Tag: local food

President’s Blog – You Are How You Eat!

April 10, 2013

By Pete Woltz, IFC Board President

The IFC is much more than another place to buy food. A while back Kelly and Angie Tagtow shared a request from a journal that was seeking essays that explored “the intersection of cooperatives with alternative food systems initiatives”. I was so moved by the request’s language on cooperative food systems that I read a portion at an IFC board meeting for a bit of pre-meeting inspiration.

The words hit a familiar note for me. Cooperative food systems were described as organizations populated by “food citizens” acting within “civic food networks”. Cooperative food systems, they went on to say, were distinguished from conventional cooperatives in that they:

Reconnect farmers and consumers in more direct and meaningful ways
Sell to local and regional markets through alternative networks
Promote food production, distribution, and consumption processes that are environmentally sound or socially just.

As my involvement in the IFC has expanded over the years from producing products that meet IFC standards, to public speaking, to Board involvement, to volunteering on distribution day, I have come to feel a compelling sense of citizenship within this extraordinary local food community. More than just an intersection of consumers and food producers, I find the IFC to be a vibrant community of citizens accepting the responsibilities and enjoying the privileges that come with citizenship.

What are the responsibilities? For starters, an all-volunteer workforce of “food citizens” somehow manages to collect hundreds of local products every other Thursday and distribute them to lines of very patient consumers at four different sites. Thank you volunteers and patient consumers!

But responsibilities in a cooperative food system go beyond the sometimes overwhelming tasks of distribution. There are responsibilities our producer owners accept to offer wholesome foods produced with practices that protect our land, water, and wildlife. There are responsibilities to care for those who are less fortunate, which we do by supporting our EBT members with donations to cover their fees. Indeed, being responsible is a theme that runs through everything we do.

What about the privileges that come with citizenship in our local food system? Are you kidding – local greens in February!?!

I would also argue that this great privilege is also our responsibility. I encourage you as a coop citizen to buy products from our producers. April sales are well on the way to meeting budget projections. You can help us meet our goals and keep our community alive and healthy by loading your cart this next cycle with the most wonderful local Iowa products available anywhere. Please shop your Coop!

Curry-Spiced Lemon Marinated Lamb Chop Recipe

January 24, 2013

by Gary Huber

– Courtesy of Steve Wedel, Windy Knoll Lambs

Here is a recipe we often use to prepare our lamb chops, which are on sale right now. It’s become one of our favorites; the marinade really compliments the characteristics of lamb meat. Recently we served it to a group of friends as part of the evening meal. Everyone enjoyed it…even those eating lamb for the 1st time!

Curry-Spiced Lemon Marinated Lamb Chops
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. grated onion
1 Tbsp. chile powder
1 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground ginger

To make the marinade, combine the marinade ingredients (which will make enough for 6-8 chops) and marinade the chops at least 2-3 hours or overnight. We like to do ours on the grill. Grill over medium heat until desired degree of doneness. Or try baking them at 300* on a rack (such as a cookie cooling rack) placed over a cookie sheet pan. This allows the fat to drip off. If you like to pan-fry be sure to remove as much excess fat as possible as the fat gives an unwanted flavor.

“Bonne Femme” Cooking with IFC ingredients

November 15, 2012

by Gary Huber

Lately I have been enjoying recipes from the Bonne Femme Cookbook, recently released by the former Des Moines Register dining critic Wini Moranville. “Bonne Femme” cooking refers to everyday cooking that the average French “housewife” would prepare using fresh, locally available ingredients. I have found the recipes to be a great opportunity to use some of my finds from the Iowa Food Coop.

For example, “Melty Goat Cheese Salad with Honey and Pine Nuts” (p. 38) provided the perfect stage to feature Reichert’s Dairy Air’s Robiola di mia Nonna goat cheese. This is a simple tossing of greens (I used a mix of Berry Patch lettuce and spinach with green leaf lettuce from Krieger Greenhouse) with a light vinaigrette, topped with toasted pine nuts. But what makes this salad special is melting “soft-ripened goat cheese” on toasty baguette slices, then drizzling with honey, and serving the crispy melty toasts on the bed of greens. Now, whether Lois Reichert would call her Robiola a “soft-ripened cheese” is not certain to me—but it is perfect for this application. I used Novae Vitae’s Pure Honey to finish the toasty morsels. Though it is virtuous to serve them with a fresh green salad, it occurs to me that the toasts alone would be a lovely appetizer or a great accompaniment to any other kind of salad or light supper.

