Connecticut Farm To Chef Program

Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week, a new promotion initiated by the CT Department of Agriculture’s Farm-to-Chef Program, will run Sunday, September 26 through Saturday, October 2, 2010. Open to all restaurants and food service businesses in the state, the program invites participants to create and offer a separate Farm-to-Chef menu showcasing Connecticut grown ingredients and Connecticut wines.

"While many Farm-to-Chef members source locally on a regular basis, we hope this special event will entice new restaurants and businesses to give CT Grown ingredients a try. Because it is only a one-week commitment, it is an easy way for chefs to try local farm products without feeling overwhelmed," said Linda Piotrowicz, Farm-to-Chef program manager.

According to Piotrowicz, the public is becoming increasingly aware of what they are eating and where it comes from. Interest in local food is soaring, evidenced by an all-time record number of farmers’ markets in the state last year, 125. Consumers are seeking "fresh, locally grown foods for use in their own kitchens, and they have begun looking for them when dining out as well."

"We have been sourcing from nearby farms for years," explained Scott Miller, executive chef at Max’s Oyster Bar and longtime Farm-to-Chef member. "This past year we were able to serve CT Grown salad greens every day, even throughout the winter, thanks to an increase in season-extension production methods employed by area farmers."

The CT Department of Agriculture will promote and publicize Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week and will post information about each participating businesses on the agency’s Web site. Staff also will provide businesses with resources to help promote their involvement in Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration week and to help locate sources of state-grown ingredients.

For more information reach Linda Piotrowicz at Linda.Piotrowicz@ct.gov or (860) 713-2558.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

"Fall brings the end of annual growth: hard-shelled fruits with developed seeds inside, and the root crops. The growing is over, but the season of good eating will last a lot longer. Our year here was marked by extraordinary drought, but with just a few well-timed irrigations and a wealth of mulch, our garden fed us nicely through the summer and has provisioned our root cellar for the months to come."

- Barbara Kingsolver

To see a celebration of the seasonal changes on author Barbara Kingsolver's farm (that's her book and her image of "Momma turkey" and her poults above), visit www.animalvegetablemiracle.com.

A gathering to talk about her book (co-authors Steven Hopp and Camille Kingsolver) will happen Thursday, Nov. 19, 6:30 p.m. at Cromwell Belden Public Library, 39 West St., Cromwell.

Here's a taste of the book:

"We wanted to live in a place that could feed us: where rain falls, crops grow, and drinking water bubble right up out of the ground. This might seem an abstract reason for leaving beloved friends and one of the most idyllic destination cities in the United States. But it was real to us. As it closes in on the million-souls mark, Tucson's charms have made it one of this country';s fastest growing cities. It keeps people services across the wide, wide spectrum of daily human wants, with its banks, shops . . . . save one thing - the stuff we put in our mouths every few hours to keep us alive . . . . virtually every unit of food consumed there moves in to town in a refrigerated module from somewhere far away."


Kingsolver and her family move east to a farm for a year - at least that was the idea in the beginning - and as a gifted writer, she focuses her skills on the seasonal march of food, memories connected to those edibles, and producing for the table. Recipes, sharp observations and funny - much food for thought too. A whole site is devoted to the book and includes a way to view the animals, plants and people about which she writes. (Those are two of her spring lambs in the photo above, from the tour portion.)

The program is sponsored by the Connecticut Humanities Council. Free, but registration is required; call (860) 632-3460.

Specialty Crop Grants - 'Know Your Farmer'

WASHINGTON – Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the award of 55 grants totaling approximately $49 million for 745 projects to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, which are defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. Upon reviewing states’ plans for funding, USDA selected projects that support local and rural agriculture interests, increase the competitiveness of small producers, and promote or create direct marketing opportunities for specialty crop producers.

The 55 grant recipients include Connecticut Department of Agriculture – $320,502.74.

Editor's note: And by the way, Hebron Farmers' Market is Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon. Coventry Regional Farmers' Market is Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.And the Bozrah Farmers Market is at Maples Farm Park, Fridays through Oct. 23, 4 to 7 p.m.

“Developing local and regional food systems that spur economic opportunity is the purpose of our ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative and these grants today are a significant part of achieving that goal,” said Merrigan. “We are pleased to be continuing this partnership in every state across the country to support their diverse efforts to promote healthy eating and grow specialty crop markets by expanding access to fresh, local foods.”

Funds will be used by the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to their plans submitted to USDA that describe how the state agency will carry out the program. Summaries of all awards can be viewed at www.ams.usda.gov/scbgp.

The ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative emphasizes the need for a fundamental and critical reconnection between producers and consumers. The effort builds on the 2008 Farm Bill, which provides for increases and flexibility for USDA programs in an effort to promote local foods.

Consumer demand for locally grown food in the United States is expected to rise from an estimated $4 billion in 2002 to as much as $7 billion by 2012.