Sustainable

The blustery weather provided the perfect backdrop for this past Saturday's free Peace Coffee cupping, attended by more than 20 coffee lovers. When we arrived at Peace Coffee's Minneapolis headquarters, we were treated to Peace Coffee's new seasonal Pollinator blend (which replaces the well-loved Winter Snowshoe Brew), muffins and scones from the Birchwood Cafe, and Marketing Director Mel Meegan's tour of the warehouse and its impressive roasters. A few minutes later, we were sitting at long tables, staring at delicious-smelling cups of coffee grounds. I don't think any of us knew what to do.

Back in November -- appropriately enough, on Thanksgiving Day -- four scientists for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, published a report about the environmental impact of food waste in America. They calculated that, every year, as much as 40 percent of America’s food supply is discarded! (That’s a 28 percent increase, by the way, since 1974.) If you divide that amount among every man, woman and child living in the U.S., we’re talking 1,400 kilocalories -- or 1.4 million calories -- per day, per person, that end up in the trash.

Theresa Marquez, Chief Marketing Executive for Organic Valley Cooperative, is captivating. She speaks quickly, compellingly, and passionately. Her eyes shine when she mentions a favorite book or describes the Earth Dinners Organic Valley has hosted for several years around the country, connecting people to both food and the environment. An hour with Theresa can include a poem, a discussion of politics, a newspaper article throw-down (Paul Krugman’s “Missing Richard Nixon”), a look at Organic Valley’s new packaging, and - of course - a discussion about food.

A huge thank you to our family, friends, farmers, neighbors - and the terrific folks at Brasa - for making Simple, Good, and Tasty's January 2010 local food dinner one of the best yet. From the time we sat down to the time we left 3 hours later, the nearly 100-strong crowd was fed a menu of - well, nearly everything on the menu. Here's what was served:

Conscientious omnivores of the Michael Pollan variety champion grass-fed beef. It is claimed to be better for the cattle themselves than grain-finishing, since they eat what their rumens are evolved to digest (grass and legumes) instead of what fattens them quickest. Plus, they get to graze open pasture instead of being confined to a feedlot for the final four to six months of their lives. Grass-fed enthusiasts also claim it’s better for people because grass-fed meat is leaner and has a higher proportion of omega-3 fats than grain-finished meat. Some even argue that it’s better for the environment, since you don’t have huge piles of feedlot manure to manage; the cattle deposit their manure on grass, as they naturally would, and it ultimately nourishes the soil.

There’s nothing like the taste of raw honey. That musky, grainy, slightly tart explosion of sweetness is the most important part of my morning routine. Thickly spread between a slice of toast and a thin schmear of almond butter... and, ahhhh, who needs coffee?

It’s because I’m half-Greek, you know. We Greeks grow up with the taste of honey in our mouths. We get honey in warm milk to help us sleep; honey and lemon juice in hot water to soothe our sore throats; honey straight up to calm our coughs. All that honey almost makes us look forward to the next cold or flu season.

Fish is good for you! It’s low in saturated fat, good for your heart, and tastes great. It’s true that large ocean predators are high in mercury and chemicals from plastics. But the benefits of fish are bigger than the risks, according to studies. So we should eat it, right?

There’s potentially good food news for two Twin Cities communities in 2010: a new farmer’s market and a new food co-op.

According to the Star Tribune, Edina may finally get its own farmer’s market, “if a proposal that's going to the Edina Park Board in January makes its way through city review processes in time.”

Dear Santa:

Ann Yin at Local D'lishAnn Yin has been selling local food – everything from gourmet chocolate to everyday groceries – at her North Loop general store, Local D’Lish, for a little longer than a year. We recently caught up with her while she, her daughter CC, and staff member Stefan, prepared for an event later that evening. As they sliced cheese and chocolate, we chatted about Ann’s experiences over the past year, and her plans for the future. And we were even lucky enough to snag some cayenne shortbread, which truly was d’lish!

In the second installment of this gift guide – written while the beginnings of our first major snowfall are floating to the pavement – I thought it would be good to offer you some shopping alternatives that don’t necessarily separate you from your bunny slippers. Or your cup of hot Northwoods cocoa (see yesterday’s post).

I found some local Minnesota gifts that would be simple, good and tasty to give; they're all available online, and they all meet my shopping criteria, which I outlined in yesterday's post:

Yesterday's post took a look at Thousand Hills Cattle Company and the advantages of grass fed beef.

