Balance of Food

Farmers markets in Year 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic

This was the longest winter in terms of farmers markets since I have become a fan. The primary market didn't have an indoor winter version. The supplemental winter version of a farmers market moved around. Their last space was closer and prettier than a parking garage (first site) but didn't visit that as often for other reasons.

My local produce store became the catch-all where I bought food from local farmers, the de facto farmers market. In the winter of 2019-2020, I ran out of eggs. I went online to my favorite eggs vendor, ordered a dozen. She actually delivered them to my door but I could have walked less than a mile to the pickup spot.

When I ran out of eggs in the winter of 2020-2021, I didn't have that option since she went out of business during the pandemic. I bought eggs at my local produce store.

Last spring, the mad scramble was to find farmers markets. We were tracking individual farmers who made the 100-mile (each way) trek to deliver in a different manner than we were used to doing. Chicago has put in a delay that didn't make any sense since Evanston (suburb immediately to the north) started on time.

This year, the markets started at or near the original time. Farmers markets are not back to pre-pandemic form, even with vaccines.

Still have nightmares of the local farmers market where they insisted on spraying everyone with an unmarked bottle reportedly carrying hand sanitizer. The fake safety practice had long been reputed but the sudden change meant finding different markets. Here's hoping common sense kicks in for 2021 but not holding my breath.

Opening Day of the farmers market season had replaced the ritual of Opening Day for baseball. Baseball has hot dogs and apple pie but farmers markets have asparagus (definitely) and strawberries (sometimes).

"How was your winter? How are the crops going so far?" Standard questions in a normal opening day. "Hey, you survived. Good for you. Have you had the vaccine?" New questions for 2021.

2020 farmers market update: What to do without winter markets

Use food education to help kids learn outdoors during a pandemic

Add summer local fruit to your lemonade

Tomato trust at a farmers market is a cherished responsibility

Inside a farmers market in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Farmers markets in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

Food safety is a subject where we have written about extensively, the dichotomy of being over safe on such things as medium rare burgers and raw milk and under safe about certain ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup.

Customers have to be patient with how close they get and what they can touch. The idea of having them put you fruit in a resealable container is a year away. The fact that we can touch tomatoes in a grocery store but not at a farmers market is baffling.

Farmers markets will be cautious because we live in a cautious society. Farmers and their workers might be thrilled if people in 2021 are actually wearing masks as intended. The stress that farmer market customers have had to endure does not compare to the stress of the farmers and their workers. Considered essential but not always respected by the customers.

We always recommend people be nice to the vendors at farmers markets. Go above and beyond to be nice.

As the population of the United States becomes more vaccinated, restrictions might lighten at farmers markets. Hoping September is better than May in that respect. There are likely people who love farmers markets and yet are also anti-vaxxers, even if they seem incompatible.

You may not have to wear a mask but you should consider the vendors and other customers in mind. In our situation, a lot of the farmers come in from other states and their vaccination rollouts may be different than in your state.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

If you are looking for 2019 style farmers markets, think 2022. The 2021 version should get better as the summer progresses. Still better than the 2020 version.

photo credit: me

CBC Marketplace in Canada breaks down the nutrition in conventional vs. organic eggs

Eggs provide amazing nutrition, versatility, and taste for a relatively low amount. Somehow, the cost ends up being a factor, especially when measured as "mainstream" versus organic or similarly grown eggs.

A $1.80 difference in cost for a dozen eggs comes out to 15¢ per egg.

We are on the side of Team Organic or similarly grown eggs. Taste, quality, and fresh are advantages. "Mainstream" eggs aren't that fresh by the time they get to the grocery store. We would also argue nutritional advantages, including Omega 3s. The chicken's health and sanity, which we believe leads to better eggs, is highly important.

CBC Marketplace took a look at the nutrition stats for "mainstream" vs. big organic sources. They also looked at farm eggs vs. larger organic outlets.

