Solutions seem to be as prolific as the number of individuals offering advice. Now there is a strategy that everyone can employ and use wisely. Tomorrow, October 24 is the 1st National Food Day. What does that phrase really mean? In its most simple terms, it means, that there will be an emphasis on food issues throughout the country. Most cities have signed on with some sort of program and chefs, of course, are playing a significant role in the program.

What about the individual response? Yes, we can all get involved and do something. One day can make a difference. Support your local farmer. There are still plenty of farmstand markets bringing in the best of fall fruits and vegetables.  In some communities, individuals are helping plant a school garden so that young children can benefit from what is truly fresh. Restaurants are having a large variety of programs to bring in individuals and demonstrate how we can all pitch in and make a difference. Find a sustainable food project in your community and participate.

Yes, everyday can be a food day, but sometimes we need to pull back and think about how we can help others and create a stronger, better, more harmonious approach to food issues.  We can be a healthy nation.

The sounds of summer.

Here’s a simple exercise: Zebra heirloom tomatoes, small yellow potatoes, pickling cukes, corn beggin’ to be husked, and peaches of every size and variety (try the new darling donut peach). Add a protein and your bounty meal is bursting with flavor. However you dance the ingredients, they are ready for your creative tong.

Now’s the time to practice. The market waits for no one.

Yet, I have earned a new education. Without my early membership in a CSA, I might never have tried some of my new friends. It’s you Kohlrabi I’m talking to. Not that the stand employees had many ideas how to handle this rather awkward looking vegetable; they were curious what I would uncover. With my trusty computer and numerous search attempts, I found no shortage of recipes but after the early experimentation, I settled on a personal Waldorf Salad.  Kohlrabi, apples, nuts, and cranberries became perfectly united with just a little lemon juice and a dollop of mayonnaise. The crunch worked and this veg gained star status in our house. Consider starting it from seed as Gurney’s catalog offers some enticing recipes!

Maybe the trendiest vegetable of the year award will go to KALE. From an unknown to super-star status and expensive marketing (kale chips at $7.95 a bag), this prior, semi-unknown proved a most versatile companion to many dishes. The biggest caveat is that a small bunch shrinks to a minuscule size when cooked. Buy more than you need or if you are lucky enough to find it, get a big, triple-washed bag (remember kale neared the top of last week’s pesticide list), and go wild with recipe creations. Kale can handle experimentation or if you focus in one direction, it loves sesame oil and rice vinegar with a sprinkling of tamari in a hot skillet.

Rhubarb may tie with Kale for top trend honors as the once unfamiliar fruit now champions a legion of followers or as the food52 people learned, rhubarb parties are a big hit! Maybe the house’s personal favorite recipe involves using way less sugar than previously imagined and cooking bite size pieces until just soft. Cool, taste, and freeze the majority as this is a fruit that loves oatmeal. OK, we had plenty of rhubarb-strawberry events but love pulling out a little bit as a cereal or dessert add-on. Have you tried it with Greek yogurt? A winner.

Actually these three foods moved to star status in our house this year, and we haven’t even talked about health benefits! Are we ever lucky as so many new choices are coming into market and it’s only the first day of summer. Our list will expand.

Happy Solstice.

With the increasing number of Vegan followers and those who subscribe to meatless days or think about healthier options, here’s a good primer: Color Me Vegan. What’s particularly enjoyable about this book is its color-coded emphasis on eating healthy; eating vegan. The recipes are easy to follow and attractive to lure you into trying something new. Those who just want the burst of color will be able to tweak the recipe to accommodate the omnivores.

Now that everyone has written about Gluten-Free and its mainstream numbers, the cookbooks are popping out of the printers.  Here’s one (125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes) that includes recipes for vegans although the combination of being G-F and V can be challenging at times. The highlight of this book is the straightforward approach from writer, Carol Fenster, who has an impressive history covering special diet needs including earlier gluten-free cookbooks: Would you believe her earlier 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipe cookbook! The 125 G-F recipe book will be available in July.

