Let’s face it, sometimes it’s so much easier to stop by the local takeaway or fast food restaurant to grab a quick burger. The fast food phenomenon, with it’s convenience and cheap prices has quickly overtaken the will to cook from scratch at home and to spend the evening teaching our children the value of wholesome food, and knowing where it came from.

The Farm to Table Movement is an ever-growing group of like-minded people wanting to get closer to the origins of their food. People no longer want to fill the wallets of big corporations and generic supermarkets looking for the biggest profit margins. The focus is shifting to quality.  A carrot from the supermarket bears little similarity to a carrot you can purchase from the local Farmer’s market. Nowadays we tend to opt for the easy option and buy microwavable meals that are made up of chemicals and additives. Little do we realize the range of fresh, organic, local food right on our doorstep. Farm to Table’s outlook is not so much about planting, but nourishing the plentiful good seeds already sprouting close to home. This begs the question, what more could we be doing to get closer to our food and those who produce it?

Buy Locally

The Farm To Table philosophy relies on each individual’s ability to support local farms and businesses! You can support local producers simply by buying fruit, vegetables, fresh eggs and meat from them. Take time out to shop at farmers’ markets. Many people worry that buying locally means buying at a premium, but that is not necessarily true. You will be able to meet with the producer face to face, and if you feel the price is too high there is always room to haggle! Be careful to seek out producers whose practices are organic, humane, and sustainable.

Grow Your Own

Ok so you might not have acres of land, but it is possible to grow your own even without a back yard! A windowsill and a plant pot is all you need to grow your own herbs! If you have a larger yard or allotment think about growing your own veg or even getting a few chickens for fresh eggs. Growing it yourself allows you to know exactly what is going into your food, but it also saves you money in the long run.

Eat Seasonally

Variety is the spice of life and eating in season means no two months menus are the same! Fruit and vegetables taste at their absolute best when eaten in season and it is better value too. Eat crisp salad in the summer, and a nutritious root vegetable stew in the winter; strawberries taste best in June, and good old brussel sprouts at Christmas.

Cook and Eat Together

To encourage making meals together consider cooking with your family, which is particularly beneficial to children. Cooking is an essential life skill that children need to learn, and also an excellent way for them to spend quality time with their family. Eating together is a great way to communicate and talk about the day, as well as savoring the meal you have cooked.

By making small changes to our lifestyle we can all contribute to society as a whole and impact the future of farming and agriculture in a positive way.

Eating Local

Nearly 25% of the American population is purchasing organic goods every week, but how does organic compare to local? Organic food is excellent for health and for the environment, but organic food bought from the supermarket doesn’t have the same advantages as local produce.  By shopping at a local farmers market you will be able to enjoy fresh, local produce every day. Even in the city there is no excuse for not buying local! In New York, for example, Union Square has an immensely popular, well known market that supports over 140 local farmers, fishermen and bakers that sell their goods four days a week.

Another good way to support local farming is by joining Community Supported Agriculture. The CSA links people with a specific farm, which they then can buy a share in. In return, the buyer then gets a share in the produce, a delicious dividend. Under the CSA system produce can either be delivered too the doorstep or picked up.

1. Local Produce is More Nutritious

Studies have shown that fresh food loses its nutrients quickly. In fact, food that is frozen immediately after being picked can actually contain more nutrients than the fresh produce you buy at the supermarket. This is because there is often a delay from harvesting to actually getting to the supermarket shelves, which can be days or weeks!

2. Preserving Genetic Diversity

Fruit and vegetable varieties are often specifically chosen with certain beneficial characteristics, such as faster ripening or having thicker skin so they preserve their shape during packing. Unfortunately this means that there are only a few species that have been bred with these characteristics, meaning there is little genetic diversity in supermarket produce. Thankfully local farmers usually grow a numerous varieties of different fruit and veg so that they have a longer season of harvest, including “heirloom varieties”, that have been around for centuries. This provides us with more variety of minerals and nutrients in our diets.

3. Supports Local Farmers

By buying direct from the farmer you are making sure he gets all the profits and gets reinvested back into the local economy.  Buying direct also gives you an insight into how the food was made, as you are able to ask the person that grew it!

4. GMO-free

Small local farms are not allowed to use genetically modified seeds, only larger factor farms have access to them. If you buy local you know that it is GMO-free.

5. Ethical Practices

By being selective over where you purchase your produce, you will be able to choose a farm that has ethical practices. Good farmers will cover crops to avoid erosion and replenish the nutrients taken up by their crops.  If you buy meat, you can also feel reassured in the knowledge that the animals have had a free life and met a humane end.

For Filling:
8 cups fresh sliced peaches
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Dash of fresh grated nutmeg
3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and gently mix.
For topping soften butter, mix all ingredients together to mixed well
Put filling in 8×8 baking pan and add topping

Bake in Oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees

2 Tablespoon olive oil
2 medium size butternut squash peeled and diced
2 apples any variety, peeled and diced
2 medium onions diced
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons of nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Quarts chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon white pepper
Salt to taste  
 

Heat olive oil over a medium flame in a four quart sauce pan. Sautee the squash, apples, onions and spices until the squash becomes soft. Add broth and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree the stock mixture with an emersion blender or in small batches in a countertop blender until smooth. Return soup to the saucepan. Add heavy cream and reheat. Garnish with fresh sage leaves.

