Liz On Food

Can I Make My Backyard Vegetable Garden More Local?

In locavore terms, what could be more local than growing your own food in your back yard? Long before Michael Pollan and Alice Waters espoused the virtues of locally produced foods, I was growing various fruits and vegetables. I picked up the habit from my parents who grew backyard vegetables and fruit when we were growing up and still do today. OK, I fess up, true confession: As a kid, I was a bit of a whiner (well,more than a bit) hoeing weeds in our Midwest community garden plot on hot, humid summer days. Kvetchin' or not, I hold a gardening tenure (as do the 'rents') that makes me quite the trend setter growing edibles. Actually, I don't think backyard vegetable gardens are news for most folks with rural roots (no pun intended). Those lovin' the country life have just been waiting for the suburban and urban creatures to catch on...and we're happy you have!

With a food and nutrition science background, I was destined to approach my backyard garden as a scientific experiment, learning best practices, estimating cost savings and studying methods for reducing inputs.

I have learned through 20+ years of trial and tribulation, as well as through good old Colorado Cooperative Extension, to adapt my Midwest-based gardening skills to Colorado's cantankerous climate with its limited moisture and short growing season. Last year, I focused on water conversation through drip irrigation and improved tomato yield through plastic mulching with a good degree of success. I'll be implementing those techniques again this year.

This year, my seasonal experiment will include überlocalizing by planting Boulder County cultivated vegetable seeds from Abbodanza Organic Seeds and Produce, Longmont, Colorado.

Abbondanza's collection "has been hand crafted, gathered and cared for and includes varieties collected over the last 18 years." Through its efforts, Abbondanza has adopted many common vegetable, herb, and flower varieties to the Rocky Mountain region. Last season, I picked up some Abbondanza nantes carrot seeds at the Boulder farmers' market and grew some fabulous carrots. 

I got to know one of the Abbodanza co-owners through serving on the Boulder County Food and Ag Policy Council, so I can tell you these are dedicated local growers. Abbodanza not only sells seeds but also sells produce at Boulder County farmers markets as well as Community Supported Agriculture shares.

Although I'm merely a sometime purchaser of organic fruits and vegetables, my backyard edible garden is an adventure in organic gardening techniques. We compost yard and kitchen waste, which augments the garden soil. That's supplemented with purchased organic compost. I don't use pesticides on the garden (synthetic or otherwise). I have learned over the years which vegetables tend to attract bugs and I just don't bother to grow them anymore (brussel sprouts, for example). One nice thing about our arid climate: It cuts down on unwanted garden bugs and microbes. Abbondanza seeds are produced with organic growing practices, so that fits my organic experiment. In addition to last year's carrots, I have planted other organic seeds in the past and have always been happy with the results.

Abbondanza seeds are available throughout Boulder County but you can also purchase them by contacting Abbondanza directly. That's how I obtained my seeds. I poured over the list, made my selections and sent an email. I soon received a cheerful email reply and my seeds showed up a few days later with an invoice, which I promptly forgot to pull out of the envelope until a couple weeks later. I then scurried to send a check. Oops, my bad...sorry, Abbondanza!


Here are my selections:

• Shiraz Beets
• Indy Gold Snap Beans
• Purple Top White Turnips
• Gold Rush Lettuce
• Red Rapids Lettuce
• Scarlet Nantes Carrots
• True Gold Zucchini
• Caserta Zucchini
• Garden Dill
• Marketmore 76 Cucumbers
• Green Oak Leaf Lettuce
• Lolla Rosa Lettuce
• Jade Snap Beans

I'll post progress of my Abbondanza crops throughout the season. I've been clearing the garden bed and shoring up the drip hoses, so I'll be planting shortly. Now, if it would just stop snowing.

No Singing at the Supper Table

I grew up in a relatively large family: My parents had five kids within a span of a little over seven years. If Mom and Dad hadn't set forth some pretty clear kitchen rules, we "spirited" children might have caused dinners to disintegrate into food riots. Family meals were near sacred in my family, and memories of those early dining experiences with my parents and siblings figure prominently in my passion for food. So when the Associated Press and i-Village recently announced the results of their poll on the family dinner, I was quickly reminded of how my childhood home dining experience compares to today's family sups.