Neither a Vegan nor a Gluten-Free approach to vegetables, but one that considers how time starved we all are: The Best 30-Minute Vegetarian Recipes makes it easy to approach the summer heat with quick solutions to a healthy meal. Most of the 150 recipes are low in fat and in sugar. When the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are market ready or ready to be picked from your own garden, the Gazpacho recipe may prove a perfect summer favorite.

I have to leave the vegetable track for a moment and consider the importance of good bread to accompany all these veggie recipes. As we’ve watched foods come into vogue, we recognize the return of a once-popular piece of kitchen equipment: The Bread Machine. Prices have dropped on this handy kitchen accessory due to its formerly untrendy status so this is a perfect item to add now and awaken the family to the delicious morning aroma of  just-baked bread. The Artisan Bread Machine with its 250 recipes fits the ease-of-use bill. Nothing’s better than combining artisan techniques into the workhouse machine! Add to that the summertime availability of delicious tomatoes (atop a foccaccia) and the desire to serve a healthy pizza lets you add your fresh vegetable toppings to the wonderful crusts from the bread machine.

These are just some of the many new cookbooks worth your summertime lolling pleasure. Relax with an iced coffee, and find the perfect solution to any meal period. Enjoy.

In the past few years since the Obama Administration took office, it seems that food has become a major player in the national conversation. We have talked about the White House Garden, the commitment to getting people to Move off the couch and be aware of their food intake. Obesity has been a major topic of concern as has the School Lunch program. Yet, so many of these discussions have their roots in much earlier times. It is impossible to speak of food safety legislation today without thinking about the letter Upton Sinclair wrote President Theodore Roosevelt.

Our current obsession with food, chefs, and food trends is nothing new. Buying local and supporting the farmer has deep-seeded, yes, it’s true, roots in our country’s agricultural history. You’ll be able to study the past while reflecting on how so much of what we believe today parallels our government’s earliest commitments to food safety. No need to make this sound so serious, as the exhibit focuses on all the aspects of our food culture.

What this exhibition hall is filled with it the how the Federal government’s programs intersected with our lives whether we are referencing food safety regulation or tracing the early paths of those we affectionately call “agricultural pioneers.” Besides enjoying the numerous posters from the collection including the already popular “Vitamin Donuts” or “Uncle Sam Says , Garden to Cut Food Costs.” My initial favorite, “Eat the Carp” includes the advice, “The muddy taste can be washed away.”

Trust me, you’ll have fun exploring the original records (“Eat More Cottage Cheese“) that explain the history of our country through its food supply with an emphasis on four distinct influences on our food environment: Farm, Factory, Kitchen, and Table.

Check out the event calendar as numerous additional programs and speakers have been lined up to supplement the standing exhibit. The exhibit opens today and continues through January 3, 2012. You need to know that date as you’ll want to go more than once!

Not just any plate, but one that has been approved by the First Family. A plate that says, less is better but what constitutes less will be unveiled in stages. We have become a full plate society from our parents earliest admonitions to finish your food to dining out and expecting full plates brimming over with food. Oversize restaurant portions were supposed to imply monetary value but instead helped contribute to our obesity numbers.

The President and the First Lady exemplify their commitment to exercise and good eating habits. The White House Garden has been a huge success and farm markets continue to expand in close proximity to the White House. At the same time some of the nation’s top chefs have contributed their time and expertise to improving the school lunch program. Logically, the next step is to take the tired pyramid of foods and replace its message with one that stresses vital health information. This is a more active focus that demonstrates the importance of being active and eating healthy. In addition to the USDA, other government agencies will help drive the important message.

Making the plate a thing of beauty with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables is a natural starting point. After all we are in the heart of the growing season and product availability. Grocers are competing with farm stands to show that locally grown food can be readily available to all shoppers.

Eating healthy has new rules and as a nation the time has come to step up to the plate and move into a healthier position. We welcome the pyramid retirement party.

