Wise Organic Pastures – The Processing Plant

This Article is Cross-Posted on KosherEye.com

Our Bubbie and “grand” Bubbies may have known how to make a famous roast chicken and of course, chicken soup, but certainly did not face the same chicken challenges that the kosher shopper faces today. Most chicken is no longer raised in the back yard! The consumer is now faced with numerous choices in quality, type and price.

Chicken has become a multi-billion dollar industry in America. Kosher chicken is no exception, but is somewhat more complicated. There has been extraordinary growth in kosher poultry sales in the last few decades. Along with observant Jews, many non-Jews and Jews who don’t necessarily adhere to kosher laws now purchase kosher poultry. Why? There is a perception that kosher certification adds a layer of clarity and transparency to poultry purchases. In addition to the FDA and government regulatory agencies, the processing plant must adhere to the specifications of a supervising kosher agency and rabbinical authority. Many consumers welcome this extra layer of inspection.

Kosher shoppers have choices to make. Our goal is to understand and to explain some of them to our readers.

Recently, as part of the KosherEye “kosher” summer road trip through Pennsylvania and Maryland, we were invited to tour both The Wise Organic Pastures processing plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania and a Wise Organic Poultry Farm, which is a 50-mile drive out into the Susquehanna Valley.

In Scranton, we had the pleasure of meeting Moshe Fink, founder of David Elliot Chicken and owner of the processing plant used by Wise Organic Pastures. He answered many of our technical kosher “processing” questions and provided background information.

According to Moshe, for poultry to be considered kosher, they must be in good health when slaughtered. The shochet must use a sharp knife and no stunning or electric shock is permissible before “shechita” (slaughter). Kosher poultry may not be heated, and blood must drip freely from the bird after slaughter. The knife must be sharp, the killing respectful, and the resulting blood symbolically “buried” under a floor covering – in this case a layer of sawdust, coal and ashes. The processing method is cold and no heat is ever applied.

Following slaughter, non-kosher poultry may be scalded with hot water. A natural occurrence from the use of hot water is that feathers just “slide” off. The result of kosher slaughter and cold processing is an unwelcome problem: residual feathers. If consumers are asked the one negative of kosher chicken, it is the feathers!

The David Elliot processing plant uses the “Cadillac” of defeathering machines, the LINCO, made in Sweden. But even with this mechanical wonder, which can be adjusted to the average size of the birds, due to the cold water processing system, feathers must be removed manually at the end of the processing line.

At the David Elliot plant, teams of workers stand with defeathering razor sharp knives and manually remove feathers after the machines have completed the initial process. Yes, this extra step of manual defeathering adds to the price of the poultry, and therefore, it is understandable that value priced poultry has more feathers when delivered to the consumer.

One positive aspect of the “kashering” process is very welcome. All kosher birds are soaked in fresh cold water for 1/2 hour, are than covered in salt for one hour, and then washed in fresh running water 3 times. This is done to follow the biblical prohibition to eating blood. Because of the salt “bath”, most consumers applaud the taste, which taste similar to culinary brining. Kosher chickens have won numerous taste awards including a contest held by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. In this contest, a main rule is no seasoning is allowed on the chickens. Empire Kosher Poultry has won several of these prizes and Moshe Fink attributes the consecutive awards to the kosher process – specifically salting!

Our poultry facility visit began with the gracious invitation of our host Issac Wiesenfeld, president and owner of  Wise Organic Pastures.His mother, Rachel Wiesenfeld started Wise Organic Pastures in 1992. She founded the company after the family faced a financial setback. According to Mrs. Wiesenfeld, there was “a need in the kosher poultry market for wholesome chicken raised the old-fashioned way — free range, organically fed, hormone-free — and processed according to strict kosher standards. At the time, there was organic chicken and there was kosher chicken, but no one was offering chicken that was both organic and kosher.”

Her son, Issac, the fifth child of 11 siblings, was the only sibling to join the company! The offices are based in Brooklyn, but the plant and farms are in Pennsylvania. The family has had a thriving business relationship with Moshe Fink for the past 18 years. Although the Wise Organic Pastures started 18 years ago, the company could not add the official organic label until the legislation was passed in Washington in Oct 2001. The Wiesenfelds are truly organic kosher pioneers! And, timing is everything. Since USDA established the National Organic Program officially in 2002, the organic food market has grown by almost 20 percent annually.

KosherEye was given a full tour of the entire David Elliott  processing plant. What did we see?

