Windfall Farms

Winter Greens at Greenmarket

2012-02-10T13:56:00.005-05:00

Just a lil' online piece featuring lil' Ben. I think the author would have devoured him even faster than our sunflower greens . . . wouldn't you?

Orange County Farming Neighbor, Cheryl Rogowski, on the Promised Land

2011-11-30T08:58:00.001-05:00

I happened upon this well made piece, on Rogowski's Organic Farm, while getting ready for market last weekend. Listen to it at The Promised Land-Cheryl Rogowski

Where does our food come from? Since we pay close attention to so many aspects of food in the holiday season, host Majora Carter visits the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area, where Cheryl Rogowski, a fourth-generation farmer, grows 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables. In 2004, Cheryl became the first farmer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She was honored for her innovative approach to agricultural programs and for reimagining and reinvigorating the American family farm. Farming in the 21st century encompasses agricultural work but also addresses community, social, civic and education needs. "It's not enough to just ride a tractor today," says Cheryl. She gives Majora a tour of the farm, and we'll hear from people she works with in the many programs she has created — from mentoring migrant farmers to creating low-cost CSAs for senior citizens, from supplying food for soup kitchens to helping with innovative sustainable farming programs in local communities.

Windfall Gets Visit from James Beard Award Winner

2011-10-04T22:03:00.003-04:00

Dan Kluger is the chef at ABC Kitchen and this year's award winner for Best New Chef from the James Beard Foundation. He is a great supporter of our produce as well as proponent for Greenmarket. Here's a little story about him.

Realtimefarms.com

2011-07-19T13:10:00.007-04:00

Check out the link below for some nice pics of our stand at Union Square.

http://www.realtimefarms.com/source/4710008/windfall-farms

Winter Squash, Warts and All

2010-11-19T21:32:00.002-05:00

There's an article all about winter squash in the Home & Garden section of The New York Times featuring insightful and inappropriate quotes from Tim.

The Sweetest Cherry From New York Magazine

2010-08-23T02:19:00.004-04:00

The Sweetest Cherry

By Rob Patronite & Robin Raisfeld

Cherry tomatoes are the M&M’s of the tomato world—compulsively edible, and, at their best, nearly as sweet. And when it comes to cherries, the Sun Gold variety, a popular hybrid developed in Japan, effortlessly dominates. Off the charts in sugar and acid, it swept the top spots in our undercard match, a “dessert course” to the main event. Eckerton Hill’s “amazing” Sun Golds took first place, followed by Keith’s Farm’s, with S. & S.O.’s and Windfall’s tying for third. Avid grower Goldman, in particular, was besotted with Windfall’s juicy little flavor bombs, which she nibbled contemplatively, scrutinized for color (some pink at the top and bottom made her question their classification), and rated as “excellent.” She was so taken with them, in fact (Sun Gold or no), that she asked if she could pocket two to take home—“for the seeds,” she explained, in the manner of a true tomato obsessive. “I have no shame.”

Illuminating the Small Farms' Struggle for Survival

2010-07-20T17:36:00.012-04:00

Slowed Food Revolution

Obama seeks to boost demand for organic food but doesn't offer meaningful support for the people who grow it.

Morse Pitts has been cultivating the same land in New York's Hudson Valley for 30 years. His operation, Windfall Farms, is the very picture of local, sustainable agriculture. From early spring to late fall, the farm's 15 acres are luxuriant with snap peas, squash, mint, kale, and Swiss chard. Its greenhouses burst with sun gold tomatoes and an array of baby greens. Pitts, who is in his 50s and is tall with gray hair, doesn't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides or any genetically modified seeds. He cultivates biodiversity, not just vegetables.

Twice a week, he hauls his produce 65 miles south to Manhattan to sell at the lucrative Union Square farmers market. His converted school bus runs on biodiesel he makes from used vegetable oil, which he is also trying to use to power his greenhouses. Pitts does a brisk trade; demand for his produce is high, and the way he farms is increasingly valued. Since the mid-1990s the number of farmers markets has shot up 300 percent, and the organic sector has seen annual double-digit expansion.

But despite having no mortgage debt (he inherited the place), a ready market, and loyal customers, Pitts wants to leave his farm. His town recently rezoned the area as industrial, and if he wants to cultivate soil that's not surrounded by industry and its attendant potential for water and air pollution, he has to move. The problem is, he can't afford to.

Aside from the standard instability farmers must endure -- bad weather, pests, disease, and the vagaries of the market -- holistic and organic growers face great but often overlooked economic hardship. They must shoulder far higher production costs than their conventional counterparts when it comes to everything from laborers to land. Without meaningful support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, their longevity hangs in the balance. In the meantime, the USDA showers billions on industrial agriculture. Growers who've gone the chemical, mechanized route have ready access to reasonable loans, direct subsidy payments to get through tough years, and crop insurance, plus robust research, marketing, and distribution resources. Whether organic and holistic growers raise crops, like Pitts does, or grass-fed, free-range livestock, they must contend with circumstances made harder by a USDA rigged to favor industrial agriculture and factory food.

Read the complete article

Heather Rogers is the author of Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution and a senior fellow at Demos.

Hindsight is Twenty-Twenty

2010-07-16T09:59:00.014-04:00

Our research on the comparison between till and no till farming continues here at Windfall. Much has been learned so far. First of all, don’t assume that just because you have some grand plan in mind it will unfold as you expect. Second, try to anticipate obstacles before they happen. Third, things somehow seem to work out.

As you may know, timing is key in life. If you don’t get something done at the right time, you may lose your opportunity to make it work. That is especially true in the world of farming. Things need to happen when they need to happen. Of course there’s wiggle room, but you don’t want to push it. So when a key piece of equipment (a roller/crimper) for our research plots decided that it didn’t want to work when we needed it, or when the pepper plants that were specifically for the research got planted in another area by mistake, or when we didn’t have any irrigation set up to water the newly planted plants my initial reaction wasn’t exactly optimistic. We probably should have tested out the roller/crimper before we needed to use it. The pepper plants should have had a sign on them explaining they were set aside for a specific use. Relying on the weather forecast that promised rain but didn’t deliver might have been a bit hopeful. Should have, could have, would have.

Fortunately, equipment was repaired, more pepper plants were found, and make shift irrigation was arranged. Big sigh of relief. Even though some things didn't work out as planned, many things did - like Hubert flame weeding one of the rows. Check it out.

Now we are past the initial implementation stages and dealing with maintenance. There will continue to be setbacks, but somehow it will all work out.

Astor Center Celebrates All Things Herring

2010-06-24T12:47:00.002-04:00

Nasturtium blossoms are prolific at Windfall these days. WD50 took advantage of this, by pureeing pounds of our flowers into nasturtium gazpacho. While we like the blossoms for their flavor and beauty in our salad, we thought this was pretty interesting . . .

Astor Center Celebrates All Things Herring

Our Newest Farm Residents

2010-06-18T12:53:00.002-04:00

Reported on our Facebook page:

These are temporary "nuke" hives. We will have to transfer the comb and bees to their permanent hives during the next few days. Fun!

