Living the vida local

Published on February 29, 2008

For the last decade or more, organic foods have been the nutritional and gustatory gold standard. And if you bought organic food and nothing else, you might well have thought you needed your very own gold mine to pay for them.

But not any more. Go into any supermarket and you will find bags of organic salad, packages of organic carrots, several brands of organic milk and eggs, and plenty of organic canned and packaged foods. And, yes, they cost a bit more than regular non-organic foods, but not much. Sometimes they are even on special.

Perhaps because of this, the adjective "organic" has lost some of other. But many agricultural and food experts suggest that if it comes down to a choice, local justifiably beats organic as a criteria of good food.

At Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), Interim Director Margaret Christie, says, "We are huge supporters of organic farmers, but our focus is really local because that promotes local agriculture and through that the whole area."

She notes that many farmers who have good farming practices are nonetheless not technically organic. "Organic certification got harder when the USDA took it over," Christie said. "It's more bureaucratic. It takes farmers a lot of time to qualify and can cost money too."

Another factor, she said, is that in some cases there's a feeling that USDA isn't really holding people to the standards that were initially intended.

As a result, she says that many farmers follow organic practices yet don't have organic certification. They believe that selling direct to the customer gives buyers a chance to ask about how the food is grown, and confirm that it is not packed with the pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals that make it possible to grow crops thousands of miles away from the place where they are sold.

Christie also notes that food producers, large and small, have seen that both organic production and local production can be used to differentiate a product from its competitors. In other words, they can be marketing tools.

"That means, of course, that while you can get organic foods from California or Chile, you can't get local foods from there. So emphasizing 'local' is a better bet for our farmers than emphasizing organic, because organic puts them in competition with growers everywhere," she said.

A few years ago talking about eating local foods in the middle of winter would have seemed fantastical. With ice and snow clamping the ground, what could be local? Even maple syrup isn't with us until March.

Farmers markets and community-supported farms such as Brookfield in Amherst have changed that. A recent winter farmers market in Greenfield featured regional growers with the good old winter vegetables: squash, rutabaga, carrots, and potatoes, reinforced by others who had baby bok choy, spinach and salad greens produced in greenhouses. In addition, there were sellers of dried herbs, cheese, eggs, and milk.

Members of Brookfield Farm can get local vegetables all year by going for a "winter share," which gives them supplies of potatoes and root vegetables harvested in the fall then stored in the farm's capacious new barn until needed. Amherst resident and Brookfield member, Jennifer Veshia lists the vegetables she has been picking up from the farm this winter: "Onions, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, squashes, and celery root, which we use a lot of. Earlier we also had leeks but they are all done now."

She says the supplies are ample for her vegetarian household of four. "The only thing I am really buying from the store is lettuce and salad greens," she said. "And canned tomatoes too, but I buy those throughout the year anyway."

While farmers markets and community-supported farms have fostered the interest in locally grown vegetables and fruits, long established farms have also contributed. On weekends Atkins Farms Country Market in Amherst draws crowds from towns several miles away because they have their own apples as well as potatoes, squash, onions and other crops from nearby farms.

Flayvors of Cook's Farm on South Maple St. in Hadley and Mapleline Farm on Comins Road, North Hadley both offer milk and cream from their own cows. Mapleline has a delivery service, and you can get their products from stores such as Maple Farms in Hadley and Atkins in Amherst. Local cheeses are also widely available. Good ones to look for include those made by Chase Hill Farm in Warwick, and Berkshire Blue from Stockbridge. Local honey, pickles and salsa also use the products of regional farms.

The local versus organic debate does not poses a choice between rival good things, but reflects two facets of farming and therefore of the food we eat. Local crops have lots of advantages: They are grown nearby so we get them quicker and they taste better. By buying them we support local farmers, increasing the chance that they will stay in business, which, as well as providing us with great vegetables, fruit and dairy products, also keeps the landscape attractively rural.

Many local producers have organic certification, and even those who don't, may still follow organic practices. On the other hand, many local crops are treated with pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers you may well not want in the food you and your children eat. In these cases, organic crops from other states may be a better bet. One thing is for sure: The organic movement and the more recent emphasis on buying local products means that we have far more choices today than we did even a couple of decades ago.

As for this month's cooking, here are some ways to use the still-available local crops, which may or not be organic.

CELERY ROOT SOUP

Celery root, also known as celeriac, wins no beauty competitions. It looks like a misshapen turnip with a tangle of twisty roots at one end. But as its name suggest, it is related to celery and has a strong celery flavor. It's good grated in salads, and also as a soup.