"In Marketplace's test, organic eggs produced on small farms had more nutrients than the big-brand organic eggs sold at Canada's largest grocers under private labels and by two of the largest egg brands in the country."

The general consensus was that the nutrition of "mainstream" eggs and big organic companies were comparable. The organic eggs had a nutritional edge but within 10%.

You can read more analysis from the program on specific brands and comparisons.

We are not generally surprised by the Marketplace results. They were comparable to what we would have concluded without doing any comparisons. If you are making your conclusions based solely on nutrition, and cost is a concern, you have the numbers to justify your decisions.

This winter, I had to find a new source of eggs since my winter source went out of business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I found a different local source that has worked out well.

I haven't bought any eggs from a conventional grocery store in years nor have I purchased organic eggs from a large company in a long time. That may sound like snobbery. Perhaps. My reality is that I don't eat that many eggs. The last eggs I used were for a lime curd.

I will gladly pick cheaper options for some products where I don't see a significant issue in quality. That saved money allows me to make smarter choices in certain categories. Eggs is one of those categories.

Wouldn't pay twice as much as I pay not for my eggs. Glad I don't pay what Canadians pay for eggs (according to the numbers posted by Marketplace). Would rather give the money to local farmers.

Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management

Peterborough Farmers Market loses perspective on the value of farmers markets

Subway Canada chicken comes up short on chicken, according to CBC Marketplace

Egg recall proves food producers are 'too big to fail'

Balanceoffood.com Canada food policy coverage

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

As we noted earlier, "taste, quality, and fresh are advantages." There are dishes you can do with fresh eggs that you would be less likely to try without fresh eggs. In making fresh pasta and aioli, color, fresh, and taste would be crucial. If you are coloring eggs for Easter, the "mainstream" eggs would be useful.

Select what foods are important to you, for whatever your reasons might be, and invest well in them. Maybe you can sacrifice the cost of a high-price, extravagant coffee drink. Buying direct from a farmers market eliminates a costly layer by getting the eggs faster and fresher from the source.

Make your own best choices.

video and photos credit: Marketplace/CBC

Use your creativity to invent a new food during the pandemic

A topic of food conversation during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has been on recreating the foods you have missed. Most of my missing foods would be "cured" by an air fryer. I've also been missing fried clam strips. I swore those were in the frozen food section but haven't seen them.

Comfort foods reflect the past, the safety of the known. The unknown might be more fun where you can invent something new.

I learned about bagna cauda years ago from Nigella Lawson. Lawson didn't invent bagna cauda but she was reading my mind about something I hadn't contemplated.

Bagna cauda combines 4 of the best foods on earth: garlic, olive oil, anchovies, and butter. The recipe varies but you combine the first 3 ingredients, making sure the anchovies dissolve in the olive oil. Add the butter in last.

I was thinking about bagna cauda as I went searching for spaghetti in the pantry. Why not do bagna cauda spaghetti?

You could certainly have a lovely dish of spaghetti, garlic, olive oil, anchovies, and butter. That could be very tasty. A little bland, though, since spaghetti doesn't bring much to the party.

My variation of something I just invented was to add a little tomato puree, some red pepper flakes, and a little black pepper. Bagna cauda spaghetti with a bit of spice.

You might have had spaghetti with butter as a child. You might have had garlic, anchovies, and olive oil with spaghetti. You might have had tomatoes with red pepper flakes with spaghetti. This combines a bit from each of these categories.

The garlic is local; lost my local butter supply but good tasting butter and olive oil really helps this dish.

Supporting local restaurants during the pandemic is easier if you can get what you used to order

Add summer local fruit to your lemonade

Amy Schumer Learns to Cook but are we learning by watching the show?

Restaurants do certain foods better than most cooks. I have been craving onion rings, which they do better than I would do. No restaurant can do bagna cauda spaghetti better than I can because I invented the dish. I already know I can make it because I invented the recipe.