Windfall greens on Healthy Happy Life blog

2010-05-04T18:41:00.002-04:00

Windfall greens photographed over at the Healthy Happy Life blog.
For photos look at Greenmarket NYC: Union Square photos, faves, tips.

Growing and Learning

2010-04-29T16:14:00.008-04:00

Windfall Farms has always been interested in experimenting with new methods for accomplishing our goal of providing quality produce with minimal impact to the environment. For example, we currently make biodiesel at the farm (from used cooking oil we pick up at restaurants in the city) to power our tractors, market buses, and small machinery. However, not all endeavors (even if they are embarked upon with the best intentions) turn out to be something economically or practically feasible.

That is why we were very excited when one of our employees applied for and received a grant from SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, www.sare.org) to research and compare different methods of growing crops without plowing or tilling the soil. There have been ample studies on the positive environmental impacts associated with the no-till system (http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/consertill.pdf, http://attra.ncat.org/downloads/notill_veg.doc, http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=2007) such as the reduction of soil erosion, conservation and improvement of water quality, storing more carbon in the soil, and reduced compaction. Unfortunately, a large portion of the farms utilizing no-till methods do so in conjunction with herbicide applications.

For those of you familiar with Windfall Farms, you know that we follow a strict "no" rule (no herbicides, no pesticides, no insecticides, no fungicides, no chemical fertilizers) when it comes to our philosophy on farming. During the 2010 growing season we will be setting up test plots to determine whether tilling or using the organic no-till method under varying circumstances will provide us with a clear picture of the most economical and environmentally sound system for a small farm in the Northeast. Right now we are mostly in the planning stages but a cover crop of winter rye was planted in the fall and is rapidly growing in the back field (see picture above) where the research will occur. So stay posted for updates, we'll keep you informed as we move along with the experiment.

6 new ducklings and 6 baby chicks

2010-04-23T19:16:00.003-04:00

While it isn't clear that our ducks (6 acquired last year, 6 more this week) will ever yield any profitable gain, quantified in accounting terms, somehow their undeniable adorableness is indispensable now that it is apparent. It would seem that they pay for their keep in dividends of entertainment factor. We can't resist singing their praises just a bit . . .

As if it isn't enough that as baby ducklings they have little beaks and dark little sweetly shaped eyes and funny little webbed feet and tiny little wings sticking out at their sides, they are also FLUFFY!!!!!!!!!! Not feathery, not fuzzy, but utterly fluffy . . . nearly furry. It's either crazy or ridiculous how cute they really are. Then, they grow-up and exhibit behaviors like always following each other in a line and seemingly discussing things as they ponder where they might go next. They are lovable in the extreme!!!!!

Green Gone Wrong

2010-04-12T21:55:00.009-04:00

Windfall is featured in "Green Gone Wrong," the new investigative analysis of consumerist solutions to our environmental woes, written by Heather Rogers. The book takes a critical, on-the-ground look at market-based solutions to climate change and other grave ecological ills.

Join Heather (and us) for the NYC launch on Monday, April 19th at 7PM at Bluestockings Bookstore (172 Allen Street, btwn Stanton and Rivington, on the Lower East Side).

Ramps Coming, Garlic Going

2010-04-09T23:01:00.013-04:00

This just in: A sizable patch of Ramps (a.k.a. wild leeks) were found today in an uncultivated field at Windfall! We will have just a handful tomorrow, but expect more in the coming weeks.

Also, there is still plenty of last season's Music Garlic from Stillpoint Farms of Amenia, NY. As it is late in the storage season, we don't expect all of it to be perfect. Therefore, we are selling bulbs two for a dollar and smaller selections three for a dollar. This way you are guaranteed at least one good head. And the good ones aren't just good, they have great flavor.

Spring Veggie Selection at Windfall Farms

2010-04-08T12:21:00.007-04:00

Start planning your menu with our projected Spring produce list!

Late Winter / Early Spring

Parsnips Often considered a Fall storage crop, Parsnips are actually one of a handful of root vegetables that will survive the winter and taste all the better for it in the Spring. Medium and larger specimens are great for cooking in a multitude of ways, while the smaller are tender enough for eating raw and taste like carrots.

Chicory Chicory tastes best in the Spring. Seeds planted in the Fall lay dormant in the field through the winter and germinate as the ground thaws. As a result, the plants release sugars to keep them from freezing. This sweetness compliments Chicory’s naturally bitter flavor, creating an unusually delicious beer-like effect on the palette. We have a wide selection of Chicory this year: Clio, Dandelion, Endive, Frisée, Grumolo, Puntarelle, Rosa di Treviso (a type of Radicchio) and more.

Mâche Originally native to the French alps, Mâche is cultivated in our greenhouses through the cold season. It’s a favorite Winter/Spring green because of it’s distinct buttery, nutty flavor and tender leaves.

Claytonia (Miners’ Lettuce) Very mild and juicy, it will fill-out the stronger flavors of any salad.

Fava Greens The tender leaves are still a lesser known delicacy. They are also more readily available for harvest than the beans.

Spinach Spinach plants thrive and taste best amidst cool growing conditions. When it gets too hot it will go to seed and disappear. Get it while the getting is good and ignore its inferior Californian cousins at the grocery. Varieties: Bloomsdale, Bordeaux, Giant Winter, Olympia, Space, Tyee.

Lettuce Lettuce also thrives in the Spring months when the cool, wet weather prevails. Varieties: Buttercrunch (Bibb), Parris Island Cos (Romaine), Red Iceberg, Red Salad Bowl, Rouge d’Hiver, Tom Thumb (Butterhead), Webb’s Wonderland, Winter Density (Bibb), Winter Marvel, Winter Wonderland and more.

Micro Greens The number of varieties of our exclusively greenhouse-grown micros increases in early Spring and is then reduced as field crops become more abundant. In addition to our year-round favorites (Sunflower, Buckwheat, Purple Radish, Hong Vit, Micro Mesclun), depending on Greenhouse conditions, we have a number of other selections (Kale, Red Mustard, Golden Frill, Tatsoi, Ruby Streaks, Arugula, Chickweed, Purslane, Amaranth).

Later Spring

Sugar Snap Peas They should be called “Spring candy.” Accept no substitutes.

Fava Beans The Spring months are not always long enough to have a significant amount of Fava, but whatever we don’t eat for ourselves, we’ll bring to market.

Sorrel A strong lemony flavored green. The smaller leaves can usually be found in our Mesclun salad mix. Larger leaves are great for flavoring any number of dishes and are often recommended with fish.

Mint “The Best” is the name of the variety we grow. It is.

Remember when...it was winter?

2010-04-04T22:55:00.003-04:00

I spent a couple of nights walking around in the snow with a tripod at the farm this past Winter. I snagged some really beautiful shots, appearing much like daytime. I hope to find a use for them, and at least share many of them with you here, especially since it is now Spring!