The sanitation and efficiency we observed at the plant was impressive. Before we were permitted to tour, we had to dress from head to toe, (including boots and hats) in sanitary cover. The shechita atmosphere was antiseptic. The Rabbi inspects each bird for blemishes or problems, and then skillfully and quickly cuts through the neck with a slash of his constantly sharpened knife. The job must be both holy and professionally precise. From the off-loading dock to the packaging area, the plant appears clean, well run and intense in purpose. Certainly the atmosphere is not for the squeamish; however it was a realistic view of how the chickens we eat are slaughtered, kashered, cleaned and packaged.

Both the Organic and Kosher poultry market has grown over the years. The economy certainly affects the consumer’s ability to buy the higher priced organic chickens- but, conversely, the number of organic buyers is growing.

For more information about Wise Organic Pastures, visit WiseOrganicPastures.com. To learn more about David Elliott poultry, call 570-344-6348.

This list, from Consumer Reports, of Common Industry Chicken Terms, is very informative.

Originally from The Wall Street Journal, by Ben Worthen

Michael Pollan, author of “Omnivore’s Dilemma” and other popular books, has become a figurehead for the local-food movement, which advocates buying in-season produce from nearby farms.

Proponents say such food is healthier and that the way it is grown and shipped is better for the environment. But it often is more expensive. Mr. Pollan says the real problem is that subsidies keep the prices of some, largely mass-produced foods artificially low.

Still, he tries to strike a middle ground between advocate and realist. In his Berkeley living room, the 55-year-old Mr. Pollan discussed where he shops for food and why paying $8 for a dozen eggs is a good thing:

Mr. Pollan: The food movement really began on the West Coast, and you can make an argument it began in the Bay Area. There is a much higher level of consciousness here about where food comes from, about eating seasonally and locally, than there is in the rest of the country.WSJ: Do Bay Area residents eat and shop for food differently from people elsewhere?

But we have certain advantages that few other places in the country have. We can eat from the farmer’s market 50 weeks of the year—the only reason they close is to get a break Christmas and New Year’s.

WSJ: What do you attribute the greater enthusiasm to?

Mr. Pollan: A consumer who is willing to pay more for better food. That’s a matter of consciousness and a palate that has been educated by the chefs locally. Paying $3.90 for a Frog Hollow Peach, there are a lot of people here willing to do it. I don’t know if you can find a more expensive peach in America. My little rule, “Pay more, eat less,” is followed by a lot of people in the Bay area.

WSJ: Where do you shop for food?

Mr. Pollan: I shop at the farmer’s market on Thursdays. I shop at Monterey Market, and I shop at Berkley Bowl. Those are the big three, and then I’ll get household cleaning products, cereal, things like that at Safeway.

WSJ: How do you suggest people in New York or other places with a long winter eat seasonally?

In much of the country eating seasonally in winter is challenging, though there are options people overlook. A salad of grated root vegetables, for example, is a refreshing change from lettuce, and far more nutritious. But it all depends on how hard-core you want to be. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

WSJ: Do you only buy certain things from certain places?

Mr. Pollan: No. I’m pretty flexible. I’m not a zealot, contrary to what people may think. I’ve told stories about being busted at Berkeley Bowl buying sugary cereals for my son when he was younger.

WSJ: Are there rules for shopping that people interested in eating better should follow?

Mr. Pollan: The most important is to buy things that are in season.

It’s nice to skip [things] until they are in season when they are so much better and cheaper. It becomes something of an occasion when the tomatoes come into the market, or the strawberries, or the asparagus.

WSJ: Does eating local, sustainable food have to be a lifestyle priority, or can people do it casually?

Mr. Pollan: People can do it casually. There are people who go [to a farmer's market] every week, and there are people who go when the mood strikes them. To eat well takes a little bit more time and effort and money. But so does reading well; so does watching television well. Doing anything with attention to quality takes effort. It’s either rewarding to you or it’s not. It happens to be very rewarding to me. But I understand people who can’t be bothered, and they’re going to eat with less care.

WSJ: Is eating well just an indulgence for people who can afford it?

Mr. Pollan: If you’re in the supermarket buying organic versus not buying organic, you are going to spend more. But buying food at the farmer’s market, if you compare it to the prices at Safeway for stuff that’s in season, it actually beats the prices in my experience. People shouldn’t assume that they are going to go broke at the farmer’s market.

WSJ: What do you wish people here understood about their food that they don’t now?

Mr. Pollan: We’ve been conditioned by artificially cheap food to be shocked when a box of strawberries costs $3.

But it’s important to know that farmers aren’t getting wealthy. When you see strawberries being sold for $1 a box, picture the kind of labor it takes to pick those strawberries and the kind of chemicals it takes to produce those kinds of strawberries without hand weeding.

Eight dollars for a dozen eggs sounds outrageous, but when you think that you can make a delicious meal from two eggs, that’s $1.50. It’s really not that much when we think of how we waste money in our lives.

