Eating seasonally and locally has become a popular trend in the last several years, and many people are being introduced to the idea of really knowing where (and when) their food stuffs come from. Or should I say, re-introduced? In the not too distant past, just over one hundred years ago actually, one had to either buy what was in season in their area, or have other desired goods shipped to them caned or dried or otherwise preserved, since refrigerated transport had not yet become commonplace.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to bash supermarket chains, or the food shipping industry. I like eating a juicy mango while the snow falls outside my window just as much as the next guy; and that industry supports our world’s population today in a way that local, seasonal, small scale food could not.
Nevertheless, I think as we become more aware of where our food comes from, we inevitably become more aware of when it should come. Eating seasonally goes hand in hand with eating locally, since customers and farmers can have a more long-lived relationship. In summer of course, vegetable farmers can sell bountiful harvests of squash, greens, peas, tomatoes, herbs, broccoli, and many many kinds of fruits. We as livestock farmers can sell fresh meat, eggs sometimes laid within the last twenty-four hours, and all in an abundance that cannot be achieved in the winter months.
In winter, vegetable farmers have more success with root crops, and things like cabbage and kale. We also have to change our operation; downsizing the flock of laying hens from roughly fifteen hundred, to five hundred, and stopping all pork and poultry production, since pasture-raising in several feet of snow is less than desirable for all parties involved.
So, for something more than a fair-weather friendship to be sustained between customers and producers on the local scale, we as farmers have to be willing to stockpile, freeze, and preserve as much as we can for sale at a later date, and customers have to be willing to do some diet altering and preserving of their own.
That’s all very wintery and serious though, and since we are at this moment in the full swing of summer’s bountiful production, take a while this week to enjoy a very seasonal recipe!
Chicken with Summer Squash Salad and Fresh Herbs
FOR THE CHICKEN
2-2 1/2 pounds split breast chicken
2- 2 1/2 cups (or to cover) low-sodium chicken broth (preferably homemade)
FOR THE SALAD
4 to 5 medium zucchini and/or yellow summer squash
1 14- to 16-ounce can garbanzo or cannellini beans
1/3 cup coarsely chopped green or purple basil leaves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
1/4 cup snipped or chopped chives
1/3 cup pitted, brine-cured Kalamata or similar black olives, drained, for garnish
FOR THE DRESSING
Juice of 1 1/2 large lemons (about 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
SERVINGS: 4 - 5
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Emma Parish
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