Community dinner creates lasting impressions

The New Mexico Action Corps partnered with several local farmers to use their left overs to host a community dinner in honor of World Food Day.  Joined by Oxfam constituents partner organizations and local food enthusiasts, this GROW friendly event brought people together over principles such as reducing waste, eating less meat, and cooking smart.  For more photos and information about the New Mexico Action Corps click here.

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By Jasmine McBeath

 

The time to vote has come and gone, right? Not true, according to Foodology star Greg Gould, who claims we vote three times a day, probably more. That’s because you’re making an economic, political, and social justice choice every time you raise a fork to your mouth. 

For instance, if Americans in urban areas bought two fair trade chocolate bars a month, it could benefit 30,000 small-scale farmers. Or, if we were to join families in the Philippines, India, Brazil, Spain, and the UK in cooking more efficiently, the benefit would be the same as planting 540 million trees and letting them grow for 10 years. 

My favorite part about this worldwide GROW movement is that it’s not overwhelming. The idea is to think global, act local. It’s not hard to save food, cook smart, or eat a little less meat. It’s also reasonable to expect us to eat seasonally and support small-scale farmers.

Oxfam’s been talking a lot about the GROW Method this fall, so we decided to practice what we preach in a big way. Two weekends ago, we celebrated our first World Food Day Community Dinner. We partnered with six different nonprofits, received donations from a dozen farms, and put twenty volunteers to work in shifts from 10am to 10pm. Everyone came away saying how wonderful the food tasted and with a greater understanding of how eating locally can make a global impact. 

I was lucky enough to see it through from beginning to end. The day started with picking up produce at the Downtown Growers Market. Our community chef Kathy met me there and we visited each booth from 11am-1pm requesting leftovers. The farmers were incredibly generous and helpful, offering what they didn’t think other growers would have and making sure we came out with what we needed to pull off the meal. We left with watermelons wedged below the seats, baguettes leaned against the doors, and greens draped across the seats. Boxes of cauliflower, squash, and tomatoes called shotgun, paper bags full of potatoes and apples filled the truck, and mini pumpkins spilled out the back.

I have to admit it was a little overwhelming when we laid all the food out on the counter in the church. Then something magical happened. Our community chef Kathy transformed into a contestant on one of those cooking show competitions. Challenge: make food for 100 people using the ingredients in the kitchen with only 6 helpers in under 5 hours. But unlike the people on those shows, everyone seemed to maintain their composition. Every time I glanced over, I saw people hard at work, but smiling.

And then, suddenly, it was dinnertime. Volunteers set out frothy watermelon juice in a glass punch bowl next to pitchers of sun tea. The produce from the counter (plus the donation from the Co-opt) became spicy pumpkin soup, chicken stew, bruschetta, shepherd’s pie, beans with tortillas, squash and greens, green chile bread, baguettes, and half a dozen different salads. The dessert table screamed fall with its peach squares, apple brown betties, dark chocolate covered apple slices and pumpkin pudding.

As I walked around, I heard great things about the food, and was happy to see people using the food icebreaker questions. There’s nothing like food to get strangers talking. 

        

When it came time to pledge GROW, some people said they will try Meatless Mondays, others vowed to chop vegetables and meat into smaller pieces for shorter cook times, and still others promised to buy CSAs and shop at the farmers market. Keynote speaker Greg Gould shared insight into fixing the food system by improving our personal quality of life and health. I liked how Greg acknowledged that each person is an expert as far as their own personal food preferences. We already know what we like to eat, now we just have to think about the best way to go about it. Greg’s talk tied in family food traditions, teaching children to cook, and what we can learn from planting trees. He’s a very engaging speaker, so I recommend hearing his speech, recorded by Peter Gallo at Kimchi Farms.  

At the end of the night the cleaning crew came to the rescue. Right in line with the GROW Method, we didn’t have to throw anything away. With hoards of hungry guests, there weren’t many leftovers. Anything extra was split between volunteers while the kitchen scraps went to the pigs at Kimchi Farms.

I really couldn't have wished for a better event!

THANK YOU!