A friend of mine who has been staying away from pizza during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic was talking about the pepperoni shortage. I replied that you could substitute chorizo for pepperoni and have a different approach to pizza.

Pizza is another good way to reinvent something more to your liking. You can put ingredients that pizzerias might not have such as chorizo or eggplant or a local farmers market sausage.

Experiment with foods such as your love of kalamata olives and use them in ways you might not have considered. Feeling the need to bake bread during the pandemic? Slip in a few kalamata olives for olive bread.

My local farmers market has homemade breads. I tried the zucchini bread this year. Not a huge fan of zucchini but the zucchini bread was rather good. Well, the bread had raisins and I am not a fan of the raisins. I might experiment with zucchini bread with no raisins.

Go through your pantry and look for foods you bought to experiment. Have a small can of chipotle peppers? You can make a spicy mayo with the peppers, adobo sauce (the one the peppers came in with the can), and regular mayonnaise. You can slip in roasted red pepper in a hummus for a different flavor profile.

You have the time to be creative and build a whole new dish that a restaurant would be jealous to have on its menu. The dish can be consumed at home while keeping socially distant for a lot cheaper price than you would find in a restaurant.

photo credit: me

Vote for a better food policy on Election Day

Today is Election Day in the United States. A chance to get a conversation going on food policy. A chance to have a reasonable, likely useless Secretary of Agriculture. A chance to get food processing back into the United States instead of sending previously live animals to China for processing.

We discussed a lot of that last Tuesday between the presidential candidates. The pundits often say the vice presidential candidates are really important but isn't always so. Fair to say in 2020, for once, they might be right.

Age and/or COVID-19 risk make Mike Pence and Kamala Harris a lot more relevant.

The picture (above) and video (below) is from a September 22 campaign stop in Flint, MI where Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) were touring a farmers market. If there is any major politician on a major party ticket who gets the need for good food, Kamala Harris is that politician. 

Harris is from Oakland in the East Bay where they have access to some amazing food at markets in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. The area around the Bay Area has amazing soil and growing seasons. I know this from many visits and meals.

The farmers market visit in Flint is also more significant because of the fight to get access to poor communities and communities of color. Harris understands this plight.

Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump: Who will be better on food policy

We would love this to be a reasonably balanced battle. Republicans arguing for increased nutrition but asking how that gets paid for out of the budget. Dems responding with creative solutions to do both. We are not there.

We would like to get equal time with Mike Pence. Pence was a Congressman and Governor of Indiana, a state definitely into farms. The side of the political equation that is into babies being born aren't as concerned about their nutrition factors once they are in school.

BalanceofFood.com school lunch coverage

We've seen the divisive and petty squabbles over making kids eat for cheaper and with lesser nutrition standards in school lunch. They are the people who will lead our country in the future. They will be better people with school breakfasts and lunches.

Republicans are into large farms, corporate farms where cows are closer together than people piled into a Volkswagen in the late 1960s. Small farms are being bought out by larger farms since farmer debt has climbed in the last 4 years.

5 questions you should ask presidential candidates about U.S. food policy

There is only a single VP debate as opposed to 3 (scheduled) presidential debates. We do have a good sense of how Pence and Harris approach food policy if they get a promotion. 

As we've noted, your job isn't done once you voted. Good that you voted but you have to continue the fight for a better food policy. Our future will be better shaped with an improved food policy.

photo and video credit: MLive

2020 farmers market update: What to do without winter markets

The 2020 farmers market season is just about done. The weather is getting colder. Normally, markets move indoors where weather is a concern.

Anecdotally, some of the local markets are staying longer outdoors as a transition. The concern is that some vendors won't have product and other vendors made plans that don't include a few more weeks outdoors.

The 3 extra weeks look good but the weather will determine their viability.

Our major indoor winter market ran great numbers in November and December. The transition from 6-7 indoor markets to 3 uncertain outdoor markets spells financial concerns. A lack of viable indoor spaces means lost income for months during the winter.

