Equal Exchange

I’ve always been lukewarm about solstice celebrations. While the winter solstice almost seems like a cruel joke – “welcoming” sunshine and longer days as we brace ourselves for four more months of blizzards and frigid temperatures – summer solstice is more joyful, but still is accompanied by that nagging thought in the back of my head. Wait! Summer has barely started – already we’re celebrating its peak? What about all my big plans of farmers market trips, bountiful garden harvests, dinner parties… 

If we've eaten together in the past few years, I might have told you that eating more local, organic, and sustainable food has considerably enhanced my experience and relationship with food. This is absolutely true.

I might also have told you that eating local, organic, and sustainable food doesn't mean depriving myself of anything, that I never feel like I was missing out. This is mostly true. I used to love sushi, for example, but nowadays I tend to avoid it. But of all the foods I've given up in my quest to eat better, the loss of flavored non-dairy creamer has hit me the hardest.

On Valentine's Day, my husband and I were guests of Chowgirls, best known for catering, at their inaugural fine-dining event, the Locavore Love Affair, held in the Rosalux Gallery next door to Chowgirls' kitchen and office in NE Minneapolis. I've enjoyed meals catered by Chowgirls before, so I was especially glad for the opportunity to check out their new venture and talk to founders Heidi Andermack and Amy Lynn Brown.

My cousin recently called me up to ask me what her family should get my dad for his birthday. I have a hard enough time figuring out what to get him myself, let alone telling other people what to get him. But then she told me that they were going with consumables as gifts from now on because the members of our family can sometimes be hard to shop for. It occurred to me (although people have been doing this forever) that this was a smart idea.

As the holiday season approaches and the search begins for gifts for those hard-to-shop-for people, consider keeping that idea in mind -- with local, organic, fair trade, and delicious treats. Here are just a few possibilities to get the ball rolling on the shopping list.

For us at Simple, Good, and Tasty, Halloween turns out to be a little bit problematic.

Most of the reasons for this are pretty obvious: most candy isn't local, isn't healthy, and isn't fair trade. Last year's post about fair trade chocolate and reverse trick-or-treating elicited strong response from readers who wanted to enjoy their treats without feeling guilty about it.

Chances are, if you’re a regular visitor to this web site, you proudly support the mission of local, sustainable farms: you’re a member of your neighborhood food co-op; you shop at farmers markets; you subscribe to a regular CSA delivery; you spend your Saturdays crop-mobbing; and you eat in restaurants that are similarly committed to supporting local farmers.

Pat yourself on the back. You’re an informed and conscientious locavore – and darn proud of it. You care about your food’s origin, its environmental impact, and its connection to the community.

So, tell me: Is it possible to honor these values if you eat food that’s not grown within a 100-mile radius, maybe even a 1,000-mile radius, of where you live? Are you able to eat bananas, grapes and chocolate, and drink coffee and tea, with a clear conscience?

Maybe, like me, you live in Minneapolis, or someplace else in the United States where coffee, cocoa beans, quinoa, and rice don’t grow. Maybe, like me, those are some of your absolute favorite things, and you’re not willing to give them up. Maybe, like me, your spouse has even suggested that giving them up would be detrimental to your marriage. What are you going to do?

Photo of Pete Bonahoom (right) and Lee Zukor (left) by Arif MamdaniThanks to our friends, families, and community for coming out to play at Galactic Pizza in Minneapolis on Thursday night. We ate well, shared stories, and (some of us) went home with tasty prizes from Equal Exchange, Peace Coffee, and SGT.

There's something irresistible about Equal Exchange organic chocolate. Maybe it's the fact that the company supports fair-trade practices and small growers. Maybe it's the knowledge that it's all organic. But frankly, I'm guessing it has as lot to do with the taste. Each variety I've tried has been all that I've hoped for - a delicious experience at a fair price. So given what we know about large-scale chocolate production, this year I'm considering giving my Valentine something we can both feel great about. Here are a few gift ideas from the folks at Equal Exchange:

Dear Santa: