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Community Corner

'Slow Food' Growers Turn Winter into Harvest Time

Fourth-Annual Slow Food of Northern NJ event held Saturday at Morristown High School.

America's growing interest in fresh, locally grown and raised fruits, vegetables and meats may have become a new way of eating for some, but finding such unfettered food year-round can be a challenge based on seasonal fluctuations.

Slow Food of Northern New Jersey, and other organizations that promote local growers, however, aim to change much of that.

On Saturday, more than 20 growers–from dairy farmers, fruit and vegetable farmers to mushroom growers–transformed the cafeteria at into an indoor market to demonstrate that eating fresh all year is possible.

"The whole idea is to create awareness that there is local food available in the winter," said Margaret Noon, president of the Slow Food of Northern New Jersey Association, organizers of at the high school.

Slow Food was born as an "international movement" in Italy in 1986 with a focus on reverting to regional cuisine. The expectation is that people will gravitate toward fresh food if it's provided to them. Noon said there are more that 200 Slow Food groups in New Jersey.

In addition to awareness, Noon said Saturday's event was set up to encourage more farmers to grow more in the winter to benefit a healthier food system. Slow Food's mission is to introduce local communities to a variety of Earth-friendly farmers, chefs and food makers.

"My mission is to fill the growing need (for locally-grown food)," said Sandy Guzikowski, owner of Guzikowski Farm in Yardley, PA, which offers a host of vegetables and fruits. "In the summer, we have people coming out to the farmer's markets and they develop a taste for these products. Then the winter comes and its like someone shut the door on them and it doesn't need to happen."

Locally-grown food available in winter in New Jersey includes fresh dairy products such as cheeses from cows and goats, bread, honey, farm-raised meats like lamb, beef and chicken, eggs, apple cider, greens such as scallions and leeks, and chocolate.

Many producers are part of a CSA, or community-supported agriculture group. The model for CSAs is that people buy-into "shares" of the farm. In turn, that money helps to fund the farm's work, and the people get produce as a result.

"Our mission is to let people know about our CSA," said Smadav English, operator of the Community Supported Garden at Genesis Farm based in Blairstown. Her farm has recently branched out into providing grains in addition to fruits, vegetables, beans and flowers. "We have been a CSA for 23 years and were at the beginning of the whole movement. Its pretty amazing that locally grown food (is becoming more popular). It's really spreading."

Few farms understand that better than Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, based in Milford. The farm, run by Nina and Jonathan White, is busy year-round offering cheeses, breads and pasture-raised meats.

"You can have a multifaceted farm making the most of animals that are bred for their instinct and then food produced by those animals will slowly improve the land and the community of humans around it," Nina White said.

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