2010-03-15T16:25:00.002-04:00

This week at the farm we are experiencing..... mud. There is so much mud that one must be careful when visiting, as Hubert's friend Paula discovered on her way to the farm from NY, this early afternoon. As she got closer to the farm she dialed the farm for directional reassurance and responsibly pulled her '88 Volvo over onto what seemed like solid ground.... she subsequently sank into said "solid ground" and needed to be forcibly removed by Tractor. (luckily she was closeby) Windfall crew saved the day and Paula was embarrassed but unscathed and we were happy to have a new friend with a story we can tease her about. It gets old when there is only Kevin to pick on and since while Tim was away, Kevin did such a great job filling in.... it just doesn't seem right to make fun of him. I'm sure this sentiment will pass. Tomorrow is supposed to be more sunny, hopefully we will begin to get drier ground.

Jesse and Tallulah

2010-03-12T12:56:00.011-05:00

Last Monday, Jesse gave birth to Tallulah, a healthy and beautiful seven pound baby girl. Here are a few pictures of them, for those of us who have missed her presence at the market over the last few weeks . . .

Jesse missed us as well . . . and the micro greens . . .

The Gorzyinski Method-put em in a hole!

2010-02-11T21:40:00.018-05:00

When the root cellar was filled with Watermelon Radishes, carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, and Gilfeather Rutabaga, Morse & Hubert sought-out more space to stash the bountiful harvest. Despite the herculean effort to get them out the ground, an experiment was hatched to put them back in the ground for storage.

Below is Morse's photo essay of burying the "excess" Gold Ball Turnips. I'm told by Morse that this is the John Goryzinski method of root storage; it is why we still have Gold Ball Turnips this season. If you want a delicious turnip for mashing, roasting, and soups make it over to the stand this Saturday, or following Wednesday and git some!

Hubert transporting the Turnips

Turnips in a freshly dug hole, as deep as the tractor bucket could dig.

Bringing some hay bales for insulation.

A one-hay bale thick layer on top of them.

Covered with soil. Goodbye 'til we need ya!

What you don't see is our depleted root cellar storage before this picture. This is Hubert returning to the buried turnips to dig em up over 6 weeks later.

There's turnips in there!

It's definitely a turnip . . . in good condition. Success!

Harvesting the turnips from the ground, once again.

If you have the pleasure of preparing Gold Ball Turnips, here's a simple recipe Hubert perfected one night at the farm.

Gold Ball Turnips-diced medium size with a light coat of olive oil. roasted in the oven til soft.
Dressed with sesame oil and soy sauce
EATEN!

Morse on Last Chance Foods-Watermelon Radishes

2010-02-11T14:37:00.006-05:00

WNYC has posted an interview with Morse on Last Chance Foods from November 30th, 2009.

Radishes, which get sweeter as the weather grows colder, are a great winter crop. Morse Pitts of Windfall Farms has tips for growing, storing, and eating watermelon radishes--and tells you why they go great with salsa

Maybe not the best for salsa, definitely good with hummus, dips, and mashed potatoes!

Listen to it from the WNYC website at Last Chance Foods

Windfall in New York Magazine

2010-01-15T19:48:00.004-05:00

Gilfeather Rutabagas

Add a Comment

By Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite
Published Jan 10, 2010

(Photo: Hannah Whitaker. Illustrations: John Burgoyne)

It’s root-vegetable season, and if that doesn’t make you want to clap your hands and jump up and down, the so-called Gilfeather turnip might. Developed by Vermont farmer John Gilfeather in the late 1800s and recently introduced at Greenmarket’s Windfall Farms stand, the heirloom root (which is actually a rutabaga, Gilfeather’s nomenclature notwithstanding) has a sweet flavor with a mild radishlike bite, and it’s not too much to say it’s the best-tasting rutabaga around. Try a few grated raw in a salad, mashed with potatoes, or in this Finnish pudding recipe from Gastronomica editor and rutabaga authority Darra Goldstein, whose passion for the much-maligned veggie might only have been matched by John Gilfeather himself.

Darra Goldstein’s Finnish Rutabaga Pudding
2 1/2 pounds Gilfeather rutabagas
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Dash allspice
3 tbs. all-purpose flour
1 tbs. unsalted butter, softened
2 tbs. bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 1½-quart soufflé dish. Peel and (1) cube the rutabagas, and boil in salted water to cover until soft, 25 to 30 minutes. (2) Drain and mash by hand. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then add milk, salt, spices, and flour. (3) Turn mixture into soufflé dish. With a fork, mash together the butter and bread crumbs and spread over the top of the rutabaga mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, until lightly browned. Serves 6 to 8 (adapted from The Vegetarian Hearth: Recipes and Reflections for the Cold Season, by Darra Goldstein; HarperCollins, 1996).

The truck is unloaded and everyone has gone to bed

2010-01-12T01:01:00.002-05:00

photo by Kevin Caplicki

Windfall on Saveur

2009-12-07T11:46:00.004-05:00

Here is a recent piece about Windfall by Cathy Erway from the Saveur website:

THE FARM

Windfall Farms of Montgomery, New York

Source: Saveur

Photo: sleepyneko/Flickr

It pays to be plucky—at least, that's how the farmers at Windfall Farms feel. Often harvesting their produce the very same morning that they take it to the Greenmarket in New York City, the vegetable farmers have earned a reputation for consistently having some of the freshest, most eye-catching produce.

Sown on land that once housed a dairy operation, the farm was revitalized in 1980 by Morse Pitts, and to this day is maintained without chemical fertilizers or treated seeds. "We are always experimenting in growing rediscovered heirlooms and new hybrid varieties," Tim Wersan, a farmer at Windfall, said. And the offerings already are abundant. If dandelions and heirloom tomatoes have begun to bore you, try moving onto their crisp corn shoots or crinkly husk-covered ground-cherries. An array of colorful edible flowers like squash blossoms and the spicy nasturtium often come in convenient mixes, and they're almost all available until fall. Try pea shoots and blossoms as a salad green or garnish when they're young, and with older ones, try making a delicate-tasting stir-fry.

Cathy Erway is a freelance writer and home cook whose blog, Not Eating Out in New York, is based on her two-year mission to do just that, in the city that never eats in. Read all posts from The Farm

Have a Gold Ball

2009-12-01T12:46:00.010-05:00

This is Hubert. He is holding one of Windfall Farms' Gold Ball Turnips. This Wednesday, we are giving restaurants a sample of this delicious variety, also known as Robertson's Golden Ball. This year's extended cold weather growing season has meant that the turnips are abundant with particularly high sugar levels. Their flavor is nutty, sweet and mild, and not acrid like other turnips. Their texture is firm and juicy - good raw for salads or crudités. They are best simmered or roasted, and a superior substitute to potatoes because of their ability to soak-up flavor in stews and soups.

