Last Friday, my culinary school catered a dinner in Joel Salatin’s honor. The event was organized by the volunteers in charge of the Live Green Expo, for which Mr. Salatin was the keynote speaker.
Chef let me help plan the menu, which was a real honor. To be honest, I reminded him regularly that I wanted to help with this event. He was gracious enough to allow me to sit in on meetings and share my ideas.
Mr. Salatin is in the center, I’m on the right in the back row.
If you don’t know much about Mr. Salatin, he’s an inspirational man at the forefront of what he calls ‘beyond organic’ farming.
The Food
All of the food was provided by local farmers and producers. We served:
- raw milk cheeses from Lucky Layla
- deviled eggs and chicken wings from Windy Meadows Family Farm
- salads made of greens grown by farmers for my CSA, Squeezepenny
- locally made pasta and pasta sauce
- Texas olive oil from The Texas Olive Ranch
- locally produced honey from The Texas Honeybee Guild
- sliders from locally raised, pastured beef
- organic artisan crackers from Dr. Kracker
The People
We were so busy serving on Friday that I didn’t get any food pictures myself. (I know…bad food blogger behavior! I couldn’t in good conscience run around and take pictures when our guests needed more sliders and chicken wings.) My good friend and founder of Squeezepenny CSA, Penny, was generous enough to share some of her pictures with me.
This is Penny and Mr. Salatin. If you live in the Dallas area and are interested in joining a CSA, please visit Squeezepenny’s website. Joe and I have thoroughly enjoyed every single piece of produce we’ve received.
We served 125 guests, which included the local growers. They were able to spend time talking with Mr. Salatin.
Mr. Salatin
At the end of the event, Mr. Salatin gave a short speech. He talked about the our desire to connect our food with where it comes from. I was too tired and excited all at once to take notes, so I’d be doing him a disservice if I tried to quote him.
There was a hallowed feeling in the air as Mr. Salatin spoke of how each farmer carefully produced the ingredients that our school then used to create a meal that was collectively shared. A parallel became apparent for me between locally grown food and cooking. They’re art forms, both stemming from a love of good food and a deep need to share it with others. On Friday, the sacredness came from marrying the two.
And, yes, I got my apron signed by Mr. Joel Salatin himself. His kindness, humbleness, and generosity of spirit were illuminating. I watched as he tasted foods from different local providers. I wasn’t close enough to hear what he said about the food but the look in his eyes his approving stature said it all.
I’ve decided to visit some local providers in my area and share them with you in the upcoming months. Maybe you’ll be inspired to join a local CSA, build a raised bed garden, or seek out pasture raised meats.
This kind of change has been very slow for us – and we don’t eat everything local. I buy organic when I can and have started to use more locally produced foods. Not at all perfect, but making progress feels good.
What locally produced foods are available to you?
Jillian
posted on April 21, 2010 at 11:29 am
Oh my goodness! You are so lucky! I love Joel Salatin! He is a hero of mine. Ever since I saw Food inc. I have dreamt about visiting his farm. To answer your question, I order most of my produce from a local produce purveyor, they search out local organic farms and collect the produce. I also order organic farm raised meat, unfotunately this can’t be local because where I live there are no local meat farms. However, I completely understand what you where saying, about fealing connected with your food! THanks for the post!
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Hallie @ Daily Bites
posted on April 21, 2010 at 11:40 am
Great post! I use local produce when available, but it’s tough living in Wisconsin with cold winters and late springs. During the summer and fall, we have some great farmer’s markets that I shop at weekly. I also enjoy gardening…this year I’m hoping to get in some lettuce, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, and herbs. Already have fresh spinach in the backyard that is delicious!
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Alta
posted on April 21, 2010 at 11:56 am
I was so sad that my schedule just was overwhelmed with things to do and I couldn’t go to that dinner, or the Live Green Expo. How lucky for you! As far as local goes – I just started with Squeezepenny, but that local movement has been a gradual process for me too. I belong to a group that does monthly potluck dinners where we have to bring a dish with local, organic, and/or sustainable ingredients. That’s helped force me to look for local foods. I shop regularly at the McKinney and Firewheel farmers markets, and just ordered our second lamb from an organic farm in Celeste, Texas. The extra effort has been worth it – we’re rewarded with the freshest, most delicious of ingredients!
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Tracee
posted on April 21, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Wow! That is so cool!
I wish there was a CSA in my area, but we do get our produce from the local farm store. I think eating local is more than just healthy for you, it also makes for a healthier local economy.
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sharon a. kane
posted on April 21, 2010 at 12:10 pm
fabulous post!!! Made me feel like I was there! Joel Salatin is a special and very important person. Wish I could get my apron signed by him!
We grow much of our own produce and use a winter cold frame to grow greens over the winter to eat in early Spring. We’ve already had 2 weeks of these very early salads here in Massachusetts. We hope to get into a local meat share coop.
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Dr. Josh Axe
posted on April 21, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Thanks for this awesome post. It is inspiring to see people who love food support local, organic farmers. Keep up the blogging and recipes! You will change the world one reader at at time!
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Cherise
posted on April 21, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Joel Salatin is one of my heros! Thanks so much for posting this. After finishing The Carnivore’s Dilemma, our family resolved to eat more locally. It’s not easy and it requires constant diligence but we have changed our eating habits to include local beef, chicken, honey, milk, butter and also continue to grow our own heirloom vegetables. We also deal daily with food allergies and intolerances so I really appreciate your blog. Btw, those Carrot Cake Bites are delicious!!!
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Debbie
posted on April 21, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Amy you look so happy and proud. Love following your adventures in health and cooking. Peace.
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Elizabeth
posted on April 22, 2010 at 4:54 am
Love that shot of Mr. Salatin signing your apron! In my fantasies I buy some land and farm the way he does. But seeing as I can’t even keep a houseplant alive long, it will remain just a fantasy and I’ll keep patronizing the local farmers’ market. He seems like an amazing and passionate person. Glad you got to meet him and shared this with us.
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Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen
posted on April 22, 2010 at 9:53 am
What an amazing honor to meet him and cook for him! I really consider him to be one of my personal heroes!
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Karen@Cook4Seasons
posted on April 22, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Joel is my hero, too! What an honor for him to meet you:) With continued efforts like these, we will create our own food revolution, one carrot at a time. Kudos, Amy!
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christina
posted on April 22, 2010 at 8:39 pm
That’s so cool! I’m glad you had that opportunity. We belong to a CSA and shop farmers markets. We just moved to 9 acres last year. Now that we have the room, we’re slowly adding animals and gardens. My husband is building a chicken coop. My two girls asked for chickens for their birthdays. The little chicks are so cute, and we’re looking forward to our own organic eggs from happy chickens in a few months.
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