For this assignment, I interviewed my friend Carmichael who is a 4th street co-op member & has sold local food. She works at Angelica’s Kitchen, a vegan restaurant that buys local food whenever possible. She would not use the word locavore to describe herself even though this is the term used in our assignment. Carmichael noted that it is nearly, if not simply, impossible to be a “locavore” in New York City. One would only be able to eat locally while food is available in the region. My interview is below:
Q.) Why would you choose to eat local?
- Food tastes better & is fresher.
- it didn’t travel as far, has lower carbon footprint.
- clearer sense of where it comes from as she talks to farms and those in food production
- local food in nyc = smaller scale farms
- organic or done with consideration of the land unlike large scale farms
Q.) When did you first develop consciousness around local food?
- wanted to be a vegan cook as she was a vegan and went to the natural gourmet culinary school in nyc
- she learned about where to get whole foods, not packaged foods and then to co-ops and farmers markets
- when she started working at angelica’s, they got great produce
Q.) Tell me something something you’ve noticed about local foods?
- If you buy local beans, they cook way faster because they haven’t been sitting in a warehouse for a year
- local food tastes better. so many more local options available – local popcorn, grains, and flour. Wildhide Farm at union square and 4th street co-op.
Q.) What foods can you get locally here?
- winter: apples, root veggies, artichokes, turnips, potatoes, grains
- spring: nettles (spinach-like), fiddle-head ferns, baby greens, ramps, garlic scapes,
- summer: tomatoes, summer squash, leafy greens (broccoli, etc.)
- fall: squashes with thicker skins ex. pumpkins and butternut squash, root veggies, onions and garlic.
Q.) Can you tell me about your garden?
- moved to neighborhood to have garden
- put tons of work into a pile of trash yard into a garden. but there was no sunlight.
- also had to deal with aphids. in larva stage, they can already become pregnant. reproduce very fast and then eat the plants. very difficult to get rid of. they also got fungus on pumpkins and then cucumbers and killed them.
- kale, garlic, tomatoes, and herbs were very successful.
Q.) Is eating local affordable?
- yes when it is season.
- co-ops are good because you can get 20% off.
- CSAs are cheaper.
- winter CSAs also exist with potatoes, spelt, and eggs.