National Farm to School Month | October 5, 2020

Fresh & Local:

National Farm to School Month

Market Umbrella has been engaged in farm to school (F2S) programming since we started our Meet Me at the Market field trip program in 2011. Through MM@M, our staff visits classrooms with lessons and activities about various aspects of nutrition and agriculture, and the next day, the class comes to our market for guided activities that introduce them to local food, and gives them a taste of local food. We typically see over 1,000 student visits during a normal year.

Our goal to connect children to local agriculture has expanded to several F2S programs over the years. Funded by USDA Farm to School and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and long with partners, SPROUT NOLA and the LSU Ag Center, and others, Harvesting for Health in Louisiana works with New Orleans public primary schools to help implement all three elements of farm to school including helping to build, refurbish or enhance school gardens, integrate the garden into curriculum and curriculum into the garden, and bring locally sourced produce into the cafeteria. We work with farmers in our vendor network to connect them directly to schools, and to help them gain certifications needed to sell to produce distributors, which can help expand production all while increasing fresh, local produce on school lunch menus. You can hear more about how this program works during MU’s presentation on Wednesday at 11:05am during this year’s virtual LA Farm to School Conference.

As with many things, COVID has suspended or redefined many of these activities, but we are currently working to pivot our activities to our current and more virtual environment. Stay tuned!

Good Food Concept of the Week:

In addition to running farmers markets, a critical component of Market Umbrella’s work is to enhance food and nutrition access and awareness in our community. The Good Food Concept of the Week seeks to shed some light on this part of our work and also to demystify the jargon.

Farm To School

This week’s Good Food Concept is Farm to School and racial and social justice – Procurement of local foods provides access to healthier school meals to more than 24 million students, (1) and advances income generation and access to land ownership for marginalized food producers; (2) School gardens offer opportunities for students to develop a sense of responsibility and connection to their community, as well as foster engagement and partnership through those connections outside the school setting; and (3) Education about food and farming is a proven approach for elevating the value of local agriculture and lifting up under-represented stakeholders in the food system.

Picks of the Week:

Stock up at the Farmers Market

With the possibility of bad weather knocking at our door during hurricane season, the Crescent City Farmers Market and WhatsGood make meal prep easy! Grab all your favorites in person at the Tuesday modified walk up market on Tuesday or order ahead for Wednesday morning pickup at Bucktown using the online WhatsGood marketplace. Orders close for the Bucktown drive thru market on Tuesday at 2pm - p.s. Joe Fekete has the regionally celebrated cushaw in stock! As we move through the week, follow our website and social media for market updates regarding Tropical Storm Delta.

Persimmon of Interest

We’ve gotten a lot of questions about these peculiar autumnal fruits lately - everyone, meet the persimmon! While there are Louisiana native varieties of persimmon, you’re most likely to find Japanese fuyu, hachiya, tanenashi, or saijo at the market. All are typically a red orange when ripe. Fuyu - the squat, almost square type - can be eaten when firm much like an apple, while a saijo or hachiya - the heart shaped variety with the point at the bottom - are inedibly astringent until they ripen to a pudding-like consistency. Persimmons can be made into jellies, jams, marmalade and syrups or just grab a ripened fruit, and eat them whole or slice them. They won’t stick around for too long so pick some up from Amorphous Gardens, Major Acre Farm, L’Hoste Citrus, and more!

SRIPS

And speaking of everyone’s favorite subject - food safety - Market Umbrella is also presenting this week at the Southern Region Integrated Produce Safety conference held virtually - and free! - October 5th through 8th! Food safety is of course of the utmost concern when we’re talking about school lunches for kids. It’s also something we’ve been working on a lot this year as we’ve totally reimagined our market operations in the face of COVID. Register here to join us on Tuesday the 6th as Director of Markets Angelina Harrison discusses market modifications to protect food producers and eaters from food-borne illness as well as global pandemics.

Vendor of the Week:

L’Hoste Citrus

Lester and Linda L’Hoste of Braithwaite, Louisiana have returned to the Uptown Market and the CCFM Home Delivery Box for their 25th year of selling citrus at the Crescent City Farmers Market. Lester is proud to be one of the only certified organic citrus growers in the region, and has recently retired from his day job as a chemist, giving him extra time to grow his citrus and expand his farm (hello, future figs!). Did we mention he invented his own organic pest control spray?! For now, look for his table full of organic satsumas, lemons, and persimmons - he says it’s among the highest quality crop he’s ever had. In the coming months as we delve deeper into citrus season you can expect navel oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit, and kumquats, too.

Recipe of the Week:

Persimmon Bread with Lemon Glaze

It’s fall, y’all! It’s October and under 80 degrees so naturally, it’s time to crank the oven back on. Chef Theresa B. Day uses hachiya persimmons to create this beautiful persimmon bread with lemon glaze. Again, make sure this variety is totally ripe before eating or cooking with them! Much like you’d use very ripe bananas for banana bread, you’ll want these persimmons to be so soft to the touch it might feel like your fingers will break through the skin just holding it. Pick up those persimmons and lemons at all of the markets or through the CCFM home delivery box!

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!