Local Food: La Jolla Farmers' Market

La Jolla Open Aire Market
Sundays, 9AM-1PM

This Sunday morning found me wandering around the La Jolla Open Aire Market (situated in the playground of La Jolla Elementary on Girard Street), once again on the prowl for vendors with local, organic/sustainable products just as I did at the Hillcrest Farmers' Market last weekend. There were less choices and variability compared to Hillcrest, but I came across some familiar friends, and found some new ones worth mentioning. Certified organic out-of-towners Smit Orchards (Stockton) and Lone Oak Ranch (Reedly, CA) were prominently present, but if you're looking to support the local, organic/sustainable foodshed, here's what La Jolla has to offer you:

EGGS
Eben-Haezer Poultry Ranch (Ramona, CA). Eggs come from antibiotic-free, Veggie Pro-fed hens which are kept in pens (neither caged nor free-range). (This may or may not be what you consider sustainable, but I believe they are closer than the San Pasqual eggs that can be found over at the Hillcrest Farmers' Market.)

PRODUCE

Certified Organic:

Peterson Specialty Produce (Fallbrook, CA). They had raspberries as well as a nice spread of vegetables when I stopped by.

Sage Mountain Farms (Aguanga, CA). I often shop from these folks at the Hillcrest market and have enjoyed their varied selection. I learned that all their crops are watered by their own wells, which are at least 100 feet deep.

Pesticide-free:

Betty B's Ranch (Ramona, CA). All sorts of types of avocados and citrus
fruits that had me scrambling around for a sample of each! Had a nice photo
album of their farm that was fun to look through.

Carranza Fruit Farm (Valley Center, CA). As their name suggests, they grow
fruit, and have some of the rarer Mexican fruits. Owner Emilio Carranza told me
that he hopes to bring in a juicer this fall, and start selling fresh juice at
his booth. Yum!

A FINAL WORTHY MENTION

OLIVES & OLIVE OIL
Petrou Foods (San Diego, CA). What started as a way to take care of an exceptionally large harvest from their grove in La Jolla back in 1992 has now turned into a thriving business run by the charismatic George Petrou. Although a grove is still maintained here in San Diego, the olives and olive oil used in their products are actually grown near Chico. They offer one certified organic olive oil. This is worth a stop simply for the trivia you will learn from Mr. Petrou about Greeks and their ancient wisdom about olives. He's a true character!

In the News: Interactive guide to San Diego Farmers' Markets released

The San Diego Union-Tribune has just released an interactive guide to San Diego Farmers' Markets called Farm Fresh. Videos of chefs and farmers as well as an interactive map of the region await you!

In the news: San Diego County leads nation in amount of organic farmers

This news is a few weeks old, but worth sharing just the same!

NBC San Diego reported on August 13th that San Diego County leads the nation in the amount of organic farmers (percentage-wise, I'm assuming?). Three hundred registered organic growers produce more than 140 different crops in this county. The top products: oranges, grapes, avocados, and tomatoes. Farmer Joe Rodriguez (of J.R. Organics from whom I regularly buy produce) was interviewed for the piece. Watch the video here.

[Update: Here's the original press release regarding the Crop Statistics and Annual Report by the County Department of Agriculture, Weights, and Measures from which the statistics were taken.]

In the news: San Diego Farmer’s Markets highlighted on local NPR station this morning

Our local NPR station, KPBS, had high praise for San Diego’s farmer’s markets in a story this morning. The reporter compared grocery store produce managers who usually can’t tell you where the food comes (been there!) to the farmers at the market that can tell you exactly how the food was grown and even educate you on how to choose produce at the perfect ripeness. One farmer who was interviewed mentioned a shift in consumer desires. Whereas a decade ago consumers were demanding blemish-free, perfect produce, the opposite is now true, as an imperfect item often indicates it was grown naturally and without pesticides. Shoppers who were asked why they attend farmer's markets mentioned the direct communication with the farmer. A couple others said that they like to know where their food comes from and be able to determine if it is local. Good work, KPBS!

