Third Plate- NPR Story About a New Look at Sustainable Farming and Local Eating

We found this recent NPR story fascinating and had to share! Click here to listen to the story on NPR.org.

'Third Plate' Reimagines Farm-To-Table Eating To Nourish The Land

by NPR STAFF  May 20, 2014

Perched on a farm along the Hudson River is Dan Barber's award-winning restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The food that's harvested on the farm year-round is what is served to diners daily.

But this champion of the farm-to-table movement noticed that farming and consuming foods locally still wasn't all that sustainable.

"Tomatoes are the all star of the farm-to-table world. But in fact, they're like the Hummers of the vegetable world," he tells NPR Morning Edition host Renee Montagne. That's because they require more water and nutrients from the soil than a lot of other vegetables.

"At the end of the day what we need to support is all of the farming decisions that lead to that one great tomato," he says.

Home Sweet Home: The New American Localism

Home Sweet Home: The New American Localism

by Linton Weeks  - December 13, 2011 by NPR

You can talk about the global village, a mobile society and the World Wide Web all you want, but many in our country seem to be turning toward a New American Localism.

These days, we are local folks and our focus is local. We are doing everything locally: food, finance, news, charity. And maybe for good reasons.

"One bedrock thing that is going on," says Brad Edmondson, founder of ePodunk and former editor of American Demographics magazine, is that "because of aging and the recession, people aren't moving around as much."

The U.S. Census Bureau backs him up with a news release — based on a recent report — titled "Mover Rate Reaches Record Low." The bureau found that only 11.6 percent of Americans changed their living spaces between 2010 and 2011. That is the lowest rate on record since the Current Population Survey of the United States began tracking geographical mobility in 1948. In 1985, for instance, the changed-residence rate was 20.2 percent.

"With homeowner mobility at an all-time low, more people are putting down roots and getting to know their neighbors," Edmondson says. "At the same time a lot of households have seen sharp declines in discretionary income. They are looking for ways to relax that don't cost as much, and they are substituting cooperation for cash."

The new version of the popular bumper sticker "Support Your Local Sheriff" could become "Support Your Local Everything."

NPR: CSA/Produce Clubs

We found this article on NPR.com and wanted to share- its a neat profile of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The author chronicles the excitement of cooking from a surprise box of fresh veggies, not at all unlike our own Produce Club here at the Windmill. 

Once difference with the Produce Club and a CSA, however, is that we contract with and buy from numerous local farms as opposed to just one (what you usually get with a CSA). This way you are supporting more small farmers in our area and we retain control the items we purchase so as to avoid a monotony of winter greens, an over abundance of potatoes, or a mountain the same crop week after week. 

We also include recipe ideas each week, as you have no doubt seen if you have spent any time on this blog. We also love to share recipes from our customers, so send them in if you have them!

Oh, The Things You Can Do With A Farm-Share Box

by NICOLE SPIRIDAKIS

June 8, 2011

I stared at the box brimming with vegetables, wondering what I'd gotten myself into. Unidentifiable greens, tiny round potatoes, a clutch of dirt-dusted, perfectly red radishes, a small container of wild strawberries — all this bounty was mine, if only I could figure out what to do with it.

For an urbanite such as myself, being connected to a farm brings a bit of the country into the city. It reminds me that there's a vast acreage out there not bound by concrete and tall buildings, helps me to eat with the seasons, and brings home how important it is to know the source of my food.