1 celery root weighing about 1 ¾ - 2 pounds

1 leek, white and pale green part only, washed and sliced

1 10-inch celery stalk, diced

1 small clove garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

salt to taste

1 cup light cream

Peel the celery root, and cut into 1-inch cubes. You should have about 5-6 cups of cubed celery root. Put them into a soup pan along with the leek, celery, garlic, bay leaf, 6 cups water and about 1 teaspoon salt or to taste. Bring to a boil and then simmer the vegetables for about 20-25 minutes or until they are all very tender.

Strain the mixture, reserving the liquid. Puree the vegetables in a food processor or by passing them through a food mill. Return to the pan, add the reserved liquid, and bring to simmering point again. Stir in the cream, then check for seasoning, adding more salt it you would like it. A dusting of finely chopped parsley or chives is a nice garnish.

To make the soup into a supper dish, sear some scallops in a nonstick pan - about 4 per person - put them in a shallow soup plate and serve the soup, left rather thick, around them.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH STUFFED WITH LAMB AND COUSCOUS

3 medium butternut squash each weighing about 1½ pounds

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 pound ground lamb (or substitute beef if you prefer)

2/3 cloves garlic, minced

teaspoons dried mint or oregano

1 teaspoon powdered cumin or cumin seeds

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 tablespoons tomato puree (to taste)

2/3 cup couscous

mint leaves for serving

Preheat the broiler. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Place it on a broiler pan or cookie sheet. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Brush the surface with a little of the oil and broil for 15 minutes or until the flesh is tender.

Meanwhile, heat the rest of the oil over medium heat and gently saute the onions in it for 3-4 minutes. Add the ground lamb, garlic, mint or oregano, the cumin and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Continue sauteing, stirring to break up the ground lamb for another 4-5 minutes or until it is browned, then stir in the tomato puree, using one tablespoon at first and adding extra only if you want it. Also stir in the couscous plus half a cup of water. Cover the pan and set aside off the heat for 15 minutes.

Remove the squash from the broiler when it is ready, and turn the oven to 400 degrees. Scoop the softened squash from its skin, leaving just a little around the "walls."

After the meat and couscous mixture has finished its 15-minute rest (during which time the couscous will expand), stir in the squash. If the mixture seems too stiff or dry, add more water. Also check the flavor and add salt and pepper, or more tomato puree to taste. Pile the mixture back into the squash shells and return to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes or just until everything is heated through. Garnish with mint leaves.

ARUGULA AND CARROT SALAD WITH CAPERS AND OLIVES

Arugula, traditionally known as rocket in English, is a sharp refreshing green that's a springtime favorite in Italy and Greece. Along with baby spinach, which could also be used in this recipe, arugula is one of the earliest greens of spring, and is sometimes available in winter from local greenhouses. Here it is teamed with the crisp carrots of winter. This salad is the traditional salad served in Greek restaurants when arugula arrives in February.

about 4-6 cups washed arugula or use baby spinach

1½ cups shredded carrots

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1-2 teaspoons drained capers

about 1 dozen Kalamata olives

1 slice of red onion separated into circles

Put the arugula and about one third of the carrots in the salad bowl. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and Dijon mustard, Pour this over the arugula and carrots and toss. Mound the remaining carrots in the center and scatter the capers and olives on them. Finally, arrange the onion circles on top.

APPLE AND CIDER SHORTCAKE

Local apples and cider for this homey sticky-topped cake are easy to find, even in winter. It is good for dessert, and leftovers go down well at breakfast.

For the cake:

½ cup cold butter

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ cup white sugar

1 egg

½ cup cider

1 Cortland or Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut in thin slices

For the topping:

½ cup cider

¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 whole cloves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch layer cake pan or pie plate.

To make the cake, cut the butter into small bits. In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Toss the butter bits in this mixture, then rub or cut them in until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Stir in the sugar and make a well in the center of the mixture. Break the egg into it, then pour in the cider. Stir quickly to make a very soft dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Flour your hands and pat one portion into the prepared pan. Reserve 6-8 nicely shaped apple slices. Scatter the remainder evenly over the dough in the pan.

Flour your hands again and pat the second dough portion on top. (It will probably look raggedy, but it will sort itself out in the baking.) Place the reserved apple slices in a pattern on top. Bake until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. This takes 25-35 minutes.

During the last few minutes of cooking time, prepare the topping by boiling the cider with half a cup of brown sugar and the cloves for 5 minutes. By this time, the mixture will be syrupy. Fish out the cloves.

As soon as you take the cake from the oven, sprinkle a third of the remaining brown sugar over the top. Trickle on a third of the cider syrup, using the back of a spoon to spread it over the cake somewhat. Repeat this 4-5 minutes later with another third of the remaining sugar and syrup. Repeat this step once more with the last of the sugar and the syrup. Let rest for 15-20 minutes. Serve the cake slightly warm.