Cincinnati Locavore

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Chicken stock into the freezer

I roasted a chicken from Greenacres on Monday. We had chicken for dinner Monday night, and last night I made chili with the leftovers. Today from the carcass I made stock for the freezer.

CHICKEN STOCK

Place giblets, heart, and neck (I'd frozen these Sunday night when I brined the chicken) along with the carcass into a large stockpot. Add 1 T each allspice berries and peppercorns. Add a couple of cloves of garlic, a couple of bay leaves, and a piece of ginger. If there are any aging onions, carrots, celery in the pantry or fridge, add those. Fill with water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 - 2 hours, adding more water to cover when necessary. Strain and cool, then chill before freezing.

I got 18 cups of stock from this week's chicken, all frozen in 2-cup quantities. This will keep for several months in the freezer.

Ohio grown, Ohio eaten

An Akron couple focuses on local eating in this story from Ohio.com. Here is her blog about their experiences eating local in Akron this summer.

In Iowa, the extremes of sustainable agriculture

Grist magazine offers a fascinating look at two counties in Iowa. In Hardin county, the government has collaborated in allowing big business to destroy diversified farms. In Woodbury county, citizens have organized to construct one of the nation's most innovative and effective local foods programs.

Most sustainable diet? Include eggs, dairy and a little meat.

According to the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, researchers at Cornell University have determined that New York state can sustainably feed more of its population on a diet high in vegetable products but including some eggs, dairy, and meat than it can on a pure vegetarian diet.

That's because fruits, vegetables and grains must be grown on high-quality cropland. Meat, eggs, and dairy are produced on lower quality but more widely available land that can support pasture and hay. A large pool of such land is available in New York state because for sustainable use, most farmland requires a crop rotation with animal food crops such as hay.

Cornell's Chronicle Online provides a layman's version of the research report.

King Corn

I find it ironic that a documentary exploring the ways corn has changed American farming has no scheduled showings in corn country.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Locavore vs. Localvore

The word 'locavore' was first coined during World Environment Day 2005 in San Francisco and quickly caught a lot of folks' imaginations. I've been hearing two different pronunciations (and spellings) of this term, 'locavore' and 'localvore.' I settled on locavore for reasons of simple laziness: it's easier for me to pronounce. But when I set up this blog, I wondered which version of the word was getting more use.

According to Wikipedia, the most commonly used version is locavore. 'Localvore' doesn't have a separate entry but is noted as an alternate spelling/pronunciation.

According to Blogpulse, which tracks the use of a given term on registered blogs, as of this morning locavore gets 309 hits while localvore gets 145.

According to Google (also this morning), locavore gets 192,000 hits while localvore gets 60,900.

Local, seasonal shrimp? In Cincinnati?

Yes, apparently so. This interesting blog by transplanted Northeasterners (that's Connecticut, not Cleveland) describes a visit to a local shrimp farm during the annual harvest. I'm marking my calendar for next September.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

2007 Farm Bill: time for action

If like me you're interested in eating locally, seasonally -- more sustainably -- then the time to act is now. I know someone is always telling you to call this or that representative, but this time we in Ohio have real power, because for the first time in 40 years there's an Ohio Senator on the Agriculture Committee. The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has issued two action alerts on this issue in the past two weeks; if you're ever going to act, act now.

Please call the office of US Senator Sherrod Brown at (202) 224-2315. Ask to speak with Joe Shultz, Senator Brown's legislative aide for agriculture. Talk to him or leave a voice mail (including your name and phone number.)

Be calm and polite. You can say a very few words about yourself (for instance, I'm going to tell Mr. Shultz that like many people I've been trying to eat more locally but it's not easy because of how few small independent farmers are left in my area of Ohio.) But keep it short and stay on message:

I am a constituent calling to ask Senator Brown to support increased funding in the new farm bill for conservation, rural development, beginning farmers, local food systems, agricultural research, and sustainable bioenergy programs.

I also want Senator Brown to support new funding for the Comprehensive Stewardship Incentives Program (CSIP), including the new and improved Conservation Security Program. We need an increased commitment to conservation on working lands and an expansion of the CSP program. Without this funding, the 2007 Farm Bill can't succeed.

Call today. If you're interested in sustainability, this is important.

If you're just too shy to make a phone call, here's a page on Sen. Brown's website where you can fill out a form giving him your opinion on the issue.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Restaurants Sourcing Locally

Local independents sourcing locally. For reviews, click on the Urban Spoon button beneath each restaurant's listing:

Chalk Food+Wine (Covington KY)

Green Dog Cafe (Columbia-Tusculum)

Greenup Cafe (Covington KY)

Lavomatic (Over-the-Rhine)

Local 127 (downtown)

Melt (Northside)

Mayberry (downtown)

Murphin Ridge Inn (Adams County)

Nectar (Mt Lookout)

Slims (Northside)

Symphony Hotel Bed & Breakfast (Over-the-Rhine)

Vineyard Cafe (Hyde Park)

Virgil's Cafe (Bellevue, KY)

Wildflower Cafe (Mason)