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| Nathan in our Summer Garden |
It occurs to me that not everyone understands what “eating local” means because there are so many distances (in mileage) related to it that it can make your head spin. So I am turning to Barbara Kingsolver for definition and guidance by tapping into her book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracles". This book was a turning point for me that propelled me to embrace totally The Garden that Nathan has been building for the past five to ten years. I finally "got it" when I completed this easily read book.
First let me state that, for the purposes of this blog, “eating local” means
consuming produce grown in, or in close proximity to, St. Petersburg, or within 8 to 10 miles, with very few exceptions. For our Market’s purposes, we currently exclude Hillsborough and Manatee counties (except for the blueberries). See, I told you, there are exceptions, at least until someone in St. Petersburg has blueberries to sell. We couldn’t resist them. With all that said, it becomes especially important to eat local during the summer season. With the snowbirds gone, local (urban) farmers, at least those who choose to grow a summer crop, are dependent on the remaining population eating locally grown food. As a produce market manager, I am well aware that summer produce sales are slow for obvious reasons, but also for others you may not have considered.
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| Asian Purple Yardlongs |
- The variety of locally grown produce is smaller in summer mostly due to the heat. But with every summer we discover new things that thrive in the heat so variety is expanding every summer. This won’t always be an issue; it is something we will overcome with time depending on adjustments needed for changing weather patterns. Kingsolver's book expounds on the history of our relationship with vegetables to remind us that we have not always been able to truck in produce from California. So how do we learn to be satisfied this summer with what we have? This is a question that Kingsolver expertly addresses.
- Yes, our wonderful Florida Snowbirds! A certain percentage of customers go north for the summer to escape the heat. They will return to a bountiful late summer harvest. (Lucky them, they've been eating northern tomatoes all summer.)
- Florida's summer produce is not the fall produce that many of our customers prefer. So there is a learning process on both our parts. We strive to offer “all things green” to replace the kale, collards, and bokchoy that grows like crazy when it’s cooler. Cowpeas, Asian beans, “alien” spinach types, and winter squash—to name just a few—are fast becoming the summer staples and many people don’t know how to prepare them. As a Market, we strive to present these offerings in palatable ways and our more adventurous customers are learning ways to prepare and consume them. Learning to love okra, both cooked and RAW is something we encourage. Kingsolver explores the mindset to adopt when committing to eating local. Her statistics on carbon footprints are disconcerting and meaningful and directly address why we must commit to eating local. As her family experienced this transition at a very personal level I was truly inspired to get on board.
- Growing our year-round “Grower base” is part of our evolution as a Market. This is an ongoing challenge, particularly for summer, as growing in the heat is more physically demanding than the rest of the year. A community of Growers: THIS is the single factor that will impact our ability to provide volume to the community. We are currently contacting all neighborhood associations in the city to inquire on summer backyard chemical free growers. Kingsolver is expert at explaining the community angle of the agricultural environment. There is no reason that model cannot be applied to an urban growing environment as well.
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| Molokhia (Egyptian Spinach) |
My hope is that I have motivated you to get this book from the library (why buy it when you can borrow it?) and share your comments on this blog. Thanks in advance for your participation in this Summer Reading Project. As a member of our Market Community, you are invited to promote dialogue on discoveries from your reading. Try some of the recipes and report your results. The greater the interaction, the richer the journey for all!
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