A Green Easter

Easter should be about more than gluttony. Children shouldn't be allowed to see how much candy they can eat prior to the church service - or Easter brunch in a restaurant - which ever way you Christians choose to 'celebrate' it. Adult shouldn't be eating everything in sight at that all you can eat brunch buffet. And families in general shouldn't be looking toward another huge meal in the afternoon - one that rivals Thanksgiving.

Easter History
First off, Easter is a rather arbitrarily assigned date. It is on the first Sunday following the first full moon following the Spring equinox - March 20/21. As you can tell, Rome chose to place it close to the spring celebrations of many different cultures, in order to better convert those cultures to Christianity.

As an American culture, Easter didn't become a large event until after the Civil War, when comfort from that devestation meant turning to religious holidays. Since the first settlers were here to escape both the Anglican and the Catholic church rules, the celebration of Easter was a minimalist event at best.

So between the Pagan influence and the settler's Protestant ways, America's cultural heritage with Easter is scant at best. So, rather than expanding on the capitolistic ways the retailers would have you believe has been with us since Christ himself, try a different tactic. Try toning it down a bit.

Suggestions

Buy Local

Particularly during this economic climate, buying local will be of paramount importance. Buying locally has a few different implications.

The first is to buy as many locally produced goods as possible. Use the local bakery and the local butcher to buy the items you need and can't make yourself. It may mean you buy less, but less isn't such a bad thing. Since most of our food is transported an average of 1500 miles, buying locally produced goods cuts down significantly on greenhouse gasses produced just by transporting them.

The second way is to buy from locally owned stores. Don't go to Sam's to buy your Easter food or candy. Go to Maine's, The Giant and other locally owned stores. Even Wegmans isn't local. It's in the state, but it's well outside of the 100 mile radius that is considered "local". By purchasing from locally owned businesses, your dollar is kept IN your community.

Studies in England, Maine, Colorado, and Tennessee have proven that a single dollar goes as far in the community as $1.76, while that same dollar used at a chain store only goes as far as .76 to .82. England's local economy fared far better than the US, however, the numbers are still staggering.

And considering the amount of money that is spent just on candy - American consumers spend over 1 million dollars on Easter candy every year and that nearly 20 billion jellybeans are produced just for Easter - that adds up to a significant portion remaining in the local economy.

Buy American.

I know there is much ado about protectionism. However, buying American is similar to buying locally - it keeps wages up and more money circulating in American, than leaving its shores. American chocolate, jelly beans, peeps, etc. And if you have a local chocolatier, great! Buy from them!

Buy Organic

While buying local is the 'New" buying organic, it makes a difference. The less you buy that ruins the environment, the better. And if it's local AND organic, you've hit the jackpot! Organic is slowly coming down in price, so the sacrifices made aren't nearly what they used to be. Grass-fed beef (preferably from intensive grazing - will post the article soon), versus lot-fed (CAFO) beef, pastured chickens and turkeys versus CAFO fowl, pastured pork versus CAFO pork, milk produced without hormones, pastured chickens for eggs, rather than industrial eggs, etc. The products are out there to find and are becoming more common every passing season, so that's wonderful!

Buy Fair Trade

There is movement afoot for Domestic Fair Trade as well as International Fair Trade, which is well established. There are several local organizations, VUMC included, that sells fair trade products at least monthly. Please check into it.

Get Rid Of

Get rid of the plastic. Who thought of plastic Easter eggs? Wrap the goodies in small bits of bright paper. And plastic grass?! Odd! Get your shredder out and shred some left over wrapping paper, the funnies or brightly colored pages from a magazine. Considering the kids look at the plastic for a total of 4 minutes or less, it doesn't make sense to spend the money OR the oil in making it just to throw it away.

If you don't already, buy special baskets and keep them for the child's entire Easter life. We had our own baskets every year, and always looked forward to finding OUR basket. It builds a tradition and a strong family connection, as well as cutting down on waste.

Get rid of excess. If the kids don't eat the hard boiled eggs, don't decorate them. They can color and make beautiful designs on paper just as easily as on hard boiled eggs. Give them about half the candy. This isn't Halloween revisited. It's Easter. No one should do what my sister did, which was to eat an entire pound of a solid chocolate bunny before the early service at church. While she didn't throw up, she didn't feel good for 2 days.

Make Easter special. Or, do as the settlers did and be very quite about it. Christ was.

NYS Regional Food Community Project

The Regional Community Food Project (RCFP) is itself a "mini- food policy council" recognized by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker, and the New York State Council on Food Policy.

In the fall of 2005 community leaders and individuals concerned with food security, food safety, community health, individual wellness, economic prosperity and agricultural sustainability began gathering to discuss the one element we held in common: food. The common thread securely bound the participants together and lead to the formation of the Regional Community Food Project (RCFP) and monthly meetings thereafter.

