Get Cultured

Science didn’t invent fermented dairy foods like yogurt and cheese. Cave drawings from 4000BC show humans enjoying their homemade or should I say cavemade dairy products. In fact, little crusts of cheese have been found in Egyptian tombs. Quality fermented dairy foods were a mark of sophistication in Greek-Roman times so the ultimate insult was to call someone a “barbaric milk drinker”. These fermenting skills were carried to all of Europe, and all European countries have a long history of fermenting dairy.

THE EAT LOCAL GAMEPLAN

Ok. After reading our last blog, you understand some of the reasoning behind eating local and supporting your community of growers and producers. And hopefully you’re with us now. Hopefully you were with us before that, but regardless, you’ve now boarded the Eat-Local-Mobile and you’re ready to roll. In fact, you find yourself behind the wheel. So…..uh…..where to? How do you get to where you need to go?

LOCAVORE SCHMOCAVORE?

What does it mean to truly eat local? Why would we want to eat local in the first place? And if someone was crazy enough to truly want to eat local, How would they go about doing it?

WHAT does it mean to eat local?

WHY I LOVE TO EAT LOCAL

We’re carrying some sustainable fish from Port Orford, OR now, and I just ate the BEST fresh albacore tuna ever! Port Orford is a sleepy little town on the Oregon coast, and like many coastal communities, employment has been a long term problem. The revival of the fishing industry there, on a smaller and sustainable scale, is good news for them….and great news for AFC shoppers. Here’s some information about the great stuff going on in Port Orford

Yes, Your Cornbread Will Really Be Blue!

My favorite way to eat corn is dried, and my favorite corn to dry is blue. In fact I have quit growing corn to eat fresh on the cob. I buy all the fresh corn we eat from a local farmer who grows nothing but sweet corn, 5-10 ears for a dollar, depending on the quality of his crop. I grow an heirloom variety of blue corn called, Black Aztec, dry it on the cob, and remove the dried kernels from the cobs while watching a good Netflix.

Water

Happy Independence Day! Annie here. I’ve been thinking about water. Bottled water specifically. The reason is that the Co-op later this year will stop selling bottled drinking water in containers smaller than a gallon. So we’ll be telling you all the reasons we’re doing this, and also showing you that our local tap water is cheaper and cleaner than what you’ll get in a bottle. Want to save money? Drink tap water. You’ll have cash left over to buy some local wine. Here’s something that might deter you from that next single serve bottle of water.