We are anticipating a hard frost at the farm this weekend, at which time the turnips will freeze and die in the ground. Because we have limited root storage capacity, we are harvesting the turnips as demand dictates. Therefore, we are pricing them at fifty cents per-pound (.50¢ / lb.) for orders of twenty pounds and more for pick-up at this Saturday's market. If you have a little storage space, we recommend you get a good amount now as they are a good "keeper" through the winter (after this Saturday, they will be $1.00 / pound and up!).

Windfall Farms is at the Union Square Greenmarket (16th St and Union Square West) every Wednesday and Saturday year-round. If you would like to place an order for pick-up, please order by 12 noon this Friday, December 4th. 845 457-5988

For our non-restaurant customers, here's link to some good turnip info.

Trouble in Paradise

2009-10-04T12:12:00.008-04:00

Trouble in Paradise: Windfall Farms
Keith Wagstaff and Agaton Strom of Citysearch were at Windfall overnight this past summer to do an online photo essay for the website The Feedbag (self-described as "A Gastronomic Gazette").

We think they did a great job of capturing the farm from such a brief visit, but you should click on the link and see for yourself.

Union Square Riff Raff

2009-10-02T21:31:00.002-04:00

Morse's photos around the farm

2009-10-02T20:42:00.008-04:00

...and Market.

I managed to wrangle Morse's memory card out of his camera to share a few flicks with y'all. Morse always has a camera and attempts to catch all sorts pf embarrassing and sweet moments. He's captured the farm in every season as well as the whole Hudson Valley, much of it from his recumbent bicycle!

Wayne Koestenbaum shoots Windfall for TimeOut NY

2009-09-03T01:35:00.008-04:00

Well sort of.

Wayne Koestenbaum was one of 83 photographers, artists and personalities that was sent a disposable camera and challenged them to capture the city as they see it, then asked them about their experience by Time Out NY.

The list includes Drew Barrymore, Marty Markowitz, Jonas Mekas, Sean Lennon and, obviously, 78 other folks. Here's Wayne's flick at the stand.

Check out the rest of his images at Time Out NY.

Maybe bigger isn't better

2009-08-21T18:14:00.002-04:00

Since I've been coming across some interesting stories in the news lately, I figured I'd share them with you here on the Windfall blog.

Listen to the story
Small Farmers See Promise In Obama's Plans
from NPR's-Morning Edition

August 20, 2009

Since the 1980s, American agriculture has become increasingly concentrated. Today, less than 2 percent of farms account for half of all agricultural sales. The new antitrust division of President Obama's Justice Department has said that scrutinizing monopolies in agriculture is a top priority.

That shift is giving hope to independent farmers, who have complained for years that agriculture giants are shrinking the marketplace and paying farmers less for their products.

Farmers Welcome A Change

Earlier this month, the Justice Department sent out a news release that received virtually no attention outside the agriculture-centered press.

Starting next year, the Justice and Agriculture departments will hold public workshops in farm towns throughout the United States to learn about anti-competitive conduct in agricultural markets.

The announcement came one day before the annual convention of the Organization for Competitive Markets. The next day, many among the 150 people gathered at a St. Louis hotel for a session — titled "Confronting the Threats to Market Competition" — could not believe what they were hearing.

Small but influential, the nonprofit, nonpartisan group is made up of farmers, academics and others concerned about the gigantification of American agriculture. Its executive director is Fred Stokes, a Mississippi rancher and registered Republican who has been leading the charge for the government to intervene.

"We want to stop this rubber-stamping of every ag merger that comes down the pike," Stokes said. "We want to call in the predators that are putting our farmers and ranchers out of business. We want them to do their job."

Agriculture's Top Cop Speaks

At the conference, the speaker everyone was eager to hear was Phil Weiser, deputy assistant attorney general. He's the "top cop" overseeing Big Agriculture, after being selected by Christine Varney, new head of the antitrust division.

"We recognize this is a very important sector," Weiser said. "This is something that Christine Varney has placed a huge emphasis on. And we need to learn more about it."

It's not the sexiest quote. But just the fact that Weiser came to deliver his first speech since getting his new job to a group of farmers and activists was seen as a break from the Bush administration.

Seeing A Problem: Consolidation

Frustrated farmers claim the operative philosophy of President Bush's antitrust division was, "Let's make a deal."

After some tweaking, the agency approved mergers between Dean Co. and Suiza Corp. to create the nation's largest milk processor; between Smithfield Foods and Premium Standard Farms to create the largest hog processor; and between JBS and Smithfield Beef to make one of the nation's largest cattle feeders.

David Balto, a longtime public-interest antitrust lawyer, says it's hard for people to understand how unprecedented the upcoming joint Justice/Agriculture hearings are going to be.

"Typically, antitrust enforcers sit at their desk and wait till the phone rings, and then decide whether or not to open an investigation," Balto said.

"[Weiser's] saying, 'We're going out there into the areas and meet face to face with farmers,'" Balto said, "and I think they'll get a much more profound understanding of why farmers are being egregiously harmed by the lack of antitrust enforcement."

Seeing A Threat To A Lifestyle

The antitrust enforcers will likely hear from people like Don Quamby, a hog farmer from Wellsville, Mo.

"With the hogs, it's gotten to be where you can't make any money anymore raising them, because the packers own everything," Quamby said.

He said he came to the recent meeting because he's deeply concerned about the death of independent hog farms.

"It used to be you had several different markets that you'd go to in our area, several different buyers," Quamby said. "Now we don't have that."

Asked why consumers should care about the change, Quamby said, "Well, because once the packer owns all the market, they can charge whatever price they want then at the consumer level, once the meat gets to the store."

In agriculture, economic orthodoxy holds that bigger is better. The bigger a food processor or seed company is, the more they can afford for research and development. An economy of scale creates efficiencies that generally mean lower consumer prices.

But that certainly wasn't the sentiment in the hallway outside the meeting room, where farmers wearing plaid shirts and seed caps drank coffee and talked about challenges to their way of life.

"I've got grandsons — 10, 8 and 6," said Jim Foster, who farms in Montgomery City, Mo., "and their ability to raise hogs like I did, as an independent, depends on whether these guys do their job or not."

Government Plans

The Justice Department lawyer told the group that the antitrust division plans to take a hard look at three areas of agriculture.

The first is seed companies. The American Antitrust Institute asserts that in some markets, Monsanto controls 90 percent of the technology behind genetically modified seeds for cotton, corn and soybeans; Monsanto disputes that figure.

The second segment is beef packing. And the third is dairy, where consolidation has been especially dramatic. In the last decade, more than 4,500 dairy farms disappeared every year.

The decline, critics claim, is at least partly the result of collusive and exclusionary tactics by Big Milk.

“Who controls the seed gains a substantial measure of control over the shape of the entire food system.”

2009-08-18T14:39:00.002-04:00

Here's a good short article about the behavior of life-science companies around seed patents. Its the direction food production is going in. It will take a lot of hard work and organizing to combat the behaviors of companies like Monsanto and the Federal government, that protects their interest. First check it out and see if there's anything you didn't already know.

From Daily Yonder

During a recession, with most prices stable, Monsanto raises the cost of its soybean seed by as much as 42%. That tells you a little about how things work in the food business.

