time of year, but while the fruit is there, what’s missing is quality and flavor.

John Charles Wilson is president of Agricenter International, which houses a farmers’ market that recently closed for the winter season and will reopen next spring. He says many, though not all, of the vendors are local growers. He believes eating local means eating healthier.

“When you know it comes straight from the farm, it hasn’t been handled by 40 different hands, so it’s a safer product,” he says. “It’s picked at the peak of flavor.”

The effects of supporting local farmers and buying locally grown products are much more far-reaching in Memphis than people may realize, says Jeanice Blancett, owner of Square Foods.

“The impact of not having to use trucks going from California to Memphis — the gasoline, the pollution, the cost — is tremendous,” she says.

Jill and Keith Forrester own Whitton Flowers & Produce in Tyronza, Arkansas, about 35 miles north of Memphis. They are committed to raising and selling only the freshest products.

“People don’t realize what resources they have right here. It’s really important to buy from and support your local farmers,” she says.

Both of the Forresters were educators and gave up teaching when they started their farming operation, something they’ve never regretted. Jill tries to make people aware of the importance of supporting local growers.

“When produce isn’t being shipped from California or from out of the country, it keeps your money local. And just think about what all that shipping does to the environment,” she says.

Benefits to consumers are obvious when the freshest fruits and vegetables go directly from the field to the table. “If you know your farmer, you know your food,” says Jill, who is currently selling Whitton’s flowers, vegetables, and herbs outside Square Foods on Saturdays.

One of her fellow vendors, Tim Smith (known to many in the community as “the arugula guy”), and his partner run a small farm in Holly Springs, Mississippi, called Gracious Gardens. Smith picks his produce the day before it’s sold.

“People are waking up to the idea that there are ways to get something fresh,” Smith says. “They are tired of going to the grocery store and seeing shriveled vegetables. Think about when you get something from California. It’s been picked, boxed, and trucked. Think about how many days it spends in transit. If it’s from California, it’s not fresh.”

The fact is, Blancett says, the minute something is picked from the vine, it starts to die.

She concedes that eating locally is more challenging during the fall and winter months, when fewer vegetables are in season. But supporting local farmers has other advantages, Blancett says: “There’s a sense of community — everyone taking care of one another.”

Blancett remembers one time when Smith was getting ready to leave after a day of selling his vegetables in front of Square Foods.

“At the end of the day, when he was packing up, he [stopped to] show me how to change the alternator in my truck,” Blancett recalls. “Somebody on the West Coast isn’t around to do that, but my local farmer will give me some turnip greens and then turn around and help me fix my alternator.”

Whitton Flowers & Produce and Gracious Gardens sell produce at Square Foods (937 S. Cooper, 274-4222) on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Ask the produce manager of your neighborhood grocery store about the availability of locally grown produce. Fayette Packing Co. (16620 Hwy. 196, 867-3826) sells locally raised pork and can get locally raised beef by request.