Farmers markets could continue indoors with a lot more space. We've seen basketball and hockey arenas offered up for voting access, a wonderful idea. These arenas would make for a great farmers market space in the winter. Well, maybe too much space. A monthly farmers market could help some vendors get through a rough winter.

I've been to farmers market inside small music clubs. Could be a way to make some money for the venues and vendors.

Creativity shouldn't be a victim in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Open up atypical spaces to create a new version of an indoor winter farmers market during a pandemic.

Use food education to help kids learn outdoors during a pandemic

Add summer local fruit to your lemonade

Tomato trust at a farmers market is a cherished responsibility

"Don't touch nothing. Don't touch anything." My impression of Sgt. Schultz (from Hogan's Heroes) if he was in charge of security at a farmers market. The 2020 general consensus is don't touch a thing at a farmers market.

A local farmers market changed its rules about halfway through the season where they required patrons to be sprayed down with what we hope was hand sanitizer. Almost every farmers market had hand sanitizer as an option; hand sanitizer being in an authorized container.

Hand sanitizer is important if you are potentially touching something in making a purchase. The local feminist bookstore wants people to use hand sanitizer in an official container. This is because you could easily touch one of the books.

When confronted with this new policy, the volunteer said hand sanitizer had always been required. That wasn't true. I asked if the policy was posted. She said yes, but didn't know where. (We learned later that the policy was outside the gates).

I walked away in frustration. I came back to that market a couple of weeks later. I was told that someone had to spray my hands to enter the market. I asked if that was required. That volunteer told me that it was a city ordinance (another lie). I reluctantly agreed to be sprayed. I asked another volunteer inside about the policy. She told me the hand sanitizer had been a requirement all summer (the original lie).

Safety can be taken to an extreme as we have learned in so many cases. Offering hand sanitizer, official hand sanitizer, is a smart action in a pandemic. Requiring "hand sanitizer" is rather extreme, especially when you aren't allowed to touch anything.

Volunteers shouldn't lie to the customers. All of this is bad enough without the lies, but the lying makes the situation much worse.

Inside a farmers market in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Farmers markets in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

Here are some creative ideas if the winter markets are not an option where you live.

— Bring extra reusable bags to the last few farmers markets and stock up for the winter. Buy extra pickles. More bread that you can freeze.

— Take some of those late summer and early fall veggies and do some pickling and canning to make them last through the winter.

— Find local stores that carry farmers products. You might already have this as one of your food options. I am thankful I have one less than a mile from where I live.

— Find out if your local farmer will make trips near where you live. This is really helpful for meat and egg suppliers. They sometimes will set up shop at or near the market location. This might be available 1-2 times a month but better than no market at all. Ask them if they will provide that service.

— If you are already getting deliveries from local farmers, such as CSAs (community supported agriculture), keep getting them.

I buy blueberries in July to have over the winter. I had doubts about whether we would make it to winter. I would have felt foolish to not them.

Preserving your pandemic harvest? Start slow with something you love, say experts (The Current from CBC Radio One)

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Did we miss a good suggestion or two on how to survive the winter without a farmers market? Let us know in the comments section. Thank you.

photo credit: me

Use food education to help kids learn outdoors during a pandemic

Just because the calendar has turned into October, the weather is still relatively nice. Most schools have been going for a few weeks. A lot of schools start in August, which seemed to be a huge mistake, especially in 2020.

Outdoor learning is considered safer during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Students can spread out and learn in a safer environment.

Learning about seeds and growing plants would be a great exercise. A garden would be helpful but most schools don't have gardens. Farmers markets would be a good way to learn about food. Farmers can't be as participatory as they would be outside the pandemic. Students can't touch the food.

You could have virtual field trips with students in the classroom doing a video conference with a farm where students can see the process and then ask questions.

The pandemic is a good opportunity to think creatively about teaching children. Use that time to get them engaged about growing food and how food grows.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Farmers markets before the pandemic were a joy because they were a land of "yes." They would answer questions. They had time to answer those questions. Want a sample? They would sample.