The good news, according to the survey, is that the family meal continues to endure: More more than 60 percent of "those who live with families said they sat down with family for dinner at least five nights a week." And home-cooked meals with hand-me-down recipes were the norm, rather than ready-to-eat foods, such as take-out. So far, so good.

However, AP and iVillage found that "the modern dinner comes with a heaping helping of distracting bells and whistles," such as phones ringing and cell phone texting as well as TVs and stereos blaring. More than a quarter of families reported that television was on constantly during dinner. OK, rewind to my childhood....we had one TV, on purpose. It was in the family room, downstairs from the kitchen. We knew of families that had TVs in bedrooms and kitchens – oh, the horror of it. We didn't watch TV during meals, except for very rare special treats when we got to break out the TV trays for a special airing of the Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music or the like (no cable TV, TiVo, nor video/DVD players yet).

The survey indicated half of households are pestered by phone calls during dinner. And five percent of families said texting or e-mailing on a cell phone is always going on over dinner. Back in the day....no caller IDs, no cordless telephones, no answering machines, no cell phones. It didn't matter that you didn't know who was calling and that they couldn't leave a message. No one was going to answer the phone during dinner. If the caller had something to say, he/she could call back. And by the way, he/she should know better than to call during the dinner hour. As an aside, our one corded telephone was in the kitchen, which meant there was no such thing as a private conversation, which I think Mom felt was a matter of personal safety for us when we were teens. Who knew what might happen if we girls could actually talk to a boyfriend in private? That's a far cry from our current household, in which everyone has a smartphone.

My mother is a home economist who attended finishing school before moving on to the university to obtain bachelor's and master's degrees. So we may have had more than our fair share of emphasis on table etiquette. We each had our seats we returned to every evening around the big rectangular butcher block table. We weren't always perfect, but a few basic table manners were instilled along the way:

• Always say please when asking for something - May (not can) I please have the potatoes?
• Pass the food counter-clockwise from left to right, and for goodness sake, no "boarding-house reach" across the table. The left-to-right rotation makes sense for right-handed diners, who tend to hold the serving dish with the left hand and scoop with the right.
• If you're in-between the asker and passers, don't snag. Ask permission first - Do you mind if I take a bit first?
• If someone asks for salt or pepper, pass them both together so the shakers don't get separated on the table.
• When the host or hostess picks up the fork you may start eating. If at a banquet or restaurant, wait until everyone at your table is served, unless an empty-plated person insists. If you're an empty-plated person, give permission for the rest of the table to begin eating.
• Keep your elbows off the table. Evidently, two reasons exist for this somewhat arcane rule: 1) you might crowd your adjacent diners, and 2) you increase the chance of the table cloth and dishes going askew.
• Don't talk with your mouth full. Chew with your mouth closed.

Can you hear your mother's voice?

Back to the survey. Nearly 40 percent reported having the radio or stereo going, at least occasionally. Being an audiophile, I don't have a bone to pick with that trend, provided the sound is tasteful background music, rather than talk radio or a sporting event. I grew up in a musical family. Each of us learned to play at least one musical instrument, and most of us performed on stage in high school, either in theater, choirs or in instrumental ensembles. It seemed we were always singing at home. In fact, we developed a routine of spontaneously breaking into song at the slightest suggestion, even at times that might be considered inappropriate by the elders. So Mom and Dad had to instill one more rule: No singing at the dinner table. I have to admit that one did not stick. And I have, literally, sung for my supper on more than one occasion. Nowadays in our home, singing at the table is A-OK, but...texting is not. On the other hand, if you want to play your iPhone ocarina application at dinner, I might consider that suitable.

"Natural" Labeling Claims

Natural potato chips, natural chicken, natural granola, natural beef, natural milk, natural yogurt... plenty of foods are marketed as natural. So what's behind the claim, asks one of my stepdaughter's friends. Well, I suppose that depends on the food, ingredient and agency.

