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Local serendipity

Posted at 3:25 PM on July 2, 2008 by Cher Stuewe-Portnoff (2 Comments)

Not that long ago, I was ready to kill for any kind of local produce. Now on Saturday mornings, I wait in long, lazy lines at the farmers' market for a prize of fresh local greens, summer squash, bags of fragrant basil. I can't even turn on the radio without hearing something about local foods. Displays in food stores tag the origins of items ("Kansas tortillas" in Whole Foods, for Pete's sake... really??) Local not only is in season, it's become chic. Well, there are some advantages to this.

Recently Greg and I had reason to hang out briefly on a short stretch of Big Bend in Webster Groves. We happened upon Natural Way (www.thenatway.com/wg.php), a lovely small neighborhood grocery. We wandered in, sightseeing. Free samples will quickly focus our attention, however, and the day's freebie was a rich red, locally concocted beet hummus (served on a locally baked caraway-flax cracker). In retrospect, it's scary how close I came to living my entire life without knowing that I NEED this beet hummus! Who knew?! I left with a container of the hummus and a package of the crackers. And we will go back for more.

An entirely accidental, unsought encounter with local produce -- such an odd contrast to those long months when local veggies in any form showed up only in my dreams.

Comments (2)

Your note about beet hummus made me want to share a comment about a recent purchase at the Farmington,MO farmer's mkt. My husband and I arrived at the end of the market time and found one bunch of yellow beets. The lady selling the beets suggested we grill them. We had never seen that color in beets. Well, we took them home and did as the lady suggested, grilled them. DELICIOUS! Last Sat. we arrived at the beginning of the market hoping to get at least two bunches but we were disappointed. All the beets were sold out. Do you have any knowledge about this beet, it is of course the same flavor as the red ones.I hope more people can realize the many benefits of buying locally as you have pointed out. On NPR program, Speaking of Faith, Barbara Kingsolver, the author of Animal,Vegetable,Miracle: A Year of Food Life.speaks of the importance of buying locally.

Posted by Pat | July 7, 2008 4:09 PM

Oh yes! Those golden beets! I've seen some in the organic food markets lately, none at the farmers market yet. Aren't they good!! * Kingsolver's book regenerated our interest in local foods about a year ago -- before that, we were deeply involved (a gazillion years ago) in growing our own and building a consumer base for local farmers. Well, if you find any yellow beets at the farmers market this year, and have time, let us know - thanks!

Posted by Cher | July 7, 2008 4:42 PM