Check it out, and should you be interested in volunteering at the Fair, contact Anika Pyle at this email address: Anika@foodbookfair.com

Here I share a few of my reflections on this holiday and attempt to channel the Mark Bittman in me with my “Spiced Quinoa, 3 Ways”, in this versatile recipe that I made 3 times, 3 different ways, each building upon the former. (well, humbly, I have a long way to go to come anywhere close to Bittman, but that won’t stop me from trying!) [Recipe at end]

A key part of the observance of the 8 days of Passover requires changes in our diet.  The most well-known is the matzo we eat to commemorate the Jews, who in their rush to escape slavery in Egypt, did not have time to let their bread rise.  Thus, all who observe Passover cannot eat anything leaven made from the five major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt). Different cultures of Judaism have different customs with regards to Passover that go beyond matzo.  For example, the Ashkenazi Jews cannot eat rice, corn, peanuts, beans, or legumes during the holiday, while Sephardic Jews do not have such restrictions. In both traditions, quinoa has been determined as not related to these grains and thus generally (but not universally) permitted during Passover

Personally, I am not nearly as “good” as I strive to be, but when I do observe, I follow the Ashkenazi tradition and refrain from the rice, corn, and legumes.  I found it very challenging this year to avoid all the forbidden foods, especially as it required major changes in my daily routines and habits, from my toast in the morning, to the peanut butter on my bagel at lunch, to the wide variety of beans and grains in the dinners I cook for my family.  As I altered my eating habits, I was also challenged to examine other routines and habits in my life that are holding me back, making it more difficult to reach my goals, and affecting my relationships with those around me.  I know that change does not happen overnight, but I also know that I have to take proactive steps to get there.  So today, I am making the decision to take small steps that will lead to bigger ones in how I live and act, and ultimately in how I can impact the world for myself, my family, and those around me.  I truly believe that in community, family, and friendship, we can support one another to live fully and, in the immortal words of Ghandi, “be the change we want to see in the world”

Ok - enough self-reflection - Here’s that yummy recipe!

Passover Spiced Quinoa 3 ways
(a Passover recipe you might actually want to make year-round!)

Ingredients

• 2 cups vegetable broth or water (if water, add 1/2 - 2 tsp curry powder, or cumin)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well, drained
• 1/4 cup or more dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, apricot, or combo
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tbsp cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped (can use yellow onion in a pinch, but red works best)
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• 2-3 medium carrots, peeled, sliced or cut into small cubes
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced, or cut into small cubes
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Version #2: Add 2-3 chopped tomatoes, or a can of tomatoes with juice
• Version #3: Cook with 2 chicken breasts, cubed

Directions:

• Cook quinoa: bring broth/water and bay leaf (and spice if using water) to a boil, add quinoa and bring to a boil again, simmer for 20min or until quinoa is absorbed and cooked
  
• Meanwhile, In a large skillet, sauté onion in olive oil until soft
• Add garlic and sauté another 30sec – 1 min
• Mix in spices
  
• Version #3: Add chicken and sauté until beginning to brown
• Add carrots and zucchinis and sauté until soft, (Versions #2 and #3, add tomatoes here, too)
  • Might need to bring to a boil and add some extra water/broth, and then simmer to get the veggies soft
• Add in dried fruit
• Mix with quinoa and serve.

I highly recommend serving with naan, or pita, rather than matzo when passover is over!

If you weren’t living in New York City back in 2000-2001, then you did not experience the story of William Grimes’ chicken visitor as it unfolded. Fortunately, he tells this tale in “My Fine Feathered Friend,” published by North Point Press in 2002. This small book, with charming illustrations can be read in an evening. Good thing, because once begun you will not want to put it down.

Yes, that William Grimes, who was the chief restaurant critic of the New York Times, and who lives amongst us here in Astoria. Grimes is a very entertaining writer, who was in turn entertained by this chicken who appeared one day in his Astoria backyard, and made himself at home among the family cats and Queens squirrels. Through research Grimes learns that this chicken is a Black Australorp, a breed that once set the world egg-laying record. To his delight Chicken (the name Grimes’ gives her) provides his family with delicious eggs. Questions abound. Why did Chicken come to visit? And where did Chicken come from? Well, as they say, you’ll have to read the book. “My Fine Feathered Friend” is recommended reading for followers of Grimes’ writing, urban chicken farmers, Astoria aficionados and lovers of a good mystery.

