October 1, 2009

Green on the menu
How restaurants and home cooks put the environment on the front burner

This is a perfect time to eat local.

In New Hampshire, late summer and fall are excellent times to follow the locavore trends and do more shopping from farm stands, farmers’ markets and the local-producer bins at the supermarket.

And eating local is one way to take a “greener” approach to food. Your food comes from nearby without the need for long-distance transportation — and many smaller local farms are either organic or nearly organic. (And, because those apples, corn and squash are in season and probably fresh-picked, they’re tastier too.)

But one person’s farmers’ market finds aren’t the only way to be environmentally conscious about food and eating. We talk to restaurant owners and chefs about their efforts to cook with local food and what that means for diners. We also look at what, exactly, “organic” means and what organic produce does for your body, your wallet and the planet. And we look at restaurants who are keeping the environment in mind not only with what’s on the plate but with the fuel used to get it there.

This week’s look at food and the green movement is the first in a four-week series about all things ecologically- and environmentally-friendly. If you have ideas or comments, send them to letters@hippopress.com. As the leaves outside turn red, yellow and orange, Hippo will spend October getting green.

The harvest next door
The local food trend is spreading
By Linda A. Thompson-Odum food@hippopress.com

Local is in.
The reasons the “locavore” label has gained in popularity include inspiration by books like Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, movies like Food, Inc. and concerns about food-borne illness outbreaks and the cost of transporting produce across the country in a bad economy.

 “Would you rather buy from the farmer down the road whose kid goes to school with yours, or from a farmer in California? Customers buy local to support the community,” said Paula Harris, general manager at the Concord Cooperative Market.

Harris said 98 percent of her market’s produce is either local or organic or both. She deals with eight to 10 local farmers. “We’ve grown the business with them,” she said. Some customers prefer to buy local, others look for organic, and some want both. “It’s a preference. Some people only want organic and don’t have a problem with buying something from out of state,” she added.

With the increased popularity of eating local, local food has even moved back into the supermarkets, though in this region local may mean grown in New England and not necessarily in the state. However, places like the Harvest Market in Bedford have regular local farmers they’ve dealt with for years. At the peak of harvest season, approximately 25 percent of the market’s produce comes from local providers. “Customers like supporting local,” manager Janice Morin said. “You know you’re getting great, fresh product.”

CSAs
As the interest in local has grown, so have memberships in community-supported agriculture programs (CSA) at a number of New Hampshire farms. CSA customers pay in the winter or spring for a portion of the farm’s harvest, which gives farmers an infusion of money to purchase supplies such as seeds, greenhouses, heat and additional labor. In return, customers are guaranteed a weekly supply of fresh-from-the-field locally grown, and probably organic, vegetables and fruits at an affordable and stable price.

This year, the weather wasn’t kind to CSA farmers. The rainy spring and early summer impacted a number of crops, primarily tomatoes and corn, because it was too wet and too cool for the plants to grow properly.

Local Harvest CSA’s member coordinator Elizabeth Obelenus said, “This was the most difficult weather we’ve had since we started the CSA eight years ago. But we also had the most interest from people that we’ve ever had. Years ago, we pretty much had to go door to door for people to hear about us. Now, with all the media attention talking about local products, people are searching us out. We were surprised at how many new people were interested.”

 “We actually did better than we thought we would, considering the rainy weather we had in June and July,” Lewis Farm’s Harry Lewis said. It was his farm’s first year with a CSA program and he expects to double the membership next year. “Having six greenhouses enabled us to have better control over production, versus planting outside and being at nature’s mercy.”

The weather wasn’t the only obstacle. Middle Branch Farm’s Roger Noonan said, “We lost a few people to the economy. Mostly retired members and young couples. We dropped from 300 to 284 members, but we really weren’t looking to expand this year anyway.” But the weather did take its toll. “Usually we have some crops that don’t do well and others that have an overabundance. This year there wasn’t an overabundance. We had just enough for our customers, but no surplus. But we all live here, and the customers understand that we had no summer. They all understand that they share the risk.”

 “Some of the customers wanted to know if they could buy a half share. Some of these members were senior citizens with only two people in their household. This year we offered the full share but next year we will be offering half shares as well as full-shares,” Lewis said.

Chef Locavore
Consumers will not only find local produce through farmers and markets. Many area restaurants buy local products to put on their menus. Some go beyond produce to buy meats and baked goods from nearby vendors. And a few even grow, or plan to grow, their own products.

The Canterbury Shaker Village’s Shaker Table restaurant is one that uses both local products and items grown on the spot. The menu features items from vendors such as Granite Ledge Coffee, Fox Country Smokehouse, The Healthy Buffalo, and Squamscot Soda.

“We still have the herb garden out back and utilize it every day. We used to get much of our produce from the gardens, but due to Village cutbacks, there is no longer a gardener who grows produce. I think that is something that will change in the future. I really miss getting tomatoes that are still warm from the sun,” Chef Adam Olson said.

Husband and wife owners Sunny Chung and Kim Lully of Sunny’s Table in Concord actively promote their use of local farms and businesses such as White Mountain Coffee, Bread and Chocolate bakery, and Butter’s Fine Food and Wine (for cheese). The pair worked with Chung’s parents in their restaurant, the Korean Place, before it closed last summer. In that restaurant, “we were so small we supplied a good portion of the produce from our own garden,” Lully said. “We can’t do it now with a 50-seat restaurant.”