My interview from earlier this month was featured on Our Hen House‘s podcast this weekend. We talked about Torah teachings about compassion for animals, how well Judaism and vegetarianism mesh together, kosher slaughter, the new Jewish food movement, and vegan versions of traditional Jewish foods.

To listen to the podcast, click here. My in-depth interview starts about a third of the way into the podcast. I encourage this blog’s readers to listen to the whole interview, but here’s an excerpt:

There is a lot of foundation for compassion for animals and vegetarianism and veganism in the Jewish faith. And I feel proud to be Jewish knowing that Judaism is one of the forebears of animal welfare in Western civilization.

And I feel that my views on whether you want to call it animal rights, animal welfare, animal protection, what have you, can really be summed up by a Jewish term, it’s in Hebrew, called tza’ar ba’alei chayim, which means unnecessary animal suffering. That is, we should prevent causing animals any unnecessary suffering.

How you interpret that could be deemed, on the one hand, as treating animals humanely with animal welfare and just trying to minimize their pain. Or it can be, in my case, saying that if we don’t need animals for meat or for other ways in which they are exploited, we’re better off without meat and without circuses and rodeos and leather and fur, etc. So if that kind of animal use is unnecessary and suffering is inherent in causing those products to be produced, then, in my mind, it’s tza’ar ba’alei chayim, or unnecessary animal suffering.

This article is crossposted to Gothamist and was written by Zoe Schlager.  Red Jacket Orchard often donates apples to Hazon events.

Since 2005, the Department of Health has been developing an initiative to provide fresh produce and low fat milk to neighborhoods that rely on the nutrition-devoid wares of their local bodega. Progress has been slow, and while the low fat milk initiative was deemed a success in 2008, the produce side of things has been anything but. Finally, the Healthy Bodegas Initiative [pdf here] is gaining some real momentum, thanks to the NY state farmers that have begun to revitalise the project.

One such farm is Red Jacket Orchards, located in the upstate Finger Lakes region, which has had a presence at NYC greenmarkets with their apples, juices, and just about everything fruit-related for years. They’ve been working with the DOH but have taken it a step further, hoping to not only bring their fruit stuffs to the underserved neighborhoods in East and Central Harlem, the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn, but also outfit them with proper refrigeration. Those beer fridges just don’t do the job when it comes to produce. We spoke to Justone Bossert, the director of the orchard’s greenmarket goings-on, to see where the initiative is headed.

Tell me about your involvement with Red Jacket Orchards, and with the Healthy Bodegas project. How did you get started? My involvement with Red Jacket Orchards stems from my own family’s farming history, a now-defunct dairy farm in New Hampshire, that had a bigger impact on me than I realized growing up. When fate led me to Red Jacket Orchards it connected in a deep way.

Red Jacket Orchards is a 3rd generation farm located in Geneva, NY owned and farmed by the Nicholson family. I’ve been working for the Nicholson family for 7 years now and I currently run our farmers market operations here in New York City. Farmer markets are a big focus for the farm because they allow us to connect directly with the customers that eat our food. We are currently at over 30 farmers markets in NYC and we really pride ourselves on our relationship with NYC customers. To make our NYC operations work, we’ve had to create new infrastructure to support and extend local food systems, which we also use to help other local farmers reach customers in NYC.

Our Healthy Bodegas Project started when Michael Hurwitz of Greenmarket and Donya Williams of the Dept. of Health of NYC approached us to help solve the problem of the lack of healthy food access in under-served communities. We are a small family farm, but we have a unique capacity in NYC and we began discussions on how to use that to help battle the inequities of our food system. Our Healthy Bodegas Project is what came from those conversations.

I see you guys at Union Square Greenmarket all the time, and in McCarren Park this past weekend. How long have you guys had a presence in the city? What’s your best-selling product? I love your juice, by the way. It’s great to hear you’re a fan. The McCarren Park Greenmarket is one of our most popular. It is every Saturday and it goes year-round. We have been attending markets in the city since 1992 and unlike most farms, when we chose to commit to the Greenmarket program we also chose to become a part of NYC. We established a hub in Greenpoint and began to hire NYC-based staff so that we could become a part of this community that has given us so much support. Our best-selling product varies with what we have available as the seasons change, but some perennial favorites are our apricots, Honey Crisp apples, and our 100% Fuji apple juice.

