Thursday, November 8, 2018

Thursday, November 8, 2018 Week #23


Happy Autumn!

IF you are trying to contact the CSA by phone on Thursdays by calling the Cinema Arts Centre…KEEP CALLING till someone picks up! The Cinema Arts Centre is having  an intermittent unsolved (and so far unsolvable) problem with people calling, it doesn’t ring at the Cinema, so no one picks up, and people give up. You could also try calling 631-423-7611 in addition to the usual 631-423-7610.

THANKSGIVING…that week, the CSA will be held on Wednesday, November 21st. The time will be the same (3:30pm to 7:30pm) UNLESS we hear from the farm about an earlier start time (closing will be the same). Will let you know if the time changes.

CSA weather reportpleasant…low 50s to mid-40s)…not quite cool enough to leave your CSA food in the car (cars are usually warmer than outside temps).

HURRICANE ALERT!
We’re not having a hurricane YET but please read this now…
This is hurricane season and will be followed by the possibility of snow and ice before the CSA ends for the season. So, please be aware…
  1. If you don’t get any emails on any given week, show up to the CSA at the usual time and place, and if you’re able…show up to offer to work at 3:30pm or 5:30pm in case there’s a need. The reasons for non-communication could be A) computer problems (storm or no), B) power outages, and C) the X factor (unknown at the present time but…stuff happens).
  2. Keep in mind that the farm will show up and deliver food like the post office talks about the weather…rain, sleet, etc., so your CSA share will be at the Cinema Arts Centre waiting for you, unless there’s several feet of snow (or a serious ice storm or flooding) and no one is able to go anywhere. We’ve had food delivered during Hurricane Sandy, and during snowstorms.
The list…this is a general list and you’ll be sent another email within the next week with the detailed list after I get it (which isn’t till the day of the CSA…this list is subject to change without notice because farming is like that!  J . However, most of the time it’s accurate and if it’s not…usually only one food item will be changed)…


CSA words to live by…when trying any new food that you’ve never eaten before…START SLOW!  Read up about it (make sure it doesn’t interfere with any medications you might be taking or any health conditions you might have), see what traditional/conventional ways it’s prepared (cultures that have been eating certain foods for many years basically have a good idea what they’re doing and we can learn from that), try a small portion, see how your body/digestive system reacts, and proceed from there. Then try preparing in different ways and see what you come up with, and feel free to ask for suggestion/info/recommendations!

Veggie info sheets added as needed. This is the link to the: Veggie Info Sheets. Print out, put in a notebook and you end up with a cookbook at the end of the CSA season. Also there are good tips on storage, prep, and nutrition.

Paraphrased wise words by a nutritionist that I read and don’t remember where I read it or who said it, BUT it’s pretty smart info regarding eating seasonally in our part of the globe…
Spring… is all about detoxing (what we get from the CSA at this time is a lot of green things that are really good to help clean us out from whatever we accumulated during the winter)
Interesting piece about spring greens (out of the 14 listed, we get 12 of them with our CSA…watercress nutritionally and botanically similar to Peppercress) and detoxing…
Summer is all about being hydrated (the popular summer foods are all full of water…Tomatoes, Lettuces, Summer Squashes, etc.)
Fall/winter is all about storing energy (we get all the dense vegetables…in both nutrients and energy…Sweet Potatoes, Winter Squashes, dark leafy greens, etc…. that are the energy powerhouses to fuel us through the winter) to get you through winter to make it to…Spring!

Week #22
November 1, 2018

  1. Leeks* – 1 bunch
  2. Broccoli** - 1 bunch
  3. Peppers, Sweet***
  4. Radish: Daikon****
  5. Potatoes, Sweet*****

Total Items: 5

Herb Share – Nov 1A
Cilantro & Sage

*One of the world’s healthiest foods…
This recipe comes recommended by CSA share partner Joanne Schenendorf… easy and tasty (and vegan)…

**One of the world’s healthiest foods…

***One of the world’s healthiest foods…

****Not sure what to do? Here’s a bunch of ideas (if we get the greens, they’re edible too for a stir-fry or in soups/stews)…
And for its health benefits…
with a few recipes…

*****One of the world’s healthiest foods…



DO NOT LEAVE MESSAGES FOR THE CSA WITH THE CINEMA BOX OFFICE STAFF!!! We don’t always get the messages…at all (people forget…and it’s not their job), and the Box Office staff doesn’t always give correct info. Ask to be transferred to the Café to speak to someone at the CSA. If not, the CSA will not be responsible if your food isn’t left at the Box Office to be picked up, or for anything else you might have wanted to communicate to the CSA staff.

This email includes…

  1. What you need to know
  2. Another reason to eat certified organic foods (I got a million of ‘em J )…
  3. Click Activism – changing the world one click at a time
  4. Events…both near and far
  5. What you actually got last week
  6. And now for something completely different…

Anything in these emails not directly related to the functioning of the CSA feel free to take or leave at your discretion, and anything related to health issues always consult with your physicians before taking any actions.