Of course, this is New Hampshire, so local produce can be hard to find year-round. For Sunny’s Table, the plan is to go with larger vendors in the winter, and to focus on organic products. And now, as the season winds down, Lully said, “The farmers will collaborate as well. If one is low on butternut squash, they might let me know that another one had a lot of acorn squash to use instead. They also let me know what’s going to be ready in the days ahead.”

Even larger restaurants look to local for their customers. T-Bones Great American Eatery and Cactus Jack’s use several New England and New Hampshire farms and businesses such as Windswept Maple Farms, North Country Smoke House, Flag Hill Winery and North Coast Seafoods.

“We are local ourselves, being just around New Hampshire. We see the value in sustaining other local companies and the local economy. Local also means quality for the most part, and we know that local vendors take as much pride in their products as we do,” Chef Nicole Barreira said.

 “It’s supporting local businesses,” Lully said. “With the economy being so tough we want to support other small businesses. In my opinion, if we all did that, we would probably get better prices from the bigger companies.”

 “I wish we could use all local ingredients. It’s important to me because it creates a sense of community. And it helps the smaller producers. When we put on the menu ‘local bacon’ for example, it’s smoked six miles down the road. When people ask where we get it, there is a huge sense of pride that I can say right around the corner,” Olson said.

Lower-impact dining
For restaurants that want to go green, there’s help
By Heidi Masek hmasek@hippopress.com

When Priscilla Lane and Erik Sealander opened 900 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria in Manchester (50 Dow St.), one of the things they committed to was being environmentally friendly.

Restaurants make a lot of waste, Lane said. 900 Degrees has worked with the New Hampshire Sustainable Lodging & Restaurant Program to become its first restaurant to achieve “Environmental Champion” certification.

“They gave me a list of things we needed to do,” Lane said. Guidelines are at nhslrp.org for restaurants or lodging to become an Endorsing Partner, Environmental Partner or, at the highest level, Environmental Champion. “We went full force,” Lane said.

The program is under the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, and only about 12 restaurants are involved, but to be fair, these certifications were only opened to restaurants a little over a year ago, said Michelle Veasey, NHSLRP manager.

“It’s something that we’re looking to grow,” Veasey said. The program has about 70 lodging partners — it started certifying those about five years ago.

If you visit www.900degrees.com, you’ll find a list of actions the restaurant has taken to meet green goals.

“We feel like transparency is the key,” Veasey said. A lot of people are concerned about greenwashing and worry that joining this program will bring criticism, Veasey said. It does have a wide range of participants, from the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Highland Center (“they have huts”) to businesses that are just starting by changing light bulbs, Veasey said.

Using energy-efficient light bulbs, including LED exit signs, is one of the many steps 900 Degrees took, actually a big one for restaurants. “Ambience used to be a big issue,” Veasey said. At first, compact fluorescent bulbs were glaring, but efficient lighting is now available all along the spectrum, Veasey said.

Other 900 Degrees’ efforts are low-flow pre-rinse valves in the kitchen. And if you wonder why you have to ask your server for water, it’s because providing a glass only on request is a water-conservation measure.

“There’s a lot of waste that can be reduced by just being conscious of what you’re doing,” Lane said. They don’t turn on all the lights when they come in, just those they need. Being sustainable also involves getting policies in place, like making sure food is removed from a freezer in time to defrost. The faster, wasteful option is to leave the item under running water.

Education is one of the five focus areas for New Hampshire Sustainable Restaurant Certification, including for employees. “If they don’t understand why you’re doing it, and why it’s important to you, the program itself or the initiative is going to fade away with time,” Veasey said.

900 Degrees asked employees to take the New England Carbon Challenge, developed by the University of New Hampshire and Clean Air-Cool Planet. You can see their progress on a map at necarbonchallenge.org. Since many live in apartments it’s tough,  yet since they started this summer, staff households (this doesn’t count the actual restaurant building) saved an estimated $3,465 in energy costs, and committed to reducing more than 36,000 pounds of CO2 (as posted Sept. 25).

Bring in a copy of your household’s results from the Carbon Challenge to earn a 10-percent discount on a pizza. That deal is posted at www.900degrees.com, the first part of its customer education. The second part starts this fall with various incentives and cards about Carbon Challenge being provided to patrons.

Even before it started working with NHSLRP, 900 Degrees had a mind toward sustainability. During build-out, the owners used carpet adhesive made from recycled material and they reused booths from another restaurant, and their building is reused. They bought pre-owned kitchen equipment, which is reusing, but they have a policy to replace them with Energy Star equipment. And of course, their oven uses a renewable resource — wood.

After researching, they decided to build a wood deck and use a zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) waterproofing sealant.

“We take this really seriously...these are not five-minute decisions,” Lane said. A lot of time goes into their research. “It’s a work in progress,” Lane said.

Sustainability is a “constant journey,” Veasey said. “Even the Environmental Champions are constantly learning about things they can be doing,” Veasey said.

“It’s a passion we’re committed to,” Lane said. She has a 15-year-old to worry about. She’d like for maple syrup to still be a New Hampshire product when he has kids.

Lane said they talk to vendors about their sustainable practices, and buy local foods when they can. You’ll find a tree symbol next to wines on their menu from vineyards that use sustainable, organic or biodynamic practices.

They recycle, which means they can have a smaller trash dumpster, reducing their trash fees. 

A glass crusher is at the top of their wish list, Sealander chimed in. Finding space to store recyclables is a problem for most restaurants, Lane said. They convinced their recycling hauler to let them store their glass, metal and plastic in clear bags in the cardboard dumpster. They don’t have an alley; there isn’t space for compost collection.