It’s time to set up a healthy plate.

Plant but acclimate and look at the 10-day forecast. Most of the gardening centers still have warning signs out about late frosts. Most likely these signs came out of the closet after the unexpected, and unnecessary, 80 degree days in early April! Tomatoes take time and full sun so as we move later into the month, the ground and the plants will be most appreciative. The sun will be do its job, too.

If you’re still in the wondering stage, remember what you grow, you control. A Salmonella tomato warning should probably be the final encouragement to become a gardener. Seize the ground: This is your year.

If you are still hesitant, check out your local farm markets or see if there is even a final short share in a CSA–be local. Support local or be your own locavore.

The fixings change as prices keep climbing. If a cucumber costs over a dollar in a market, the likelihood of seeing the item in any recognizable form on a salad bar or as a chopped topping becomes ever more doubtful. What is the consumer left with? High prices and alternative foods. Or,

Time to fulfill the promise of last year with the sprouting ritual of seeds. This is the time of year to do some in-house planting so that when the ground is ready for digging, you have sturdier roots than a last minute approach to resolving a personal promise. Make this the year of the garden.

Seeds can be frustrating or relatively easy; depends who you ask. Make certain that the package contains the magic phrase: For the 2011 planting season. Last year’s seeds may not be the best solution, especially for the first time gardener.

Plenty of catalogs to dream along with or to invest in. Whichever company you select, remember the simple gardening maxim: Less is more. Nothing tastes better than just picked especially when it’s coming from your little plot.

Snub the high prices and create your own salad bowl.

The greatest growth of organic foods was with fruits and vegetables and demonstrated over an 11% increase over the prior year. In turn the organic fruit and vegetable market now makes up over 11% of all US food and vegetable sales! No longer are consumers limited to a few specialty stores for their organic purchases. The basic, mainstream, grocer recognizes the impact of having organic produce available for consumers. In addition, of course, there are numerous buying opportunities at smaller outlets and farm markets.

With all the negative attention on how our schools are doing a bad job of feeding our children, the Organic Trade Association established a contest, one week remaining, with the winning school to receive an organic garden or be supplied with a vending machine filled with organics. Vote now.

Whichever route one pursues for these purchases, the simple fact remains: The Organic Food Chain is growing considerably and it has reached an ever-growing market of consumers!

We celebrate this news.

Let’s start with the compost pile. It sounds like an ending for many of our thoughts, but today we focus on its multi-tiered value. For instance, every time you avoid running your garbage disposal, you are saving electricity. Create a compost pile or collect your compostable items and take them to a business that accepts them. A number of farm markets or green grocers are happy to let you join their efforts. Look at what New York City is doing. All that waste has a great second life. If you have the space, purchase a composter, but buy one that makes it easy to turn the contents so that you are diligently mixing up the items and making terrific compost. Numerous examples.

For many people, this week needs a heads-up on being a locavore, being a consumer of goods that we can purchase locally from nearby growers and producers. Those who live close enough to a farm market have a distinct advantage; a parallel to those who live in the country and can easily visit the nearby producer. For others, great distances are involved and then the inverse question needs to be asked: How much money does one save by supporting local if we are adding significant carbon miles to our outings? Likewise, if the farmer travels great distances, what impact does his farm market participation have? OK, the obvious answer is, he has an outlet for his products and we as consumers have the advantage of purchasing truly fresh foods. We are helping maintain a farm.

The emphasis on buying local has convinced numerous grocers to sign agreements with producers as consumer awareness, especially at the beginning of the farm-fresh, produce season, is focused on buying local. Many grocers now have huge entryway signs telling us how many local products they have for purchase each day. More grocers are making deals with the nearby producers giving us an additional outlet to support the smaller grower. Freshness remains unmatched; we just need to calculate the distance and put it into the equation.