How receptive have you found bodega owners to be to stocking the fresh fruit and using the refrigerators, when they may be taking up real estate in the store for the prepackaged products that they may initially sell more of? We are just getting started, but overall the bodega owners have been extremely supportive and excited to be involved. Many of the bodega owners want to serve healthier food but they are limited in what they are capable of doing. Beverage companies give them free refrigerators but then limit what they are allowed to put in there. If they want to sell healthy food, many of them don’t have the refrigerator space based on their agreements with the larger companies that push the unhealthy stuff. Additionally, the distributors that supply the bodegas normally don’t have healthy options and so some bodegas have gone so far as to buy fresh produce at retail and then resell it in their communities. The outcome of this is that people in these neighborhoods are paying more money for lower quality foods.

Our goal for this project is to create a sustainable and viable distribution model that will allow bodegas to sell healthy local options. A large part of this is to create a model that allows the bodega owners to profit while still creating affordable options. We want to copy the methods that have worked for junk food companies and use them for healthy local food.

How do you choose which bodegas to partner with? Our program is partnered with NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of NYC’s Healthy Bodegas Initiative. They have done a lot of great work over the years reaching out to bodegas but unfortunately don’t have the ability to actually supply them with products. Our part of it is to create a new distribution system to pick up where they left off.

The Department of Health has an extensive network of bodegas and they act as our matchmaker, finding the best bodegas to be involved with our program. We are just starting the program but we already are working with a dozen bodegas. Our goal is to have it grow much larger. We’d like for it to be a scalable model to connect farms to food deserts in NYC and elsewhere. We need support to get it there.

How much of this initiative relies on the bodega owner, once they agree to stock the fresh product?The bodega owner has to be interested in supplying healthier food. Thankfully many of the owners we have spoken to are interested. But it has to make financial sense, so we help them with signs, display, informational handouts and storage, and we work to get the word out to the community to let them know that these bodegas have healthy food for sale. The bodega owners are the ones selling the product on a day-to-day basis, but we try to offer them education and support so that are able to better do it.

Are you reducing the prices of your fruit and juice to make them comparable to the prices of the less-healthy products that are already in the bodegas? In addition to the investment we are making in getting the program up and going, we are lowering prices as much as we can to make this work, but for this to be a viable option in the future we can’t create a price that relies on outside funding. The goal is to prove that this model can bring the good food movement to those communities that have been left out of it thus far. If this is something that we want other people to adopt and adapt around the country it has to become self-sufficient at some point.

As far as comparable pricing with cheaper stuff, like junk food, that’s why the program is starting with apples. Apples are a cheap, snack-ready fruit that can compete on price with a lot of the processed stuff.

How are the customers of these bodegas reacting to the presence of new produce? Are they hesitant or receptive? Does it ever feel like a lost cause in regards to some of the customers? It has been challenging for sure, but already we’ve had quite a few success stories. Sometimes it’s a challenge to get customers to try something new; however, once a person tries fresh picked, tree-ripened fruit the “Wow” factor is huge; combine that with it’s high nutrient density and it’s the best value in the store. People notice things like that in any neighborhood. There may be some people who don’t seem interested, but there are even more who are grateful to finally have access to good food. It’s definitely not a lost cause.

Once people learn that their bodegas have healthy options, customers are reaching out to their friends and family to let them know and that is the key. If this program is going to succeed we need everyone in these communities who want fresh local food to be available to come out and support it now that it is.

Has the presence of your fruit caused demand for other produce in the bodegas? Bodega owners are excited to have a distribution route dedicated to getting them fresh local produce. Right now, it is just Red Jacket products, but we plan to grow to include other produce from our neighbors’ farms. We need to build up our capacity to get there, but the interest is there and we plan to build to meet it.

How much will you be relying on volunteers, if at all? Right now, we do not have any volunteers. While getting the program going we have been maximizing our current capacity, and many of our people have donated a lot of their time to help because this is something we all believe in. We would be open to volunteers to help get the word out in the community and do cooking demos at the bodegas.

If there are people interested in supporting this project, we need people to get the word out about ourKickstarter campaign so we can raise the funds we need to make this a success. We will be announcing the bodegas we are working with on the Kickstarter campaign website and people can shop there to show their support.

How successful would you say the city has been with the Healthy Bodegas project? And with healthy food promotion in general? They’ve done very well considering their limitations. We are very pleased that this inequity is being addressed at some level by the city government.

Your Kickstarter video talks about getting proper refrigeration to these bodegas. That sounds expensive. Will that be donation-based or will it be out of pocket for you guys? It is expensive, but it is necessary. The produce is only as good as its handling and that’s part of the reason why we need to raise funds to get this program launched. If we really want to get healthy food to these underserved areas then we also need to get the tools to keep the food healthy and fresh. Healthy, natural food needs to be refrigerated. Since most of the current refrigeration is sponsored by soda and beer, that’s what you find in them.