City recycling pick-up would be “huge” Lane said.

Portsmouth picks up business recycling, but limits to one bin, and restaurants usually exceed those, Veasey said. To save space, Portsmouth Brewery and Portsmouth Gas Light Co. decided to share a recycling dumpster, she said. Others can seek such collaborations. “It takes having good relationships with your neighbors,” she said.

Portsmouth is starting a composting initiative as a model formed through Clean Air-Cool Planet, a national organization headquartered in Portsmouth. While space is still an issue, you “dramatically” reduce your waste stream by separating. Using a smaller trash dumpster, leaving room for a compost dumpster, Veasey said. Veasey hopes to bring the idea to the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce green team to see if they can get a group of restaurants, a hauler and compost facility together to try this. 

Up-front costs are another challenge.

“There’s a lot of money to be saved in the kitchen area” through efficient equipment, with reasonably short payback time through energy savings, Veasey said. She recommends attacking the “low-hanging fruit” first. Start with energy-efficient lighting, and set aside money saved on electricity toward purchase of a better oven hood or low-flow pre-rinse valves, and so on, she said. It’s like your own revolving loan fund. However, creating a baseline of energy use to track changes can be tough, she said.

Many restaurants need to work with a landlord on efficiency improvements. “There are definitely issues with leasing a building,” Veasey said. However, there is demand — businesses are seeking high-efficiency buildings to lower their operational costs, she said. “There are plenty of tools out there to help you understand cost-benefit analysis,” Veasey said. There are other incentives for landlords, such as rebates from PSNH, she said.

NHSLRP and the NH Department of Environmental Services became partners in April.

“New Hampshire is very unique in that the government is not trying to recreate the wheel,” Veasey said. Instead of making their own program, DES chose to work with NHSLRP on green restaurant and lodging certification.

The DES Pollution Prevention Program is helping redesign NHSLRP certification manuals because “restaurants that achieved Environmental Champion wanted a more rigorous program,” Tara Mae Goodrich, M.S., DES Pollution Prevention Specialist, wrote in an e-mail. Manuals outline things restaurants should address, like “Retrofitting lighting and replacing light bulbs, installing Energy Star appliances, purchasing locally grown food and choosing environmentally preferred cleaning products,” Goodrich wrote.

They are also working on a metric to measure the impact of both individual restaurants and the program, Veasey said. 

They are using a tool Peter Cooke, Pollution Prevention Program Manager for Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection, shared with other states that estimates the carbon reduction and money businesses are saving, Veasey said. In Maine, lodging businesses they’ve helped so far have saved more than $1 million in energy costs, Veasey said.

The NHSLRP is free and provides promotion. The state’s Division of Travel and Tourism Development Web site, visitnh.gov, links to the NH Sustainable Lodging and Restaurant Program on its lodging and dining pages.

Lane spoke at the New England Eco-Hospitality Expo in April (www.neecohospitalityexpo.com). A full-day sustainability conference for lodging and restaurants is planned for Nov. 2 to “piggyback” on the NHLRA industry expo at Mt. Washington Nov. 3, Veasey said. The program is also working with PSNH to develop Webinars on energy efficiency.

What is organic?
How to read the labels and decide what matters to you
By Jeff Mucciarone jmucciarone@hippopress.com

The word “organic” has many enticing connotations tied to it — fresh, crisp vegetables and fruits with no chemicals or genetic alterations. But the word also comes with plenty of questions. What does it really mean to be organic? And what’s more important, buying organic food or buying local food? Why does organic food cost more if farmers aren’t using expensive pesticides?

The answers aren’t cut and dry in all cases. But most of the time, savvy shoppers can get the answers by simply asking questions themselves.

 “Every consumer needs to know what’s important to them,” said Elizabeth Obelenus, of New Hampshire’s chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. “Ask the farmer, ‘Did you spray? How many times did you spray? What did you use?’ ‘Organic’ and ‘local’ are meant for a fast society where no one has time to talk and investigate. Know your farmer. Talk to the person. Learn some facts. Find out what they do.”

Organic means the food has been raised with minimal or no chemical pesticides or herbicides. Certified organic generally means it’s not genetically modified either, said Maria Noel Groves, of the Concord Cooperative Market. Organic farmers can use natural pesticides and fertilizers but they do not use the chemical varieties, Groves said. Organically raised animals would eat organic feed and practices tend to be more humane, such as giving cows more room to roam. “Things like that that we kind of assume goes on, but rarely does,” Groves said.

Chemical products not only can harm people when food is consumed, but can harm insects, soil and water. Organic farmers can, though not all do, use natural versions of chemical products. Typically, they don’t harm insects and are more specific to the pest in question, Obelenus said.

 “The idea is it’s not a persistent or lingering chemical,” Obelenus said. “The goal of organic farmers is to build a healthy soil.”

New Hampshire has one of the highest percentages of acreage devoted to organic farming in the country.

Organic plants have “to fight off more bugs and pests on their own which causes them to make more antioxidants that are beneficial to us,” Groves said.

Groves said local organic farmers tend to go beyond just making the cut.

 “It takes a lot more work and effort to make organic products,” Groves said, acknowledging that can sound counterintuitive. “An organic pesticide might be a human being picking the bugs off things. That’s low impact, but now you have to pay for labor. You can’t really rely on big machines. People cost more money than machines. It can take a little more diligence to enrich the soil.”