Donors

Bosque Baking Company

Brown's Family Farm

Clay Trafton Farm

Frost Hill Organics

Granja Para Mañana

Harvest Gifts

La Montanita Co-opt

La Quiche

Macias Farm

Magos Farm

Majestic Valley Farm

Moore Family Farm

St. Thomas of Canterbury Church

Collaborators

Amnesty International

Bread for the World

Community Bricolage

Food Corps

Foodology

Nourish International

Oxfam Action Corps

Community Chef

Kathy Chavez

Guest Speaker

Greg Gould

Photographer

Rene Ronquillo

Albuquerque Gets Into GROW!

Restaurants and Community Come together over World Food Day Dinners! 

By Jasmine Mcbeath

I have to admit that I wasn't the one that came up with the idea. The idea began with a local farmer at the downtown market and evolved with each collaborator. A little over a month ago, I was speaking with Jeremiah from Frost Hill Organics about Oxfam's potential partnerships with successful local growers and producers, such as La Montañita Coop, Los Poblanos, and Farm and Table. He looked at me with honest eyes and pointed out that while it's great to partner with large, established farms, markets, and restaurants, we shouldn't forget the little guys. Oxfam is all about supporting those small-scale farmers, after all. Jeremiah suggested using his leftover produce as a good start. Instead of composting his extra veggies, Oxfam could make a small GROW Meal out of them. Soon a dozen other farmers were on board, and the intimate GROW Meal had evolved into a community dinner for a hundred. Then at the last booth, a buyer overheard my conversation with Macias Farm and asked to coordinate the meal preparation. She started freezing leftover produce that day onwards and calls once a week to let me know what new recipes are in store for guests. Clubs on campus and groups of faith joined in too. Community Bricolage, Bread for the World, Nourish International, and Food Corps are all teaming up with Oxfam. Foodology star Greg Gould is giving a presentation during dinner and St. Thomas of Canterbury Church is donating the space. So you could say that "community dinner" accurately represents not only the meal, but also every step in the process. 

PLEASE JOIN US IN MAKING OUR COMMUNITY DINNER AND WORLD FOOD DAY EVENTS A HIT:

Tuesday, October 16th – restaurants serve up the GROW Method :

Here's your excuse to eat out on a Tuesday, burquenos! 13 restaurants across Albuquerque have pledged to serve World Food Day meals. The restaurants range from cafes and bakeries to wine bars and fine dining. They dish out flavors from all over the world--chicken tikka, pizza bianca, shrimp tamales, green-chile-cheese-bread, and red velvet cake. Each restaurant is already putting into effect multiple principles of GROW, whether by offering more vegetarian options, serving seasonal and local dishes, cooking smart or saving food.

Visit one of these restaurants listed below for breakfast, lunch, or dinner to show your support and learn more about what you can do to decrease hunger both here in NM and worldwide.

Artichoke Cafe

Baileys on the Beach

Desert Fish

Farina

Golden Crown Panaderia

Jennifer James 101

Nob Hill Bar and Grill

Rasoi

Richard's Mexican

Sky Garden Market

Slate Street Cafe

Thai Cuisine ii

Tiles of Old Santa Fe

Saturday, October 27th: Community dinner from local farms and coops!

For a home-cooked meal and great conversation, celebrate with us on October 27th from 6-8pm. Oxfam Action Corps is hosting a FREE Community Dinner for 100 people at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church on UNM campus. We're putting every step of the GROW Method into practice. First, we're saving food by making the meal from leftover produce from the downtown Growers Market. Second, we're cooking smart by preparing more at once. We're obviously eating seasonally and supporting local farmers. Finally, we're eating less meat, since the meal is mostly fruit and vegetables. (We're also receiving a donation from La Montañita Coop, so meat-lovers don't worry!)

What are you doing for World Food Day? Looking for a local event? Check out our Oxfam America event calendar here and sign up to host your very own World Food Day dinner in your own city!

Email actioncorps@oxfamamerica.org with any questions.