I've heard plenty of folks state categorically that natural doesn't mean a thing because the term isn't regulated. That's not quite the case, but regulatory aspects of the term are, to say the least, a little fuzzy. Add to that the complications of a competitive marketplace, with the organic arena weighing in that the "natural" moniker has little meaning and with other commercial interests trying to tighten the reins on what's allowed under the claim of "natural." Marketplace developments (new products, boycotts, changing consumer preferences, etc.) as well as legal activity, including regulatory action (or lack of action) and lawsuits, have put the natural labeling issue in the press off and on for the past two years.

At the federal level in the United States, the regulations and enforcement for use of the term "natural" are split between two agencies: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) under the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

FDA - A Look at "Natural" and High-Fructose Corn Syrup

The FDA has not formally defined the term “natural," but does regulate use of the term as opposed to terms “synthetic” or “artificial" as they specifically apply to flavoring and coloring agents. In 1993,the FDA offered informal policy indicating that “natural” means “nothing artificial or synthetic has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in the food."

In a case of marketplace competition, the Sugar Association has taken the Corn Refiners Association to task over use of the term "natural" with high-fructose corn syrup. In July 2008, the FDA sent a letter to the Corn Refiners Association indicating that the agency would not object to use of the term "natural" being on a product containing high-fructose corn syrup produced by a process the Corn Refiners Association refers to as "commonly employed in the corn refining industry." In the letter, the FDA indicated its long-standing policy on use of the term "natural" for ingredients was on a case-by-case basis.

In 2007, a woman, Stacy Hulk, filed a class action lawsuit in New Jersey against Snapple. The case alleged that Snapple violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act by labeling its product "All Natural," though it contained high-fructose corn syrup. In September 2009, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier lower federal court ruling, indicating the FDA labeling regulations did not pre-empt state law. Snapple revised its formula in late 2008, replacing high fructose corn syrup with sugar.

Organic Versus Natural

Certified organic products, regulated through the USDA's National Organic Program, continue to sell well. However, a nationally representative survey published in June by the Shelton Group found that  Americans chose "natural" over "organic" when asked, "Which is the best product description to read on a label?"

• "100% natural" -- 31 percent
• "All natural ingredients" -- 25 percent
• "100% organic" -- 14 percent
• "Certified organic ingredients" -- 12 percent

That point, as well as lower costs of non-organic ingredients, hasn't been lost on Dean Foods, which owns White Wave and Horizon. White Wave recently replaced organic soy beans with natural soy beans in all but three of its Silk Soymilk products. Natural Foods Merchandiser reported in July that Horizon introduced two new product lines, Little Blends, a yogurt for toddlers, and Milk Breakers, single servings of milk, both of which are marketed as "natural" but not certified organic. That has raised the ire of some organic consumer activists, including the Organic Consumers Association, which has called for a boycott of both White Wave and Horizon.

USDA - Regulations Currently Under Review

USDA FSIS does regulate use of the term "natural" as it applies to meat and poultry. Meat and poultry labeled as natural must be free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and ingredients that do not occur naturally in the food. On September 14, 2009, the USDA announced that it would solicit further public comment regarding the voluntary claim "natural" to be used in the labeling of meat and poultry products.The USDA current definition is outlined in the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book:

The term “natural” may be used on labeling for meat products and poultry products, provided the applicant for such labeling demonstrates that:

(1) the product does not contain any artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring ingredient, or chemical preservative (as defined in 21 CFR 101.22), or any other artificial or synthetic ingredient; and (2) the product and its ingredients are not more than minimally processed. Minimal processing may include: (a) those traditional processes used to make food edible or to preserve it or to make it safe for human consumption, e.g., smoking, roasting, freezing, drying, and fermenting, or (b) those physical processes which do not fundamentally alter the raw product and/or which only separate a whole, intact food into component parts, e.g., grinding meat, separating eggs into albumen and yolk, and pressing fruits to produce juices.