[Update: Had suspected but now know for certain that one of those interviewed for the story is fellow San Diego blogger and local eater Lauren at Shooting Stars of Thought.]

Preserving: freezing purple green beans

It's preserving time! I have yet to pull together canning and dehydrating equipment, but freezing doesn't require any special tools. I purchased about 8 dollars worth of purple colored green beans from J.R. Organics at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and we set to work immediately.

Rinsing the beans. Aren't they a gorgeous eggplant purple? I had no idea beans came in this color.

Brian trimming off the ends and cutting them into bite size pieces. Wow - look at those bright green innards!

The beans boiling for three minutes. I was very disappointed to find that my purple beans turned a normal green bean color once they were placed in the hot water. Oh well.

Draining after removing them from the boiling water.

Soaking in a bowl of icy cold water for three minutes (same time as they spent in boiling water).

Drained beans in a ziploc bag. I wish I had a vacuum sealer to pull out the rest of that air, but I worked with what I had. They won't last as long in the freezer packed like this but I'm more than pleased with our first attempt!

Local Food: Got milk? The many paths to local, organic food

There are areas of this country where finding a local organic dairy is not a problem in the least (northern California, for instance), but San Diego is not one of those places. I'd almost given up last week when one of my leads finally came through! If you're on a similar quest for organic local items, you may like to see where this hunt has taken me. Many of these sources are good for more than info on dairies:

1. Local co-op, natural food stores, and farmers' markets. No luck. All the organic milk on the shelves comes from elsewhere in the country, and none of the farmers' markets I’ve attended have had any milk or cheese stands.

2. San Diego-specific chat sites. A query online to my fellow San Diegans at the Yelp site received plenty of people eager to help, but no leads I didn't already have.

3. Local non-organic dairies. I contacted some local dairies, Hollandia Dairy in particular, and exchanged emails with one of their salesmen. They are a family-owned operation and a San Diego mainstay, but they aren’t organic, so I kept looking.

4. Organic dairies elsewhere in the country. Going a little more afield, I contacted organic dairies around the country to see if they had any partners or contacts who run similar operations in the San Diego area (eventually “San Diego” became “southern California”). It was at this point that I became incredibly jealous of the northern California folks and the numerous organic dairy farms at their disposal. A great example of organic dairy done right is the Straus Family Creamery. I chatted with one of their salespersons, but he didn't know of any similar dairies in southern California.

5. State government. I contacted the State of California Department of Agriculture Inspection and Compliance Branch of the California Organic Program for help. No response.

6. Online directories. I used the directory at Local Harvest and the Eat Well Guide, both which allow you to search by item and location. No luck.

7. People in the know. The San Diego Farm Bureau couldn't help. I sent an email to the southwestern region Forager at Whole Foods, a newly created position that I heard about on the Whole Foods podcast. Foragers are devoted to tracking down local sources in their region for stock in their area stores. No response. A phone call to the chair of the Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, Tony Azevedo, did not yield any suggestions either.

8. Organic certifying agencies. I contacted the California Certified Organic Farmers Association, a third-party certifying organization that provides a directory of organic farms in the U.S. (not just California). I exchanged several emails with the San Diego/L.A. regional contact, but she confirmed that there are no organic dairies in San Diego, although there is one in Downey (near L.A.) called Rockview Farms.

Los Angeles is further than I had hoped to go, but I gave them a call anyway. They are not a strictly organic operation, although they do produce an organic line called GoodHeart Organics. According to the customer service agent I spoke to at Rockview, Trader Joe’s in the San Diego area carries their organic milk, but a call my closest Trader Joe’s came up with only Rockview chocolate milk. I tried another Trader Joe’s and spoke to someone who told me that the manifest that comes with the Trader Joe’s brand organic milk delivery says Rockview Farms on it.