More details and order at http://www.lewiswaitefarm.com/csainfo/AstoriaArrowFlyer.htm

Read on for the Order deadlines and Delivery Dates:

Farro is an ancient Mediterranean grain that appears to be making a resurgence.  So, as I restocked the barley and pinto beans, I decided to throw some farro in the cart and give it a go (thank you, Lewis Waite Farm for stocking Cayuga Pure Organics products!).  I liked the first recipe I made (especially the tahini sauce!), but Sammy wasn’t too crazy about it [see below for a link]

I’m not sure how to describe farro, but it’s yummy - it’s a bit harder than barley, with a slightly nuttier flavor, but can certainly be used in similar recipes. We are crazy about barley soup, so for farro recipe #2, I decided to try it in a new soup recipe. Bingo!  This recipe was a hit all around.  I needed at least 3 carrots and only had 1 leftover from my last winter CSA share (sob).  I found this crazy rainbow bunch of carrots at a new organic store in Astoria. The purple carrots are a bit strange looking, but they taste just about the same, and add a nice color. (Should make my veggie scrap broth nice and dark, too)

Like most of my recipes, this one is fairly easy, but time consuming. You could speed it up considerably by using canned or pre-cooked beans, and cooking the farro ahead of time. I cooked the beans in the morning, and cooked the farro in the soup as the recipe calls for.

Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Farro, Bean, and Kale Soup
(adapted from this recipe on the Generation Y Foodie blog)

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Saute onion in olive oil a few minutes
2. add garlic, and carrot and saute another few minutes
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Add farro, tomatoes, zucchini, broth, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme
5. Cover and bring to a boil; Reduce heat to med-low and simmer, covered for 30 minutes
6. Remove bay leaves, and the stems of the rosemary and thyme
7. Add beans and kale, stir through, cover and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes (I added another 1/2 cup broth here - it was very thick)

8. Serve w/ parmesan, if desired

If there was any doubt that the kiddo liked this, I’d say her face says it all. Sammy is one satisfied customer!

Oh yeah, and here’s the first recipe I made with farro, adapted from the Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad recipe I found on the Closet Cooking blog

-> I substituted farro for the wheat berry, and used a combination of potatoes and sweet potatoes instead of the squash, otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly

I’ve been experimenting with homemade broths these days. I’m enjoying the variety of flavors from my veggie scrap broths (if you haven’t yet tried it, it’s very easy: learn how) and am now moving on to chicken broth.  My chicken soup is still a work in progress and I look forward to sharing that when I get it perfected.  In the meantime, I’m enjoying chicken broth and cooked chicken, both made from the delicious free-range, locally raised chickens from the new Butcher Bar in Astoria. (must admit it, I’m becoming a real groupie of this trendy new place!)

So, as I prepared this recipe, I got yummy chicken broth (leftovers now in the freezer), and a delicious dish from the cooked chicken.  Enjoy!

Chicken and Quinoa Stew with Spinach
(adapted from a recipe at Daily Unadventures in Cooking blog)

Ingredients:

Sammy reaching for more chicken in her little bowl

Friday, March 16, 2012 | 10AM - 4PM
Registration begins at 9:30AM
Pratt Institute - Higgins Hall (61 St. James Pl, Brooklyn)

Greening from the Ground Up will bring together NYC community-based organizations, local officials, and neighborhood residents to share resources, best practices, and useful tools for strengthening sustainability initiatives in our neighborhoods.
Join us for interactive, hands-on workshops and lively discussion with some of New York City’s best experts in sustainability.

For more details and to register visit prattcenter.net/event/sustainabilityconference. Please join us for a coffee and cookie reception at Higgins Hall following the conference.

WORKSHOPS INCLUDE:

• Growing Urban Agriculture
• Healthy, High-Efficiency Homes: How Retrofits Meet Community Development Goals
• Engaging Young People in Environmental Justice and Public Health
• Green By Design: Arts, Culture and Sustainability
• Greening for Community Safety
• Built-In Health: The Built Environment and Public Health

As in previous years we were made aware of a plethora of new webs sites, either by the distribution of bookmarks, flyers, tables at the Expo or announcements at workshops. Here are a few:

www.foodfight.org (using schools as a platform they alter teenagers attitudes towards food).

The Brooklyn Food Conference (May 12, 2012). www.brooklynfoodcoalition.org

FarmPlate, an online community of foragers, farmers, purveyors, you name it! www.FarmPlate.com

Spring Into Action, a food processing and distribution business partnering with the Osborne Association. www.springintoactionnyc.com

Free Bread Inc. was at the Expo with samples of their gluten free products. Delicious! http://freebreadinc.com/about/

Ethikus, whose goal is to help people discover ethical and sustainable stores and restaurants in New York. The website highlights local businesses that support employees, are environmentally responsible, and engage with their community. http://www.ethikus.com/

David’s Tea was ever present, passing out small samples of their mostly delicious, always fragrant teas. They are a Canadian company with two retail stores in New York City. www.davidstea.com

The film, “The Apple Pushers” was mentioned in a few of the workshops that I attended. It is about immigrants who work with NYC Green Carts. This is the link: http://www.applepushers.com/about-the-film.php

Did you know that there is a one acre educational farm in Battery Park City? www.thebattery.org/urban-farm

Friday began with a series of short Food Talks which were all great, especially Tanya Fields of The BLK ProjeK (not a misspelling). Among other things, her group is working to create an urban farm for the Longwood community in the Bronx. The other speaker that I very much enjoyed was Garrett Oliver, who is the Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery. I am definitely keeping my eye out for his other speaking appearances. His topic was “The Matrix: Reality, Facsimile, Technology and the Food Culture”.