Organic farmers don’t receive government subsidies like conventional farmers do — subsidies that help offset the cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are almost all petroleum-based, Obelenus said.

 “Farming is really not a very profitable business for a lot of companies. A lot of time lobbyists get more pull than smaller, everyday farms do,” Groves said. “Small, organic local farms get little or no money from the government. Usually it’s the bigger corporations with more pull, and not the little guys who actually may be making a better impact...”

While subsidies and manual labor certainly play a role in price, Obelenus said farmers rely on the market itself. People are typically willing to spend more on organic products, and hence, they cost more. She said premium non-organic local goods tend to sell for about the same rate as comparable organic items.

Groves said there’s buying local, buying organic, buying all-natural or focusing on buying from small farms: “There’s all sorts of different ways to do things. Even doing just one is taking it a step further than the average American.”

Groves said she is frugal herself so she remains practical when it comes to buying organic. “I love local food and organic food, but sometimes it gets a little pricey,” Groves said. To combat that, she’ll opt for things that are in season right now, such as apples, squash, beans, kale and lettuce. Whether organic, local or otherwise, foods that are in season are cheaper. Groves said she’ll save her splurges for items like asparagus, but she won’t try to buy a ton of it.

 “It’s important not to feel guilty about your purchases,” Groves said. “Every time you buy is an opportunity to make a positive impact. Every little thing you can do can make an improvement. But you don’t have to be perfect.”

Organic and locally grown meat is expensive, so Groves doesn’t treat that as a regular thing. She tries to eat less meat in general to compensate for the extra cost when she does buy an organic steak or chicken breast.

Obelenus said she spotted an article that maintained people could shift to buying local and organic for only an additional $10 per month — but it involves a shift in eating habits. Cut out processed foods, sodas, boxed items — non-fresh foods. Take them right out of the monthly budget. Focus on nuts, homemade granola, fresh fruits and vegetables, she said.

 “Most people depend on boxed products,” Obelenus said. “Even bottled juice, what do you need juice for if you have fresh fruit? It’s really a question of food choices.”

Talking to the farmer can solve the local-versus-organic quandary — a quandary with no definitive answer.

A non-organic local farmer might still be producing essentially organic products. Sometimes farmers don’t obtain the certified organic label, as it carries costs and restrictions. They still may not be using hormones or pesticides and their animals could be free- ranging, Groves said.

 “A lot of times, it’s still a better impact than conventional,” Groves said.

On the other hand, sometimes local farmers are growing products locally, but obtaining pesticides and other materials from far away places. Obelenus said many local farmers buy their products locally as well. Like Groves, she said talk to your farmer. Find out about his or her practices.

When looking to begin buying some organic items, start with peaches and apples, as they are typically hit multiple times with pesticides. But also think about buying organic bell peppers, celery, strawberries, nectarines, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots and pears — that’s the dirty dozen, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group’s list at www.foodnews.org. Items such as onions, avocados, asparagus, cabbage, watermelon, broccoli and tomatoes aren’t hit with lots of pesticides typically, or don’t retain them, so save some cash on these items. Farmers don’t often spray corn with lots of pesticides, but it is often genetically modified, Groves said.

Groves said washing items doesn’t remove all the chemicals. “Rinsing stuff off will help, but the numbers are based off things that have already been cleaned,” she said.

 “If organic is important to you, then tell the people you want to buy food from,” Obelenus said. “Let people know you want to buy organic.”

Green tips, events and more
Check with us for the next three weeks for more coverage of the green movement in the area. October may be the month of orange pumpkins but this year it seems to be full of green events.

I rarely seem to be in town during the Green Buildings Open House tour. Fortunately, it’s nationwide as the ASES National Solar Tour (American Solar Energy Society, www.ases.org).

One year I dragged a friend around Manhattan looking for a building with photovoltaic to discover it wasn’t open for tours.

Fail.

I fared better visiting the World’s Largest Laundromat (www.worldslargestlaundry.com) in Berwyn, Ill., last year. I greenly walked a few blocks past the Houby Festival on Cermak Road and received my own tour from the owner about how he uses approximately 36 solar thermal panels on the roof to preheat water for the place (it has 300 washers and dryers — and wifi, which I borrowed to e-mail tardy work assignments). Several months later, while watching the documentary Kilowatt Ours at Red River Theatres in Concord, lo and behold, there was the World’s Largest Laundromat on the screen. Small world.

It may not be as easy to walk to a Green Building tour site in southern central New Hampshire, but it’s getting easier to find them nearby. About 81 homes and buildings are participating in New Hampshire’s tour, Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. That’s up from 53 last year, said Johanna Magoon, membership coordinator for the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association, which organizes the open houses here.

“There’s actually a number of homes on the tour [hosted by] people who had been on past tours as tourists and have been inspired to make renewable energy changes in their home,” Magoon said.

People often pick a cluster of sites to see, Magoon said, but those are usually in more rural areas, like the Monadnock region or Sandwich area, according to the map at www.nhsea.org.

Magoon said people may have seen sustainable home energy as more of a “back-to-the-lander” thing, but she thinks that’s changing.

NHSEA encourages visitors to use park-and-rides Oct. 3. Magoon said the hope is that if a few people decide to make similar changes in their homes, it will offset gas burned touring.

The 2nd Nature Academy Elementary School is a new site in Nashua. The green building was completed in January and designed with the help of the Jordan Institute in Concord (www.jordaninstitute.org).

