2009.05.27
Around the Web...
Have you ever heard someone say "I'd love to eat fresh, local foods, but it's just too expensive?" Now imagine how cost-prohibitive it would be for someone who can barely afford groceries to begin with.
But according to a Washington Post story today, an organization called the Wholesome Wave Foundation is giving grants to farmer's markets in different places around the country, including the Abingdon market, which is run by the non-profit group Appalachian Sustainable Development. The way I understand it, the grants will allow the markets to give low-income mothers and senior citizens twice the amount of fresh food they could usually buy with the food stamps they have. It does, in essence, double the value of their food stamps.
The Wholesome Wave folks figure it is a win-win situation: not only will underprivileged families have greater access to nutritional foods, but farmers, another hard luck group, will benefit from increased sales. On its surface, it sounds like a pretty cool idea to me. Read the whole story and let me know what you think.
In other Web news:
* Roanoke Times columnist Dan Casey serves up a slice of history in his column this week about the re-opening of Mountain View Italian Kitchen in Ironto. Word on the street (or in this case, the rural routes) is that they used to have darn good pizza at the Italian Kitchen. Does anybody out there remember it? The new cook was the chef/owner of Nico's Italian Ristorante in downtown Roanoke, so he ought to have some skills.
* If you haven't been reading business writer Jenny Boone's blog lately, you may have missed the fact that Burger in the Square (currently located in the city market building) is opening a second location in the former Pitt Boss BBQ space on Brambleton Avenue. Let's see... Chico's pizza closed, the barbecue joint is up for sale and now Burger in the Square is opening a second store. I wonder if they're situating themselves so they don't have all their eggs in the market basket?
* Ever wonder what chefs think about in their off hours? Well, I can tell you: they mostly think about the same things they think about when they are in the kitchen -- FOOD! But to see for yourself, why not check out some local chefs' blogs? BIg WAteR is written by Josh Smith, the Executive Chef at Local Roots Cafe. The Humble Chef is written by Tucker Yoder, head chef at The Red Hen in Lexington, and Town House Blog is maintained by... big surprise here... the chefs at Town House restaurant in Chilhowie, Karen Urie and John Shields. I say "maintained" because there's not a lot of writing on the blog, just a lot of fascinating pictures.
These blogs are particularly interesting because these are all slow food restaurants and the chefs are currently doing a lot of their own gardening and talking about fresh produce in season. If you have a favorite chef's blog that I have never mentioned, be sure to let me know.
I'm familiar with the Rhode Island program that the article mentions, and overall I think they're wonderful. The farmer's market where I usually shop is held in the parking lot of a troubled public high school (we're talking test scores in the single digits here) in a wealthy, university area (the students are bused in from housing projects and impoverished neighborhoods; the children who live in the area attend wealthy private schools.) So the clientele tend to be a mix of yuppies, college students, and families on food stamps and/or WIC, many of whom have students at the school. The bus stops right at the school, so it provides people with a guaranteed source of fresh, local produce for most of the year. The staff who process food stamps work really hard to help families understand how the program works, and they're dedicated to making healthy, local eating accessible to all families.
Still, no matter how well-intentioned, these programs need to be backed up with education for everyone involved. Having access to fresh vegetables and fruits doesn't do much good if people don't know how to prepare them, and people who live in areas where produce tends to be unavailable often have no clue how to approach a bundle of chard or bok choy. And, unfortunately, some local producers are invested in keeping real food a privilege. I've heard complaints from artisan food producers who worry that encouraging individuals on food stamps to attend the markets will turn away the upper-middle-class types who buy their products. Unfortunately, they're not entirely wrong--a lot of people who frequent the market could use some lessons in tolerance.
Comment by Emma — May 27, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
Our family used to make the trip to the Mountain View Italian Kitchen several times a year when my hubby was alive. He worked in the Glenvar area and went there with co-workers. Told us we HAD to try it. Of course, the daughter and I thought he was nuts when we went way, way, way, out in the country! But it WAS GOOD. I think his favorite pizza was the Godfather or something like that. Daughter and I loved the pasta.
Comment by Debi — May 27, 2009 @ 8:02 pm
Hi Lindsey, and belated Happy Birthday! I did read Dan Casey's article about the Mountain View Italian Kitchen and really enjoyed it! We used to go there fairly often, for pizza and for other good food. Hadn't been in a while, since long before they closed. No particular reason we hadn't been, just hadn't. The pizza was awesome! In fact we always enjoyed whatever we ate there. And the view through that picture window Dan mentioned was just fantastic! Beautiful drive out there, too. We will try it again now that it has re-opened, I'll be very curious to see what the pizza is like, now that it's a new owner/new chef. Delicious, New York style pizza like before, or just like most other pizza we can get in this area?
Comment by Dennis — May 28, 2009 @ 11:05 am
Foodies is offering a Local Foods class on June 2 and we will also be involved on the Salem Farmer's Market locally grown foods cooking demonstrations beginning in June.
Comment by Emily — May 28, 2009 @ 1:31 pm
Here is the link to the Salem Farmers Market "Chef's Circle"
http://www.salemva.gov/chefscircle/
Comment by Emily — May 28, 2009 @ 1:45 pm