My recent ventures into the world of buying locally-grown food has enlightened me to the concept of Community Supported Agriculture, also known as CSA. Defined as “a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters in which those supporters cover a portion of a farm’s operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest”, CSA’s are a popular way for consumers to support local farms throughout their growing seasons by committing to purchase a portion of their harvest.

For a flat fee at the beginning of each season, customers receive a weekly delivery of fresh produce from their local farm. Many farms offer a variety of share sizes, providing flexibility to their customers.  For example, a farm in Virginia offers 3 share sizes, termed robust, regular and mini, with prices ranging from $250 – $600 for their 16 week summer season. In addition to produce, some farms offer additional share options for things like eggs, fresh flowers and bread.

The per-week cost of this service is extremely reasonable, and the convenience of home delivery or local pick-up locations makes CSA’s an attractive alternative to purchasing produce from big box grocery stores.

The main trade-off involved with CSA’s is the necessary commitment to cooking with ingredients that are currently in season in your region, as opposed to ingredients in season across the country or world that happened to end up in your neighborhood grocery store. In order to help their CSA subscribers plan meals ahead of time and avoid what I’ve heard termed as ‘vegetable roulette’, many farms provide a list of upcoming deliveries one week in advance, in addition to recipe suggestions.

Below is an example list of vegetables in a CSA delivery for the month of July (in the Northeast region of the US):
•    2-3 lbs yellow squash
•    1 huge walla walla onion
•    1 fresh bulb garlic
•    1 bunch basil
•    2-3 cucumbers
•    1 bunch swiss chard
•    1-2 lbs new potatoes
•    1 bag salad mix

To join a CSA in your area, plan to subscribe and submit payment around early March. Each CSA is different, so researching them online at www.localharvest.org or by asking around at your local farmer’s market will help you decide which CSA is best for you. Once you’ve decided, mark your calendar for the date they accept applications because many CSA’s fill up quickly, sometimes within 24-48 hours.

If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll be amazed by the CSA options available in your area. Good luck!

Inspired by the vendors at the market, and in an effort to test my hand at growing food (what a novel concept!), I’ve started a container garden for both beefsteak and cherry tomatoes. Container gardening is the perfect solution for those of us living in apartments and condos, without the luxury of a yard, or the time to tend a full garden. All you need are containers (1 per plant), potting soil, and the tomato plants (I purchased mine at the farmers market for $2.50 ea).

From what I’ve read, tomatoes work well when raised in containers, provided they have soil deep enough for their roots to grow, ample sunlight and a daily infusion of water.  Weekly feeding is beneficial as well – I’ve been using Miracle Grow’s All-Purpose Plant Food.

So far, my cherry tomato plant is thriving, with at least 18-20 little green guys just starting to show a reddish tint. The beefsteak plants each have 3 ample tomatoes on the way, with the potential to produce many more.

I hope to share the results of this experiment as the summer progresses. In the meantime, if you want your own container garden, now is the time to start!

Have you received your $600 from Uncle Sam yet? I haven’t, but expect it to show up any day now. Marketers in my area are expecting that check too, as evidenced by a recent surge of advertising, encouraging consumers to spend – even cash – their tax rebate checks at one store or another.

Whatever you plan to do with that $600, it may be worth considering the benefits of using a portion to support the farmers and small businesses in your town or city. There are many reasons for doing so, but in my opinion, it boils down to the fact that we Americans have forgotten the value of local business and the vibrance it adds to our communities.

Our current economic situation can be attributed to several factors – the war in Iraq, the rising cost of oil and subsequent rising cost of food, energy and clothing, the home mortgage crisis due to irresponsible lending, the downfall of corporations like Enron and Bear Stearns – the list, overwhelmingly, goes on.

In the face of these mammoth and escalating crises, I think it would do everyone a bit of good to slow down and realize that each of us has had a part in dragging the economy to where it is today. We trusted mortgage lenders to give sound advice, and we trusted big, established corporations to operate with integrity. We, as a people, have realized that it is no longer an option to sit back and wait for someone else to notice wrongdoings and red flags, or to fix problems. We must each claim responsibility for the decisions we make, as Americans, workers, taxpayers and consumers.