To make the toasts, slice a baguette into half inch slices and toast on both sides, either in a toaster or oven. Brush one side of toasts with olive oil, top with 1/8^th inch thick slices of Robiola di mia Nonna, and place under oven broiler for 3 minutes or until melty but not scorched. Cool slightly and drizzle with a little honey; serve on a bed of greens, or however you want to eat them.

The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food that French Women Cook Every Day, by Wini Moranville, is available online or at local bookstores. You can connect with the author on Facebook at Chez Bonne Femme.

Review by Rita Pray, 11/10/12

Chèvre and Pumpkin Lasagna

November 9, 2012

by Gary Huber

Courtesy of Lisa Bean, who brought this dish to our annual meeting on 11/3/12.

Chevre and Pumpkin Lasagna

Adapted from Andrew Schloss, Art of the Slow Cooker

3 T olive oil

3 large onions halved and sliced thin

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 ½ t kosher salt

¾ t ground pepper

1 t dried sage

1 t dried thyme

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 T flour

1 ½ c vegetable broth

2 T balsamic vinegar

¼ c chopped parsley

1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)

2 large eggs

¼ c seasoned bread crumbs

1/3 chopped pine nuts

¾ c grated Parmesan cheese

12 cooked lasagna noodles

8 oz fresh chevre broken into small pieces

Heat 2 T oil in skillet add onions and cook until lightly browned (10 min). Add 3/4ths of garlic, 1 t salt, ½ t pepper, sage, thyme, red pepper and flour, stir until onions well coated – (one Minute) add vegetable broth slowly and stir until slightly thickend – add vinegar and half the parsley set aside.

Mix, pumpkin, eggs, bread crumbs, pine nuts , remaining parsley and garlic, 1/2 t of salt and one ¼ t of pepper in a separate bowl.

Coat lasagna pan with olive oil. Spoon ¼ of onions on bottom , top with three lasagna noodles, then 1/3 of pumpkin, one third of the chevre , one third of remaining onions, repeat twice – last layer should be noodles. Cover and bake for one hour at 350 – for last 10 or 15 minutes uncover and top with remaining parmesan cheese.

Seasonal Produce

October 15, 2010

by Gary Huber

While I realize this may not be the most timely of posts, it is an important one. I was drafting the latest announcement to our members, you the owners of this Iowa Food Cooperative, and I came across a message I had sent early in the year. It was intended to address the concerns around sparse picking in the way of vegetables, and greens. I recall I checked ‘the Google’ and quickly found a great resource: The National Resources Defense Council (NDRC) has created a great listing by state. In that long-ago email, I posted this same link to Iowa’s in season produce.

As my wife & I have become increasingly dependent upon seasonal food and days get colder, I begin to think about pumpkin-pie and apple cider, and Turkey. Oh yes! Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Our stairs have become an impromptu root-cellar. I have big feet, and I’m always afraid I’m going to make some accidental mashed potatoes as I head downstairs.

According to the NDRC this is what we can look forward to this season:
Apples, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Bunching Greens, Cabbage, Carrots , Celery, Collards, Garlic, Head Lettuce, Kale , Kohlrabi , Leeks, Lettuce Mix, Onions , Oriental Greens, Ornamental Corn, Parsnips, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Raspberries, Snap Peas, Snow Peas , Spinach, Turnips, and Winter Squash.

Lots of good stuff in there. I look forward to this fall season as a close to my first year as board-member and I believe 4th year as conscientious consumer of local foods. What I mean by that is that I have been a fan of the idea for some time, it was about 4 years ago now that Lori introduced me to the bounties of Turtle Farm CSA, an IFC Member by the way, and her passion for ‘Good Eats’ (a nod to Alton Brown there). Well I’ve rambled enough. Here’s to a wonderful upcoming season of thanksgiving. Support your local farmers, and lets not forget those artisans, makers of things too.