On Friday I attended these workshops:

Sustainable Seafood led by the Blue Ocean Institute. www.blueocean.org. They publish a handy guide to sustainable seafood which they distribute for free. Also available on their website; or by phone. Text 30644 and type “FISH” followed by the type of fish you are considering. You’ll get an instant response. Their website also has a free online course for chefs. She recommended two books “Four Fish “by Paul Greenberg and “Song of the Blue Ocean” by Carl Safina.

Her talk centered on problems of overfishing, stating that 85% of the fish we eat is at or above the level of being overfished; troubling when one considers that we are also encouraged to eat more fish. Shrimp and canned tuna lead the list of the fishes that we consume. 50% of the fish in stores is farmed fish. This is problematic, in my opinion, not only because it tastes inferior, but for environmental concerns. For example, when large amounts of fish are confined in one area, where does their waste go? What are the fish feeding on? How nutritious are they with the lack of ocean minerals? She recommended mussels, clams and oysters as safe farmed fish because they do not need to be fed. She also recommended that we get in the habit of asking about the origins of the fish that we order. The more people ask, the more vendors will take the question seriously. To ask for information can be a very powerful thing! Finally, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has a free seafood app for iPhones.

The soon-to-be-announced Five Borough Farm project…a joint project of the Design Trust for Public Space, the New School and Added Value Farm. They consider the 600 community gardens in NYC, as well as those in schools, public housing etc. as they formulate a plan for urban agriculture in NYC. The website will launch in July, for now find about more at this link: http://www.designtrust.org/projects/project_09farm.html

Introduction to the Farm Bill, which unfortunately did not go into great depth. Basics: the first farm bill was in 1933 then known as the Agricultural Act. It is revised every 5 years, and covers most of the USDA budget. The bill, currently up for revision this year (could be as early as May) does not have a single sponsor. There are 15 titles within this bill. The biggest issue of contention is the subsidties for single crops such as soy and corn, which predominately go into processed foods and are feed to livestock. The Farm Bill contradicts the USDA’s Choose My Plate initiative as they aren’t any subsidties for fruits or green vegetables. Dairy is not a significant part of this bill. SNAP (previously known as Food Stamps) is.

Friday concluded with a panel of five professionals in the food business, who discussed how each of them landed their jobs. It was a good mix: Andrea Beaman (chef), Celeste Beatty (owner of Harlem Brewing Company), Brian Halwell (Edible Magazines), Zak Zaidman (Kopali Organics) and Kathy Lawrence (Director of Strategic Development School Food Focus). I enjoyed hearing them all; most of all Kathy who had been the founder of Just Food. Truth to tell, I envied all of them!

On Saturday I attended these workshops:

Farm Incubator at Floyd Bennett Field. This would be the first urban farm located on National Park Service land in the United States. It would be developed for citywide benefit, not just for Brooklyn residents. The ultimate goal is to work 20-30 acres, but this year as it is in ‘beta’ they will work/test the project on a half-acre. Ultimately, farmers would rent land; there would be an ecology center, education programs and so forth. There next development meeting is on March 13^th at 6pm at 61 Local in Brooklyn. There is already a community garden at Floyd Bennett Field. This workshop was very well attended by lots of interesting folks with ambitious ideas. I might attend the next meeting.

NYC Food Policy was a very lively and full session, led by Sarah Brannen, who was the coordinator of the Food Systems Network NYC. Representatives from the Mayor’s office, Dept. of Health and Stringer’s office were also present. All of these folks are working on general advocacy, food access, nutrition standards and so forth. Interesting fact: there are 15,000 mobile food vendors waiting for permits to operate in NYC. These are people who have already passed tests and paid fees! She intimated that those with a ‘green’ focus might be more successful at getting a spot. The need for a municipal compost project was mentioned, and the need for a city-level food policy council. There is a Farm to City Expo coming up on March 6^th. 1:11 PM this is the link: http://marketingpwt.dyson.cornell.edu/SmartMarketing/pdfs/SMrtMkgt%20Feb2012.pdf

I also attended a brief talk on land access in NYC for community gardens. Not too encouraging, as one might suspect. She did say that the Brooklyn/Queens Land Trust just got ahold of more property, and that the UDL Report from Columbia University might have some leads. The Department of Buildings has a database which identifies who owns lots in NYC, and Citywide Administrative Services might also. She also recommended an event on March 31^st Green Thumb Grow Together. This takes place in the Bronx.