One easy way each of us can take an active role in improving our world is to invest in our local communities by supporting the farmers and small businesses within them. In her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver lets us know that “if every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week”. Kingsolver defines the term ‘local’ as anywhere within 150 miles of your home.

This statistic is impressive but may mean little to those of us who have grown up in a world where big box retailers dot the suburban landscape, and a Whole Foods Market in Maryland looks like and carries the exact same items as one in Arizona, regardless of season or the crops native to each region. We consumers have become comfortable with indulging in the luxury of this consistency and abundance without stopping to consider that much of the things we buy from miles and miles away are already available at our back door.

Most communities in America have local farm markets and produce stands, many of which can be found at www.localharvest.org. Becoming acquainted with your community’s farm market is a good way to learn about the growing seasons in your region, and to meet the farmers, cheese makers, bakers, butchers, wine makers and gardeners in your area.  Purchasing even a small portion of your week’s groceries locally will do its part in helping the environment and supporting your community. In addition, you can be proud of the fact that you’ve made a conscious and informed decision to know where your food is from, how it was grown, and what your money is supporting with your purchase.

Becoming vegetarian was my way of committing to eat the plants and produce that grow abundantly from the earth, rather than consuming factory farmed animals, many of whom live lives full of suffering and disease. Learning to be a locavore is my effort to ensure that the things I eat are healthy for myself, my community and the environment. So, will I line up to cash my check at WalMart and proceed to stock up on bulk goods? No…I have my eyes set on some homemade spinach ravioli, a jar of vodka sauce, and a head of butter lettuce, all to be found at my local farm market.

Spinach Feta Pizza
Makes 2 large pizzas

2 pkgs refrigerated pizza dough (such as Pillsbury)
1 pound spinach
2 T olive oil
2 T minced garlic
1/2 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz feta cheese, crumbles
1/2 Vidalia onion, or other sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 large tomato, thinly sliced

Unroll refrigerated pizza dough on baking trays and prepare in oven according to package directions.

Steam spinach just until wilted, about 3 minutes. Drain well and squeeze water out. Coarsely chop.

After you’ve removed the pizza dough from oven, brush each with 1T olive oil and scatter 1T garlic over the browned crust. Sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese and top with half of the spinach, half of the feta, half of the onion and half of the sliced tomatoes. Repeat layered toppings on 2nd pizza.

Cook pizzas in 350º oven for about 10-14 minutes.

Slice the pizza and serve warm. Enjoy!

A lifetime fan of pickled beets, I only recently realized that there is an entire world of beet recipes out there just waiting to be discovered.

Before embarking on a beet cooking expedition, and assuming that beets do not naturally come from a jar, I knew I needed to learn more about them.

Here’s some of what I learned. Beets are:

• Roots with long leafy stems, which need to be removed before eating
• A good source of vitamins C, B, potassium and fiber
• Sweeter with time, but should be used within a week of purchase
• Used to dress hamburgers in Australia

For my first attempt at preparing fresh beets, I decided to start with something easy and quickly found the perfect dish from Vegetarian Times:

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad
Serves 6

To roast beets: Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line baking sheet with foil. Pierce 6 medium sized beets (scrubbed & trimmed) with fork. Place on baking sheet, and roast 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours, or until tender when pierced. Let cool slightly.

If you are short on time, the beets can be cooked by placing in boiling water for 20-25 minutes after scrubbing, trimming green leaves and cutting into wedges.

While beets cook, spread ¾ cup chopped walnuts (or pecans) in small baking dish, and bake at 400ºF until fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Let cool.

Trim and dry 4 bunches arugula, and tear into large bite-sized pieces.

To make dressing: Combine ¼ cup cider vinegar, 1 T Dijon mustard, 1 T thawed frozen apple juice concentrate, 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp ground black pepper. Gradually whisk in 1/3 cup olive oil. Spoon half of dressing into large bowl, and set aside.

