  |
|
February 23, 2006
|
CONCORD: From the field to the table Recent TV commercials about supermarkets’ economical organic foods seem to indicate that concern about what people put into their bodies is becoming mainstream. Can New Hampshire’s agricultural industry use this to its advantage? Some claim locally grown produce – not genetically modified to last longer in shipping or look prettier – tastes better. Others worry about health problems from pesticides. Some dislike the environmental impact of corporate farming methods and long-distance transportation. Still others just want to save small farms. Think local, buy local “What we’re trying to do is link local producers with local restaurants, kind of the European model,” said Jack Potter, organic farmer, NHFMA president, and Farm to Restaurant devotee. “Chefs order what they need for a few meals instead of a big order of stuff coming in.” Burke said New Hampshire growers had been trying to figure out how to reach chefs for years. Now, they are partnering with UPS so small producers can ship fresh local produce overnight. It seemed like an easy fix, but Burke said he’s “unaware of any other state that’s done this.” “Chefs don’t have time to track it down; they’re busy,” but they do want local product, Burke said. “The new group of chefs coming up here, especially if they’ve gone to Europe and California to train, it’s really part of the culture to buy the freshest local stuff they can get,” Burke said. “We want diners to start asking chefs if they are serving local food.” Chef Jeffery Paige, co-owner of Cotton and Starfish Grill in Manchester, has another idea. He wants to teach his customers to use farmers’ market produce. Since the birth of the New Hampshire Farmers’ Market Association (NHFMA) in 2001, the number of farmers’ markets in the state has grown from 29 to 54. Paige, who spoke at the NH Farms and Forest Exposition at the beginning of February, said he tried to start a farm-to-restaurant initiative in the late 1980s, but now that Made in New Hampshire has the Farm to Restaurant Connection in place, his two restaurants take most of his time. “For me it was more a personal quest to find out about where food comes from,” Paige said. A lot of restaurants do “one-stop shopping” – they have the same supplier for everything from toilet paper to beef, he said. Eating locally is a philosophy for Paige. His summer mescaline salad may have 20 different ingredients; he hopes his customers get interested in using unfamiliar produce and he’ll tell them which area market or farmer has it. Welcome to New Hampshire “The New Hampshire rural heritage is important; that’s what brings tourists in,” he said, adding that people don’t come to the state to see houses or development. Farming preserves open space but farmers are routinely offered high pries for land. “Support Your Local Farmer or Watch the Houses Grow!” is printed on a T-shirt created by Concord farmer Harry Lewis, Burke said. Agri-tourism is another way for farmers to keep their businesses profitable. Burke cites two 30-something couples, Matt and Rachel Swain and Tom and Ursula Morrison, who saved land from development in Sanbornton and started Heritage Farm, 16 Parker Hill Rd. Selling ice cream, offering hay rides and ATV rides, running a gift shop, a maple evaporator, a petting farm and a corn maze are all ways they’ve diversified and sell directly to the consumer. Potter and his wife also operate a bed and breakfast at their farm and offer soap and cheese classes. Eating and growing organic NHFMA president Jack Potter noted that people who shop at farmers’ markets “know they’re not getting some type of produce grown so it could be picked green and shipped from California... and gassed so it can be ripened.” A tomato’s average travel from farm to market is 1,569 miles, Potter quoted. You can see the result of organics demand at the Concord Cooperative Market, 24 S. Main St. It was founded about 20 years ago because “individuals could not locate a source for those type of organic and natural foods in a grocery store,” said the Coop’s customer service manager, Josh Bourassa. Originally a buying club, it’s now a market open to everyone and it recently increased its retail space. Its produce section is 85 percent organic, stocked from local growers during the summer. “Certainly when you look at a grocery store and they wipe out two full aisles and replace them with organic natural foods, it’s a tremendous step forward,” Bourassa said, referring to recent trends at area supermarkets. Traditional companies are branching into natural foods or buying natural-foods companies, as in Kellogg’s acquisition of Kashi. Natural food chain Whole Foods found in a November study that nearly two thirds of Americans had tried an organic product, said Stonyfield Farm Senior Communications Manager Carmelle Druchniak. Even with more demand, organic is “still a very, very small percentage of overall farming activity in New Hampshire,” Vickie Smith, NH’s Bureau of Markets Agricultural Inspector and Certification Coordinator, said. There are about 150 New Hampshire dairy farms, and only four or five are certified organic, she said. “Not a lot of people are producing organics now ... demand is high, so [organic producers] get a good price,” said Gail McWilliam-Jellie, Director of the Division of Agricultural Development, who helped start NHFMA. Making change “We believe organic dairy farming has the promise of saving New Hampshire and New England family farmers,” Gary Hirshberg, President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm. The 200-acre parcel of certified-organic land at UNH’s Burley-Demeritt Farm in Lee will be used for research and education. The project expects to produce organic milk in December. But “...to become certified organic, you have to transition your field slowly ... that transition period can be difficult for people,” McWilliam-Jellie said. “New Hampshire has seen a lot of small farms go back into production,” Potter said. Even now that there is Made in New Hampshire branding, greater cooperation between the farmers’ markets, farm-to-restaurant efforts and organizations like NOFA, it’s also true that Maine and Vermont started such efforts much earlier and New Hampshire has some catching up to do, Burke said. Comments? Thoughts? Discuss this article and more at hippoflea.com |
DIY Resources D Acres (dacres.org) in Dorchester, N.H., offers workshops, including one April 29 on converting lawn to garden and one May 13 on composting. Beaver Brook in Hollis has an “Accomplished Gardener” course with lessons on soils, fertilizers, invasive species, and organic planting, and for those who are already well versed, UNH has a Master Gardener program. Canterbury Shaker Village offers tours of their organic garden. Will Frey of the Village advises: “Remember you get out of a garden what you put into it.” He said gardening can be “spiritual” if done well. Here’s a list of good books, many written by your New Hampshire neighbors, compiled by NOFA-NH program & membership coordinator Elizabeth Obelenus and colleagues: NOFA also recommendeds these Web sites:
|
Navigation