So long as the food is handled and stored correctly it will always win people over who try it. That is how good food has made a comeback, by winning first on pleasure with good health as a most welcome bonus.

Tell me how you envision this project in 5 or 10 years. My hope is that we will raise the money we need to get the program expanded to the point where it becomes self-sufficient and then use it as model for other places.

In five years I would like to see Red Jacket’s own program grow to include food deserts in all five boroughs. The next neighborhood we are targeting after Bushwick is East New York and the Department of Health has identified bodegas we could work with in Harlem and the Bronx as well.

By the time ten years have passed I would hope there is a national discussion and consensus on how to get a vibrant local food system in every neighborhood in the country. All Americans should have access to food that will nourish not only their bodies but their communities and environments as well.

Related:

- Food Stamps and Farmers Markets

Check out this podcast interview with Val Yasner from the Hazon CSA in Cherry Hill. Val makes a great case for eating locally and sustainably — and she’s hard at work making sure the 2010 season is as strong as last year’s at Temple Beth Shalom. Val’s on at about minute 18 (how appropriate!). Gut shabbes, everyone.

Listen to our new PODCAST, Episode 5 by clicking here!

Co-Founder Julie Wolk sits down with me on the latest Hazon Podcast. Listen to what Wilderness Torah is doing to revitalize the American Jewish Community. Also, don’t forget you can subscribe on iTunes by searching “Hazon”.

Also, don’t forget that it is Earth Day this week, so check out all the options going on in your area. For a good listing, check this website out

They have a map where you can choose where you live and find out what is going on near you!

And finally, for those in the New York area, come see “Tapped: The Movie,” a documentary about water usage and safety in America. It is screening at 5 pm at the Cowin Center at Columbia University (between 120 and 121 streets on Broadway). If you are one of the first 100 people to arrive at 4 pm, you can exchange a plastic bottle for a FREE Klean Kanteen! So look into your recycling bin and grab a plastic bottle. If you come after the first 100 people, you will get a great discount on Klean Kanteen.

This is a tale of two cities, each with a venerable Jewish culinary legacy that claims boasting rights to the world’s best bagel. Until now, these parallel universes have existed at a safe distance. But Mile End – a new Quebecois-style restaurant opening next month in Brooklyn - will bring the long-standing New York/Montreal bagel standoff to a head. In preparation, I consulted the experts about which “roll with a hole” steals their hearts, and their stomachs.

Read what they said below – and for more on Mile End, check out my article in Edible Brooklyn.

TEAM NEW YORK
“Smoked salmon tastes good with everything, but a real, old-fashioned New York bagel is lox’s ideal match. Our bagels are water hand-rolled and boiled before they’re baked so they’re crispy on the surface and chewy inside – the definition of a perfect bagel.
- Herman Vargas, Manager 29 years at Russ & Daughters in NYC

—

“…no city, perhaps in the history of the world, is so closely identified with a breadstuff as New York is with the bagel. Whether eaten plain or with a “schmear” of cream cheese, with whitefish salad or a slice of Nova, with sesame seeds or salt, toasted or untoasted, by Jew, gentile, Muslim, Buddhist or agnostic, the bagel has, for more than a century, helped define breakfast in New York.”
- Ed Levine writing in The New York Times Dec 31, 2003

TEAM MONTREAL
“New York may have many gastronomic wonders, but in the bagel department, it’s challenged. New Yorkers who consider those giant, fluffy hockey pucks manna from heaven haven’t tried a warm, thinly-rolled, sesame-crusted (and not merely dusted), sweet Montreal bagel.”
- Lara Rabinovitch, editor of CuiZine: The Journal of Canadian Food Cultures

—

“The “everything bagel” seems to me the quintessence of New York bagel hubris – about as tasteful as Wonder Bread. Not so the delicate and subtly sweet Montreal bagel, which comes in only two varieties: sesame and poppy seeds (the taste derives from the dough; no need for fancy toppings). As my Zayde once explained to me, the Montreal bagel is better because it’s made with more love, sweetness and patience than New Yorkers have to spare.”
- Professor Alan Nadler, Harvard University

THE TIE-BREAKER

“I happen to be a New York snob and generally assume everything is better here, but that’s not what I’ve found with the bagel. The New York bagel of my childhood was wonderful – sweet and chewy – but it’s rare to find one like that anymore. Montreal captures the taste of the bagels I remember.”
- Sharon Lebewohl, co-owner of 2nd Avenue Deli

Bagel photo credit: Epicurean Life

If you are looking for a Chanukah gift for a foodie (say… yourself!), or some new recipes for any of the Jewish holidays, then there’s a new book out that will be of help. Aviva Allen, author of the 2007 The Organic Kosher Cookbook, has just released a Holiday Edition. Ms. Allen provided me with a free copy for this interview and review.