When beets are cool enough to handle, peel and cut each into 8 to 12 wedges (if you haven’t already). Add beets to dressing in bowl, and toss well. (If desired, marinate beets, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days.)

To serve, toss arugula, beets and reserved dressing in large salad bowl. Sprinkle with toasted nuts, and serve.

The resulting salad is sweet, tangy and satisfying, yet I know that it barely scratches the surface of the many beet recipes available. I will definitely continue my beet recipe exploration soon!

This happened for a few reasons…mainly, I wasn’t educated about PETA. The only times I’d heard about PETA was in the news when there was some type of protest outside a fur coat store or puppy mill, with lots of ketchup shlopped around for effect. They seemed like extreme people with too much time on their hands and for that reason, I chose to plead ignorance about PETA and their worthy mission.

The process of becoming a vegetarian required a lot of information gathering, and much of this was made easier be PETA and their readily available resources. Through the process of gathering information about my new vegetarian lifestyle, I was able to learn more about PETA’s causes and the progress they make everyday toward ending animal cruelty around the world.

To give you an idea of the volume of their work, here is a list of what PETA has accomplished so far in 2008 (news headlines):

• H&M Refuses to Buy Mulesed Wool
• Nike and Cole Haan Ditch Fur!
• Retail Chain Pet Supplies ”Plus” Stops Confining Dwarf Frogs to Tiny Plastic Cups
• Animals at All Creatures Great and Small Get Reprieve
• PETA and Harris Teeter Reach Agreement on Groundbreaking Animal Welfare Plan

Seriously, I’m amazed. These PETA people are busy.

I recently found the below video clip on You Tube, which is meant to convince the viewer that a vegetarian lifestyle is the way to go. Why did I find this? Because I’m a curious vegetarian. What do I think about it? It’s accurate and honest, and really reaffirmed all of the factors that made me become vegetarian, but it could seem really intimidating and extreme to non-vegetarians, and possibly turn them off to the idea of vegetarianism completely.

My point is this: I think that the more PETA can deliver their message in a level-headed, non-extreme way, the more support and attention they will get from vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. What do you think?

People ask why I went veggie all the time, and I assume this will go on for as long as I am vegetarian, which I’m thinking will be pretty much forever. The thing is, I seem to give different answers to this question depending on who is asking, how I’m feeling at the time, and what I think the person will relate to most. It’s not that I’m making up reasons. I just have more than one reason, and I’ve found that most people don’t have the time or patience to listen to more than one reason. So, I alternate my responses in these conversations, and usually edit them so as not to upset anyone. (To be honest, I’d be much happier if no one ever asked after my reasons for going veg, because it can be hard to read intentions behind that question and I don’t want to force a lifestyle on anyone) Anyway…

Since you are reading for the full story, I’ll give it to ya. Here is my full list of reasons I decided to be veggie:    

• Health: No, I am not talking about a mad desire to lose weight and have a hot bod. Although that would be nice. Meat consumption can lead to diseases, illness, cancer. For me, the tradeoff is just not worth it.
• Frustration: I don’t think it’s right that standards for what makes meat ‘edible’ in America are so loosely enforced. Seems like the USDA likes to look the other way on the conditions in factory farms and deal with crises  - more like leaks to the media – after the fact. The point is, those places are dirty and unhealthy, animals are abused and the government has done nothing to improve the situation. Disgusting.
• Animal Love: I reached a point where being ignorant to the fact that my meals had come from a living, breathing creature was no longer an option. I love animals and now that I don’t eat them, I can look them in the eye once again.

So, that is it in a nutshell. I could elaborate on each, but would much rather spend time learning more about the entire subject in order to increase my rotation of answers. 

I was recently at a farmers market in Pasadena, CA. For an east coast girl, nothing is better in the middle of winter than a Cali farmers market. The variety and quality of fresh, local fruits and veggies practically made me faint from equal parts astonishment and jealousy.