The RCFP is a collaborative effort among "food" stakeholders in the Southern Tier. "Members" are a diverse group of organizational representatives and individuals including concerned community residents, farmers, farm organizations, USDA staff, health professionals, dieticians, Cornell Cooperative Extension staff, public school administrators, food service directors, food bank managers and food pantry leaders, and others. Members represent six Southern Tier Counties including Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins.

Together RCFP works to create and support food secure communities and thriving, profitable farms. We work to ensure that all residents, underserved groups and food service providers have access to quality local foods. We support local farmers and the development of a strong local food system, including food processors, distributors and markets. We work to strengthen the connection between food and health by promoting the use of local food as the cornerstone of community health. And we educate residents on the many benefits of buying locally produced food and provide them information on how and where to purchase it.

The purpose of the Regional Community Food Project is to promote and help implement policies and practices leading to increased use of nutritious, locally produced foods, creating food secure communities, and improving the quality of life in South Central New York State.

The RCFP truly is greater than the sum of its parts; what we accomplish together could not be accomplished individually. The food system, as you all know, is complex and multi-disciplinary, and the problems being addressed by the RCFP are bigger than any one of us could solve ourselves. Together we are taking initial steps towards solutions by building understanding and assisting one another. The RCFP works across the disciplines. We are acutely aware that we can't solve the problems alone and rely on each other for guidance, support and expertise.

The RCFP gathers as a group to both learn and share and in this way becomes increasingly effective in strengthening farmer-consumer connections. Members have individually lead projects which benefit the RCFP community as a whole. Stories of opportunities and challenges are brought to monthly meetings.

One such success story shared is the Chenango County Bounty. Under the direction of Opportunities for Chenango, the program builds local capacity for local foods with such innovations as: a map and stamp card campaign, an "Eat Local This Week" challenge, Bullthistle Bucks, and the newly created "Farmer's Market at Your Door" program.

RCFP members are getting creative helping members of the community access safe and nutritious foods. The Food Bank of the Southern Tier is exploring ways that locally produced foods can have an important role in their hunger relief efforts, while The Rural Health Network is improving access to farmers market and local farm products for homebound elderly and the disabled, and the Johnson City School District fills backpacks with nutritious foods for kids to take home.

The projects are successful because a push-pull effort follows an identified need by one RCFP member. Other members who have experience working with growers, or organizing transportation, or marketing ideas all assist in the effort. Together problems begin to be solved.

The RCFP recognized early on that policy acts as a barrier to the accomplishment of our goals. Utilizing productive upland pastures not suitable for other types of agriculture is a goal of our member the NYS Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative and the RCFP. But getting ruminants out on pasture is only part of a local food system; the other part involves getting those products to market, which requires local slaughtering and processing capacity. RCFP partner NY Farms! is currently working with Cornell University on a Livestock Processing Work Team to address such issues.

RCFP Partner the Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship, CADE, is working with both farmers and processors to create value added "hubs". The Evans Farmhouse Creamery is one such example, where not only does the creamery processes local dairy products but they also distribute other agricultural products throughout the region. In this way the RCFP works to support and expand regional infrastructure.

Educating the public is critical to increasing local use of local foods. Farms enrich communities in numerous ways and that value must be compensated for. RCFP realizes that local foods may not be the least expensive and recognizes the need to defend such costs to local customers. Helping to increase consumer awareness to the benefits of eating healthy and locally is undertaken individually and collectively.

One consumer outreach effort undertaken and lead by Cornell Cooperative Extensions of Broome and Tioga, with support by Broome and Tioga Farm Bureaus, was the organization of the annual "Farm Days at the Mall". At this event farmers are invited to have tables and displays and talk to shoppers, mall walkers and visitors about their farms and farm products. This year the request for assistance to find local farmers was greater than ever and RCFP members were happy to help.

The "Taste of Tioga" organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tioga County provided another type of opportunity for people to connect with farmers through collaboration with local restaurants. Such a venue provided farmers two market potentials.

Each of the counties has coordinated and published local food guides and has worked to distribute them in numerous venues.

Health and wellness on numerous levels is an unstated RCFP goal. Individual health, community health, economic health, and environmental health are all a concern. A state of wellness is achieved when health is in balance within and among these elements.

Holism is the method employed to create wellness. Decisions are not made independently but are instead mutually dependent upon each other. The director of the Resource Conservation and Development Agency of South Central New York leads RCFP members in collective, holistic decision making.

A "Growing Health" conference organized by the Rural Health Network of South Central New York was a groundbreaking effort to bring numerous community constituents to the table in an effort to expand the concept of health and wellness, and to assist attendees in making the direct connection of wellness to the need to support local agriculture. "Growing Health" helped introduce the farm and food sectors to the health and human service sectors, and initiated important community discussions and connections that continue today.