Ms. Allen is a nutritionist in Toronto, CA, with a private practice. She also teaches private cooking lessons and Smart Food shopping. Smart Food shopping lessons introduces the client to new foods and how to prepare them, how to read labels, healthy substitutions, and more.

Ms. Allen’s interest in healthy cooking, eating, and education were originally piqued when she participated in the ADAMAH farming fellowship. She then went on to attend the Natural Gourment Institute in New York, followed by an internship back at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, cooking healthy, vegetarian food.

Ms. Allen wrote her first cookbook, because she felt that Jewish food was mostly “a lot of brown food” and utilized “a lot of margarine and Crisco to make the food pareve.” She explains that “there are a lot of so-called healthy kosher cookbooks out there but they have a lot of [those unhealthy ingredients].”

Ms. Allen’s new cookbook is broken down by holiday and what traditional foods are eaten at each one. She supplies recipes for healthier versions of these dishes. It is an ideal book for anyone who wants to keep kosher and also eat organic.

She explains, “There are so many different food sensitivities, preferences, and restrictions. A lot of the time you are making food for someone coming over and it’s helpful to look in the book and know what to make for them.” The book has symbols indicating for each recipe if it is vegetarian, gluten-free, passover-friendly, and if simple substitutions can be made to accommodate any of the above restrictions. There is also an index indicating all of the vegan recipes.

The cookbook includes organic, kosher chicken and fish recipes, but no beef. At this time, there is no kosher, organic beef available in Canada, where Ms. Allen is based.

Here is a recipe for Ms. Allen’s Spicy Potato Latkes, just in time for Chanukah preparations:

Spicy Potato Latkes (vegetarian)

Yield: 10-15 latkes

5 cups SHREDDED YUKON GOLD POTATO (2 lbs. potatoes)

3 Tbsp. GRATED ONION (1 small onion)

1 Tbsp. MINCED JALAPENO PEPPER (seeds removed)

3 EGGS

2 tsp. SEA SALT

2 tsp. CHILI POWDER

1/2 cup WHOLE WHEAT OR WHOLE SPELT FLOUR */**

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL FOR FRYING

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Place shredded potatoes in a towel, a little at a time, and ring out the liquid.

3. Place into a large bowl and mix together with all other ingredients (except the oil).

4. Heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan at a medium-high heat. Place a heaping tablespoon of mixture into your hands and flatten to form a disc while squeezing out excess liquid.

5. Fry latkes until golden brown onto both sides, adding more oil as necessary. Place latkes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 10-15 minutes.

6. Serve with Avocado Sour Cream. (If you want to know this recipe, you’ll need to check out the cook book! –Laura).

Notes

* Substitute 1/4 cup brown rice flour for gluten-free version.

** Substitute an equal amount of whole wheat matzah meal for Passover-friendly version.

Enjoy!

Book image and recipe reprinted with permission of the author.

“I grew up in a family that emphasized food and used it as an organizing principal for family gatherings – which is probably not unfamiliar to The Jew & The Carrot’s readers,” says anti-food-waste activist Jonathan Bloom.

As a freelance writer for the Boston Globe and the Washington Post, Bloom wrote about food and travel. (“My travel articles were about going somewhere else to eat,” he jokes.) Like many Americans, Bloom became increasingly attuned to environmental issues and, he says, “My interests in food and the environment came together for me in 2005, when I volunteered at D.C. Central Kitchen, an organization that rescues food that would otherwise go to waste, and trains homeless people to be chefs using that food.

“Volunteering there opened my eyes to the amount of food that isn’t used in this country, and I was kind of surprised by the high quality of stuff that would have been thrown out if the food rescue groups weren’t using it.”

His interest in the issue grew, and in January 2007, the now-32-year-old Bloom, who currently lives in Durham, NC, with his wife and baby, launched his website, WastedFood.com.

“I saw food waste as a topic that didn’t receive the attention I thought it deserves, and a topic where I could do good by writing about it – and I wanted to write a book about it. The blog was conceived both as a way to raise awareness of the topic and also as a way to help me get a book deal.”

It has succeeded on both counts: Bloom’s book American Wasteland will be published next fall by Da Capo Press, and the website receives more than 5,000 hits a month from viewers interested in its mix of news, suggestions and humor. With everything from reports on college cafeterias’ efforts to go “trayless” (since most students can carry more than they can eat, food piled on trays ends up being wasted in staggering amounts) to recipes, environmental news, product launches and (to raise awareness of the good food that is thrown out merely because it isn’t ready for its close up) pictures of the wackiest-looking vegetables in Great Britain, WastedFood.com manages to encourage virtue without coming off as preachy or judgmental.

