News from Mad River Valley Localvore Project

MAD RIVER VALLEY LOCALVORE PROJECT

Local Fare

January 2011

The Mad River Valley Localvore Project has decided not to hold the Souper Bowl in 2011. We may reinaugurate the event in 2012. Our small all-volunteer team of organizers are finding that our professional and family commitments are not leaving us enough time to successfully run the popular event this year.

In the past, a portion of the funds raised through the Souper Bowl have gone toward the purchase of Vegetable and Meat CSA Shares for the Mad River Valley Food Shelf. We have some money in our small budget that will enable us to purchase CSA shares again in the 2011 season without the funds normally generated from the Souper Bowl.

We are grateful for the support from area chefs and food producers over the past three years. The diversity of soups and the beautiful setting at the Round Barn Farm made this a truly special event. We are grateful to all of the people who contributed to the event and helped make it so successful.

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Updated MRV Farms Map Published

We recently completed an update of our farms map and it has been published in the the Mad River Valley's 4-Season Guide for 2011.

Please take a look at the map - there are over 40 agricultural enterprises in our valley and surrounding towns!

For a hard copy of the map, pick up a copy of the 4-Season Guide throughout the Valley or at any of the Vermont Welcome Centers. You can view a virtual copy of the guide by clicking here.

Click for a full-size PDF version of the grid.

The accompanying Farm Grid lists each of the farms and provides contact information including a website address, e-mail and phone number. There are also details about the products grown/raised/produced by each of the farms as well as info about visiting the farm and where you can buy their products.

This map is maintained and funded by the Mad River Valley Localvore Project. We are grateful to Bev Kehoe, publisher of the 4-Season Guide, for being a huge supporter of this project. Thanks also to Ben and Jerry's Foundation and the VT Department of Agriculture for grants that initially funded the project.

How to Eat Local in the Winter

When we started the Mad River Valley Localvore Project in 2006, it was really difficult to prepare an all local meal in the dead of winter. Not so today! There are now plenty of ways to get your fill of local food year-round in Vermont! Here are some to get you started.

Valley Farm Stands

Gaylord Farm Stand Open Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat 8am to 5pm with a full compliment of grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and eggs. Many root vegetables are still available.

Kingsbury Market Garden Reopening on Feb 4th with a Thurs, Fri, Sat 11am to 6pm schedule. Winter veggies, breads, pastries and to-go farmstead meals.

Kenyon's Yes - Kenyons! You can now buy their grassfed beef from their beautiful freezer display right in the the front of the store.

Neill Farm Stop by their milk house to purchase their pork and beef - don't be shy...the meats are in the freezers.

The Frozen Butcher Makes a delivery to the Valley on the third Saturday of every month in the parking lot of The Big Picture. If you want to get on his e-mail list, contact Helm Nottermann.

Grocery Stores

Most area grocery stores stock local products including apples, cheeses, maple syrup and some root vegetables and many also carry local meats from Gaylord Farm, Vermont Yak Company, Neill Farm, north Hollow Beef. Sweet Pea carries salad sprouts from Vermont Herb and Salad. An impressive variety of local foods can be found at Mehuron's, The East Warren Community Market, The Warren Store, The VG and Shaw's.

Farmers' Markets

Sugarbush Randomly throughout the winter. We will try to keep you apprised of market dates through our blog and Facebook pages. The next market is Saturday, January 15th.

Waterbury Winter Farmers' Market on Jan 15, Feb 19, Mar 19, April 16 at Thatcher Brook Primary School and April 9 at Crossett Brook Middle School 10am to 2pm.

Montpelier Winter Farmers' Market on the 1st & 3rd Saturdays Dec-April 10am to 2pm. At the Vermont College of Fine Arts Gym on the corner of E. State St. & College St.

Burlington Winter Farmers' Market on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays Dec-April 10am to 2pm. At the Memorial Auditorium.

CSAs

Vermont Yak is starting up a CSA. $100 gets you 10 pounds of Yak meat!

Pete's Greens CSA delivers to the Waterbury and Middlesex areas and they are now accepting new customers.

Restaurants

The Barn Door features a local farm in their specials each week and Chef Luke also did a lot of preserving in the summer months. Seven Days calls The Barn Door The Best New Restaurant in Vermont in 2010. Lucky us! It is right here in the Valley! Jason at The Green Cup also preserves quite a bit in the summer and features local meats year round and then of course there are those amazing egg specialty dishes with local eggs. American Flatbread specials always feature some local meat, veggies and cheeses. The Big Picture has one of the best burgers in the Valley that features ground beef from The Frozen Butcher and you can get a delicious burger cooked your way at Ake's Den who serves Boyden Farm beef. Lots of Vermont foods show up on the Common Man menu and ditto for Timbers Restaurant at Sugarbush. We know that we are missing some so if you have enjoyed a meal featuring local foods at one of our Valley Restaurants, please let others know about it on our Facebook page.

Miscellaneous

Montpelier Common Share A fabulous winter food resource, this group works with local farmers to offer monthly opportunities to purchase local meats, veggies and cheeses. The next order deadline is Feb 3 for pick up in Montpelier on Feb 10 and the final order of the winter is a March 3 deadline for pick up on March 10. Click here to learn more.

Don't forget that amazing Cyrus Pringle Bread from Red Hen Baking Company. You can get it at local Mehuron's and Shaw's in the Valley or right from the Red Hen Cafe in Middlesex. In 2006 local food enthusiasts in Vermont challenge local farmers and bakers to work together to create a bread made from locally grown and milled flour. After four years of research and experimentation, Charlotte Vermont grain grower Tom Kenyon and Red Hen owner Randy George have produced an all local bread that has far exceed anyone's expectations.

Thom Gorman

No chef that we know better embraced the idea of Eat Locally, Spice Globally than Thom Gorman and he did it for over thirty years. The menu at his restaurant at the Millbrook Inn featured the best Vermont meats and poultry - long before it was cool for chefs to list their farm partners on their menus. There wasn't a Saturday in the summer that you couldn't find Thom at the Waitsfield Farmers' Market buying produce for the coming week - not even this summer when he was recovering from treatment for cancer. He was a regular customer of Tunbridge Hill Farm before there was a Valley Farmers' Market and before Jean and Wendy located their farm in Tunbridge. Thom didn't make a big deal out of his use of local ingredients - it just made sense to him.

Tom passed away on December 23, 2010. Our sympathy goes out to his wife, business and life partner Joan. There will be a potluck memorial remembrance of Thom's life at Mad River Glen on January 19 at 6pm. We encourage you to attend and bring a dish featuring local foods in honor of Thom.