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TAKE YOUR FAMILY TO THE FARM
Even if you don't live on or near a farm, there are plenty of ways you and your family can bring the farm experience into your lives.
Pick Your Own: It's your turn to do the harvesting!
There are farms all over the country that open their fields and orchards to families who want to get right to the source of their food. Spend an afternoon picking kiwis in California! Apples in New York! Peanuts in Mississippi! Okra in South Carolina! Blueberries in Massachusetts! Pumpkins in Vermont! Use the fruits and vegetables you pick to make market munchies or use them in your harvest night recipes (see below). Visit www.pickyourown.org for information about pick-your-own farms near you or ask at your local chamber of commerce.)
Take the Local Challenge: Seek out produce and products from your area.
Did you know that the average fruit or vegetable travels 1,500 miles to get from where it was grown to your table? We use the term "food miles" when describing this journey. What's the lowest number of miles a fruit or veggie could travel before it gets to your plate?
Choose a week during which you and your family will try to eat foods that come from local farms and other nearby producers. Keep track of what you buy and where it's made or grown. In addition to local fruits and vegetables, see if you can find local cheesemakers who are making their own cheeses, a dairy that produces its own milk and yogurt, and a local bread baker. You can even look for poultry and other meats from nearby farms. (See www.localharvest.org to find farms and farmers' markets near where you live.)
See if you can figure out where all your food comes from. How far did the potatoes in your potato chips travel to get to you? What about that mango? Is it from down the road or around the world?
Host a Harvest Night:
Give your favorite fruits and veggies a place of honor at your table by hosting a "harvest night" that features them as the star attraction. Challenge yourself (or your parents) to serve dishes made from as many local ingredients as possible. Can you trace the journey of all or most of the ingredients from where they were grown to your dinner table?
Here's a sample game plan for your harvest night:
- Help plan the menu and cook the recipes.
- Set and decorate the table, greet your guests, and serve the meal.
- During dinner you can:
- Share facts about the Harvest Heroes that you learned here and in the Taste America for Kids insert with your guests.
- Tell the story you wrote about the imagined journey of these ingredients from farm to table.
- Ask your guests to name their favorite fruits and vegetables and describe why they like them.
- Insist that every guest try a fruit or vegetable they think they don't like. Sometimes it's just the way they are prepared that makes people dislike one thing or another.
Make it a potluck! Invite friends and family to bring their favorite dish made with local and seasonal ingredients. Ask your guests to write down the recipe for the dish they brought. Put these all together and create a Harvest Heroes recipe book you can share.
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TASTE TEST
Try to stump your parents, friends, and siblings with this guessing game!
- Blindfold your "subjects" and hand them a variety of whole fruits and vegetables. See if they can guess what they are just by feeling them and smelling them. It's harder than you think!
- You can also cut the fruits and vegetables into pieces and see if your friends can guess what they are based solely on taste. (Be sure to get help from an adult or older sibling when using a knife.)
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Cook up some Market Munchies and Farm-Fresh Favorites
While you're at your grocery store or farmers' market, pick up some ingredients for these nutritious and tasty meals and snacks. Experiment with preparing different types of fruits and vegetables. (Be sure to get help from a parent or older sibling before using a knife or the oven.)
Cool Crudités: Many vegetables taste great raw and only need to be washed before they are eaten. Pick your favorites-carrots, broccoli, red peppers, string beans, and tomatoes are yummy options-and make your own dip with plain yogurt, chopped fresh herbs (try dill, basil, or cilantro) and a little lemon juice. Like it spicy? Add a little hot sauce or chile pepper.
Farm-Fresh French Fries: Try this healthy alternative to frozen or fast food. Cut a potato into wedges, chunks, or strips, toss the pieces in a little olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Spread Ôem out on a greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees until soft on the inside and crispy on the outside (it should take about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces). Experiment with different kinds of potatoes. Sweet potatoes, or yams, are particularly delicious prepared this way.
Pizza of the Season: Skip the takeout and make this easy homemade pizza instead. Use whole-wheat pita bread, tortillas, or English muffins for the crust and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Spoon on some homemade tomato sauce or fresh chopped tomatoes and add cut-up pieces of your favorite local, seasonal vegetables. Try shredded carrots, broccoli, fresh peas, spinach, mushrooms, or onions. Some people even like pineapple on their pizza! Top the veggies with fresh shredded mozzarella or another favorite cheese and cook the pizzas in the oven at 400 degrees until they're hot and the cheese has melted.
Blueberries, Beard Style: Some old-fashioned berry dishes have funny names, like slump, buckle, grunt, and fool. Can you find out the difference? In Beard on Food, James Beard recommended tossing fresh blueberries at room temperature with a spoonful of pure maple syrup and a dollop of sour cream. (Do you know what a dollop is? Look it up.)
more fun! >>
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