By Richard Oswald

Things aren't always as they appear, especially in the production of food.

Aesop, the ancient Greek story teller, told a fable about a farmer who found a stork along with a host of other birds eating seeds from his newly planted field. The stork tried to persuade the farmer that he was still the farmer’s friend even though he was living at the farmer’s expense.

Aesop summed it up with the observation that the stork was no better than the other birds: Birds of a feather flock together.

Thanks to modern farm equipment, seed placement has been improved so that about the only fowl eating my seed dollars these days are a few locally grown wild turkeys… and some corporate hawks from St Louis.

“Farmers are our friends” was the response from Monsanto spokesman Lee Quarles following last week’s meeting held by Organization for Competitive Markets in St Louis, where the issue of agricultural market concentration drew the attention of farmers and government regulators.

Since then, Monsanto announced that seed prices are going up again, based on demand. Of course, anytime someone controls most of a market, demand is always good for them.

Monsanto said that seed prices are headed to about $74 for an acre of Roundup Ready 2 soybeans, a price hike of as much as 42 percent. (Monsanto explains it’s really not that much.)

I have a good mind to do what I did in 1989 when commercial seed costs were only $10 per acre. It was cheaper even then just to take a few dollars worth of seed from my own bin and save about three dollars per acre. Today if I did that, I’d save a whopping $64 an acre.

Don’t tell Monsanto my plan, however, because the company pays detectives to spy on farmer friends who might be tempted to plant home-grown grain as seed.

It is illegal to plant the seed that grows as grain on my own farm. The catch is that even though I may not want the Monsanto genes, if they find their way into my crop from bird droppings or wind or some other act of nature the courts say I’m guilty just the same. These days it’s virtually impossible to guarantee that any crop isn’t contaminated with patented genes. If Monsanto’s detectives catch me transferring seed from granary to planter, I’ll be sued.

Speaking to a group of farmers in Missouri near Mark Twain Lake a couple of years ago, a farmer from Indiana, Troy Roush, said that when Monsanto sued him they took samples of Roundup Ready soybeans in his neighbor's field and claimed they were his. Troy Roush

Troy was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t’

Before seed patents, I had a choice between buying seed or using my own. Today I have no choice at all. I simply have to pay what seed companies ask. If I don’t, my friends in St Louis can pick my carcass barer than my planting options.

The big picture here is that we’ve gotten to the point that a handful of corporations can decide what something is worth without really having a test of the market. I’m sure Monsanto would say, “Go ahead, friend, plant a different seed if you can’t afford ours.” The problem is that according to speakers at the OCM meeting in St Louis, Monsanto controls nearly 96% of the patented trait market for seeds.

That’s just about all of it.

Moe Parr was in St Louis, too. Moe’s story is told in the recently released movie Food, Inc. Moe isn’t acting on screen when he tells about being sued for what Monsanto said was illegally enticing farmers to plant patented seeds. Other seed producers and cleaners were in St Louis to tell of being “warned” about the consequences of their actions.

If Monsanto really doesn’t control the market, why do they sue seed cleaners, the guys that make a living visiting farms to help their friends, the farmers, prepare their grain for use as seed?

Well, it’s because intimidation is a big part of market control.

The truth is that in its fairly short history of being a seed seller, Monsanto has purchased more than fifty seed businesses. Some of them were big players. If nothing else, that’s proof that any corporation can become whatever they can buy.

Food, Inc. Harvesting soybeans. Monsanto is based in St. Louis, and so is its chemical company spin off, Solutia. Solutia was planted from seed sown by Monsanto in 1997, and contained some of Monsanto’s chemical businesses. Burdened by old lawsuits against Monsanto over environmental contamination from stuff like PCB and Dioxin, Solutia entered bankruptcy in 2003.

I guess Monsanto forgot to give them enough money to pay the fines.

Things are looking up for Solutia now that its liabilities have disappeared, and it has emerged from bankruptcy with a clean balance sheet and stronger profits, just like its parent company Monsanto.

That might be a good strategy for the farmers who’ve been threatened and sued by Monsanto, except once a family farm disappears it’s pretty hard to come back as something else.

For most farmers, the greatest benefit of Roundup Ready corn and soybeans has been weed control. Now pests for both crops, once held at bay by crop rotation, overwinter in fields where volunteer crops survive the following year. That means higher herbicide costs, more insect pressure — and higher profits for our friends in the seed and chemical business.

In a November 2008 paper, Jack Kloppenburg, a rural sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, writes, “Who controls the seed gains a substantial measure of control over the shape of the entire food system.” Kloppenburg goes on to state that for true food sovereignty, control of genetic resources must be wrested from corporations and governments and returned to the public, for the public good.

It’s not just seeds, but all of agriculture that needs a makeover. Small dairy and pork producers continue to lose money even as corporate food processing profits are rising. Pork producers like David Ketsenburg of Monroe City, Missouri, struggle daily with markets that are becoming less and less farmer-friendly. Even some large farms struggle.

But vertically integrated corporations that produce and market food directly not only control markets, but the direction profits flow.

Right now those profits are flowing away from farms into some pretty big pockets.

That brings up another of Aesop's fables, the one about the wolf in sheep’s clothing: the power of large corporations to steer public debate about such things as sustainable food production and control the standards for organic products. They make food appear to be something they produce in a friendly partnership with family farmers.

It’s not.

Really understanding the products in those heavily advertised, plastic wrapped packages of food is tough to do, especially when big profits are more important than little people.

But here’s something that most people should understand: Next year, farmers who buy all their seeds from Monsanto could easily pay more to Monsanto for seed than the profit they, the farmers, hope to earn.

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

See our friend Annie and her new digs!

2009-08-13T18:33:00.003-04:00

There is a good video, made by some friends, part of a series called New Urbanism. They just made one on rooftop farming, about our pal Annie Novak!
Annie has started a rooftop farm in Greenpoint Brooklyn, to experiment with growing food in densely populated areas. Check it out!

Mushrooms saving the world(maybe not as we know it)

2009-08-09T14:24:00.002-04:00

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world

Squash Blossoms!!!

2009-07-10T11:08:00.008-04:00

Zucchini flowers, fiori di zucca, flores de calabasa . . . whatever you want to call them they are now in season at Windfall!

This July's issue of La Cucina Italiana magazine features some fantastic summer recipes including a number for squash blossoms. Some of these recipes can get involved, but, as with most fresh vegetables, simple preparation is delicious (we like to sauté them in butter with eggs).

They'll be in season until the first frost in the fall. So, come by the stand and get some!

Windfall Produce in print

2009-06-22T14:11:00.003-04:00

If you shop at our stand, you know how beautiful and vibrant our produce is, not to mention its so damn flavorful. Many photographers purchase our greens and other produce to use in their photos shoots. One such customer, Margarette Adams, brought it to our attention the other day that our wild edibles were used for a Whole Living-Body & Soul magazine article.

