ReLocavore: Redefining "local"

Back to Wisconsin, my cheesehead friends

Author Archives: Addi


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Norwich Farmers’ Market

Today we made it over to the Norwich, VT Farmers’ Market located on Rt 5 and runs Saturday Mornings from 9a-1p. We spent an hour and about $60. We came home with:

  • One braid of Shallots $13 (My indulgence)
  • 1/4 lb Welsh-style cheddar cow’s milk cheese. Cobb Hill. $4.50 (Sam’s indulgence)
  • Ingredients to make a pot of potatoes and beans for dinner tonight: green beans, potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots and corn. I’d love to have a ham hock or bit of ham to put in the pot. We’ll see what the COOP can do.
  • Ingredients to make beans and greens in the rice cooker for dinner tomorrow night. I’ll post details on that later.Read more here…
  • Ingredients to make an italian dinner one evening including tomatoes, garlic, bell peppers.
  • Some fruit: Apples and a cantelope.
  • Edamame
  • cucumber, celeriac and hakurei salad turnips

The Norwich farmers’ market is more diverse than many of the small Madison markets. There were plenty of vegetable farms, but few fruit farms. I saw lots of bakeries and jammeries (I just made that word up), plenty of good pastries. There were more herbs for sale here than at any other farmers’ market I have attended, and, in fact, there was an entire herbalist booth. It seems some of the booths are semi-permanent wooden shelters, and other booths are temporary pop-up tents. The market center is a wooden gazebo and today, since the market was celebrating its 35th year, there was a band and a raffle. 35 years is pretty impressive.

Cheese from Cobb Hill Farm, cut to order and wrapped by hand.

I’ll make better measures later, but it seems the average prices are on par with Madison’s markets. Some things, notably sweet corn, were priced a LOT higher. Sweet corn was $0.60/year or $7 for a baker’s dozen. I almost choked. Typically, I buy sweet corn at $2.50/dozen or not at all… We got two good tips on CSA availability. Suzanne at Luna Bleu Farm has chicken/egg shares and Your Farm still has fall and winter CSA shares available.

Note the sturdy wooden structures in the background.


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COOP Food Store. Making it easier to eat locally

A label for locally grown Courtland Apples at the COOP Food Store.

Sam and I are falling for the COOP Food Store in Hanover, Lebanon and White River Junction. They have a good collection of standard groceries found around the middle of the grocery store, plus basic self-care products, soaps and cleaners, etc… They also have a wide range of prepared foods to go and a nice patio to eat lunch. We have been over there most every day since we got into Hanover.

We can get brats here. We will not starve.

Having a good coop makes eating locally easier. Kudos to the COOP food store for labeling the origin on almost all of the produce and featuring local farms. I haven’t bought meat from them yet, so I don’t know how well the meats are labeled. They stock lots of local dairy too – this is VERMONT, mind you… I expect that this is the peak of the local produce season, but I was surprised at how little local fruit they have for sale. I’ll have to compare the COOP’s inventory with that of local farmer’s markets and food stands before I pass judgement.

We will certainly become members at the COOP and I’ll be able to tell you more about the advantages of membership once we join.

Of course, I’m comparing this COOP to the Willy St. Coop in Madison. Sam and I had been members for two years, ever since the new Willy West store opened. We got to know the staff and the weird quirks of their product selection. (Note: NEVER buy graham crackers at the Willy St. Coop. Every single variant is disgusting. And, avoid homemade pork sausage. It’s not fatty enough.) Navigating a new grocery is never fun, especially when I want to do a Tactical Strike. I’m left fumbling around the wine and cheeses looking for olives and pickles.  Willy St COOP has a great selection of local produce. I think they’re either better able to source, or, since Willy St is smaller than the COOP, then maybe they can buy smaller volumes from smaller farms.

Whatever will I do if I can’t find local pears to can?

 


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lo·ca·vore
noun /ˈlōkəˌvôr/
locavores, plural

A person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food.

re·lo·cate
verb /rēˈlōˌkāt/  /ˌrēlōˈkāt/
Move to a new place and establish one’s home or business there