Since 2006, FSIS has received a couple of petitions requesting action with regard to "natural"claims. The FSIS has reported the receipt of numerous comments expressing:

Divergent views on what the claim "natural'' as applied to meat and poultry products should mean and, in general, focused on particular ingredients, processing methods, and animal production practices that individual commenters felt should or should not be permitted for meat or poultry products labeled as "natural"...

The comments indicate that there is an overall lack of consensus on both the general or common understanding of what the claim "natural'' means to the industry and to the public and on the approach that FSIS should take to address issues associated with the use of "natural'' claims on the labels of meat and poultry products. Nonetheless, FSIS has concluded that a further solicitation of comments could produce information that would help to clarify and resolve the issues surrounding the "natural'' claim.

To improve the focus of public input, FSIS has requested comments on several issues:

• The Need for Rulemaking
• Sodium Lactate and Other "Multi-Functional'' Ingredients and Food Safety
• Separate Claims for "Natural'' Products and "Natural Ingredients"
• "Non-Traditional'' Food Processing Methods
• "Enhanced'' Products
• "Natural'' and Animal Production Conditions
• Establish a Uniform Federal Definition of "Natural''
• Carbon Monoxide

Comments to the FSIS are due Friday, November 13, 2009. Stay tuned, we're bound to see some changes with federal labeling regulations related to the term "natural."

Changes in Food Shopping During the Recession

I'm seeing more reports about changes in consumers' food shopping habits during the current economic recession. AC Nielsen reported in a July 10, 2009 blog post:

As the “great recession” continues and consumers hear conflicting messaging about when the U.S. economy will improve, shoppers from all income levels are increasingly seeking out and taking advantage of deals at the grocery store. Whether in the form of store promotion or deal or manufacturers coupon, deal rates are up more than 8% from a year ago for households earning more than $70K, a faster rise than the 6% uptick for middle-income households ($30K-$69.9K) and 5% gain for the lower income households earning less than $30K per year.

Those affluent households are also making more trips to the grocery, accounting for the largest share (41%) of total basket ring dollars versus middle-income and low-income households. For the past 13 periods, affluent households posted trip growth in every period, while grocery trips by middle-income households were about flat and grocery trips among low-income households were off in all periods.

Affluent households are also driving faster trip growth in value retail channels like supercenters, warehouse clubs and dollar stores, but their overall importance to the sales in each channel ranges from a low of 19% for dollar stores to a high of 57% for warehouse clubs.

Such changes in shopping habits are bound to hit higher-end retailers hard. Analysist Matt Carallaro of Forbes magazine suggests that that Whole Food's recent stock hike was due to "the rather soft news that the organic food retailer will take part in a program to confirm it only sells products that have not been genetically modified."

He goes on to say, "While Whole Foods' menu is certainly a healthier alternative to processed food distributors, consumers' wallets are emaciated."

Home Freezing and Cow-Pooling – Energy Considerations

In the June 15, 2009, issue of Time magazine, Kate Pickert reports on the trend of cow-pooling. More friends and families are joining together to purchase large quantities of inexpensive beef directly from farmers.

Often the direct-purchase beef comes from cows that were grass fed (at least seasonally) and is offered at a price well below retail costs. Other benefits include purchasing food closer to home, forging relationships with local farmers and potentially reducing farm-related energy inputs. However, grass-fed cows emit more methane than their corn-fed counterparts. And that's not just a little hot air. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, cattle emit about 5.5 million metric tons of methane per year into the atmosphere, accounting for 20 percent of U.S. methane emissions. None-the-less, when farm inputs of corn-fed animals are taken into account, the related greenhouse gas emissions more than offset the prodigious back-end eruptions of grass-fed cows, according to Carnegie Mellon researcher Christopher Weber. Weber has suggested genetically-modified grass could lead to reduced methane production among grass-fed cattle, much to the chagrin of those locavores opposed to GMOs.