Lucy's Greenmarket Report

2009-04-10T12:53:00.003-04:00

Since 1994, long before blogs were called blogs, Lucy Wollin has been reporting on the Union Square Greenmarket through her website, Lucy's Greenmarket Report. Stylishly featured here with a box of Windfall's edible flower mix, Lucy gives morning updates featuring a selection of what can be found at the market that day. Her love of Greenmarket traces back to 1976 when the market first opened and she became a regular shopper there.

Full disclosure: Lucy was my high school librarian and can research the sh*t out of any variety of heirloom tomato

There's no such thing as an Organic Twinky

2009-03-30T00:30:00.004-04:00

I recently spent an afternoon with a friend who is moving away from NYC, he took this photo.
I couldn't help but hear Morse in my head, "even organic Twinkies!", as part of his lecture on the USDA's Organic standards.
Well this wasn't even one of the "natural" attempts at junk food, and it tasted horrible.

reminder, eat your greens!

Not Eating Out in New York

2009-03-09T13:28:00.008-04:00

We don't want to be responsible for propagating a nasty rumor, but there's been some chatter about a downturn in the economy. We feel it's our duty - nay, our mission to give some insight into weathering this financial sh#t storm. No time like the present to acquire a few practical skills in the kitchen and gain insight into alternative foraging. To put it another way, expect to be dining out much less in order to survive this next Great Depression.

Sadly, many New Yorkers' home ec. skills don't go beyond programming their microwaves. Fortunately, for some time, a few wise, souls have been living within their means and, oddly enough, eating better than most. One of them is Cathy Erway, the creator of NotEatingOutInNewYork.com, a great resource for anyone seeking a more frugal, healthy, inspiring and delicious diet. The site goes beyond simply providing recipes for home cooking, offering local food-related events, shopping tips and philosophy for tough times ahead. Of course, there is a large "locally grown" aspect to the website and buying fresh and local is an easy way to begin your budget cramped culinary adventure.

With some signs of Spring (finally!), plants are starting to grow outside again at Windfall and we're looking forward to a great season. We want you to know that preparing meals does not need to be long and involved, especially when the food is fresh. Local, fresh vegetables are not only healthier, but they taste better because their sugar levels are much higher than starchy vegetables bread for long-distance travel. In fact, Windfall's salad greens are so flavorful that many eat them with little or no dressing. It's faster, cheaper, healthier and tastier than the alternatives.

One disclaimer: we are not advocating that you never eat out. There is a glut of wonderful restaurants in New York and one would be hard pressed not to eat out over the course of the week. However, we do hope that your chef's commitment to locally sourcing food on the menu plays a role in considering your choice of restaurant.

Retrovore on Windfall Farms

2009-02-23T15:06:00.006-05:00

There is a relatively new podcast site called Retrovore.com: The Union Square Market Report. Its producers recently recorded a couple of us at the Windfall market stand. The site's subtitle states "weekly news you can use from the New York City Union Square Greenmarket." It's the best produced material on the farmers market that I've come across on the web. On the site you can learn about farmers that don't use any chemicals, including "organic" ones, in their growing process. You can also subscribe to the Retrovore podcast from iTunes and get the full audio and visual experience!

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

2009-01-16T14:05:00.010-05:00

The ongoing construction in Union Square has temporarily displaced us to 15th St and Un Sq West.

This google photo is probably from last summer. So, if you come to Greenmarket, not only will you not see leaves on the trees, you'll find construction fencing along the West side of the Square from 15th to 17th Street. It might take a full minute of searching to find us: we have a bright green bus and cozy heated enclosure.

Click for the Greenmarket link to current maps of what farms are where for each market day (Wed & Sat for us).

Tired From Holiday Meals

2008-12-26T21:44:00.002-05:00

Mybe you ate too much for the holidays and just want to relax like Draggin' here.
If not, you'll find the Windfall stand in Union Square this Saturday and New Year's Eve at our usual location!
Because of the Union Square renovation, we will be moved to another location, in the park, in the coming weeks. But don't worry we'll let you know, plus we'll have that beacon of a green bus!

Obama's Secretary of Food-from NY TImes

2008-12-11T12:54:00.003-05:00

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: December 10, 2008

As Barack Obama ponders whom to pick as agriculture secretary, he should reframe the question. What he needs is actually a bold reformer in a position renamed “secretary of food

A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat.

Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy — all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

“We’re subsidizing the least healthy calories in the supermarket — high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil, and we’re doing very little for farmers trying to grow real food,” notes Michael Pollan, author of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.”

The Agriculture Department — and the agriculture committees in Congress — have traditionally been handed over to industrial farming interests by Democrats and Republicans alike. The farm lobby uses that perch to inflict unhealthy food on American children in school-lunch programs, exacerbating our national crisis with diabetes and obesity.

But let’s be clear. The problem isn’t farmers. It’s the farm lobby — hijacked by industrial operators — and a bipartisan tradition of kowtowing to it.

I grew up on a farm in Yamhill, Ore., where my family grew cherries and timber and raised sheep and, at times, small numbers of cattle, hogs and geese. One of my regrets is that my kids don’t have the chance to grow up on a farm as well.

Yet the Agriculture Department doesn’t support rural towns like Yamhill; it bolsters industrial operations that have lobbying clout. The result is that family farms have to sell out to larger operators, undermining small towns.

One measure of the absurdity of the system: Every year you, the American taxpayer, send me a check for $588 in exchange for me not growing crops on timberland I own in Oregon (I forward the money to a charity). That’s right. The Agriculture Department pays a New York journalist not to grow crops in a forest in Oregon.

Modern confinement operations are less like farms than like meat assembly lines. They are dazzlingly efficient in some ways, but they use vast amounts of grain, as well as low-level antibiotics to reduce infections — and the result is a public health threat from antibiotic-resistant infections.

An industrial farm with 5,000 hogs produces as much waste as a town with 20,000 people. But while the town is required to have a sewage system, the industrial farm isn’t.

“They look profitable because we’re paying for their wastes,” notes Robert P. Martin, executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. “And then there’s the cost of antibiotic resistance to the economy as a whole.”

One study suggests that these large operations receive, in effect, a $24 subsidy for each hog raised. We face an obesity crisis and a budget crisis, and we subsidize bacon?

The need for change is increasingly obvious, for health, climate and even humanitarian reasons. California voters last month passed a landmark referendum (over the farm lobby’s furious protests) that will require factory farms to give minimum amounts of space to poultry and livestock. Society is becoming concerned not only with little boys who abuse cats but also with tycoons whose business model is abusing farm animals.

An online petition that can be found at www.fooddemocracynow.org calls for a reformist pick for agriculture secretary — and names six terrific candidates, such as Chuck Hassebrook, a reformer in Nebraska. On several occasions in the campaign, Mr. Obama made comments showing a deep understanding of food issues, but the names that people in the food industry say are under consideration for agriculture secretary represent the problem more than the solution.

Change we can believe in?

