Protecting Farmworkers' Rights

One of our CROPS members, Cathleen Anthofer, brought to my attention this week an article in the Miami Herald concerning Farm workers being paid unfair wages in Homestead and Florida City. 

Since we buy much of our produce from Homestead, we wanted to make sure that we were not supporting these farms. Some of the worst violators listed were: AFT&T Bean Line, A&J Farms, JNJ Growers, T-N-T Farms, Homestead Organic Farms, Juan Luna, María Sánchez, Elvira Cepeda, Joseph Fisteac and L&J Farm Picking. 
We contacted our supplier, Global Organics, and told them that we are not interested in purchasing from these farms in the future. It is very important to understand the implications of our purchasing power. Spending over a $1000 on each order and refusing to purchase from these farms will hopefully impact how the workers are treated in the future.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

If you would like to learn more about the fight for increased wage and protection for farm workers you can check out the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Click here for the full Miami Herald article. 


These photos are taken by Shiho Fukada for the CIW.

How to eat more sustainably

One of the main goals of the CROPS program is to encourage a more sustainable food system within our community. Here are a couple steps to make your meals more eco-friendly.

1. Eat Seasonally: Eating food that is in season reduces the cost and environmental impact of transporting food many miles to reach your plate. The average food item in the US travels 1,500-2,000 miles to reach your plate. By eating seasonally you support your local food system and also will be eating fruits and vegetables that are fresher and vine ripened. Most vegetables are picked 2 weeks before they reach peak ripeness so that they can make their long trip to your fridge. Picking fruits and vegetables early reduces the nutritious value of the food. 



Growing your own food can really

 help decrease your ecological footprint. 




2. Eat Organic:  By eliminating the use of these poisonous chemicals in our foods and supporting farming that is more intune with the natural cycles and natural systems we can take a big step in being more sustainable.
3. Avoid foods that are overly packaged: Packaging and the containers accounted for  31% of the total waste generated between 2003 and 2005. By purchasing from Co-Op's or from farmers' markets we can significantly reduce the amount of waste we produce.
4. Grow some of your own food: Start your own garden and grow some food! This is one of the easiest ways to make your meal eco-friendly. Also raising chickens for eggs is another way to decrease your ecological footprint. 

A laying hen picking through a compost pile. 

Here are some helpful sites to learn more about eating more eco-friendly and what you can find in florida that is in season:
10 Tips for an Eco-friendly meal
What's in Season in Florida

Photos by Heidi Lellelid

Cathy's Kale Chips

Kale!

Kale is one of those amazing greens that can be cooked in a thousand ways and somehow always tastes different and exciting. Filled with vitamins A, C and calcium this green is something you just can't live without. One of our CROPS members here at Wolfson campus, Cathy Anthofer, sent in this recipe for Kale Chips - a healthy alternative for the regular potato chip and pretty easy to make.

I made Cathy's recipe the other day and was surprised by how much it actually tasted like a regular store bought chip. The crunchy green chip was quite a hit! Many members have commented that the Kale chip has substituted store bought snacks.

Cathy's Kale Chips

May be made in a food dehydrator or oven.

For oven: pre-heat oven to 350

Wash and dry kale. Chop into chip sized pieces, cutting away stems. Place on a baking sheet, and liberally brush olive oil on all pieces. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until ends begin to curl and pieces are dry to the touch. Eat like chips, tastes like popcorn! (Baked kale retains all of its nutritional value!)

Enjoy!

Pictures taken from the Smitten Kitchen

Blueberry Season!

Blueberries are finally here from Florida! There is nothing like the sweet, fresh flavor of freshly picked blueberries. The blueberry is the true sign of summer.

I have challenged myself this season to come up with some new ways of using blueberries besides the usual sweet renditions. I came up with a blueberry balsamic vinaigrette and threw in some of the blueberries in a green spring salad with watercress, radishes, walnuts, feta cheese, and grilled mushrooms. It turned out great the blueberries added a sweet kick to the salad.

I'd love to hear some other suggestions for how to use blueberries in non-traditional ways.

I have added a blueberry muffin recipe here. You can never go wrong with blueberry muffins on a Sunday morning. Hope you enjoy the blueberries this week!

This recipe is taken from the Smitten Kitchen.

PERFECT BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins

5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces or 71 grams) unsalted butter , softened

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces or 191 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon (7 grams or 1/4 ounce) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda

1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt

3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces or 105 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick (and even thicker, if you used a full-fat Greek-style yogurt), closer to a cookie dough, which is why an ice cream scoop is a great tool to fill your muffin cups. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Let cool on rack, or you know, serve with a generous pat of butter.


Pictures and Recipe from The Smitten Kitchen

Welcome!

Welcome to the CROPS Blog! This will be a space where CROPS members can share recipes, tips, information around food related issues and events that other members might find interesting. We all have different ways to express our love of good, fresh, local, organic food and this will be the spot to do it. If you discovered an awesome way to cook Kale or an interesting article or recipe site, we would love to see it! 
I will post pictures and links throughout the season and will attempt to post recipes that highlight vegetables and fruits that are in season locally. We hope you all find this useful.
Looking forward to all the great recipes and advice!



Pictures from Bruceville-Eddy