Locavore In Training

Pretty much the first thing I did after arriving in Colorado, was visit the Crested Butte Farmer's Market. I visited last year, and remember it being pretty great... but what I didn't remember was how this tiny town's market puts all the Maryland Farmer's Markets I've visited to shame. Seriously, Maryland... we need to step it up! Their brutal winters and extremely short growing seasons hasn't limited them... what's our excuse?

I figure those who are in Maryland might be a little miffed at this point... so, don't take my word for it! Here's a picture tour from the market! (Warning - this post is picture heavy! Give it a minute... it's worth it!)

My mom could not have been more excited about these Fava Beans! She's been on the lookout for them earlier in the season in Florida and now here... It's apparently the last week for them, so she loaded up!

Baby squash! So cute!

Circle A had 4 kinds of garlic?? Yes, please! The Spanish Roja was quickly dispatched into spaghetti sauce last night. The cloves had a beautiful red color, and the flavor was amazing!

Fresh apricots! I never did find any at home.

Freshly made crepes... because every farmer's market has that...

They even have the dreaded kohlrabi.

Kids love beets? These kids do!

Not pictured... the bluegrass band, the smoker BBQ station, the massage booth, the jewelry and other art... And all dogs! This area is dog crazy! It's awesome.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go have goat cheese and pumpernickel bread for breakfast.

I'll leave you with the sunset from my first night here.

I've been thinking quite a bit about food, particularly meat, and how to best approach it given my new sustainable, local priorities. I haven't really needed to buy meat for months because we've had a really full chest freezer. This is because last year, when I was laid off at the beginning of the year and didn't get a permanent job until Fall when we knew Jay would be laid off soon, I shopped the sales and stocked up as much as I could. We have been eating through that stock, because regardless of the impact caused by the production of said food, I can't believe that wasting it does anything but continue the problem. And with 2-3 of us here, we still have quite a bit.

But pretty soon, I'm going to run out of a couple key things. We might have 1 package of chicken breasts left, 1 whole chicken and no ham. We have plenty of ground beef, which makes me sad because that's the one thing I really want to purchase from safe(r) sustainable sources.

I recently found out there are two custom butchers in Annapolis. I'm pretty excited about this, even though I don't relish the idea of having to grill the workers about the source and methods of their products. I'm much happier to research online, but it's clear that's not always possible. I figured I'd go over there this weekend and see what I can come up with. (Even though really, I don't need to buy much if anything right now.)

But then I was reading this article and it has me questioning. Am I any better off at a local butcher than the organic (or even regular) options at the grocery store? As important as I know this is, sometimes I am tired at the work it takes to research all the foods we buy. But then I am reminded that that's exactly what the commercial growers and CAFO owners want.

The last PolyFace Farm delivery is coming up in November, and considering they've become the leader in all things sustainable farming, this had been part of my plan for months. Once it became clear that there was no. way. I would be finding a place for their bulk beef option (seriously, so. much. beef), I missed their ordering deadlines. We're coming up on their last delivery of the year, and I'm determined to get my order in this time. It's really hard trying to plan for what would likely be close to 4 months of food. I'll give it my best shot, and we'll see where we end up!