With a green curriculum, its officials felt it was important to practice what they preach, said Debbie Gleeson. She and her husband opened the private elementary school, now with 48 students, where subjects are taught in an integrated way arranged around science themes.

2nd Nature’s building uses geothermal heating, a solar array, dual-flush toilets and low-VOC, local and recycled materials, among other measures with an eye toward LEED Platinum (the highest level) certification.

“It was a stressful process,” Gleeson said. Building green was costly and required a lot of research time, she said. On the other hand, they only spent about $68 in utilities for the hottest month this summer; they sent electricity back to the grid; and their carbon footprint is greatly reduced. She believes the process will get easier as more buildings are built sustainably. 

If you go, you’ll want to pay attention to written directions posted with site details on www.nhsea.org. There’s a handy Google map with tour locations at Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s www.nhsea.org. That can give you an idea of where sites are clustered, but Magoon said Google Maps may not help you find all these locations. (And did I mention the open houses are, as far as Magoon knows, free?) — Heidi Masek

Everyone ate organic
“My number-one interest is more acres converted to organic production, more farmers converted to organics, and more bodies, especially young bodies, eliminating toxins from the environment and from their tissue... The problem that we’ve got is ... in my parents’ lifetime, all food was organic, right up into the 1940s, all food was organic. Every famous person in history ate organic food, George Washington ate only organic food. Thomas Jefferson, Joan of Arc, Jesus Christ — ate only organic food.”

Thus said Gary Hirshberg, “CE-YO” at Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry. A long-time champion of everything from organic food to alternative energy, Hirshberg appeared in this summer’s documentary Food, Inc., a look at the massive industry dedicated to producing food.

Hirshberg talked with Hippo reporter Heidi Masek in July and you can find his discussion of the food industry, life at Stonyfield and his career in business at www.hippopress.com/090723/cover.html. Food, Inc. is scheduled for release on DVD on Nov. 3.

Autumn harvest
As the harvest season comes to a close, keep an eye out for these products from local farmers. Most will be available through October:

• Winter squashes, though Roger Noonan of Middle Branch Farm noted, “Where we are used to seeing three-pound butternut squash at times during the season, this year we are lucky to have two-pound ones.”
• Dark greens — kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, spinach
• Red and white potatoes
• Kohlrabi
• Eggplant
• Root vegetables — carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, beets
• Cabbage and broccoli
• Onions and garlic
• Some melons that are late to come in because of the earlier wet summer.
• Hot peppers
• Corn
• Tomatoes and lettuces nursed along in hoop houses and green houses.

Meet your farmer
Want to know exactly what goes in to making your food? Talk to the person who farmed it. Though farmers’ market season is nearly over, there are still a few more weeks to get produce straight from the source and meet the people who bring all that delicious harvest bounty to you.

• Amherst Farmers’ Market at the Amherst Village Green, Thursdays through October, 2:30-6:30 p.m. Call 249-9809 or e-mail grdnprty1@aol.com.
• Bedford Farmers’ Market at Wallace Road in Benedictine Park, Tuesdays through the end of October, 3-6 p.m. Call 435-6410, e-mail Romney@comcast.net or go to www.bedfordfarmersmarket.org.
• Brookline Farmers’ Market at Brookline ballpark on Route 130, Tuesdays through the end of October, 3-6 p.m. Call 672-4229 or e-mail www.brooklinefarmersmarket.org.
• Canterbury Farmers’ Market at Canterbury Center in Elkins Library parking lot Wednesdays through Oct. 7, 4-7 p.m. Call 783-9649, e-mail farmer@ccfma.net or go to www.ccfma.net.
• Concord Farmers’ Market runs Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon on Capitol Street next to the Statehouse. Look for live music, plants, flowers, meat, maple syrup and baked goods along with the traditional seasonal fruits and vegetables.
• Deerfield Farmers’ Market at Deerfield Fairgrounds on Fridays through Oct. 16, 3-7 p.m. Call 463-8812, e-mail justforfunjj@yahoo.com or go to www.farmersmarket.deerfield-nh/us.
• Laconia Farmers’ Market on Beacon Street East, Saturdays through October, 8 a.m. to noon. Call 267-6522 or e-mail BPRamsay1@aol.com.
• Lee Farmers’ Market at Old Fire Station on Route 115 Thursdays through October, 3-6 p.m. Call 659-9329 or e-mail leemarket@comcast.net.
• Manchester Downtown Farmers’ Market every Thursday until Oct. 22, from 3 to 6:30 p.m. (until 6 p.m. in October). Parking in the Harnett Parking Lot next door to the market is free during market hours. The market is located on Concord Street next to Victory Park. Visit www.manchesterfarmersmarket.com.
• Milford Farmers’ Market at Granite Town Plaza on Elm Street on Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon, through early October. Call 673-5792, e-mail mosseyapples@aol.com or go to www.milfordnhfarmersmarket.com.
• Nashua — St. Louis de Gonzague Church, 48 W. Hollis St., Tuesdays, 2 to 6 p.m. into October.
• Nashua — City Hall Market, 229 Main St. in the downtown, runs Fridays 2-6 p.m. until Oct. 30. See www.greatamericandowntown.org or call 883-5700.
• Nashua — Main Street Bridge Market is held on the side of Main Street, on the bridge near Peddler’s Daughter in downtown Nashua, Sundays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., through Oct. 25. See www.greatamericandowntown.org or call 883-5700.
• New Boston Farmers’ Market at the gazebo in the Town Common on Route 13 on Saturdays, through Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to noon. Call 487-2480, e-mail pygarus@aol.com or go to www.newbostonfarmersmarket.org.
• Peterborough Farmers’ Market in Depot Square on Wednesdays through Oct. 28, 3-6 p.m. Call 878-6124, e-mail Mich.S@comcast.net or go to www.peterboroughfarmersmarket.webs.com.
• Warner Farmers’ Market on the Town Hall lawn on Saturdays, through mid October, 9 a.m. to noon. Call 456-2319.