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Jasmine McBeath of Oxfam Action Corps Albuquerque writes about upcoming World Food Day events and the idea that launched an effort by dozens of restaurants and community farmers. 

Pictured: Robin Seydel 
and Terry Bowling of Monañita Coop, 
Jasmine McBeath of the Albuquerque Action Corps, and Brian Rawson of Oxfam America

The Happiest Day of the Week - Part 2!

By Susan Tamoney

 Our latest guest blogger, Susan Tamoney, is an active member of the Boston Oxfam Action Corps! In the previous post Susan discussed both why she loves her CSA, but also the challenges one faces when trying to use up all of the beautiful produce that a CSA delivers!  In this post Susan not only gives her tips from her experiences with a CSA but also some more incredible recipes to help us get the most out of our fall produce! See her part 1 post by clicking here.

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Here are my tips and advice, as well as a another recipe:

Be prepared.

A day or two before CSA pick up, work at using up the produce that you already have on hand. It helps a lot if you’re not trying to find room for all of your beautiful fresh produce in an already overcrowded fridge.

Pull together a supply of clean linen towels and plastic bags for wrapping and storing produce.

Consider investing in some tight seal glass storage containers for the produce that will be precooked or frozen. (As a matter of personal choice, I prefer glass over plastic, but certainly either will work)

Sort

As soon as you get home, sort your produce: “for immediate use”, “needs a bit of precooking prep” and “will last a while as is” worked well for me.

A friend told me about the book The Farmer’s Kitchen by Julia Shanks and Brett Grohsgal. at the beginning of the season and I found it had some really helpful and practical advice on food storage, plus there are lots of recipes:

Do some pre-cooking and freezing

Grill or pre cook for storage and later use. For me, this was probably the step that took the most discipline, but I got better at it and it was definitely the step that is the biggest help in putting together quick weeknight dinners. It works especially well with eggplant, squash and zucchini. I should say up front that I really love to cook, but in the summertime quick and easy is always best; no one wants to heat up a kitchen on a hot summer day and there are almost always other summer activities beckoning outside. In the fall, this step makes dinner way easier on a busy work and school night.

Eggplant Prep: 

1.  Wash and dry eggplants. 
2.  Slice off the stem end and then slice the eggplant into ¼” thin slices the long way.
3.  Lay the slices in a single layer on clean towels. 
4.  Lightly salt both sides of the eggplant. 
5.  Allow them to sit for an hour or so until you see beads of water on the eggplant.
6.  Pat the slices dry.
7.  Now rub both sides of the slices with a bit of olive oil and then grill them either on an outdoor grill or on a stove top until they have some nice grill marks on them, but are still firm.
8. Allow the slices to cool on a plate.  
9. Then layer them into a storage container and keep in the fridge until ready to use later in the week.  (I've kept them for two weeks and they were still fine, just saying)

Yum!

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For another great recipe, check out Susan's Kohlrabi Chips! Also found in her previous post. For more awesome recipes, check out the Oxfam America Pinterest Site.

What are your favorite recipes? What would you bring to a GROW themed potluck? Send your recipes, stories, and meal ideas to actioncorps@oxfamamerica.org and see them posted here!

And don't forget to sign up to host your own World Food Day dinner!

The Happiest Day of the Week!

By Susan Tamoney

Our latest guest blogger, Susan Tamoney, is an active member of the Boston Oxfam Action Corps as well as a member of a local CSA! In the following series of posts, Sue will share a look at the rich variety of local options and how she has chosen to play a larger part in her own food. Below, Susan shares her tips and tricks to following the GROW Method with her CSA produce, not to mention some delicious recipes with some unlikely vegetables.

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For me, the happiest day of the week is Tuesday. This is the day that I pick up our CSA share at Land’s Sake Farm. For anyone who doesn’t know, purchasing a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share allows small scale farmers to plan their growing season more efficiently by having shareholders pay for their entire season of produce up front, in advance of the growing season. Supporting and connecting with local farmers is one important part of Oxfam America’s GROW Method initiative in support of the GROW campaign.

