Blueberry Hunting on Cape Cod

While Vacationing on the Cape I was on the hunt for local blueberries since at home in Vermont it was blueberry season. I purposefully had not brought any with me assuming they would be plentiful on the Cape. I was mistaken—what was readily available were organic berries from Mexico (!) or conventionally grown from New Jersey.

I was almost brought to fist-a-cuffs over my muttering at a produce stand about conventional agriculture in New Jersey. A woman who could have been an extra on the Sopranos said, “Are you saying something against New Jersey?” in response to my private frustrated grumblings to my friend. “You better not be saying anything about New Jersey while I’m here.” Wow. I held my New Yorker tongue like a good Vermonter.

After a failed farmer’s market and no luck at the local stores I got a tip that the Wellfleet Farmer’s Market, held from 8 am to 12 noon on Wednesdays, is where I would find my berries. I was properly advised to arrive no later than 8 on said morning because the berries sell out within the first thirty minutes. Really? I smell a business opportunity in berries. Not wanting to take any chances I arrived about ten minutes before the opening bell to find a small line waiting for the berry booth. Redberry Farm did not disappoint. A solar powered, sustainable farm on five acres in Eastham, Redberry sells at the Orleans and Wellfleet Farmer's Markets. I bought a few containers to tide me over for the week and felt sorry for the folks not in-the-know who would show up midway trough the market only to find no berries.The Wellfleet Farmer’s Market, held behind Preservation Hall at 335 Main Street, also has beautiful vegetables, cheeses, wine, crafts and more.

Cape Cod Organic Options

Heading to the Cape for vacation? Live there year round? Either way locally grown produce, especially certified organic, can be hard to find unless you know where to look.

To find Pleasant Lake Farm, the first farm on the Cape to be certified organic, requires the use of a good map, GPS, Google Maps or an excellent navigator in your passenger seat. The farm, located in Harwich is very much off the beaten path. Once there you can buy a variety of certified organic vegetables, beef, pork, eggs and local jams. The little farm stand is self-service. The meat is kept in freezers in another building down the road, so if you’re looking for meat, it is best to call ahead to make sure someone can assist you. Likely you will be greeted by a pack of dogs—fortunately friendly. On the sandy soil. Pleasant Lake grows snap peas, beans, squash, lettuce, field greens, cutting flowers, root crops and more.
 Pleasant Lake Farm, 2 Birch Drive, Harwich, MA 02645, 774-722-2319

For other organic and local farms explore www.BuyFreshBuyLocalCapeCod.org for lists of growers, markets and restaurants offering and supporting locally grown food. This directory is great for locating the farmstands throughout the Cape and finding where the local food is hiding.

Locally caught fish is sold at most fish markets and is usually marked, but make sure to ask. In late July the local catches are pollack, haddock, sole and flounder—all delicious and like nothing you find far from the ocean. Oysters and clams—local of course—are everywhere.

Organic Burgers in New York City

Hankering for an organic hamburger in New York City?

You can find the largest variety of organic burgers in New York at BareBurger, with two locations in Manhattan, one in Queens and one opening in Brooklyn this summer. BareBurger's generous menu includes many foods that are 100% organic and they are good about making the appropriate distinctions between organic, natural and grass-fed. BareBurger serves meat, vegetarian and vegan burgers, as well as other dishes. 100% organic meats are beef, bison, sausage, and the vegetarian burger and vegan portobello mushroom burgers are 100% organic. Pasture-raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free meats are elk, ostrich, lamb, chicken, and bacon. All the cheeses served are rBGH-free (growth hormone-free), three of which are 100% organic. All the milk, butter, eggs and ice cream are 100% organic as well, making for some fine old-fashioned tasting milkshakes. The meats at BareBurger come from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with the exception of the bison and elk which come from Montana. They offer a few bun options and for people needing to avoid gluten, they offer a lettuce-wrap (100% organic!). Peanut allergy sufferers take note: the french fries are cooked in peanut oil.

The Green Table, tucked in the middle of Chelsea Market, the renovated former Nabisco biscuit factory on West 15th Street, specializes in organic and local foods from area farmers. They serve organic meat as well as organic vegetables and beverages. The farms they purchase from include Hawthorne Valley Farm, a biodynamic farm in upstate New York, Flying Pigs Farm, Old Chatham Sheepherding, and many others. The beef for Green Table's burgers comes from Wrighteous Organics in Schoharie NY about 175 miles north of the city and is distributed by Dickson's Farmstand Meats, an organic and natural butcher a few doors down from The Green Table in Chelsea Market.

Local Food Lesson Learned: one of my traveling companions wanted to trade out the spicy tomato chutney and fresh kim chi served with the burger for lettuce and tomato—not possible, at least not in April. Since The Green Table specializes in local and seasonal fare, fresh tomatoes are not available this time of year in New York. Even though it made my companion a little grumpy, I was delighted at this clear ideological line. As consumers we have gotten used to having what we want, whenever we want it (like an organic hamburger in New York City). Fresh, young spring greens were served with the burger and my friend had the chutney on the side. The rest of us enjoyed the kim chi (crunchy and fresh, not long-fermented) and the tomato chutney slathered over our burgers resulting in savory, spicy, perfectly cooked burgers. Vegetarians can find a number of organic dishes at The Green Table too.