Cook local
Recipes courtesy of Sunny’s Table in Concord. The restaurant has an Asian flair but uses local ingredients when it can.

Chinese red-braised pork
1 pork butt or shoulder (4 lbs.)
5 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and smashed
5 scallions, halved
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sake or rice wine
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorn
Salt and pepper to taste

Season pork with salt and pepper. Sear pork on all sides in Dutch oven over med-high heat. Remove to a platter. Drain oil, except for 2 teaspoons.

Brown ginger, garlic, scallions in oil. Add rest of ingredients, including seared pork, and bring to boil. Simmer until tender—1 1/2 to 2 hours. Transfer pork to a platter. Serve with braising sauce and caramelized ginger butternut mashed.

Caramelized ginger butternut mashed
2 lbs. local Yukon gold or russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and diced
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon peeled and minced ginger root
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper to taste.

Add potatoes and squash to cold water, and bring to boil. Add 2 teaspoons salt.

Simmer until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl.

In a separate sauce pan, bring sugar, lemon juice and water to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until sugar takes on an amber color. Take off heat, add ginger, stir gently. Carefully add milk and butter to caramel sauce. Bring to a boil and add to potato and butternut squash. Mash and season with salt and pepper.

Champions
Another NHSLRP Environmental Champion restaurant is the Red Blazer, 72 Manchester St. in Concord. The New Hampshire Travel Council gave it the 2008 NH Sustainable Business Award. Red Blazer’s green measures, according to www.theredblazer.com, include:
• Producing its hot water by burning used vegetable oil (heated with waste water from their high-efficiency dish washer) with a King Built Multi Fuel Oil Burner. (See New Hampshire company Amenico, at www.amenico.com).
• Reducing its trash fees by almost half by using a glass crusher — the savings paid for the crusher in four or five months.
• Using a Dyson Air Blade hand dryer — Red Blazer is a demo site for the company.
• Using dimmable fluorescent recessed lights.
The Portsmouth Brewery is also an Environmental Champion

Learn more
• www.nhslrp.org: Find green restaurant and lodging or learn how to get help making your restaurant or accommodations sustainable from the New Hampshire Sustainable Lodging & Restaurant Program.
• necarbonchallenge.org: Find out how to conserve energy in your home by taking the Carbon Challenge.
• www.neecohospitalityexpo.com: The NH Lodging & Restaurant Association (NHLRA) hosted the first New England-wide Eco-Hospitality Expo in Nashua in April with about 14 partners. Scroll down to download some of the presentations.
• www.cleanair-coolplanet.org: Learn about ways to reduce global warming, and programs available for communities, campuses, corporations and others through Clean Air-Cool Planet.

Harvest celebration
In Concord this Monday, it will be all about local food.

The Concord Energy and Environment Committee is set to host a Concord Area Growers Harvest Celebration on Monday, Oct. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott Grappone Conference Center, 70 Constitution Ave. All the food presented at the Harvest Celebration dinner will be produced locally, highlighting the benefits — not only to personal health and the local economy, but also in terms of energy use and the environment — of eating local, said City Councilor Rob Werner, who helped organize the event.

“I just think it’s a great educational opportunity for the community to really understand the connection between food and their impact on the environment,” Werner said.  “We really want to emphasize local food production and use....” Werner said there’s been a lot of interest in the event so far. Those attending will have the opportunity to talk with local producers about their products and practices. “There’s a lot of connection between food production, energy use, and these kinds of things,” Werner said.

Tickets cost $20 per person, $12 for children 12 and under. Reservations can be made by calling the Courtyard by Marriott at 225-0303. Tickets can also be purchased at the Concord Cooperative Market, 24 South Main St. — Jeff Mucciarone

More harvest events
Here are some more harvest-themed events:

