Any food columnist worth his sea salt should be writing about the coming year, now that Christmas is in the rear-view mirror.

But it’s the annual Christmas experience that still has a grip on my mind — in particular, our daughter’s efforts to find healthy, locally produced food. She grew up in Davis. Now 32, Jane lives in Queens, one of the unglamorous boroughs of New York City, which therefore has reasonable rents.

She and I went to the Davis Farmers Market on Christmas Eve and perused the offerings. Most of what we needed for the holiday meal had already been purchased at the market, Nugget or Ikeda; we were there for the experience.

Of course we found kale, broccoli and root crops. But the many types of lettuce looked remarkably appealing, strawberries beckoned, and even the Shady Lady tomatoes — local tomatoes in late December! — held promise. Year-round food vendors were selling naturally raised pork, poultry and beef, and the fish vendor was so busy that we came back later to check. We bought a dozen fresh eggs from one seller.

“Basically, you could live completely from what you buy here,” Jane remarked, a fact that she newly appreciated. “Our farmers markets have almost nothing this time of year. Plus there are investigations into whether they actually produce what they’re selling.”

Walking about, we encountered Randii MacNear, the market’s manager, and this whole subject came up. MacNear noted that California has the only truly official certified organic program in the country. She also said California leads the nation in the number of farmers markets, but New York state — led by the New York City area — ranks second. The problem is, the role of a farmers market in your life depends very much on where in New York City you live.

In Queens, where Jane lives, it’s slim pickings. Queens has 2.3 million people, but just two greenmarkets, as they are called. One is now closed for the season; at its peak, there are three vegetable sellers and 10 other vendors with fruit, beef, honey and baked goods. Both are under the aegis of GrowNYC, a large nonprofit that since 1970 has fostered farmers markets (greenmarkets) in New York City. While there are now 53 such markets, most are seasonal.

Manhattan has the best-known greenmarkets, some of which are frequented by top chefs and regular customers who care about local, fresh and sustainable. I was impressed when I toured the famous Union Square greenmarket some years ago. It has 140 regional producers on hand at peak season.

“But the ‘hip’ revolution never got to Queens,” Jane noted.

Well then, can one simply rely on the local supermarket for quality produce and protein? Not exactly. She frequents her local Stop & Shop, a chain of 355 supermarkets in the Northeast. The offerings are nothing like the two Nugget Markets in Davis, the Davis Food Co-op, or our Safeway and other supermarkets.

Diane often shops at Stop & Shop when she visits our daughter. “The produce is spooky,” she says. “The meat is even spookier.” She finds the chicken breasts to be particularly alarming, because they are so wan and unappealing in the package. Jane was in the hospital from salmonella poisoning due to chicken a few years ago. It matters.

Early in the fall I wrote about the vastly superior seafood offerings in Cape Cod, compared to Davis. But for all-purpose shopping for local, fresh food, in a smaller community, Davis beats anywhere in the U.S.

My daughter tries to eat healthfully in Queens, but it’s not easy. There was a time this year when smoked turkey and avocado became a staple of hers, as she’d found a source for avocados. While she was home this Christmas, she wanted to learn something new and healthful that she could make in her environment.

We made butternut squash soup together — simple, and it requires only an onion, chicken broth and a butternut squash, all of which should be readily available, although probably not local. Winter squash and onions don’t suffer much from shipping and storage compared to most other produce.

It should be said that she’s not a food fanatic. She’s happy with fresh, nutritious food from anywhere. Unfortunately, that standard can be hard to meet in her Queens neighborhood. But it gets worse in truly poor neighborhoods, like the South Bronx, where there is literally no supermarket or source of fresh produce anywhere nearby. Various city-sponsored programs, including Healthy Bodegas and pushcarts, have failed.

Perhaps she should travel to Manhattan, but no, that’s impractical. It’s an hour to a good Manhattan greenmarket, and at least 30 minutes to one in Brooklyn.

“Basically, you have to have no life to think of doing that,” she explained. A hard worker, she grabs what she can and has little time for cooking, like so many her age.

Before I wrote this column, it crossed my mind to write something clever, even humorous, about putting more local food on your table during this coming year. It’s healthy for you and good for the local economy. But you already knew that, I’m sure.

What we also know, but forget from time to time, is that we live in a region with extraordinary local bounty. The luxury of choosing whether or not to buy locally grown or produced foods is not an option in most parts of this country, including my daughter’s neighborhood. Since we live here, we ought to partake of something special.

— Dan Kennedy, a Davis resident, has a long history with the bounty of gardens and small farms. Reach him at [email protected]

Comments

comments