Maybe this is the week you focus on your own growing efforts. We are just weeks away from being out of the frost zone in most parts of the country. The markets have plenty of starter plants. Plenty of opportunities to have your own garden. Nothing more local than that!

One day; one week: It will take an on-going dialogue and action to help put our house in order.

This weekend marks the opening of many farm market sites that have been sitting dormant since early November. The crowds today attest to the potential, the excitement of someone bringing to market just-picked vegetables from our area. Even with the early morning chill still cast over the customers eagerly clutching their own reusable bags, there was more excitement about welcoming back the vendors than guffawing over their products. Because of the irregular, (translate as rough, cold, and wet) winter, many of the regulars had little to show for their maiden trip to town. They were full of promise, and most visitors were eager to greet and plan for future weeks when more than local asparagus would grace the tabletops.There were plenty of starter plants, both vegetables and herbs, for the home gardener to purchase and plant but minimal in the just-picked category.

Patience for all. Asparagus for now.

With the sudden burst of hot weather, you start thinking about digging in the soil and getting the garden ready for summer. A simple caveat: Do not plant tomatoes until you’re certain that no more surprise cool mornings with frost warnings will visit and kill the spiny, early plants. Think mid-May, Mother’s Day at least, for your own garden.

Take the time now to work the soil and add nutrients and research the type of garden you want. Are you doing a raised structure or thinking about trellises and hoops? These are the questions that are now timely. It’s hard to forget the great tomato blight of last year. What a costly disappointment that one hopes will not revisit us. Do some research; buy seeds and crops grown from other areas outside of the hard-hit path of tomato destruction. There are no real guarantees to protect you from a repeat of last year, but the best advice is to find a grower or seed company that at least addresses the issue!

This is also a great time to reacquaint yourself with the farmers who are coming to market. Many more farm markets are arriving in little pockets of neighborhoods. This is the type of commerce we need. Supporting the grower should be an early spring maxim. It’s not that difficult to do.

With all the talk about obesity and the foods that kill us, buying fresh and local helps alleviate many of the disastrous food cravings we are all guilty of enjoying. Yes, costs sometimes seem prohibitive but the health benefit analysis paints a very different picture.

Maybe we should eat less in order to eat better.

No joke.

Naturally the bars and pubs are ready and some will be pouring green beer to make the day an especially memorable one. Plenty of corned beef and cabbage to round it out.

Here’s a big garden tip: If you live in the mid-Atlantic, tomorrow is a perfect day to plant peas. Nothing greener or sweeter when they’re ready. Just watch the ground and try not to step on the wet soil, use a plank or a board to avoid squishing down the ground further. The weather’s ready for that first crop of spring.

Go green: A good day to add an environmental thought to the food mix.

In the food world, it’s been a vocabulary buster. New words were created to define the state of the industry and the intensity of the passionate chef and consumer. All who were interested in food and sourcing (there’s a word) became trend followers as everyone seemed to consider himself a foodie (bad word, overused).

The word locavore was born. This is a word that says it all and says too much, all at the same time. Everyone wanted a ride on this gravy train as a way to support the farmer and all the local producers. People wanted to be called locavores for all their efforts! Food miles became an added descriptor helping people explain that proximity plays an important role in all our purchases. Some even chastised those who exceeded purchases beyond a 100-mile radius.

This was certainly the decade for the farmer, a previously forgotten soul who was hidden under big agriculture’s compost. Although statistics remain gloomy in terms of the small farmer’s livelihood, people wanted to connect with farmers and became loyal devotees of farm markets which managed to end the decade with much higher visibility. CSAs grew in popularity and became more mainstream than alternative as they were a decade or so ago. Green became our favorite color as we recycled and composted: We finally understood Kermit’s mantra.

Vegetable gardening became a headline grabber. Everyone dug the garden culture this year including The White House one, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama who stressed healthy eating.

One of my favorite new food phrases being thrown about is ranch of origin. If you can’t find it locally, then at least you want to know where it is coming from and who is bringing the product to market. I just saw that phrase for the first time not too long ago and believe it will be a keeper. Knowing our food source has become an important shopping goal in light of some of the more fearful food words of the year: food recalls and food safety.