Saturday’s panels concluded with a Farmer Panel. As this is the fourth conference that I have attended, I am sorry to say I don’t especially enjoy these. The questions are the same year after year and often times the farmers are not that comfortable with public speaking. It is, however, an honor to have them in our midst. This year’s panelists were Ana I. Rodriguez Angel of Angel Farm in New York. She is originally from Mexico; Yonette Fleming of Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Brooklyn; David Haughton of Trinity Farms in New York and John Schmidt of Muddy River Farm in New York.

It was a wonderful conference, but I did leave frustrated that there isn’t more happening in Queens!

- Julia Mucci

The conference opening ‘food talks,’ featured several veterans of the food justice movement, many of whom built on the idea of food as work. Jacquie Berger, the Executive Director of Just Food, urged us to ‘complicate the food system,’ reversing years of damage done by industrial food’s mission to simplify it. Joan Gussow, whose groundbreaking work in urban gardening and ecology paved the way for so many, spoke eloquently about the hidden organisms in our soil that silently and invisibly work to restore and renew the land that feeds us. Garrett Oliver, a founding board member of Slow Food USA, now best known for his work as the Brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, very handily compared our current food system to ‘the matrix’ of food-like products, facsimiles for what we have considered normal for hundreds and thousands of years. “We must return to normal,” Oliver argued.

A rousing talk from Tanya Fields, the founder and Executive Director of the BLK ProjeK, a food and environmental justice organization in the South Bronx, challenged all of us examine the way in which we work to create change in low-resource communities and communities of color. Because the food justice field until recently has lacked a wide range of employment opportunities for interested individuals, the young people able to pursue it have traditionally come from better-off backgrounds, affording them the ability to take unpaid internships and part-time jobs in service of the movement. Fields, a single mother who built her organization out of her own struggle, urged us all to re-examine the worldview many activists coming into urban communities take in working to solve an extremely complicated issue. “In the hood,” Fields implored, “people don’t need dogma, or sermons on ‘local, sustainable, organic’ products. People need economic changes, sovereignty.” As a community organizer around food justice in the South Bronx, her talk was especially salient for me. The food concerns of the farm-to-table advocate community are often a privilege we take for granted. We must bring everyone to the table. Break bread. Our work should reflect what the people really want, what they really need.

No one, however, addressed the idea of food as important work as eloquently as George Weld, the founder of Egg and Parish Hall restaurants in Brooklyn, and Goatfell Farm in upstate New York. He spoke of the damage caused by the wide-spread view that work in food (namely food service) is transient, a stop on the way to something better. In fact, the people that spend long hours producing, preparing, and serving our food play an extremely pivotal role in enriching our lives. Their labor fosters our connection with our people, our community. George told his own story, of his departure from the food industry after college into a “real job”, only to find his office work numbing and unfulfilling. He went back into a kitchen, back onto a farm-to reconnect with himself, the work he always loved. His commitment to making a life in the food world has resulted in sustainable, justice oriented businesses that provide employment to some and the joy of good food to many more. I found so much urgency in his message, that ideas and conversation-while extremely important, can never duplicate the building power of old-fashioned hard work. We must elevate the people who do the work, as much as we elevate those that set the debate.

I am thrilled to have been part of the 2012 Just Food Conference. I am thrilled to see how much the movement has grown in just the short years I have been a part of it. I attended several workshops that demonstrated the innovative ways nonprofits, business owners, students, and entrepreneurs are joining the food systems fight, from leveraging ‘slow money’ investments into food justice efforts and crowd-sourcing environmental projects in local communities, to offering restaurant space for CSA’s and coalitions to meet and host events. The conference also featured a job fair by an internet start-up, Good Food Jobs, which aims to connect individuals with jobs and opportunities in all parts of the food system, from restaurants to farms. What many organizations and individuals are finally recognizing is that food is not only the essential link between people from every social, cultural and economic background, it is work. Food takes work to produce, work to educate, work to create community. As the movement grows and diversifies, all the while rates of unemployment and diet-related disease remain unacceptably high, more focus on food as a livelihood is crucial for the sustainability of our efforts. We all have so much work to do.

-Tatiana Orlov

Astoria CSA

Board of Directors, Queens Harvest Food Coop

Asst. Manager of Community Development, South Bronx at City Harvest