Farmers markets in a pandemic are a lot of "no." No, we don't take cash (or credit). No, we don't have samples. No, you can't just reach across and take a tomato.

Understand that the farmers and workers at farmers markets don't want to say "no." Like grocery store workers, they don't get to set the rules in a pandemic.

Be kind to them. Know your farmer is a good rule outside a pandemic but also relevant and helpful during a pandemic. Developing a relationship can hopefully carry to a world where farmers markets can become a land of "yes" once again.

photo credit: me

McDonald's Quarter Pounder hot and juicy claims are laughable

"Get extra napkins when you order a hot and juicy Quarter Pounder. A normal amount of napkins just won't do."

Save the trees.

We all are willing to swallow a bit of realism in a fast food ad. Hot and juicy and McDonald's should mean a meeting with the fast food franchise and the Federal Trade Commission.

Hot is likely. Not as in a "fresh off the grill" kind of hot, but more like "straight from the microwave" hot. The beauty of "hot" is McDonald's can claim that "hot" doesn't refer to the temperature of the burger.

Juicy! Juicy? I haven't had a McDonald's hamburger since the pandemic started. I also haven't had a juicy burger from McDonald's in over 1,500 tries. I've eaten more of the regular hamburgers where they taste more like hot pork from a microwave than beef from a grill.

Maybe the juicy part comes from the high-fructose corn syrup dominant ketchup, why you might need napkins, not extra napkins. Based on the smaller hamburger, which normally contains a whisper of mustard no matter how you order, ketchup is the only way you get any sort of moisture.

The :15 spot for McDonald's doesn't show a juicy burger. We have criticized the KFC commercials for showing us dark brown chicken when the actual product is light brown. The voice tells us that the burger is juicy. There is no visual proof.

If you were in a focus group listing the adjectives of the McDonald's Quarter Pounder, you would be out of breath before you said "juicy."

The lack of fast food hype in a pandemic

BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage

The ad is also intriguing since this is one of the few McDonald's or fast food ads lately that goes into how good the fast food tastes. The food is cheap and convenient; why talk about how good the food tastes. Just because you sell the most burgers doesn't mean the customers are there for how they taste.

We struggle in writing about food advertising that real food isn't promoted like fast food or quick food or ultra-convenient food. After all, fruit roll-ups are more likely to be seen on TV than actual fruit.

This lovely commercial might seem like an ad for tomatoes, one of nature's most impressive foods. Look how pretty the tomatoes are. Unlike fast food advertising, real tomatoes can actually look better than what you see on screen.

Eventually you realize that the ad is not for tomatoes but Bertolli olive oil, which is drizzled over the tomatoes.

This is great shared advertising. The olive oil maker pays for the ad but tomatoes get the top billing.

Tomato trust at a farmers market is a cherished responsibility

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

This is also a reminder that your local farmers markets are a great source for local tomatoes this fall.

Maybe the (potentially) new U.S. federal government can give financial incentives to have more fruit and vegetable ads so that consumers can see actual fruits and vegetables instead of products that incorporate them far in the background.

photo credits: McDonald's (x2); Bertolli

Add summer local fruit to your lemonade

Lemonade is made for summer. Some will squeeze the lemons themselves. Some will use bottled lemon juice but still make it themselves. Others will buy pre-made lemonade, often with high-fructose corn syrup.

Making your lemonade is so easy. Paying someone else for their water and questionable sweeteners is foolish.

The great thing about making your own lemonade is you can add flavors to the mix. This is a high-water time for amazing fresh fruits in the Northern Hemisphere. Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

Take some of that great fruit and added that fruit to your homemade lemonade. If some of those strawberries are a bit mushy, they are perfect to put into a lemonade.

Adding the sweetness of fruit means you can reduce the amount of sugar you put in your lemonade. You could even have the fruit be your sugar in a lemonade.

