A conversation about local food & farming

by Lauren, August 7, 2009 | Permalink

Last night, the Brighton store hosted its first ever “Local Food Lovers Tweetup”!  You might be wondering: “What exactly is a ”tweetup”?  Don’t be embarrassed.  I didn’t know myself until about 2 months ago when I got an invitation to one.  A “tweetup” is a meeting of people that gets arranged on Twitter creating an opportunity for “tweeters” who follow one another to meet face-to-face (ie. the old-fashioned way of networking).

About a dozen people came out on this beautiful August evening to mingle, talk about local food, farmers markets & CSAs and, of course, enjoy locally produced foods (Maine Root root beer and ginger ale probably got the most rave reviews).  John Lee, general manager of Allandale Farm in Brookline facilitated a very interesting discussion about CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), since this is the first year that he has implemented this model of business on his farm. 

Attendees discussed their experience as CSA members along with the pros & cons of buying shares from a farm.  What if you love ALL vegetables but your significant other detests brussels sprouts and anything that came into contact with the dreaded crucifer?  Should the farmer pack boxes of produce for his customers or is it better to allow the CSA members to pick & choose each head of lettuce, bunch of basil, tomato, etc allotted each week ?  John chose to do the former this year but has set up a “swapping station” where people can leave behind what they don’t like and exchange it for something else.

Members of the Red Fire Farm CSA, who pick up their weekly share every Friday afternoon in the Brighton parking lot, seem to be an adventurous bunch.  I have overhead conversations in which fellow members swap recipes they prepared the prior week and suggest ways to prepare unusual items like kohlrabi.  The farm also does a fantastic job of keeping their members informed about happenings on the farm, sending out harvest updates and sharing delicious recipes for seasonal items.

The topic of tomato blight affecting many New England farms also came up in conversation.  Allandale Farm will incur loses because the fungus has left behind many ugly tomatoes in its wake.  Despite the cold and wet weather, which hasn’t bode well for the nightshades; John said the farm’s revenue was up so far this season due to the bumper lettuce crop.  The raised beds they have implemented this year has saved a lot of his plants from the rain.  While ”it looks like Venice in  my lettuce fields,” he is pleased with the new ‘technology.’  The weather has not been kind to corn but his root vegetables & beans are top notch - and are available for sale to the general public at Allandale’s farm stand.

If you are interested in finding out more about local food and when the next “tweetup” will be then you’ll just have to follow us on twitter! @WFM_Brighton

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