2 tablespoons salt
3 large eggplants, to yield about 4 pounds, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise
4 slices day-old bread
1 to 2 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup pecorino, freshly grated
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped to yield 1/4 cup
2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying  
 
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add the eggplants and boil 10 minutes. Dip the bread in the water and remove, squeezing to drain the water and set aside. Remove the eggplants from the water and drain well. When the eggplants have cooled, coarsely chop them and place them in the work bowl of a food processor. Add the soaked bread and 1 egg and pulse to form a somewhat homogenous paste adding more egg if necessary. Add 1/2 cup pecorino, garlic and parsley and continue to pulse until a smooth yet somewhat dry mixture is formed. Do not over-process.  
 
Turn the mixture into a mixing bowl and place bread crumbs on a large plate. Using your hands and working quickly, roll the eggplant mixture into balls with a 1/2-inch diameter and roll each ball in the bread crumbs to coat.

Cook in oven on 350 for 20 minutes

I started delivering pizza part time as I attended a community college for hotel restaurant management. Delivering turned into cooking which was a lot more lucrative and exciting. After many meatball parmesans and baked zitis, I thought it was time to try out my skills at a real restaurant. 
 

Pete, My boss at PJ Finnegans in Westwood, NJ, was a Culinary Institute of America graduate. I worked the lunch shift with him alone Monday through Saturday. He taught me how to make some of the sauces, how to clean chicken, grilling, frying, all your basic “Pub” cooking techniques. He told me about the CIA, and how elite it was, how they would only accept the best, and how they relied heavily on letters of recommendation.  
 

Then one morning, when receiving a large delivery through our scary as heck street-to-basement drop slide, Pete was knocked out by a large, fast moving case of beef top butts. When he awoke, the realization that he was not able to work anymore was apparent to everyone in the restaurant, and naturally, I said I could do the job until he was better. I was young, only 19, but had a huge ego, and I figured what better practice for my culinary future. 
 

I showed up the next day ready for anything. I had acquired a helper from the night shift to be my assistant. I knew most of the recipes and how to execute them, but I lacked the real skills a chef needed. Ordering was pretty hairy (I am sure I over ordered everything and costing them a ton of money), and the case of top butts that near paralyzed my boss just sat there waiting to be cleaned. I needed help bad! 
 

Luckily, right though a secret door in the dining room (no joke) was Westwood Prime Meats, and the owner, Walter, was a regular for lunch, and a seasoned butcher. In his shop hung sides of beef and lamb being dry aged, hanging from the ceiling of his walk in fridge. He learned about my dilemma, and we worked out a deal where I would trade lunch daily for meat cleaning lessons. After about a week of cleaning top butts, legs of lamb, and trimming up pork loins, I felt pretty competent. We even started making our own burgers from scraps of top butts and beef tenderloins that we would put through his chopper and burger making machine.  
 
I didn’t stay at PJ Finnegans much longer. I attended The Culinary Institute of America, and after graduation and some great experience at restaurants and catering halls around the country, I found Scholastic Culinary Services. My whole life I dreamed managing a kitchen staff, even back in the day of my imaginary restaurant in my backyard with my cousins and sisters. I often look back on those days with much fondness, and pride that I have gotten to where I am today. Today, I manage Scholastic Culinary’s kitchen, and oversee a staff of 9. I know that today I am where I always dreamed of being.  
 

What I am:
Eating: Peanut Butter on a Pecan Sandie
Reading: Old copies of Gourmet Magazine
Listening to: Steely Dan
What’s in my fridge: Hummus, Milk & Eggs

1 medium onions, chopped
1 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can of tomato puree or (or 10# fresh tomatoes) Peeled, seeded, and cook down and purred)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
.5 teaspoon whole cloves
.5 teaspoon whole allspice, crushed
.5 cinnamon stick
.5 teaspoon celery seed
.5 teaspoons dry mustard
.5 teaspoon paprika
Salt, to taste  
 

In a heavy sauce pot cook onions, garlic, and tomatoes, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft, about 40 minutes. Force mixture through a food mill fitted with coarse disk into a bowl. In a pot stir together puree, sugar, and vinegar, and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Tie cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and celery seed in a cheesecloth bag and add to tomato mixture with mustard and paprika. Simmer mixture, stirring until very thick, about 10 minutes. Discard bag and season mixture with hot sauce and salt. Ketchup may be made 10 days ahead and chilled, covered.  
 

Ingredients:
• 1 cup uncooked penne pasta
• (6 ounces) cooked chicken breast, cubed
• 4 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1 jar (4ounces) roasted sweet red peppers, drained and sliced
• 3 fresh rosemary sprigs, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons pesto
• 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese
 
 
Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, sauté the chicken, spinach, red peppers, rosemary, garlic powder and pepper in butter until spinach is wilted. Stir in the broth, cream and pesto; cook for 4-5 minutes or until heated through.
Drain pasta and add to the soup. Sprinkle with pine nuts and Parmesan