I recently spoke with Bloom about why we Americans (and American Jews) waste so much food, and how we can make small changes that will have a huge impact on the amount of food available to feed the hungry, and on the global warming that is exacerbated by food waste.

What is the most important thing individuals can do to cut down on waste?

I tell people that the way they can most impact food waste in their life is by thinking about it – thinking about what you’re buying and what you’re eating, and what is going to waste. The #1 way to do that is to plan your meals and then to make a detailed grocery list and actually stick to that list. Serve sensible portions at home, knowing that people can always take more if they want. Save leftovers after a meal and then actually eat the leftovers. A lot of people end up just delaying the waste. They put something in the fridge and feel virtuous that night, but if a week later you’re just throwing it out you’ve just delayed the waste. If you know you don’t like leftovers, then don’t cook as much.

What would you like to see the government do to cut down on the amount of food we waste as a country?

I’d like to see the USDA get involved, again, in matching up farmers and gleaners and helping promote farm food recovery. There was actually a gleaning coordinator under the Clinton administration, but that position was eliminated in 2001 when the Bush administration took over. Even though it would have fit in with the Bush administration’s rhetoric because it’s something that can be faith-based – they didn’t go for it. There’s just this ingrained idea in Washington you don’t do what your predecessor did even if it’s in line with your values.

What is the “inconvenient truth” about waste – i.e., what should we be doing that no one wants to do?

The so-called inconvenient truth is that in addition to wasting money and creating a generation of Americans who don’t value food, we are contributing to global warming by throwing out food. By sending food to landfills we’re essentially creating methane, a greenhouse gas that is more than 20 times more harmful than CO2.

Are there any waste issues that are actually created as negative consequences of positive lifestyle changes – sustainable eating culture, locavore-ism, etc. – and if so, how does one weigh the tradeoffs?

Well, the downside of fresh, unprocessed food is that it’s perishable. When you go to the supermarket or farmers market, the produce is really attractive, and it’s easy to buy too much. I’m someone who enjoys eating so I’m not trying to be the food Grinch. If you go to the farmers market, enjoy that experience and buy interesting, new things. Just don’t go overboard on quantities.

Are there particular problems of waste in the Jewish community, and if so, what can we do to minimize those issues?

Food is a large part of our culture, and when you throw a big party, be it a birthday or a bar mitzvah, you want to please your guests. There’s a “good provider syndrome” (hat tip to William Rathje, founder of the Garbage Project, for the term) where you have to be sure you have more than enough, and at any catered events – not just Jewish ones – the amount of food and waste can get out of hand. I think we can do a better job of enjoying food and celebrating food as part of our culture while at the same time not being so profligate. If you can donate uneaten food to a soup kitchen after the event, that’s great. But because there are legal issues with donating food that has been out on a buffet table, I would urge people to work with your caterer in advance, to tell them that you don’t want the buffet to still be full at the end of the event. We have to start asking ourselves, why is it normal to expect have a full choice of all the food items – all still in abundance – if you show up five minutes before the event ends?  If we can start asking those questions, then hopefully we’ll see the beginning of a cultural shift.

Maybe it is cliche but they say dinner and a show makes for a great date.   I’m hoping so because this weekend my boyfriend and I will be eating at Conni’s Avant Garde Resturant – which is both dinner and a show.  But this is not your average local dinner theatre. They are really serious about their local food.  I got the chance to talk with some of the folks working on the show about their menu and focus on local food.  Below the jump is a brief interview and information on how you can get your own tickets to this fun event.

1. How do you conceive of your menu? Is it different from show to show?
We create entirely different menus for each show but sometimes we do reprise seasonal hits, for example, you just can’t beat curried butternut squash soup in the winter.  The “writing” for the menu and for the show itself starts with where we are at any given moment in time.  We ask: What’s fresh, local, topical, fun to eat, and easy to share?  All other considerations are trumped by the interest of the actor-cooks, which is essential to me.  We must love what we are making before we share it with the audience, and it must integrate playfully with the writing of the show..

Each Restaurant grounds itself in common experience with the audience (with our own special twist, of course), and tries to create the feeling of a special occasion.  Since our guests are entering an unfamiliar situation, we provide meals that are comforting and have broad appeal (again, with our own special twist).  That childhood question “What’s for dinner?” is a powerful marketing tool.  We try to announce menus in advance that will make the audience crave the show.  For one holiday show, we had potato leek soup, roast chicken with classic stuffing, and cranberry sauce.  For the show in late August, the menu included the cooler offerings of a chilled gazpacho, watermelon-mint-feta salad, cold meatloaf sandwiches with pesto pasta salad and a dessert with fresh local blueberries.