If one were to look at defined regions, united in the effort of protecting food security locally, such as proposed "Food Sheds", ours is a model we would recommend. The RCFP is an effective vehicle moving efficiently towards defined goals.

The successes we can measure are not funded directly by any one organization, but by the contributions of each of the members. There is no budget, there is no program manager, there is no working capital, but there is heart, strong will, determination, and solid convictions-- all of which have carried the RCFP to date. Like other collaborative groups working to develop a regional food system, we continue to look for financial support and depend upon community and partner generosity.

The RCFP is an open working group and organizations and individuals are encouraged to participate. The annual planning meeting will take place January 22. Meetings are the fourth Thursday of the month from 2-4 at the Broome County Cornell Cooperative Extension office on Upper Front Street.

"Bullthistle Bounty" was a project of Opportunities for Chenango - and included a discount card for local products including food, a Hometown Holidays shop local booklet and OFC co-sponsored the Eat Local Challenge with Cornell Coop Ext. Chenango.

The "CHENANGO BOUNTY: Farmers Market at Your Door" is a project of the Chenango County Agriculture Development Council - a delivery service of wonderful local foods. For more information see www.chenangobounty.com

One way to help the environment and create sustainable landscapes is to usenative plants. Here is a conference all about it in nearby Ithaca:
Designing with Native Plants.
Creating Sustainable Landscapes for the Finger Lakes & Upstate New York
Date & Time: Friday February 20, 2009; 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology
For more information, see the website http://www.tompkinschamber.org/events/show/53

Thanksgiving

It amazes me how different Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Some are incredibly simple, others, like my family, are for more "enhanced". Not good or bad, just different ways.

Our family has always been farm oriented. We've been here since the Mayflower, so we've got that agrarian blood flowing. We've also got a very long history of "make do or do without", and while we went through the Great Depression, our family rarely went without enough food and never without shelter.

We also come from a long line of good cooks! Which means Thanksgiving is a GREAT dinner!

Our one indulgence - oysters. Everything else is standard farm fare, just really good farm fare.

Turkey - trying to buy locally grown is difficult. I wouldn't tell my parents this, but hopefully in another year I'd like to be raising a couple of turkeys every year just for Thanksgiving. Besides, a great bug eater would be a good thing! Nitrogen poopers to build the soil - life would be good!

I just have to find out if the town will allow it. LOL - no biggie.

Candied sweet potatoes - easier to find locally, and again, am hoping to grow my own starting this coming year. We'll see. But - the best way to cook them for Thanksgiving - there's only one way really - slow cook them with no water, some butter and a lot of brown sugar. The sugar draws the water out of the thickly sliced potatoes, giving them a great texture that isn't tender, but isn't bad either. It's great! It can't be explained. But just try simmering some in the sugar for a couple of hours until they turn a burnt sienna color and just a little wrinkly looking. They are THE best.

Mashed potatoes - again, easy to get locally. I cook them in home made chicken stock, a little garlic. Mash them while a little dry and then reheat when the turky is resting to be cut. Add a little milk, wisk them and they're piping hot for dinner!

Peas, string beans, corn - all home grown, all cooked normally.

Cranberry sauce - it just can't be thanksgiving without it - even if we have to get them from more than 100 miles away. I'd like to put a highbush cranberry in, but it's going to be another year or two before that happens. Still, we make our own. Grind a bag of cranberries (wash, of course) with an orange - rind and all. Add about a cup of sugar and you've got some of the best cranberry sauce you'll ever want. The freshness of it beats the jelly any day. It also mixes well with any muffin recipe to make THE best cran-orange muffins you could ever hope for.

Stuffing - normal. I've heard of different ways you can make it, by baking potato bread with onions, celery and poultry seasoning. But that just seems like a lot of work when it just doesn't have to be that way. We use 0ld bread and cut it up ourselves. All of our regular breads are locally made, so I don't worry about making my own. I just buy the older bread that's on sale and cut it myself. Why spend 10-fold for a bag of pre-cubed when you can have it cut in 5 minutes?

The oysters. Ooo - the oysters. We go for native oysters, rather than imported. And we only have them at 2 holidays, so I'll take that sin. Cut them into quarters or smaller. Mix them with about an equal amount of oyster crackers. Mix in a bit of cream, a small bit of butter and bake them for about a half hour. That's it. Delish!

Home made pickles! There is nothing better than home made pickles - both sweet and dill. Dill are easier to make than sweet, but all are worth the effort.

Apple sauce - home made. From apples grown on the property. Hopefully more in 3 years! I just planted 3 more trees.

This is what Thanksgiving is about - bounty. Home made bounty.