Of course, there’s been heightened interest in organics, but price has been a problem this year with the bleak economic situation, but organic dairy has proven a growth industry.  More people are discovering food allergies and the gluten-free market has literally exploded.

Sustainability has become an important consideration, especially in terms of  the dwindling fish population and the importance of finding foods that are not being overfished. Is it wild has become a common query as farm-raised fish, once a darling concept, lost its luster as questions occur about the water itself–are the fish swimming in chemically-laden runoff?

As for new foods and those we retired: Tilapia has certainly grown in popularity basically because of its less expensive price point and its versatility. Kobe Beef quietly succumbed to the new reality of less spending money and was replaced by its less expensive-sounding name, Wagyu. Semantics. Then there were the hamburger denizens, many overseen by popular chefs who once captured audiences with their expense-account locations.

Of course, the ever-present cupcake helped us maintain our obesity status as food trucks even got in on the never-ending dessert action.

This has been the decade for more products available in cryovac to communicate safer food handling. Sous vide preparation moved from the top tier chef to the home aficionado. The home chef became a reality during this past year as so many people saved their dining out dollars for more clever in-home preparations.

Foam magically appeared on many restaurant dishes as molecular gastronomy has become an important technique for many chefs. With that notion, we grew from 3-course prix-fixe menus to extravagant small plates, with big-name chefs striving for 10 or more courses. We became cooking scientists.

Then there are the words I hope never to see again: E.coli and Salmonella, both too present in our discussions. Too fearful. We purchased way too many containers of hand sanitizers.

The list goes on.

I look for a year, a decade of great food and new traditions.

Welcome to the world of almost local and almost sustainable. That’s the story behind one of DC’s more popular restaurants, Founding Farmers. The Washington Post reported that the restaurant’s popularity as a go-to destination for its commitment to the local creed somehow lessened in the past several months. (Check out both links and you’ll get the who said what to whom story). The restaurant bills itself as one that serves fresh farm-to-table food, owned by a collective of family farmers. Menu changes were  not made, and the public was not informed that many of the suppliers were no longer an arms-length away.

Did diners care? That’s, of course, a question. Judging by the crowd scene and the noise level, the restaurant will survive nicely from its buzz as a go-to spot popular for its many communal seatings and generally recognized as a player in the dining scene.

More importantly from my perspective is the question, why, if the restaurant made these supplier changes, were diners, the city, the restaurant community etc not told? There are many wonderful chefs out there throughout the country that decided the big agri-business would not fit their models. They treasure the partnerships and value the fact that they can keep small growers alive. They adjust their menus to seasonality needs and keep everyone informed if their philosophy changes or they make supplier changes.

The Inn at Little Washington, the popular (won every major honor in the food world) 5-star experience in Washington, VA, has, almost since its inception over 30 years ago, supported many nearby small growers. Many of the little guys now have contracts to grow specifically for the Dining Room. That is a model alive in Chicago, Napa, Sonoma, and in multiple major cities throughout the country. Buying local and supporting the little guy has been a positive for the home and restaurant chef whether from a small garden patch or a grass-fed beef supplier.

I love to support the grower, the small producer, the cattle rancher, and sustainable fishmonger, but know larger restaurants need to dip into a bigger pool. I just like to know that what I see printed is fact. I just want the facts.

Just the facts, ma’am.

Impenetrable, event-spoiling rain. Activities were shelved, but more importantly summer gardens were sent into turmoil. It’s nice to water new seedlings, but drowning is seldom a positive option. That’s what we had.

Some of the 1st tomatoes were bug-born or less than the big beauties of years past. After the rain; of course, the drought followed. Mother Nature’s watering is far preferable to hand-watering or in-ground sprinklers. Crops were confused, and the bounty of last year’s July was nowhere to be seen this year. August played a fair game, especially at the farm markets where the peaches, nectarines, and plums dominated. So many wonderful cobblers.