The most powerful signal Mr. Obama could send would be to name a reformer to a renamed position. A former secretary of agriculture, John Block, said publicly the other day that the agency should be renamed “the Department of Food, Agriculture and Forestry.” And another, Ann Veneman, told me that she believes it should be renamed, “Department of Food and Agriculture.” I’d prefer to see simply “Department of Food,” giving primacy to America’s 300 million eaters.

As Mr. Pollan told me: “Even if you don’t think agriculture is a high priority, given all the other problems we face, we’re not going to make progress on the issues Obama campaigned on — health care, climate change and energy independence — unless we reform agriculture.”

Your move, Mr. President-elect.

Check out comments to this peice at NYTimes

Petition for Michael Pollan for Agriculture Secretary

2008-11-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

Sign this petition. More about it in our previous post.

Hey, Obama!

2008-11-06T11:11:00.007-05:00

Michael Pollan's essay to the next President about the future of food, "Farmer in Chief", appeared in the New York Times Magazine (Oct. 9, 2008 issue). If you have time to read the whole article, you really should. Otherwise, here is a quote:

There are many moving parts to the new food agenda I’m urging you to adopt, but the core idea could not be simpler: we need to wean the American food system off its heavy 20th-century diet of fossil fuel and put it back on a diet of contemporary sunshine. True, this is easier said than done — fossil fuel is deeply implicated in everything about the way we currently grow food and feed ourselves. To put the food system back on sunlight will require policies to change how things work at every link in the food chain: in the farm field, in the way food is processed and sold and even in the American kitchen and at the American dinner table. Yet the sun still shines down on our land every day, and photosynthesis can still work its wonders wherever it does. If any part of the modern economy can be freed from its dependence on oil and successfully resolarized, surely it is food.

This isn't pie-in-the-sky philosphizing (our farm's practice of diverse, sustainable agriculture is a good example of what Pollan is describing). Fossil fuel-based fertilizer and sprays have no place on the farm. Maybe Obama should consider Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture!

Pumpkins are a gourd-like squash, but not all Squash are Pumpkins

2008-10-23T20:59:00.003-04:00

With Halloween next week, remember to swing by the stand and grab a pumpkin from us!
As usual they're grown with no pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, or chemical fertilizers. You wouldn't want a poisoned jack-o-lantern. Think about all those seeds inside that are excellent roasted. We're selling the small ones at $3 each, or 2 for $5. Larger pumpkins for $10. Considering the local bodega in Manhattan is probably asking 20 bucks a piece, surprise, our stand is a bargain.

With the cooler weather our salad greens, lettuce, and root veggies are tasting incredible. Swing by and see us!
Every Wednesday & Saturday 8am-6pm
16th St & Union Square West

Our First Frost-Coming Soon

2008-10-02T14:16:00.008-04:00

This is what we may wake up to at the farm, Monday morning. Morse took this photo in October 2003, and surely it will be repeated in the near future. Fall is officially here and with it comes cooler weather.

Squash blossoms, squash, tomatoes, basil, and other warm weather produce will be replaced with carrots, radishes, potatoes, turnips and more in the coming weeks.

"Some things better, others won't exist...Greens become sweeter." Morse
Pitts, October 2nd

Lettuces, kale and salad greens become heartier and even more tasty. Semposi a leafy green similar to a collard, yet sweeter and more tender, is a really good cooking green thats in season. We just sauteed some in our eggs for todays late breakfast!

Corazon taste-testing Semposi leaves that we used for our meal.

Kermit the Bus

2008-08-18T13:55:00.004-04:00

Morse and I (and Elmo) drove down in the new bus on Saturday, aptly named Kermit for its color. The new bus will be another experiment in alternative fuels and will also run on biodiesel. We produce the fuel on the farm with a Neely Green Solutions kit with used veggie oil from many of our restaurant customers. We hope to have more success with this vehicle, after discovering the previous bus has a sensor that rejects the Biodiesel.
This bus is slightly bigger than the last which means a different setup in our usual location at the Greenmarket. Morse's favorite feature being the wheelchair lift in the rear door, while I like the prospects for the internal/external PA system! Can't you hear "Buy 2 Get 1 Free!" coming from it already?!
At Loren's encouragement we took some portraits of everyone working the stand that day in front of our new friend.

Mexican Sour Gherkins

2008-08-04T12:20:00.006-04:00

Those little cucumbers are back in season. Learn about them from last year's New York Magazine article . . .

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula Recipe - NYTimes July 22, 2007

2008-07-25T12:16:00.006-04:00

This recipe caught my attention. If you visit our farm stand at the Union Square Greenmarket, you will find a choice selection of tomatoes in season for the next couple of months. Arugula is also available - we try to grow it year-round. The "wild" arugula (or sylvetta arugula) is actually out of season for us, but I challenge you to tell the difference in flavors. FYI - we read from outlets other than The New York Times website, but this was too good to pass-up. Enjoy!

Squash Blossoms in the NYTimes-Summer2006

2008-07-24T14:06:00.003-04:00

Squash Blossom season is peaking, again, at Windfall Farms. They'll be available every Wednesday and Saturday until we get our first frost, which is a far off thought considering the hot and humid days we are enduring. Here's the link from the NY Times Food Section regarding the Blossoms, it's still pertinent 2 years later.
In addition to the restaurants listed in the article, I suggest heading to Casellula. I ate their stuffed blossoms last summer and my mouth has been watering for them ever since!

Squash Blossom Recipes from Windfall

2008-07-18T14:00:00.005-04:00

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

1/2 cup ricotta cheese, goat, or fresh mozzarella
8 squash with blossoms intact
1-2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup white flour
¾ cup cornmeal
Oil for deep frying
Salt and pepper

Gently open the end of the squash blossom and fill approximately one tsp of cheese in center.

Twist top of flower closed and dust with white flour

Dip in egg and then roll into cornmeal

Deep fry

Sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired

Serve immediately

Filling for Quesadillas

1 TBS vegetable oil
1 ½ TBS chopped white onion
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 poblano chilie, charred, peeled seeded and stripped
4 ½ cups chopped squash blossoms
1 TBS chopped epazote
salt to taste

Heat oil in frying pan, add onion and garlic and cook over medium heat for 1 minute.

Add the chilie strips and cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in squash blossoms and ssalt, cover pan and cook over medium heat, until the bulbous base of flower is tender. About 10 minutes.

If flowers are dry, add water. If they are juicy remove the lid. Mixture should be moist but not juicy,

Stir in epazote and cook for 3 more minutes.

Create quesadilla with Chihuahua cheese or cheddar and fresh tortillas.

Adapted from Diana Kennedy

Windfall Farms on Flickr

2008-07-03T03:11:00.003-04:00

If you look around on the web, chances are you'll find people posting photos or
writing about you. Here's a flick I found recently of our Arugula, there is more at mrittenhouse, Daniele Bilton

NY Times picks up on some common sense

2008-06-10T18:25:00.002-04:00

From the NY Times Health blog

June 6, 2008

Boosting Health With Local Food

Choosing tomatoes at a farmers’ market in Larchmont, N.Y. (Alan Zale for The New York Times.)