Local markets are always good for exploration, offering the opportunity to try things you wouldn’t normally consider, and perhaps didn’t even know about.  One such object caught my attention that day at the market. It was yellow and gangly, with the skin of a lemon, but the structure of a coral reef. Or sea monster…

Here’s the deal. The Buddha’s Hand is in the citrus family, but is both seedless and juiceless. Use a lot of lemon zest? Buddha’s Hand is the fruit for you, because essentially, that is its main purpose. A secondary use is to slice the ‘fingers’ of the fruit open and use the white pith beneath the yellow rind as a garnish. Finally, if you’re not into using the fruit in cooking, they are often kept on hand simply for their permeating clean, citrusy fragrance.

I don’t expect to find these things at any of my local east coast markets. Buddha’s Hands grow best in temperate climates, such as that found in Southern CA.

So, now you know!  

We all know her as a beautiful and talented actress, whose quiet demeanor makes her all the more likeable in a world where celebs can’t seem to shut up and behave themselves. I learned that Natalie Portman is a strict vegan when reading my Vegetarian Starter Kit mag from PETA. She has been since childhood, purely by choice.

There is a definite gray area for most vegetarians/vegans that has nothing to do with food and everything to do with other consumables like clothing, beauty products, alcoholic beverages and shoes. So much of what we use and consume on a regular basis has been produced using some sort of animal-derived substance. And while it may be impossible to live a totally vegan lifestyle in this way (and if not impossible, than just totally unaffordable), many veggies find it worthwhile to make a real effort.

Ms. Portman has taken this initiative to the next level with her new vegan shoe line, made by te casan. Not only are her shoes animal-friendly, they look super hot…a combination that is not always easy to find. Which is why I am so excited about this line of shoes. It is small efforts like this that will someday cause vegan products to emerge as mainstream, for all to enjoy. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Obviously a statement of opinion, I strongly believe it to be true…at least for now. Since becoming vegetarian, I’ve been exposed to a world of veggies I never knew existed. This is good, because my veggie intake previously consisted mostly of lettuce (& other mixed greens), carrots, corn, potatoes, beans and tomatoes. Kind of limiting when we’re talking about transitioning to an entirely vegetarian diet.

So, back to my vegetable discovery phase…I found a recipe for broccoli rabe that also included potatoes, white beans, garlic and veggie broth. Of course, I imagined that broccoli rabe would taste like broccoli, but better, possibly softer and less coarse. Not sure where I got those ideas, but they sounded nice.

As I was preparing to make this meal, I realized that I had no idea how to eat broccoli rabe. Compared to regular broccoli, broccoli rabe has longer stalks and is very leafy. Do you eat the leaves, or not? Should the stalks be eaten or not? With so much to learn, I did what anyone would do and consulted Google.

My search criteria: broccoli rabe, how to cook
First result: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetables/BroccoliRaab.htm

This site taught me that broccoli rabe can be eaten in its entirety – leaves, stems, everything. I also learned that broccoli rabe has no direct relation to regular broccoli, and is known for its bitter and pungent flavor. (I think this is when I started to get nervous) It is recommended that you eat it with something mild, like potatoes, to balance out the flavor (guess my recipe knew what it was talking about)

I know I’m not exactly selling the stuff, but if you’d like to prepare broccoli rabe, follow these steps:

• Rinse and trim 1/4-inch from bottom of stems.
• Cut stalks crosswise into 2-inch pieces and drop them into salted (optional), boiling water.
• Cook for 1 to 2 minutes and remove with slotted spoon.
• Saute the blanched broccoli rabe in a little olive oil and as much garlic as you like for 3 to 5 minutes until tender. Optional – Add a few dried red pepper flakes.

So, I prepared my meal, which, despite looking absolutely delicious and colorful, caused me to have what I now call ‘bitter broccoli’ face upon my first bite.

Live and learn, I suppose. I was disappointed in my first broccoli rabe experience, but I’m open to trying again. If any of you have a broccoli rabe recipe that’s up to the challenge, I’d be happy to give it another go.