While the social and economic aspects of purchasing locally produced foods are convincing, evidence supporting the environmental aspects of such foods, including beef, is not conclusive. In a study published online April 16, 2008, in Environmental Science & Technology, Weber and Matthews researched food miles and relative impact of food choices in the United States. They concluded:

Transportation as a whole represents only 11 percent of life-cycle GHG [green house gas] emissions, and final delivery from producer to retail contributes only four percent. Different food groups exhibit a large range in GHG-intensity; on average, red meat is around 150 percent more GHG-intensive than chicken or fish. Thus, we suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than “buying local.” Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food.

Two other issues come to mind when thinking about the true energy impact and carbon footprint of buying a side of local beef. One consideration is storage needs that accompany the purchase of a side of beef weighing in at 250 pounds. That requires a home freezer, and in fact, mirroring the cow-pooling trend, freezer sales continue to climb, a trend I first covered in my February 2009 post Top 2009 Food Trend Prediction – Down Home Cookin.' Time reports that freezer sales in April 2009 were 14 percent higher than in April 2008, according to the Appliance Manufacturers Association. Yet, household storage and preparation comprises 31 percent of food-related energy consumption in the United States, according to a life cycle assessment conducted by Heller and Keoleian. I can't imagine that increasing numbers of households with freezers (ENERGY STAR qualified or not) will improve total consumer energy consumption. And one must also consider the pre-purchase carbon footprint of actually manufacturing and shipping a new freezer.

Then, there's the conundrum of eating what you buy. If you have a freezer full of beef, does that impact food choices so that you would actually consume more beef than you would have otherwise? Plenty of research exists to indicate that modifying the immediate food environment (AKA home), impacts food consumption, for better and for worse. While grass-fed beef tends to be leaner than its corn-fed counterpart, offering a nutritional advantage, if the beef is displacing other less carbon-intensive foods in the home environment, would the net result be a larger carbon footprint for the household?

None of this addresses the actual cost of purchasing an upright freezer and expense of increased energy consumption. Recouping the cost of a freezer through less-expensive bulk purchases may take a long time. But given many people are dining out less, money saved through fewer restaurant meals could also be part of the equation.

We enjoy beef in moderation, and the flavor of the beef (some grass-fed, some corn fed) we purchase at the Boulder and Longmont Farmers' Markets is divine. We have owned an upright freezer for about five years, and with a house full of teenagers, we buy and store large quantities of food, often at sale prices. So we're already consuming the additional energy that goes with having a home freezer. Cow-pooling with friends to split a side (rather than purchase a full side) of beef would probably fit our current needs, as long as freezer space remains for chicken, fish and frozen vegetables. But when the children fly the coop and we no longer need to store as much food, we may forgo the freezer.

Here Chicky, Chicky

A few miles east of our rural Boulder County home, the City of Longmont, Colo., began issuing permits for backyard chickens on March 9. On the first day, half of the 50 allotted permits were issued before noon. Under the new city ordinance, permit holders are allowed to keep up to four chickens in residential areas. Longmont's move is part of a growing trend of raising backyard chickens, an outgrowth of the urban farming movement. In recent years, several other mid-size cities have permitted backyard chickens, including Ann Arbor, Mich., Fort Collins, Colo., and Madison, Wisc., joining the ranks of major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A couple generations ago, many families raised their own chickens for food or extra income. Now, the convergence of the down economy and the local food movement have set the stage for a home roosting comeback. Savoring fresh eggs and fried chicken during childhood family vacations at my grandparents' Missouri farm, I can understand the nostalgic attraction of backyard chickens. Nonetheless, I think I'll merely observe this trend, rather than fully participate in it, especially because our family includes our wanna-be-hunter Golden Retriever, Buddy. Aside from envisioning him terrorizing chicks and chasing chickens, I can picture Buddy (rather smell him) vigorously rolling in poultry droppings and perfuming our indoors with eau de cologne poulet poupe. And I still have a memory of our long-passed Chesapeake Bay Retriever proudly dropping at our feet a freshly killed hen, not more than five minutes after arriving at my relatives' farm. Tough old bird or not, there was the main course for our evening meal.

If you're interested in raising chickens, you'll find plenty of advice and community at Backyard Chickens.