Walk the farm to help Japanese farmers

Looking for another opportunity to help?

Farmer Glenn Tanaka is an active volunteer with the Orange Coast Optimist (youth) club.  The kids were deeply affected by the earthquake in Japan and the plight of farmers that lost their crops due to the tsunami and radioactive contamination (or the perception of contamination).

They wanted to raise money to help those farmers and they will be hosting a special Walk the Farm fundraiser on June 18, 2011 at Tanaka Farms. 

Your $20 donation to "Walk the Farm" includes:

- Scenic view as you "Walk the Farm"
- Bottled water
- Sampling of fruits and vegetables from around the farm
- Shaved ice
- Hot Dog/Hamburger lunch
- The knowledge that you are helping a community to rebuild their farms

- T-shirts are available for $10 and can be ordered when registering.

Normally, the cookout tour costs $24/20 (adults/kids).  On this occasion, the cost is a mere $20.  Moreover, it is 100% tax-deductible because 100% of the proceeds will go to the OCO club, a 503(c) non-profit organization, which will funnel the money to Japanese farmers.

Become a gleaner

Image of Jean François Millet's painting, the Gleaners, courtesy of USC.

Gleaning is the practice of salvaging food after the commercial harvesters are done.  For instance, my high school biology class took a field trip to a vineyard to glean grapes left on the vine after the mechanical harvesting was done.  We used the grapes to ferment some wine for our microbiology unit.  In Millet's day, peasants used to glean to stave off starvation.

Today, farmer Glenn Tanaka donates his leftover harvest to the food banks fun by South County Outreach and Families Forward in Irvine.  Together, they provide fresh produce to up to 350 families in need.

Do you want to help farmer Glenn help hungry families?  Sign up to glean on a Monday or Wednesday afternoon this summer.  This is a great way to teach your kids where their food comes from, and to be mindful of others who may not otherwise have access to clean and healthy food.

Find out more about gleaning at Tanaka Farms.  Up to 25 helpers are needed for

• Wednesday, June 1, 3:30 pm
• Monday, June 6, 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, June 8, 3:30 pm
• Monday, June 13, 3:30 pm
• Wednesday, June 15, 3:30 pm  

RSVP to Glenn@TanakaFarms.com

Where the money goes

I would like to thank all of the participants in the Adams CSA program.  The money raised by your participation in the program helps us fill in school funding gaps.  My daughter was a beneficiary of this largess last week.

Adams Middle School is a Title 1 school.  40% of Adams students are considered high-risk either because of their parents' educational background or because of their family income. 

[Many people are surprised that there are pockets of need, even within the Beach Cities.  But Adams is special because their students of all backgrounds statistically outperform other kids that come from similar backgrounds.  In contrast, other middle schools with higher mean test scores in the Beach Cities underperform relative to their economic peers.]

The school drama club is putting on Beauty and the Beast this May*.  The drama teacher wanted to take the kids to the Pantages to see a professional production.  The district policy is to not let money be a barrier to a quality education for all students.  But there was no way the school district could come up with the $4,000 for the entire drama club to go.

We found a way to make it happen.

We got a discounted group rate from the Pantages box office.  The PTSA paid for the rental of a school bus to transport the students.  Most parents paid $47 (vs the $60 box office list price).  Kids from families that couldn't afford $47 (and could substantiate financial need) were given a 50% subsidy from the school's educational enrichment fund. 

Everyone who wanted to go was able to go.  The kids had a great time.

Thanks all around.

* Contact me if you are interested in getting tickets to the Adams' performance of Beauty and the Beast.  Or if you want to help with the costumes or sets.  ;-)

Do you Recipe View?

Google Recipe View debuted this week. I typed in Golden Beets and found a recipe for Farfalle with Golden Beets, Beet Greens, and Pine Nuts. It was so delish, I ate seconds.

CSA Day March 13, 2011

Like the flyer says, RSVP to your school CSA coordinator if you would like to attend. It's free for all regular CSA subscribers.

This is the most popular CSA day at Tanaka Farms. The strawberries are ripe and the veggies are in the ground (and recognizable!). Come join us.

So far, I have collected 6 sign-ups for March for the Adams CSA program. Download the March Adams sign-up form and turn it in to Neighborhood Grinds before 8 AM Friday March 4. Let me know when you drop off your form or if you want to attend CSA day.

Golden Beets!

Did you get golden beets in your box this week? I did, a nice bunch of them. Even if you're not a fan of red beets, try to goldens--their flavor isn't as strong, and the color is more friendly to visual eaters. I've learned to like red beets, even love them, but the intense magenta kept me away from them for a very long time--it just didn't seem like a savory food color.

Last time I got golden beets in my box, I just fried them up in a little butter (shown above) and sprinkled them with salt and pepper--so simple. Even the picky child in my house enjoyed them--they looked enough like fried potatoes, I guess. Another visual eater!