There are purists who will argue that you can’t have pastured, grass-fed cattle in Minnesota all year round. These people have a point. Snow covers much of the ground in Minnesota for what seems like 6 - 8 months of the year. Thousand Hills Cattle Company, the largest producer of grass fed beef in the Midwest, deals with this harsh reality via a system of enormous hay bails, rolled up in the warmer months and rolled out across the snow during the winter.

Porketta is one of those recipes that you shove in the oven and forget about. The meat emerges tender and succulent. It serves a bunch of people, and the leftovers – sliced high and piled on crusty baguette, or slathered with bbq sauce on a soft, whole wheat bun, or diced and simmered in ragu for pasta – make things easy on the cook.

It’s one of those recipes that came to the Iron Range with Italian miners, was adopted by Czech neighbors and Norwegian farmers, and is now found on menus throughout the Twin Cities (and given an uptempo spin).

I love vegetables. My family and friends make fun of me, but when I look at their kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, they delight my senses in ways I can’t explain. So imagine my joy when I opened my CSA box yesterday and pulled out this Romanesco cauliflower!

Now I’m a registered dietitian and have been touting the benefits of eating your veggies for years, but I had never seen anything like this fluorescent green head of swirling spirals. I actually squealed with surprise when I pulled it out of the box. My husband and daughter came running to see what all the excitement was about. They both burst out laughing when they saw the thrilled look on my face, although you’d think they would be used to my exclamations by now.

Ask most Americans what they’re having for Thanksgiving dinner, and they'll recite the standard list of dishes: roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, pumpkin pie, etc.

But then ask what’s for Thanksgiving breakfast, and you’ll likely get blank stares.

Breakfast?

Oh, no. Have you, too, overlooked the second most important meal of the year? Even worse, are you actually planning to skip breakfast on Thanksgiving, thinking you’ll save the calories for later? That would be a huge mistake. Why? Three reasons:

This shopping bag won't be around for long.

In the coat closet of my tiny one-bedroom apartment, next to a suitcase and my winter boots, is my blue plastic worm bin. I have been composting with worms for about a year, and cannot imagine going back.

I am still in awe of the efficiency with which my worms work, and I'm always amazed to open the bin and find almost no evidence of the food scraps and coffee grounds I fed them only a week earlier. I am not an expert in biology, agronomy, or even vermiculture, but right in my closet, I have managed to maintain a thriving little ecosystem, and produce a continuous supply of rich, dark compost.

I'm super excited to let you know that, for a limited time, Simple, Good, and Tasty is offering our own fair trade coffee through our partnership with Peace Coffee. This coffee is one of my absolute favorites, organic Ugandan peaberry. The gorgeous label, shown above, was designed by my friend Stuart Flake of What Agency Inc., who also designed the Simple, Good, and Tasty logo.

We're currently selling our whole bean coffee for $11.00 per pound (plus shipping). To buy it, email us at info@simplegoodandtasty.com or click here to use PayPal's secure service.

The following excerpt is from “A White House Chef Who Wears Two Hats,” published this week in the New York Times. It offers a profile of the Obama family’s personal chef, Sam Kass, who serves up policy advice along with his own style of local, organic cooking. Read how a 29-year-old with a history degree and looks that earned him a slot on People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People list is now one of the most influential advocates for a better, more sustainable food system.

The only reasons why I do anything are because it is fun now, it allows things to be fun later, or it ensures that things will continue being fun. Eating? Fun now. Working? Fun later when I eat what I bought with my paycheck. Shoveling the walk? Ensures that when I haul my groceries into the house, I don’t slip, fall, and ruin the fun of eating them.

So, obviously, the main reason why I’d buy local food is because it’s fun in so many ways:

Bottled water ain't all it's cracked up to be. Sure, it's better than the alternatives you'll find in a Coke machine, but filling your own bottle with tap water is even better. An excellent, recent Lighter Footstep article gives us Five Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water. Here's an excerpt:

Thanks so much to the nearly 50 people who came to last night's local food event at Spoonriver last night. It was terrific to have you there! Here are some photos from the event, taken by Kate Sommers of Les Petites Images.

Here's a picture of Spoonriver Owner Brenda Langton, thanking guests for coming. Jennifer Patterson from Unplanned Cooking, Molly Herrmann from Tastebud Catering, and Michelle Gayer from The Salty Tart are looking on (among others).

It's easy to be part of a CSA during the summer - the produce is beautiful and plentiful, the variety fun and interesting. Having perused a bunch of other blogs throughout the prime growing season, it was sometimes hard to tell in what region of the country the producing farm was based. Everyone seemed to get carrots, radishes, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and much more.