Discovering the world of Saskatoon berries

Cranberry Caucus politicians want to protect cranberry juice, but few Americans drink it pure

Personally, I make a batch of "lemon water." Pick your ratio of lemons and water in your favorite lemonade recipe. Combine in a pitcher. Take your fruit and combine with the lemon water in a blender. Serve right away or chill for later.

You get the fresh taste of summer fruit in a refreshing drink. Fruit sugar is healthier than regular sugar and is a great way to get servings of fruit.

Raspberries might seem a bit tart so when using raspberries, you might add some sugar but far less than in a typical lemonade recipe. For those who are into vodka and lemonade. vodka and raspberry lemonade is a game-changer.

Another advantage to using fresh fruit is when you reach the end of the strawberry run, freeze some of those strawberries. They won't freeze terribly well to build a strawberry shortcake but would be great in a late summer strawberry lemonade. Your friends might be a bit envious.

You might find that putting fruit in a lemonade is a bit odd. Lemons are fruit; since they aren't sweet, we forget that lemons count as fruit.

photo credit: me

Tomato trust at a farmers market is a cherished responsibility

We've learned that most produce can't be bought on looks alone. Like people, you have to figure out whether they are good on the inside. Unlike people, you can touch the produce to get a sense of whether the produce is good.

Tomatoes are the most likely on the produce list to need a subtle touch to know whether the produce is good.

You can touch the tomatoes in the grocery store but I haven't bought a grocery store tomato in years. You normally can touch the tomatoes at the farmers market but not during a pandemic, such as COVID-19.

We can't explain why touching a tomato in a grocery store is okay but not at a farmers market. These days, you follow the new order of farmers markets.

Make al fresco dining the new trend in the streets

Inside a farmers market in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Farmers markets in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Trust issues are very real based on book sales and daytime talk show topics. You are trusting someone else to do what comes naturally to you.

Know your farmer is one of our battleworn phrases. I didn't know the actual person who picked my tomatoes. She did a good job. The tomatoes were a bit watery but that is completely normal. Hothouse tomatoes at this time of year will only work so well.

Know your farmer works as well as can be expected but not being able to touch produces trust issues and a less-than-ideal farmers market experience.

Even the best tomato hunters with touch can still pull up a lesser tomato. You feel like if you picked a bad tomato, the fault lied within. As tensions grow in a pandemic, blaming someone else is easier than blaming one's self.

You can trust what farmers market workers are doing with produce. No relationship is 100% trust but you can relax and hope they pick you a winner. If you find they are not, ask good questions, key to any trust issues. The answers you get will determine trust. Ask nicely. Farmers market workers are under enough stress.

You still will get a better experience at a farmers market even in a pandemic than you get in a grocery store. The farmers market experience is under a cloud right now. Trust is harder under those circumstances.

photo credit: me

Inside a farmers market in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

You wait in line, not too long. When you get to the entrance, the hand sanitizer was required. Welcome to a farmers market in 2020.

You couldn't approach the produce, watching from a distance. Credit or debit was the word. The vendors were in a half circle with no aisles to bump into other people.

Not the usual farmers market scene but an attempt at an interim normal.

Customers were moving in a timid fashion. No socializing among customers or vendors. I missed the asparagus that I hoped would be all set to go. The early May farmers market doesn't produce a lot of good options.

This also reflects that this farmers market isn't my normal farmers market but my normal farmers market is charging a $9.99 delivery fee. I love you Green City Market, but that is ridiculous.

Farmers markets in the new normal in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

The new normal involves pre-orders. This goes against my own personal spirit of being inspired by the produce at the farmers market and then making purchases accordingly. This might work in May but definitely not in July.

Patience is still the key. Farmers markets are trying to figure all of this and plan with safety in mind.

What farmers markets offer is worth this sacrifice. But this sacrifice needs to be easier. People are shopping in grocery stores. Farmers markets can be as safe as grocery stores. People need farmers markets as a viable shopping option.

photos credit: me