• Apple Harvest Day in Dover will be Saturday, Oct. 3, hosted by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Dover. The day includes a pancake breakfast, music, dancers, carnival games and rides, petting zoo, raffles, pony rides and an apple pie baking contest. On Fri., Oct. 2, there is an evening concert by Don Campbell Band. The Apple Harvest Day 5K Road Race begins Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Dover on First Street. See www.dovernh.org.
• The Canterbury Shaker Village, Route 106 in Canterbury, www.shakers.org, 783-9511, will hold its Harvest Days, Saturday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature a variety of craft and Shaker-industry-related demonstrations, live music, hayrides, pick-your-own pumpkins, children’s activities and more. Bring non-perishable food to donate to local to local pantries or buy food at the outdoor grill (running 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.), The Shaker Table (open Saturday for lunch and dinner and Sunday for brunch) or the Shaker Box Lunch and Farm Stand.
• Apple pie and crisp are on the menu for the Hollis Annual Apple Festival and Band Concord on Sunday, Oct. 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. on the Hollis Town Common. Apple pies and crisps — topped with ice cream — will be for sale. Rain location is the middle school. Call 465-2849.
• The culinary class of Concord Regional Technology Center will celebrate the season at a dinner showcasing Concord area growers on Monday, Oct. 5, at the Courtyard by Marriott Grappone Conference Center, 70 Constitution Ave. in Concord. A cocktail hour and cheese tasting starts at 5:30 p.m. Chef’s culinary stations open at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $20 per person, $12 for children under 12. To purchase tickets, call the Courtyard by Marriott at 225-0303. For more information, contact Rob Werner, city councilor and chair of the Concord Energy and Environment Committee, at 225-9224.
• Miles Smith Farm (56 Whitehouse Road, Loudon) will hold their annual Farm Day on Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be hay rides, a petting zoo, a cemetery walk, music and food as well as Scottish Highlander beef, chicken, goat and lamb meat for sale. Admission is free. Hayrides are $5 for adults and free for children under 12. Go to www.milessmithfarm.com for directions.
• The Fall Harvest Festival will be at Herban Living (242 General Miller Hwy., Temple, 878-0459, herbanlivingbandb.com) on Sunday, Oct. 18, both 3-6 p.m. A fall harvest celebration of local food, community and the bounty of a loving earth featuring chef Mike Webb and farmer Lisa Beaudoin with music by FolkSoul. Cost is $60 per person. Call 878-0459 for more information or to register.
• The Enfield Shaker Museum, 447 Route 4A in Enfield, will hold a culinary symposium titled “Food for Thought: A Study of the Past Through Food” on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The day’s events include writer, historian and contributing editor to Gourmet magazine Anne Mendelson discussing small-scale dairy farming, and author Sandra Oliver talking on how every dish has a past. The Symposium ends with a reception featuring artisan demonstrations and local cheeses, wines and ciders. A New Hampshire Growers Dinner follows, featuring Hanover-Lebanon Co-op Food Stores’ Chef Jason Dacier and his staff. The symposium costs $75 per person, which includes a box lunch and the reception. The registration includes one ticket to “America’s Kitchens,” the traveling exhibit organized by Historic New England and on view at the Museum of New Hampshire History in Concord. The Growers Dinner is an additional $40 for symposium participants, $45 for museum members, and $50 for non-members. Call 632-4346 for reservations or e-mail info@shakermusuem.org by Oct. 19.

At the store
• These foods were found to have the most pesticide residue on them, according to the Environmental Working Group (foodnews.org), which recommends choosing organic options for these whenever possible.

peaches
apples 
bell peppers
celery
nectarines
strawberries
cherries
kale
lettuce
imported grapes
carrots
pears

• Save some money on these foods, which (in their non-organic forms) typically have the least pesticides or chemical residue, according to www.foodnews.org.

onions
avocados
sweet corn - frozen
pineapple
mango
asparagus
sweet peas - frozen
kiwi
cabbage
eggplant
papaya
watermelon
broccoli
tomato
sweet potato

Farm to tummy
Get the full farm-to-table (or farm-to-pie-to-plate) experience by picking your own apples or pumpkins for that harvest treat. Show the kids that apples don’t just come from the supermarket and enjoy some time outdoors at local farms, most of which are open daily. Check out these local orchards, and to find more, see www.pickyourown.org/NH.htm.

• Apple Hill Farm, 580 Mountain Road, Concord, 224-8862, www.applehillfarmnh.com. Open daily, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pick your own apples. Farm stand with produce, baked goods, jellies, jams and NH-made products. Tractor hayrides on weekends.
• Brookdale Fruit Farm, Rt. 130, Hollis, 465-2240, www.brookdalefarms.com. Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pick your own apples and pumpkins, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cider, ice cream, mums, Indian corn, cornstalks, squash, gourds.
• Carter Hill Orchard, 73 Carter Hill Road, Concord, 225-2625, www.carterhillapples.com. Hours: Daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pick your own apples. Pumpkin patch. Country store with produce, bakery items, jams, jellies, mustards, hot chocolate, coffee, mulling spices and fall and Halloween decorations.
• Currier Orchards, 9 Peaslee Road, Merrimack, 881-8864. Hours: Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Thanksgiving. Apples, pumpkins, cider.
• Gould Hill Orchards, 656 Gould Hill Road, Contoocook, 746-3811. Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pick your own apples. Orchard store with apples, pumpkins, squash, cider, maple syrup, honey, baked goods, cookbooks, baskets and the works of local artisans.
• Hackleboro Orchards, 61 Orchard Road, off Hackleboro Road, Canterbury, 783-4248, www.hackleboroorchards.com. Hours: Daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pick your own apples. Farm stand with produce, honey, maple products, baked goods, sewn products and cider. Farm animals. Hayrides on weekends.
• Lewis Farm, 192 Silk Farm Road, Concord, 228-6230. Pumpkins and seasonal produce.
• Lull Farm Hollis, Route 130, Hollis, 465-7079, lullfarmllc.com. Hours: Daily, 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Farm stand. Pick your own apples and pumpkins. Corn maze through October. Carve your own pumpkin the three days before Halloween. Annual pumpkin lighting Halloween night and the night after.
• Mack’s Apples, 230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 432-3456, www.MacksApples.com. Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Pick your own, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pick your own apples and pumpkins. Farm store with produce, cider, ice cream, gifts, NH maple syrup, native honey, pies, jams.
• McLeod Bros. Orchards, North River Road in Milford, 673-3544. Open  through late October with many varieties of apples and a farm stand.
• Meadow Ledge Farm, 612 Rt. 129, Loudon, 798-5860, www.meadowledgefarm.com, Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pick your own apples. Weekend tractor rides. Farm store with pumpkins, produce, cider, donuts, fudge, smoked cheese and bacon, honey, local crafts, gifts.
• Sullivan Farm, 70 Coburn Ave. in Nashua, 595-4560, Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The farm will hold an Apple Fest on Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring pony rides, face painting, pumpkin painting, apple pie contest, live entertainment and more.
• Sunnycrest Farm, 59 High Range Road, Londonderry, 432-9652, www.sunnycrestfarmnh.com. Hours: Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pick your own apples. Cut your own flowers. Farm market with produce, breads, doughnuts, preserves, honey, maple syrup, apple pies, mums.