1.What you need to know (will be either new info to first time CSA members, or reminders/old hat to returning CSA members)…

Before you leave the houseBRING BAGS to pack up your food (CSA members are responsible for packing up their own shares) – canvas/plastic/paper…bring whatever suits your fancy. The CSA does NOT provide bags for CSA members. If someone is picking up food for you, please remind them to bring bags with them.
Time – 3:30pm to 7:30pm
IF you need to pick up later than 7:30pm, call the Cinema Arts Center Box Office between 3pm to 7:30pm at 631-423-7610 xt. 0 (make sure to ask to speak to someone at the CSA) and we can pack a bag for you and leave it at the Box Office but it MUST be picked up before the Box Office closes (call the Box Office to check the time…lately it’s been somewhere between 10pm and 11pm). If not, it won’t be there on Friday.
Place – Sky Room Café in the Cinema Arts Centre at 423 Park Ave, Huntington (if otherwise, you’ll be informed)
Parking – park in the lot all the way around at the back of the building by the day care center (you’ll see a fenced in playground area with a sandbox)
When you arrive at the CSA
  1. Check in at the sign-in desk
  2. Read the Wall Chart that tells us every week what we’re getting, how much we’re getting, and what the farm charged us for it…some weeks it’s take one of everything but SOME WEEKS IT’S NOT!!! So you have to make sure you read the Wall Chart every week, and not assume anything. You can also ask your fellow CSA members that are working at the CSA that day what the story is (they should have name tags on).
Before you leave the CSA – Make sure you have everything on the list! If you get to talking with people, have kids with you, etc., it can be easy to get distracted, but if you arrive home and find out you don’t have everything that was on the list, you’re out of luck because at 7:31pm the food is donated to a local food organization that’s waiting to pick it up and get on their way.

We send a 2nd email with the list for the week and the Veggie Info Sheet attachments that you’ll get because of a) concern if I send one email with attachments it might end up in junk/spam and you might not be in the habit of looking for it there yet, and b) modern communications technology not being all it’s cracked up to be so trying to hedge success rate in getting info out to you.

  
2.Another reason to eat certified organic foods (I got a million of ‘em J )…

Some breakfast foods have more glyphosate (Monsanto’s carcinogenic pesticide Roundup) than Vitamins D or B12…especially Honey Nut Cheerios. Ugh…

Don’t panic, eat organic! J

  
3. Click Activism – changing the world one click at a time

A.Help protect and maintain the integrity of the “certified organic USDA” label…

B.Get glyphosate (the carcinogenic Monsanto pesticide Roundup) out of our food! Learn more and sign petition here…

C.The UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change meeting is coming up (climate change and concerns about the future of farming go hand in hand)…learn more and sign petition…

  
4.Events…both near and far

Thursday, November 8th

10am to 11am

iEat Green with Bhavani online radio show
Progressive Radio Network

Always interesting guests. You can also check out the archives for other shows.
  
Sunday, November 18th

2pm to 7pm

Healthy Planet’s 25th Annual Turkey-free Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner & Lecture
Sustainability Institute at Molloy College
7180 Republic Airport
Farmingdale
$10 – Members/$15 – General Public/FREE – under 12 years old (however, add $10 to each category if not bringing any food to share and eating)
To reserve, purchase tickets and become a member of Healthy Planet:

Come for all or part of this event…I usually show up for the lecture and raffles
2pm – Live music, complimentary soup course, socialize
3pm – Potluck begins (bring only vegan food…see website for details…or don’t, and eat the food provided by everyone else plus some donated from vendors)
4:30pm – Member announcements and lecture…guest speaker to be announced.
5:30pm – Raffles and more (our farm usually donates a “basket of plenty” for this event as a raffle prize)

 Friday, January 25th to Sunday, February 3rd

9am to 9:30pm

The Real Truth About Health
Hilton Long Island
598 Broadhollow Rd.
Melville
FREE (vegan lunch, dinner and Ice Cream included every day)
For more info and to register (they need to have an idea of how much food to provide, etc)…

They did it last year, and they’re doing it again! CSA member Karen Rubino went and already told me she’s planning on going again. I missed it, but paid to get permanent online access to all the lectures. This year I plan to attend at least some of them (10 days 12 hours a day…quite a commitment of time). You can also watch the lectures streaming live (and need to register for access). Some of the speakers this year include…Brian Clement (Hippocrates Health Institute), Joel Fuhrman MD (latest book, one of many, is Super Immunity), Joel Kahn MD (holistic cardiologist), Vandana Shiva (I MUST go see her… a read “shero” of mine J ), Jeffrey Smith (expert on GMO issues), and MANY more (a total of 35 speakers). The focus is a vegan lifestyle, but there’s something for everyone if you’re interested in healthy living, eating, and alternative/holistic medicine.

  
5.What you actually got last week

Week #22
November 1, 2018

  1. Lettuce: Leaf, Green – 1 head - $3.50
  2. Broccoli* - 1 bunch - $4.00
  3. Kale: Curly, Green**  – 1 bunch - $4.50
  4. Mustard Greens*** - 1 bunch - $3.50
  5. Potatoes, Sweet**** - 2 lb. bag - $4.75
And a delicious looking Sweet Potato recipe from the Blue Zones…

Total Items: 5
Total Amount: $21.00
(We pay $20 per week for our CSA share…some weeks we get a bit more and it adds up over the course of the season. This week the amount was $1.00 and so far, the total comes to $20.25! We seem to always get at least one CSA share’s worth of food every year that we don’t pay for…some years two, and some between one and two…it’s all good! J )

*One of the world’s healthiest foods…

** One of the world’s healthiest foods…

***One of the world’s healthiest foods…

****One of the world’s healthiest foods…

  
6.And now for something completely different…

Now that Thanksgiving is only two weeks away…this is not a joke…White Castle Hamburger stuffing!
Grew up liking them, ate occasionally as an adult, took a VERY long break from eating them (decades…went back when they first got veggie burgers just to try them) after I got one with a fluorescent green hamburger bun (top and bottom on the inside) at the one on Rt. 110 in Melville…reported it to the Suffolk County Board of Health and the inspector was THRILLED when he actually found the extremely moldy buns (there were trays of them) as most of the time, the problem item is long gone by the time they show up (and how many people were eating them and didn’t notice, complain or report them???)…

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