Saturday-on the Capitol Square
6:00 am - 2:00 pm

September 11, 2013 

Wednesday-200 Blk MLK Jr. Blvd.
8:30 am - 2:00 pm

Putting Food By
Preserving the harvest takes many forms

 

We're at the peak of the tomato season. While we're always amazed at the prodigious amounts of tomatoes we manage to consume in our weekly meals, it pales compared to what we preserve.

Conventional, hybrids, heirloom ... there are plenty of tomato varieties to choose from at the DCFM.

While canning is the most popular method of preserving tomatoes, it's not the only method. You can also freeze and dry tomatoes as well. As the referenced materials show, tomatoes are in good company when it comes to preservation.

Preserving generally means working with larger quantities of tomatoes. It's a good idea to let your favorite seller know you'd like enough product to make your efforts worth while. Contact your seller a week or more before you plan to pick up your tomatoes.

If you miss your seller at the market you can look him or her up on the DCFM web site or email Market Manager Larry Johnson for contact information.

Recipes 

 

 

 
The annual Food for Thought Festival is a fun, festive forum that explores and celebrates the many opportunities to eat more pleasurably, healthfully, and sustainably.

Taking place alongside the Dane County Farmers' Market, (a co-sponsor of the event) this popular event offers opportunities for the whole family to taste, learn and connect with our local food system...for free! The festival features booths from over 40 organizations, farms, and restaurants as well as an appetizing local foods tent, cooking and tasting demos, kids' activities, and Food Camp.

Food Camp!
Back by popular demand, Food Camp offers opportunities to participate, taste, and learn on topics like beekeeping, backyard chickens, yogurt and kombucha-making, extending the growing season, and more.

Chef Showdown
A not-to-be missed experience where area chefs are challenged to create a grilled cheese specialty with fresh ingredients from the Dane County Farmers' Market and a selection of mystery cheeses. The event is sponsored by the Wisconsin Local Foods Journal: Cheese Edition, by Joan Peterson and Terese Allen.

Local Food Tent
Pick up freshly-prepared and locally-sourced breakfast and lunch dishes from Buy Fresh Buy Local partner chefs.

Interactive Exhibitor Booths
Expect displays by dozens of organizations, farms, restaurants and others working to promote a healthy food system.

Kids' Activity Tent
Chickens! Kids can feed, pet, and meet chicken friends. There will also be face painting and so much more!

For more information check out the REAP web site.

The Dane County Farmers' Market is a co-sponsor of the Food for Thought Festival.

Tasty grapes from Morren Fruits and Vegetables.
(South Carroll St.) --Photo by Bill Lubing

We strive to keep this list as accurate as possible. We probably  missed an item or two that is at the market or listed an item as available when it is not. Chances are that not all items mentioned or listed below will be at each market.  If you see an item at the market that is not listed here please email bill@dcfm.org so we may update the list. 

      

 

 

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Great looking okra from Vang Yang and Cheng Vue.
(South Carroll St.) --Photo by Bill Lubing

Processed Chicken from China a Far(m)
Cry from What's Available at the DCFM
According to an article in this past Friday's New York Times, the United States Department of Agriculture USDA), "approved four Chinese poultry processors to begin shipping a limited amount of meat to the United States ..."

The cooked meat products will be produced in China from chickens raised in the U.S. and Canada. The article explains that since the Chinese facilities will verify that the cooked products come from U.S. or Canadian sourced birds, "no USDA inspector will be present in the plants."

In addition, the article notes, "Because the poultry will be processed, it will not require country-of-origin labeling." So whether eating canned soup or fast food chicken nuggets, consumers will not know, "if the chicken came from Chinese processing plants."

We are not saying that the processed meat is inherently unhealthy because of the circuitous route from North American growers to Chinese processors and back. However, this journey of some 16,000 miles is more than most folks travel in a lifetime. It seems a little excessive for a chicken nugget.

While the approval, according to the article, "follows years of wrangling over the issue, and comes as Americans are increasingly focused on the origin of their food," we trust the USDA has thoroughly worked out any issues that could impair food safety and quality. Yet still ...

Chicken (and all other products) available at the DCFM originates in Wisconsin. All meats that are sold at the DCFM are processed by facilities that are state or federally inspected.

The DCFM is a producer-only market. The seller is the producer. The DCFM implements its own vigorous inspection protocols to ensure that the seller is the producer.  If you have any questions about anything sold at the market, ask the seller.

Call us old fashioned. We feel reassuring confidence when looking the seller in the eye when we buy meat, produce, or anything else at the DCFM.

We love the idea of a 16,000 mile journey ... for us, not our food.

Bill Lubing