But back to my happiest day of the week. It wasn’t always this way. Don’t misunderstand; it’s easy to look forward to going to the farm to pick up your CSA. The beautifully organized tables with baskets of produce spilling over their edges. The just harvested vegetables, practically crying out for their moment in the spotlight, begging to be photographed. The sunburned, enthusiastic farmers, proudly explaining what produce is in our share this week. The friendly neighbors exchanging recipes and making cooking suggestions. What’s not to love?

All of this against a backdrop of neatly tended rows of vegetables and colorful fields of flowers is pretty hard to resist. Toss in a bit of happy background noise as children, arriving with their parents, take off laughing to check out a fluffy farm rabbit and some elegant chickens clucking softly in their coop. What’s not to love?

Like many, we’ve always done a bit of backyard gardening at our house. The easy stuff: tomatoes, peas, a bit of bib lettuce, some basil. It was enough to toss together an impromptu Insalata Caprese. We’ve always sought out produce from small local farms and farmer’s markets. But this year, inspired by Oxfam and GROW, we decided that it was time to step up and commit to a CSA share all our own.
So, here’s a picture of our share for one week:

Looks like a good amount of produce for a two to four person family, right? Surprisingly, I found that there was a bit of stress involved. When I first start buying produce this way, I felt a bit overwhelmed by what I brought home in my bags, which can vary greatly for week to week. The good news is that with a bit of advance preparation and a tiny bit of practice, it was all very doable.

Be advised, if you, like me, have ever felt guilty at having to pitch into the compost (or even worse, into the trash) a head of lettuce that wilted before it made it into your salad or the zucchini that was in the back of the vegetable drawer and is now beyond salvation, even for soup, this feeling of guilt will be even worse when something from a CSA ends up in the bin. Not sure exactly why, but it definitely is. Maybe it’s picturing the sweat streaked faces of your farmers, all of whom you are on a first name basis with by the middle of the summer.

So, I decided early on in the season to make a kind of challenge of it.

The challenge:

• Use only what we get in our share, no running out to Whole Foods to buy what we might “feel” like having for dinner tonight, 
• Use everything in the share, even the things that we don’t have a clue what they are (“Oh, so that’s a kohlrabi.”), 
• If we absolutely can’t eat something, share it with friends or neighbors.

These are kohlrabi. I’ve already removed the leaves. Aren’t they a beautiful color? They transform into beautiful chips with a purpled ruffled edge, very Prada!

The great news is that we did it! And not only that but I can say with complete honesty that we have never eaten better than we did this summer. We had some truly amazing meals, and they were all simple and delicious and healthy and VERY easy to prepare. It took a bit of experimentation and “tweeking”, but by end of the season, I’d finally got it down. Supporting lots of parts of the GROW Method in the process and eating some amazingly delicious food. Now that REALLY makes me happy!

Kohlrabi Chip Recipe:

1. Wash and dry one or two kohlrabi. 
2. Thinly slice them into discs using a mandolin (careful of your fingers!). 
3.  Put the slices into a bowl and toss them lightly with a little olive oil, just to coat. 
4.  Place them in a single layer on parchment (very important) covered cookie sheets and bake in a 425F oven for about 5 minutes. You should keep an eye on them. Keep them in longer if you like them crispier.

I made these a lot this summer because they are great to serve as a little nibble before dinner or on the side with an entrée and because everyone loved them. So, I hit on a sweet and salty version that I liked even better:

1. After tossing the kohlrabi slices with olive oil, sprinkle them with some coarse salt, some ground cinnamon and a bit of granulated sugar. 
2.  Keep a close eye on them while they’re in the oven, they can burn quickly with the added bit of sugar.

Hope you like these as much as we all did! Kohlrabi got the prize in our house for “Vegetable That We Never Would Have Tried Without A CSA” and now it’s a hands down favorite!

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Susan introduced us to what her CSA looks like and what her challenges were in using up all of her delicious produce!  Next she'll reveal her best tips and tricks for getting the most out of a CSA!  And of course more great recipes!

Have your own tips and tricks? What about favorite recipes for our lesser - known veggies? Email them in to actioncorps@oxfamamerica.org!