CSA Soup

This is what we make with the vegetables we don't love from the CSA box; or maybe we love them, but we don't need so much; or maybe, we love them but our schedule doesn't allow us to eat them before they're gone. We make CSA Soup: the one above contains kohlrabi, carrots, celery, Chinese broccoli, and cauliflower. Chop them all up. Put them in a soup pot with stock and water to barely cover. Add spices to taste (salt and pepper are fine; a basic curry blend also works well). Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the veggies are soft. Blenderize in batches. Stir back together. Serve with nice bread. Even if you don't love the individual components of this soup, they'll generally work together as a blended soup.

Other things we did with our CSA goodies this week: cooked down the bunch of chard to make some saucy Indian takeout more substantial; added much of the Chinese broccoli and another bunch of chard to a favorite cheesy tuna-noodle casserole; had a strawberry-chai milkshake for Valentine's Day (so pink!).

Now What?

Are you sitting on the fence about signing up for a CSA box?

Or have you already signed up and feel guilty about the decaying veggies in the bottom of the produce drawer?

Want to see my method for prepping and storing the produce when I get it home?

Want to learn some new recipes for preparing the seasonal produce in the latest boxes?

Meet your CSA coordinator, Grace Peng, at Neighborhood Grinds at 5:30 PM on Thursday February 24 where I will walk you through the pickup process.

Then go to my (nearby) kitchen where I will show you some techniques to store and prepare the produce from the box. We should be done by 6:15 or earlier.

Make eating real food really easy!

Where:
Neighborhood Grinds
2315 Artesia Blvd., Unit 1 (NW corner with MacKay)
Redondo Beach, CA 90278

When:
5:30 PM (sharp!) February 24, 2011

RSVP to let me know how many to expect.

Chinese Broccoli

Ever wonder how they make that delicious Chinese broccoli dish served in dim sum tea rooms?  Make some tonight with the Chinese broccoli that came in today's box.

Bring a large pot of water to boil while you wash and trim the broccoli.  Then blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for 5 minutes, or until it is tender-crisp (the leaves are tender and the thickest part of the stem is just slightly crisp).  Drain the broccoli and put it on a serving dish.

You can drizzle oyster sauce* directly on the broccoli.  If you worry about the sodium, thin the oyster sauce with up to 50% hot water or broth before pouring it on top of the greens.

It's that easy.

* I buy oyster sauce from 99 Ranch Supermarket in Gardena.  But you can also find it at any Asian market or larger general supermarkets.  If you make the trek out to 99 Ranch, check out the fresh noodle aisle.  You can buy blocks of turnip cakes to round out your dim sum feast at home.  Slice the turnip cake into 1/2" thin slices, pan fry to brown on each side, then serve with soy sauce, vinegar and chili sauce.

Not Roundup Ready

One of the main reasons to join a CSA is to get to know your food supply. When you visit your food, you learn how it is grown and by whom. A small organic farm is fundamentally different than the highly-automated large-scale monoculture (single crop) farms where most conventionally grown food originate. TF, like many small farms, is messy. You will see weeds and volunteers (veggies from the last crop) everywhere.

Tanaka Farms (TF) holds several CSA Family days a year--usually in the Spring, Fall and Christmas. Strawberries and the green veggies star in the Spring visit. Kids pick and wash their own veggies. Then the Tanaka Farms staff grill them up so you can eat them for lunch right there. Afterwards, everyone is sent out to the strawberry patch to pick dessert.

When things wind down in the fall, TF tours focus on the pumpkins and the corn maize. Each December, TF also holds a Christmas party for CSA members where they also sell Christmas trees for another local farmer.

I took these pictures at the September 2010 Fall tour. See the broad-leaved weeds amid the corn? These are definitely not Roundup Ready corn--corn that has been genetically engineered to withstand direct spraying of the glyphosate-based herbicide sold by Monsanto as Roundup. In fact, genetically-modified crops cannot be sold as organic under current labeling laws.


Do you see the insect holes on the radish greens below? Some people are turned off from organic food because it is typical to see moderate amounts of insect damage. You can see the insect holes, but you can't see the insecticides that are sprayed on conventional produce to make them look so perfect. Common organophosphate insecticides have been linked to ADHD in children, particularly genetically susceptible children and/or children who were exposed in-utero. Other insecticides, endosulfan and dicofol, were linked with autism.


Instead of spraying herbicides, they pull the weeds by hand. Sometimes, they get behind and the vegetable beds look a bit messy. If you visit the farm and see a weed, give them a hand and pull it out.

This is Farmer Tanaka, aka Glenn Tanaka. He learned to farm from his father. His son, Kenny, works with him along with a cadre of farm staff that has worked with the family for decades. They are all family.


Glenn says that he sprays Neem tree oil instead of insecticides to repel insects. The oil doesn't kill the insects; insects simply don't like the taste (or smell) of the oil and stay away. Neem tree oil is very expensive compared to synthetic (but toxic) insecticides. Moreover, neem tree oil needs to be resprayed every two weeks in order to repel subsequent waves of insects. This is why organic food costs more than conventional food.

It's expensive to grow food that doesn't contain stuff that is invisible to the naked eye.

Get to know your farmer. Get to know your food. Bon appetit!