I dropped Trader Joe’s corporate an email to confirm that Rockview Farms supplies their Trader Joe’s brand organic milk in the San Diego stores, but the response I received was cryptic at best:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Trader Joe's. We are sorry that we cannot forward the vendor information to you. The organic milk is a private label product sold exclusively by Trader Joe's and all recipes, formulations and contact information are kept strictly confidential, per our contract agreement with the manufacturer.

We do apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and appreciate your understanding in this matter. Please be assured that Trader Joe's organic milk is sourced from a local dairy farm.

Thank you for your time and thank you for shopping at Trader Joe's.

Nearly a month and a half in, and my best leads turning up empty, I have decided to take Trader Joe’s word on it – and the word of Rockview Farms – that there is local, organic milk in those bottles. My biggest concern is that Trader Joe’s could switch vendors without me ever knowing. I'll just need to check back regularly with Rockview Farms to see exactly where I can buy their milk in San Diego.

Truthfully, I'd rather support companies such as the Strauss Family Creamery, but my loyalty is to the organic AND local for the time being. The search continues, and I may very well turn up a dairy closer to the Strauss example. For now, Rockview Farms will do the job.

[Update: see my follow-up post with what I found out later about Trader Joe's and Rockview Farms that made me change my mind here]

Glorious August!

August: the month of tomatoes and basil! I bought two bunches of basil from Budwood Farms at the Hillcrest Farmer's market on Sunday (my new favorite market), clipped the ends when I got home, and placed them in a cup of room temperature water. They perked right up. The man at the stand promised that they would last at least a week, possibly longer, in that state. Using tomatoes that came in our weekly CSA allotment I made this simple salad:


Ingredients
3 Tbsp. apple vinegar (red wine vinegar would have been better)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil (chiffonade - stack the basil leaves on top of each other, roll tightly, and then slice into thin ribbons)
3 large tomatoes (cut into large chunks)
1 cucumber (peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces)

I combined the vinegar, salt, and pepper with a whisk until the salt was dissolved. I then added the basil and olive oil and stirred gently until well mixed. After placing the chopped tomato and cucumber in a separate bowl, I poured the basil dressing over the top.

There is nothing like the smell of fresh basil on a hot August evening. I was delirious with it. Quickly pick up some for yourself before the season ends!

Local Food: Farmer's Market jewels!

I am a sucker for compliments, so when 75-year old Robert Shay, business partner of Jackie Anderson of Jackie's Jams, told me that my smile lights up everything around me, I was charmed to the bottom of my toes. So charmed that I probably would have purchased some jam regardless of how he answered my questions! But I went ahead and dutifully asked "Where are the fruits you use grown?" and "Are they organic?" Thankfully, his answers were exactly what I wanted to hear. Yes, they're all local, and yes, he uses organic fruit. Not all his jams are made from organic fruit, but many are. I purchased a jar of strawbarb (strawberry and rhubarb). Ingredients used? Strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar, and pectin. Good old fashioned jam.

Here are some other diamonds in the ruff from the local farmers markets I've visited in the last week.

J.R. Organics (North Park Farmer's Market): This small family farm in Escondido is about to begin its own CSA program and, from what they told me, they are going to be offering a great selection. They will be guaranteeing eleven different items in every week's box, including at least one herb. They plan on publishing a newsletter and offering farm tours.

Budwood Organic Farm (North Park Farmer's Market): Budwood Farm of Fallbrook grows numerous types of produce, but their speciality is fruit - especially citrus. They will be working with J.R. Organics to make sure each of the CSA boxes includes at least one kind of fruit. I've read online that they have partnered with Rodriguez Farm in Valley Center to contribute to the the Garden of Eden CSA.

If you are searching for a farmer's market in your area, start at the USDA website. If, like me, you found some of the listings out of date, you may also find Local Harvest helpful. For the San Diego area, be sure to visit the San Diego Farm Bureau website.