As I mentioned in my last post (which seems a century ago), the family and I were going on vacation and I would be missing a week of UrbanFarmJunkifying. That vacation began in:
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| I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill |
and then moved to:
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| Lovely Lady Liberty, with her book of recipes |
where I made a new friend named Sandy. Sandy turned out to be rather the controlling type, limiting my access to electricity, water, transportation, and heat. She finally ousted me and my family from our blacked-out hotel and forced us into the arms of a Brooklyn friend before we made our escape from New York, three days later than planned.
All of which is to say, I apologize for the lateness of this post! Food was on my mind the entire trip, although by the end it was more a matter of, will any place be open for business to feed us besides that one pizza place by the Empire State Building? Mayor Bloomberg's recent ban on supersize sodas became a non-issue. People were lined up at any open store or deli to buy anything they could, to eat or drink. My husband even bought $4/bottle Fiji water, which the label bragged had never been touched by human hands until you unscrewed the cap, to pour down the hotel toilet when the water went out.
Before we met Sandy, however, we encountered two farmers markets. The first was right by our Washington, D.C., hotel in Foggy Bottom. To my kids' disgust (they were exhausted from walking from the White House down the Mall and back to Federal Triangle), I stopped to take a couple pictures, and I had to buy some baked goods to appease them. I'm happy to report that the Foggy Bottom FreshFarm Marketgoers enjoy excellent lemon poundcake and "some kind of chocolate thing" my hub bought that drew groans of pleasure.
Instead of the honey purveyors we feature at our Market, they had a maple syrup farmer! From Maryland, of all places. I'd read recently that, because of global warming, most maple syrup production was moving to Canada, so I'm happy to find pockets of Maryland still cold enough to produce this treat.
Of course, if they're "Maryland's Largest Maple Syrup Producer," it looks like Foggy Bottom is lucky to have them and may not even a few years from now.
The second market was right outside New York's Museum of Natural History, and this time my son forbade me to stop and take any pictures. All I can say is, I think the mix of offerings was not solely "local" because I saw bananas. And it was before Sandy could have blown them up from the Caribbean on her way through. New York has a long history of markets and farmers from surrounding areas making the trip into the City with fresh, local food. (How else, after all, could New Jersey ever have earned the now-mystifying moniker "the Garden State"?) I'm afraid, in Sandy's aftermath, with all the power and transportation issues, locals' access to fresh food will be seriously jeopardized for the near future. Another reason to keep sending thoughts and prayers their way.
Beyond shelter, power, water, easy transportation, heat, and gasoline, I'm so very grateful to be home. I could use a scratch-cooked meal made from ingredients I selected and prepared myself. Very much looking forward to Saturday's market. The fridge still has Millingwood eggs and Bloom Creek Farms cranberries, but that's about it! Can't wait to get my hands on some greens, brussels sprouts, potatoes, and onions. Maybe throw in some hot soup and a JuiceBox drink. Thanksgiving starts early in our house...
