Green Eats

My textbook for my Sustainable Livestock Management class arrived in the mail today. We are using Barnyard in Your Backyard, edited by Gail Damerow.  I’ve actually had this book on my Amazon Wishlist for over a year, so it was a lucky twist of fate that it ended up being the book I needed for class!  I’m excited to start reading it – you can plan on some ongoing reviews and great tidbits as the semester continues.  The only negative thing I’ve heard about the book is that it is a very basic primer on animal care; farmer friends of mine said that they found it lacking when it came to the nitty-gritty of livestock care.  I’m hoping that it at least gives me a good background so that in the next few years as I gear up to acquire some livestock of mine own I have a base foundation of knowledge.

Barnyard in Your Backyard – Amazon.com

(The following is a press release from the NC Department of Agriculture)

RALEIGH — A statewide council focused on growing the local food economy in North Carolina will hold its first meeting Tuesday, Feb. 2, at the State Fairgrounds.

The N.C. Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council will meet at 2 p.m. in the Martin Building. The meeting is open to the public.

The General Assembly adopted legislation creating the council last summer. Its diverse membership includes Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, State Health Director Jeff Engel and Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco or their designees, plus farmers, educators, food industry executives, community activists and local-food advocates. Members were appointed by Troxler, Gov. Beverly Perdue, Senate leader Marc Basnight and House Speaker Joe Hackney.

“North Carolina agriculture makes many positive contributions to the state’s economy and environmental quality,” Troxler said. “Agriculture creates jobs, preserves open space and provides our citizens with nutritious food. I’m looking forward to this council going to work to benefit North Carolina by expanding our local food economy.”

The General Assembly charged the council to focus its work on four subjects: health and wellness, hunger and food access, economic development, and preservation of farmlands and water resources. By law, the group will meet at least four times a year.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has created a Web site to share information about the council and its work. Log on to www.ncagr.gov/localfood.

(One of my good friends, fairy godmother, and all around kind-hearted/hilarious human being, Aldra, left a very well-thought-out comment on the previous post about Obama’s first year in office and his approach to food policy. I loved her comment so much I’ve decided to post it here in its entirety. Please feel free to add your two cents in the comments, I’d love to get a discussion going! While you’re at it, check out Demandra’s AMAZING blog, Consciously Frugal. The name is the topic, and her advice is always spot-on.)

As a progressive, I’m mightily disappointed in Obama across the board, but not surprised. We old farts knew this would be the game. I think his food policy is much like the rest of his presidency at this point–one step forward, two steps back, all in an effort to reinstate the status quo while making minor, gradual changes in a vain attempt to calm folks like me.

I’m a bit concerned about the First Lady’s focus on fat kids. Instead of embracing a the Health at Every Size platform, she’s further stigmatizing a segment of the population. Research indicates that the stigma further harms fat folks, but that doesn’t seem to stop anyone. It’s maddening.

I’d love to see the First Lady focus less on making kids thin (dream on!) and instead on making a Farm Bill and food system that works for the benefit of the people, not 5 major corporations. But the money made from that approach will impact local communities and not major corporations. As long as the focus of the federal government continues to be Wall Street, I don’t think we’re going to see any significant changes to the current food system structure. – Aldra of Consciously Frugal

Check out this great review of Obama’s approach to food policy during his first year in office. Mark Boyer of ChicagoNow.com does a great job of hitting the highs and, of course, the lows.

How do you think Obama has done in terms of food policy during his first year? Has he been the strong advocate for sustainable agriculture that we need?

One Year Later: President Obama’s Food Policy – ChicagoNow.com

The milk went from the goat to the refrigerator to a glass to my lips. I’m not much of a milk drinker, but it was rich and refreshing. Aside from tasting some fresh goat milk, my boyfriend and I got to sample fresh feta and eggs as we spent the evening chatting with our friends Dan & Brittany of Contrarian Farm down in Pittsboro. They are getting ready to move their operation from Pittsboro to Stokes County in the next few weeks, so before they officially pulled up stakes we went to Pittsboro for some beer, some food, and some fun. On the menu, like I mentioned, were Contrarian eggs and fresh feta from their goats along with some delicious sausage made by Brittany’s friend. Scrambled eggs and feta doesn’t sound very fancy, but when you have farm-fresh ingredients the results are outstanding. I made brownies for dessert, and we spent the evening talking and laughing. It was a great night on a great farm with great friends, and I will definitely miss seeing them regularly once they move to Stokes County.

When you try to shop locally as much as possible you often find there is that one item, that one staple that is nearly impossible to find. For many people that one thing is butter, and if you can’t find great local butter, why not make your own? Whats more local than your own kitchen? I use cream from Maple View Farm in Hillsborough, NC, and I encourage you to find a great local dairy to supply all of your butter-making needs.

Homemade butter is simple – essentially you just whip heavy cream until it separates into butter solids and buttermilk. The easiest way is with a KitchenAid or other stand mixer, but it can also be done with an electric hand mixer (it will be messy) or even just a solid container and a marble. Once you get the hang of it the possibilities are endless – whipped butter, honey butter, garlic butter….I could go on forever. Plus you can use the buttermilk to make delicious buttermilk biscuits, pancakes, or waffles.

I used these easy instructions from Instructables – the video is great too. My one point of advice is to be patient;  the first time I made butter it took almost 10 minutes for the solids to separate. Also, I would add any large solids (green onions, fruit, etc.) after you’ve separated and washed your butter.

So go grab a pint of cream from your favorite dairy and get to work! You’ll be enjoying fresh, homemade butter in no time at all!

How to Make Butter (and Buttermilk)

Check out this great video on successful permaculture planning and farming!

My love for biscuits has been approaching addiction-like levels as of late, and this photo nearly sent me straight to the kitchen to whip up a batch. There are a zillion biscuit recipes out there (you can find mine after the jump), and almost all are quick and simple and can easily be tweaked to include local ingredients like flour, butter, and cream. Plus you can top them with a fresh fried local egg, or drizzle with some delicious local honey! So when the anemic state of your farmers’ market gives you the winter blues, just hop into the kitchen and make a big batch of buttery, flaky biscuits!

(Photo courtesy of All That Splatters via FoodGawker)

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Last year the state legislature created a policy group called the N.C. Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council to address, among other things, what foods are served to public schools students, how to encourage community and backyard gardening, making sustainable food available to those on public assistance (food stamps, etc.), and how to overcome regulatory and policy barriers to local and sustainable food producers.

As with most things in government, however, it took until now to name all but one of the members. Andrea Weigl of the News & Observer, broke the news today. Some notable appointees include Roland McReynolds, Executive Director of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Nancy Creamer of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, and Dr. John Ort of the NC Cooperative Extension unit. Check out Andrea’s post for the full list of appointees.

As you can probably tell from the lack of recent posts, I’ve been pretty busy over the holidays. Work was crazy for me, and then I spent Christmas in Michigan with my boyfriend’s family. Now I’m back in Durham, life is quieting down, and I’m planning lots of great stuff for Green Eats in 2010. Stay tuned!