2. Prepping a theatrical production is as challenging as prepping a meal for a large number of people. How do you keep your theatrical content and menu items fresh? And how do you avoid burnout?
We rehearse the scripted material and musical numbers as if we were mounting a more traditional show, but the format for the evening leaves plenty of room to improvise and be spontaneous.

Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant was made from scratch.  Everything about our current show– the characters, the narrative, the format of the evening, the role of the audience, and the food service – was developed by a company of actors who work together to stage ideas in the absence of a director or sole author.  In the first two years of this project, the content varied widely from event to event.  This year we have been concentrating on refining the writing so that we can present it at different venues.  Many loyal return audience members now know the “routine” and act as unofficial guides for new audience members (kind of like in the Rocky Horror Picture Show).  What they look forward to most is the new menu each time.

The whole project could be described as a live episodic show about a fictional theater ensemble that is running a restaurant. As a company, we have all “done time” in New York’s downtown, experimental theatre scene. Many of us have worked in restaurants.  These are the common points of departure when coming up with new material.  We’re also highly influenced by popular culture and we love to make reference to our favorites: sitcoms, rock/pop music, public television, etc.  There is always something new to say, there is always something that can be done or said just a little better, and the audience always throws us something new to work with.

3. Since this a food blog, I’m sure the readers are very curious – Where do you source your food from? How do you choose your food vendors?
We seek more and more to know our vendors personally, and we build the menu around featured, seasonal ingredients that we source locally. We have three cooks in the restaurant who divide authorship of the courses: I do soup, Jerusha Klemperer does appetizers and salad, and Jesse Gustafson does the entree and dessert.  Jerusha is on staff at Slow Food USA and is also a native New Yorker with encyclopedic knowledge of the cultural and culinary offerings of this city.  She provides us with most of the leads for food sourcing.  You can read her blog.
With each iteration, we accumulate more knowledge but it is a slow process and is deterred by practical and financial concerns.  Let me be clear: sourcing locally is not more expensive, its just more difficult to know that quantities will be available in advance or to arrange transport where we need it when we need it.  For example, we wanted to source the watermelon locally for our early August menu, but the rain destroyed the local supply.  We had already promised the audience watermelon, so we got it delivered from Fresh Direct.  We are learning.

Our next show is at the Ohio Theatre in Manhattan and opens on Friday, so we will shop at the Union Square farmers market on Wednesday for the main produce items needed for the food we actually prepare in the theater itself—portobello mushrooms for the vegetarian sandwiches, and greens, berries and apples for the salad.  I will get New York State Bartlett pears for the pear soup.  This month they are inexpensive, plentiful, fresh, delicious and available even in local supermarkets.  For the last show, I went to the Sunset Park farmers’ market and got tomatoes and jalapenos for the gazpacho from Rexcroft Farm, and the cucumbers from Angel Farm..  We like getting our bread from Grandaisy Bakery our ricotta cheese from Salvatore Brooklyn and berries from Fantasy Fruit Farm.  We especially enjoy it when our vendors come to the show and we can incorporate them into the celebration.

4. I have heard that the company places an emphasis on Slow Food. Does anybody in the company have a food background or any kind of specialized training?
As I mentioned, we have a strong direct connection to the Slow Food movement through Jerusha Klemperer who is on staff there.  Jesse Gustafson is a self-taught, talented mastermind in the kitchen who comes to the project out of creative interest in the latest innovations in cooking, recipes and trends.  I care about conviviality and the way that food builds community. We balance one another well and argue about the menu until something inspires us all.

I think of our food concept as Slow Food from a cultural perspective—not only knowing where your food comes from, but knowing the people grow, prepare and share the meal with you.  In a moment of supreme inspiration or foolishness (jury’s still out) I took a year off from my day job last year and attended the Culinary Management Program at the Institute of Culinary Education.  In addition to the nuts-and-bolts, I was surprised to find that their main teaching was that the best restaurateurs are stage magicians.  From a management perspective, more important than the food was creating an experience.  They even made us write scripts for what a guest experiences step-by-step through the meal.  I was pleased that what they were teaching was that the most successful restaurants have staff that, like the best theater artists, have a sense of ownership and sincerely care about the whole experience they provide.  This is what we try to do at Conni’s: bring theatricality to the restaurant and hospitality to the theater.

Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant
starring Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant
with design by guest artist David Barber (sets) and Jeanette Yew (lights)

Two Nights!  Friday and Saturday, September 25-26
@ The Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street, Manhattan
Doors open at 6:30; Curtain promptly at 7:00pm
Click here to reserve in advance through SmartTix