Market New - July 29, 2008
From the Market Manager
I don’t know where I read this, but a chef from a high-end restaurant in a big city said that having local food on the menu is one of the two hottest trends in the restaurant business these days. The other one is bite-sized desserts. (That’s where you get several tiny desserts on one plate.)
A friend and I ate at Lattitudes Thursday evening. It is located where Caffeine’s was on Memorial Drive in West Springfield just across from the Big E. We got there after 7 and the place was nearly full. That was so nice to see, as it hasn’t been open very long. They’re open for lunch also.
There were many local items on the menu including zucchini blossoms and vanilla yogurt from our market. I knew that the chef and some of his staff had been at our market a few times already, and was delighted to see that they are using many things from our market. I know that 3hree uses many local products also. I stopped in last week and Cathie was making a salad with lettuce, green beans, raspberries, feta and chicken. Probably a few other ingredients also. It looked delicious.
I hope that the trend to use local products in restaurants grows in our area because, frankly, it has been difficult to get chefs to make the extra effort to buy local. It’s popular in Northampton and Amherst, but down here it’s been difficult. Perhaps with all of the publicity “our” independent chef-owners will realize that buying local will benefit their business.
I love vegetables and am always happy when I find new ones to enjoy. Recently I’ve tried 3 Asian vegetables; pea tendrils, Chinese spinach (amaranthus) and immature Hubbard squash. I cooked the spinach leaves only (not the stems) with garlic and olive oil; it cooks like regular spinach. The pea tendrils I’ve stir-fried and put into soup. The squash I also stir-fried with garlic, onions, and olive oil.
As I’ve said before, we have varieties of produce at our market that are unusual, so I hope that all of you try something new to you.Chicoine Family Farm
Henry Chicoine (Bill’s father) purchased the farm in Easthampton in 1933. He sold ice for ice boxes (early refrigerators for those of you too young to know what they were) from their pond. He came from a farming family in Ware. After his father died, he and his mother moved here. He raised calves from this farm and sold cream. His grandmother sold radishes early in the season also in the 30s. The language spoken on the farm was French as both Henry’s family and his wife Gabby, whom he married in 1944, were both of French Canadian heritage. Gabby was from a farming family in Hardwick. Her family, the Dragons, moved to Easthampton in 1928 and established Dragon’s Dairy. They referred to everyone who wasn’t French Canadian as “Yankees.”
Gabby at age 93 is again living back at the farm. Susan says that it is fascinating to hear her talk about the old days. Bill moved back to the area in 1977 and worked the farm with his dad. They were raising (on grass) goats and cattle at that time, currently they only raise cattle. He took ownership of the farm in 1984. Bill and Susan were married in June 2004.
Fast Food Nation
About a decade ago this book was published and I am just getting around to reading it. It is horrifying. I don’t think it’s going to turn me into a vegetarian, but the one time a year I eat fast food will decrease. It’s not just about the food, it’s about the way large companies treat farmers, etc. Read it and weep.
Friends of the Farmers’ Market
This market is a joint venture. About half of our income comes from our vendor fees. The rest comes from our sponsor, (CCS), the Forest Park Civic Association, and contributions. Thanks to Robyn Newhouse, United Bank, Chuck and Irene Hayward, Dan Frazier, Susan Joel, and Emma Frazier, Fidele and Bill Malloy, Pat Downes, and to Matt Ryan, manager of TDBanknorth/Forest Park. Also to Trinity Church who are terrific hosts.
Do you know what happens to the 45,000 tons of recyclables the Springfield Recycling Facility processes each year? After sorting and baling plastic, glass, and metal containers, and processing paper and cardboard, Waste Management Recycle America, the MRF operator, sells them to manufacturers who use the baled material as feedstock in manufacturing various products. As oil and gas prices continue to rise, recycled materials are in demand as an alternative to more costly and energy consumptive raw materials.
Water bottles, along with juice and soda bottles, #1 plastic aka PET, is sorted and baled at the MRF and then sent to Plastrec in Ontario. There it is shredded into small pieces about the size and shape of corn flakes. After cleaning and sorting by color, the flake is sold to manufacturers who make fleece clothing, fiberfill, plastic bottles, insulation, and carpets. PET plastic is in high demand’ the MRF receives $300 per ton for this type of plastic. Plastic milk jugs and laundry detergent bottles are made from high-density polyethylene, aka HDPE, or #2 plastic. Colored HDPE is sorted, baled, and sent to a Canadian company that makes plastic pallets and recycling bins. Opaque plastic, is sent to a company in Alabama that makes a plastic resin that eventually becomes non-food containers, plastic pipe, or automotive parts.