The local food movement typically has been about improving the health of the planet. Buying locally means less fuel burned to transport food, which means less pollution.

But now researchers are trying to find out if eating locally farmed food is also better for your health.

A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a grant to study the public health impact of moving toward a local, sustainable food system. An increasingly vocal local food movement calls for consumers to try to buy and eat foods produced within 100 miles of their homes.

So far, there’s not real evidence that eating locally farmed food is better for you. But there are many reasons to think it might be. By definition, locally farmed food is not going to come from large commercial food companies, so people who eat locally aren’t going to consume as much processed food, which typically contains lots of refined carbohydrates, sugar, fat and preservatives.

By focusing your diet on products grown and raised within 100 miles of your home, you will likely end up eating more fruits and vegetables as well. Shopping for fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets is also pleasurable and may lead to more variety in your diet. Eating local often means you can meet the people who produce your food, and you can also ask questions about pesticide use and farming methods.

The University of North Carolina study will last two years, and researchers say it will improve understanding of the health, environmental and economic issues associated with the local food trend. The study will look at the environmental benefits of transitioning to sustainable farming practices, determine whether there are nutritional and health benefits for consumers, and conduct an economic analysis of opportunities and barriers to local food systems.

“Among the most pressing public health problems in the U.S. today are obesity, environmental degradation and health disparities,” said Alice Ammerman, director of the U.N.C. Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. “Contributing in a big way to each of these problems is our current food system, with its heavy dependence on fossil fuels such as fertilizers, pesticides and gasoline for large-scale production and long distance transportation of often high-calorie, nutrient-poor food, from farm to processing facility to table.”

To read more about local food, read this post from last year called “A New Yorker Tries the 100-mile Diet.'’

Greenmarket Discussion on Brian Lehrer

2008-05-23T21:57:00.004-04:00

Check out Windfall Farms', "local farmer", Morse Pitts and Phil Yacuc of Council on the Environment talk about local agriculture on Brian Lehrer.
You can find the video here. Morse & Phil appear 3/4 of the way into the program, so let the video download all the way and scroll to the end of the program.

One statistic I caught from a video clip shown in the program

"7% of "our" farms sell 70% of our food, and collect the majority of farm subsidies offered by the US government."

I guess we should consider them "our" farms since anyone that pays taxes is sustaining all the large farms the accept them!

As the Days Get Longer

2008-05-05T16:58:00.003-04:00

Last Spring New York Magazine had the following recipe and really good explanation about Eggs. They mention our, previous, policy of rationing one half-dozen per customer. We no longer limit the amount customers can purchase, yet they come at a slightly higher price.

Just like ramps, asparagus, and Shack Burgers, eggs have a season. Of course, you can get them year-round at your corner deli and local Greenmarket, but official egg-laying season begins in spring, when chickens—prompted by increasing daylight—bump up their production cycle. Connoisseurs say that eggs from contented, pasture-raised hens taste best and are, for lack of a better word, eggier, not to mention more nutritious. If that’s not enough incentive to get cracking, consider this recipe from George Weld, reigning grill-maestro at Williamsburg’s best breakfast joint, the aptly named Egg. Then click here for a primer on what to look for in a high-quality egg, where to find them , and a list of our favorite egg dishes, gathered from a handful of local chefs increasingly besotted by them. They’re not just for breakfast (or Easter) anymore.

George Weld’s Eggs Rothko

2 tablespoons butter
2 thick slices of brioche or challah
2 large or extra-large eggs
1 cup good-quality Cheddar, like Grafton, grated

Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to broil. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat until it begins to foam. Place brioche slices in the skillet, moving them around until well-buttered and browned.
(1) Using a biscuit cutter or drinking glass, press a hole in the center of each bread slice and discard the cutout rounds. Divide the remaining tablespoon of butter between the 2 holes in the bread.
(2) When butter begins to foam, crack an egg into each hole and cook until the egg whites set about halfway up the sides of the yolks. Flip the bread with a spatula and cook for another minute or so.
(3) Remove bread from skillet and place onto a broiler pan. Spread grated cheese thoroughly over the bread, covering as much surface area as possible to prevent the bread from burning, and place pan under the broiler. Remove as soon as the cheese is melted. Serve with broiled tomatoes or a simply dressed green salad.

Diversity in the Spring

2008-05-05T03:18:00.006-04:00

This past Saturday at the Union Square Greenmarket the stand had a large variety of Micro-Greens. The fields are also starting to produce, so not only are we having different varieties of edibles at market, but a diversity of prices!

Above there is Micro Mesclun, Red Amaranth, Micro-Frisee, Purple Radish, Hong-Vit, Buckwheat Greens, Micro Mizuna, Micro Tat Soi, Micro Hon Tsai Tai, Micro Purple Mizuna, Micro Ruby Streaks, Micro Red Mustard, Micro Pepper Cress, Corn Shoots, Micro Red Russian Kale, Baby Dandelion, Mini Golden Purslane, Shungiku(edible Chrisanthemum), Claytonia, Sorrel, White Pea Shoots, Pea Greens, Mache, Sylvetta Arugula, Baby Arugula, and Mesclun!

There were also fair amounts of larger Arugula, Spinach, Dandelion, Mesclun, Pea Shoots and...gosh, I can't really think right now! Oh, there was also a large amount of Nasturtiums, Impatiens, Arugula blossoms, and Mustard flowers to spice up and beautify your salads and sandwiches.

Windfall Shrieking Tour with Beavers

2008-05-05T00:59:00.002-04:00

Lots of "mmm"'s and "oh my god!" for the first 2 minutes. Then a view of the farms wildlife.

Feet in the Greenhouse

2008-04-11T00:36:00.004-04:00

We are still working out how we are going to format this site, Morse has oodles of pictures, and

there is a lot of old press that we'd like to get up here. for now, you can look at feet.

Oh, and we have eggs!

Corn Shoots

2008-03-21T12:56:00.003-04:00

We've got a backlog of publicity to catch-up on. This article is the most recent.

What you're eatin

2008-03-19T01:31:00.002-04:00

Here's a glimpse of what's growing in the greenhouse last week. We hope to give you many more visuals as the season gets going!

Video Tour of Windfall Farm with Morse

2008-03-03T19:59:00.002-05:00

Check out a video from the farm made last fall.

Part 1

Part 2

Both films are courtesy of our friend Guy who was visiting from California at the time.

Story about grease from last summer

2008-03-03T18:40:00.006-05:00

Story about what can happen to veggie oil when it wants to be reincarnated, find it at Gourmet.com.

Kelly Choi at Windfall Farm

2008-03-03T14:51:00.005-05:00

Kelly Choi stopped by the stand recently to ask us if she could use our chicken coop for a photo shoot. The article ran in New York Magazine's Restaurant section of its website. Kelly is seed holding one of our Araucana Chickens, from which we receive incredibly delicious eggs in a green shell.
Thanks for visiting us Kelly!