Now we are deep into apple season with more varieties than you can spell. Each with a little different taste and crunch; each a veritable treat in itself. Apples and cold-weather crops are fine, but there is something sad about saying goodbye to summer. It feels so final as if we have to hunker in already for winter.

Grab a shovel; there’s still time to do some planting. The Thanksgiving table will appreciate the Fall bounty.

In the meantime, light up the grill and plop down eggplant, peppers, late season squash, and big cloves of garlic: Ratatouille.

Always end with bright news: Mushroom season!

Oh, there’ll be plenty of other contenders who’ll vie for a position, but these two products seem the worst offenders. In prior recalls, spinach has been targeted for possible E.coli concerns, too. If you follow the planting guidelines, you can enjoy homegrown spinach and frequently dine on a healthy, worry-free spinach salad. As for alfalfa sprouts, we’re talking about almost instant gratification: About 6 days and you’ve got a winner.

Be Safe: Trust the Grower.

The message quite simply says we need to teach the young and their families about the importance of eating healthy, about supporting the farmers, the growers. Now in what looks like a major coup for DC-based FreshFarm Markets, the operators at this new location near The White House. That is if the street permits, closing a small stretch of road near the White House for Thursday afternoons until the end of October, pass the approval process. Since the expected hours for the Market include the dreaded DC Rush Hour, this is not a plan without controversy.

At this point in time (one week before the anticipated opening), it is unclear how much produce, if any, will come from the White House Garden and if that will be made available in a less expensive format to those in need.

One possibility is to add this location to the DOUBLEDOLLARS program that FreshFarm Markets offers at two locations. The Wholesome Wave Foundation has made it possible to provide matching market food dollars to customers who use Food Stamps, WIC, or Senior “Get Fresh” coupons. Such a program provides the necessary outreach to individuals who otherwise would find the local, farm fresh products exorbitantly expensive.

Opening a farm market near the White House, whether produce came from the Garden, or not, would be another important step in the Administration’s food outreach.

Tomatoes have not been themselves lately. Many of the expensive heritages have just not made it–they’ve languished and been tasteless. On restaurant menus you see more tomato soup recipes than salad caprese, a favorite mozzarella pairing. Greenhouse tomatoes, or the old faithful in the garden like the Big Boy, are having a better year. Organic farmers who may lose their whole crop are faced with an even larger dilemma: Spray and save and lose their organic certification or chalk this up to a bad year.

With an increase in home gardening, listening to the land has taught some harsh lessons, but getting a jump on seasonal rituals has helped many preserve their crop, however limited. Canning has already become a popular option and some stores which were caught off guard without enough supply last year are noticing an increase in sales. You need the right equipment. Canning can be tricky, but there are several steps that ensure food safety. Follow them and you can share your bounty well into next year.

Nothing beats taking out the fruits of your labor in the off season.

This summer it seems that every corner or at least a major cross section of town has a little handwritten sign announcing “fresh produce.” Offshoots or siblings of big farm booths are literally popping up everywhere. The bigger farms have figured out they can spread themselves throughout the area, and set up a stand, and the people will come. Yes, there are crowds of people recognizing how different this food tastes. So different from what the bigger grocers are advertising as “local.” Even though the items are local, they still need to get to the store and get processed. Quite different from sun-kissed in the morning and hauled to the stand waiting for your approval.

There’s little to compare these tastes to. They are mouth-bursting fresh flavors that seldom get duplicated.

Buy for the day.

Here’s a simple recipe: Buy a loaf of bread–go artisan, crusty, and put in a skillet with some olive oil and lemon juice. Toast and turn. Top with fresh cut and diced tomatoes (the sweetest multi-colored cherries are a terrific choice), cucumbers, peppers, onions, some basil or cilantro, and a little red wine vinegar. So good. So fresh. So slurpy with flavor.

Lunch.