Close to home
Green Building Open House sites Oct. 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., heading north-ish, see www.nhsea.org for directions:

• 2nd Nature Academy Elementary School, 10 Groton Road, Nashua
• Nashua Investment Limited Partnership hosts a tour at Brook Village North, 105 Small Brook Road, Nashua.
• Rob & Wendy Gual show their new photovoltaic in Hollis.
• Steven Reddy of Zetland Homes LLC shows a highly insulated Milford house with radiant floor heating.
• Sullivan Construction, Inc., at 258 South River Road in Bedford renovated an 1870 farm house to LEED Platinum standards.
• PSNH Energy Park, 780 North Commercial St., Manchester, installed photovoltaic on its roof this summer.
• Tom & Hope Minnon in Derry use many outdoor sustainable features for their home, like rain barrels.
• Epoch Homes (www.epochhomes.com), 107 Sheep Davis Road, Pembroke, is offering a tour at their factory of a Colonial-style modular home.
• Deborah “Arnie” Arnesen’s (radio and TV talk show host) Concord house sports photovoltaic.
• Conservation Center, Society for Protection of NH Forests, 54 Portsmouth St., Concord, has several aspects to explore — it has used green building techniques since 1980.
• George Malette retrofitted his historic Weare home, cutting its heating oil use from 1,500 gallons to 100.
• Bethann McCarthy and Gary Rice show their photovoltaics in Hopkinton.

Farther afield
• Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm opened a couple years ago on Steele Road in Peterborough featuring sustainably designed homes in a pedestrian community, sharing a common building, organic farm, woodlands and more (www.peterboroughcohousing.org).
• Jeff Hy shows a new LEED Platinum house in Sandown. 
• See various green ideas at Serita Frey’s Deerfield house.
• A Lowell, Mass., home has all kinds of cool features that work with each other, lots of heat recovery systems, and even a permeable driveway and a solar oven. Call 978-453-2211 or 978-853-4873 or visit www.nhsea.org for details.

Learn more
• Before you head out, check www.nhsea.org for directions and addresses (Google directions may fail) and details to figure out which buildings interest you, or call NHSEA at 226-4732.
• Tour information, plus several other green building resources, is also available at www.nesea.org.
• Both NHSEA and NESEA offer consumer guides on their Web sites to find vendors for sustainable energy products.
• Find tours in other states through the American Solar Energy Society at www.ases.org.
• The U.S. Green Building Council develops LEED rating systems to certify buildings as “green.” Visit www.usgbc.org.
• Need energy efficiency tips? Visit Stay Warm NH’s site, in particular www.staywarmnh.org/residentialtips.htm, for a thorough guide.
• Want help with your home energy projects? Plymouth Area Renewable Energy has been holding “Energy Raisers,” like barn raisers but mostly to install solar thermal. Learn about what they do at www.plymouthenergy.org. They’ve started offering instructions for more communities to start these groups. The Concord area’s is Energy Action NH, energyactionnh.com.
• Learn about the movement to conserve energy (and how) in the documentary Kilowatt Ours, www.kilowattours.org.

Green events
Have an upcoming green event? Let us know at listings@hippopress.com. Put the words “green event” in the subject line.
• The Forest Society, 54 Portsmouth St. in Concord, will holds a tour of the energy- efficient Conservation Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in conjunction with the Green Buildings Open House day. See www.forestsociety.org.
• The University of New Hampshire at Manchester, 400 Commercial St., will screen selected films from the Pare Lorentz Film Festival that address issues of social justice, societal problems and green themes. Four of the films are by documentary film-maker Pare Lorentz (a filmmaker during the 1930s and 1940s). The schedule includes The River and The Fight for Life on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m.; The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and Nuremberg — Its Lesson for Today (1948) on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m.; Burning the Future: Coal in America (2008) on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and Island Out of Time (2001) and Oil on Ice (2004) on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m.
• The New Hampshire Energy and Climate Collaborative will hold a meeting on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2 to 6 p.m., at the Local Government Center, 25 Triangle Park Drive in Concord. See www.des.nh.gov.
• Bonin Architects & Associates and Old Hampshire Designs will hold a free Green Home Seminar and Green Open House on Sunday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The seminar will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Best Western Sunapee Lake Lodge, 1403 Route 103 in Newbury; the tour of a green home under construction will take place on Summit Road in Sutton from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 504-6009. Events are free; registration appreciated but not required. See boninarchitects.com and timberframeblog.blogspot.com.
• Concord Green Drinks will be held the third Tuesday of the month at The Barley House on Main Street in Concord from 6 to 8 p.m. See www.greendrinks.org.
• Red River Theatres, 11 S. Main St. in Concord, 224-4600, www.redrivertheatres.org, and Green Concord have partnered to present an environmental film series beginning in November. Details to come soon; see the Red Rivers Web site.