And while we are talking about organic milkshakes, if you are visiting the Metropolitan Museum (5th Avenue and 82nd Street), you will be delighted at the relatively new food concession stand/van parked outside. Cake and Shake serves up cupcakes, savory cakes and milkshakes made with organic ingredients (if you can not eat cow-dairy or wheat/gluten, I am afraid there is nothing for you to enjoy), open seven days a week.

The Green Table, Chelsea Market, 9th Avenue between 15th & 16th Streets, New York; Tel: 212 741 6623; open Monday to Wednesday 11:30 to 9:00 pm, Thursday & Friday 11:30 to 10:00 pm, Saturday 11:00 am to 10:00 pm, Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

BareBurger, 535 Laguardia Pl. (south of Washington Square Park between Bleeker and W. 3rd St. on the edge of NYU) 
Manhattan; and 514 Third Avenue (between 34 & 35th Streets), 
Manhattan; open 11 am to 11 pm, till midnight on Friday and Saturday and open at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday; and 33-21 31st Ave, Astoria, Queens; and coming in the summer of 2011—Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Organic Summer in Vermont

It is a glorious summer in Vermont this year - plenty of warmth, sun and the usual lush green vegetation. Gardens are bursting and berries are abundant. If you are traveling through the Upper Valley region there are some wonderful spots to seek out. Organic and local farm stands and markets abound including Killdeer Farm stand in Norwich, VT and Cross Road Farm in Post Mills, VT. The fairly large Norwich Farmer's Market is held every Saturday morning from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on U.S. Route 5 South. Farther west in Woodstock VT you can find the Woodstock Farmer's Market which is a store not an actual farmer' market, selling a variety of local and gourmet foods.

For other fun shopping explore ArtichokeArts - an emporium of Surprises & Delights - located on the Main Street of South Strafford, Vermont.  The owner, artist Kate Siepmann, offers an eclectic mix of antique and new items, many made in Vermont including local hand spun wool and hand crafted products, organic and gourmet foods from Vermont and the globe, handmade books, gorgeous rugs, furniture, kitchenware, unique greeting cards - designed and produced on the premises, Fair Trade Folk Art, mechanical toys, one-of-a -kinds, and many other gems and delights. The store, in an old building one house down from Coburn's General Store (where you can buy local Strafford Organic Creamery milk and ice cream), is spacious, beautiful, fun and full of surprises.

Yard sales, second hand stores and flea markets are plentiful in the area as are all sorts of hiking possibilities including Smarts Mountain in Lyme Center, NH on the Appalachian Trail and farther away, Mount Moosilauke. In Woodstock VT there is Mt Tom and Mt Ascutney in Windsor, VT. There are countless other hikes throughout both states.

ArtichokeArts, 220 Main Street (Rte 132), South Strafford, VT 05070; Tel: 802-765-4335; Summer open Thursday to Sunday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm or by appointment; Call for winter hours
Killdeer Farm Stand, 163 Us Route 5 S, Norwich, VT 05055, Tel: (802) 649-2852
Crossroad Farm Stand, West Fairlee Cross Road, Post Mills, VT; Greenhouses and Farm Stand Open daily from April 24th through Mid October from 9am to 6pm
Woodstock Farmer's Market,  468 Woodstock Rd., Route 4, just outside the village of Woodstock; Tel: 802-457-3658; Open Tuesday to Saturday from 7:30 am to 7:00 pm, SUndays from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm- Sandwiches at the deli made and served until  4:00 pm. Closed Mondays.
For a complete list of Farmer's markets throughout Vermont visit the Vermont State Department of Agriculture web site and find organic farms in Vermont at NOFA.

Eggs in Europe

Travelers from the United States may be quite surprised when they are shopping at markets and in stores in Europe to find that eggs are often not refrigerated. In fact they are often not even in cartons, but available for the picking into your own container.

At the markets in Spain you will find stacks of eggs at egg stands - brown, white, ecologico, conventional. In France, Germany and Switzerland the same holds true. Once the eggs are purchased, most people store them in their refrigerators at home, but some will leave them in a cool spot if they will be using them within a few days.

Part of the problem in the United States is that the food is often subjected to what I refer to as "shelf-life syndrome" where the focus is not on nutritional value or freshness but rather on how long the products will last on the shelves minimizing waste for manufacturers, grocers and big-box stores. As consumers, we loose, of course, since we not only get food altered to last far longer than nature intended, but we also miss out on the vitality, the richness and the beauty that fresh, local food offers.

I am afraid that eggs in the United States meet with the same fate, unless you are lucky enough to live where there are small farms, so hence they are refrigerated to help them last a long time.

When egg shopping I would err on the side of organic especially when buying room-temperature eggs since studies have shown that while all eggs run the risk of Salmonella, only about one quarter of organic and free range have the Salmonella contamination found more readily in conventional eggs, with the bonus that organic eggs have been found to contain more Vitamin E, beta-carotene and omega-3 fats with up to  a third less cholesterol than industrial-produced eggs.

Having spent time on a farm when I was a kid and later having had my own homestead-scale farm, I am familiar with the practice of storing eggs on a cool, shaded shelf especially when they will be used quickly.  I think this was, and is, customary for truly farm-fresh eggs. So don't be alarmed or put off by the piles of open-air eggs while you are traveling and be thankful for the culture of fresh.