I just finished reading Michael Pollan’s (http://www.michaelpollan.com) new bestseller, In Defense of Food. It’s a simple, informative guide to eating well which also tells part of the story of how we came to eat so badly in the first place. Pollan wrote the 2005 bestseller The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which raised awareness about the importance of local foodways.

The culprit in this book is the ideology of “nutritionism”, or the idea that foods are simply collections of nutrients, rather than complex biological systems whose combined effect is greater than the sum of their parts. If you subscribe to the philosophy of nutritionism, then you believe that the richness of whole foods can be replaced with chemical additives which put back the vitamins, macronutrients and micronutrients which have been lost to food processing and overworked soil. More...

Now there’s a new reason to go to the winter farmers’ markets. The University District market (http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org) , granddaddy of Seattle markets, has started offering a variety of hot, prepared foods to eat on site or take home for later. There’s Rolling Fire Pizza, which uses a mobile wood fired oven to bake pies made from organic ingredients, and Grown in Washington Soups, selling authentic, organic soups using ingredients from their own farm, among others. Anita’s Crepes (http://www.anitascrepes.com) makes fluffy, delicate crepes topped with hand-whipped cream and other sweet and savory ingredients. Patty Pan Grill (http://myspace.com/pattypangrill) (my operation) makes vegetarian tamales and grilled veggies quesadillas from mostly local produce.

The University District market is in its third winter season, and things are going well. Winter markets are tricky, because there’s less fresh produce available and people are less inclined to come out in the spotty weather. It takes time for customers to get into the routine of coming, and for vendors to learn how to expand their offerings, experimenting with winter crops, and making the commitment to plant throughout the year. They also begin offering more “value added” foods, or items that they’ve crafted from their own raw materials, such as jams, pickles, dried fruits and vegetables, and even soaps.

Traditionally the University District Market has not had hot food available to eat on site. The administration has been concerned that restaurants in the area would object to the competition. Even if this weren’t a concern, the market is so successful during the regular season that there’s fierce competition among farmers for stall spaces, leaving little room for prepared food vendors. During the winter, though, it’s a different story. The hot food offers customers a new incentive to come shop, and that benefits everyone.

Last summer Mike Dash--who owns Rolling Fire Pizza and is on the board at the University Heights Center (http://uhcca.org) , which hosts the market—began to organize a food court with live music in the plaza right next to the market, during the same hours. In keeping with the community center’s mission to raise awareness about the sustainability issues, the food court offered receptacles for composting and recycling, and the food offered came primarily from locally and organically grown ingredients. If things go as planned, most of the food vendors who are part of the market this winter will move to the plaza in the spring, offering hot food at the market throughout the year. More...

If you suddenly awakened from a twenty year sleep and walked into one of today’s supermarkets, you’d probably be amazed at the number of organic products available. Every section from dairy, to spices, to frozen food now offers items proudly bearing organic labels. But today’s organic food industry is nothing like the idealistic, fringe movement of twenty years ago. That’s great news in the sense that we can buy plenty of products grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. But it’s sobering to scratch beneath the surface and see that many of these products use the same destructive agricultural practices as conventional products, minus the chemical fertilizers and pesticides. More...

Holiday time is cheese time, so I’ve gone ahead and sampled some of our fine local cheeses. It was a rough job, but someone had to do it.

We’re fortunate to be able to choose from a lovely selection of raw milk cheeses, as well as quite a few varieties made from pasteurized milk. Pasteurization is the process of heating milk to a temperature hot enough to kill harmful bacteria. Unfortunately, it can also kill many of the beneficial bacteria in dairy products, and it changes the flavor, making it less complex. Some states, including Washington, allow producers to sell raw milk directly to the public, although they have to jump through quite a few hoops to do it legally. Raw milk cheese is legal in every state, provided it’s been aged for at least sixty days. Aging lessens the moisture content and lowers the pH, creating a less hospitable environment for bacteria. More...

I’d planned a pilgrimage to the Farmer’s Diner, a place I’d read about in the New York Times and also in Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy. They serve traditional diner food, but almost all of their ingredients are locally produced. When I mentioned it to various family members, I found that they hadn’t heard of the place, even though they lived nearby and I’d read about it repeatedly thousands of miles away. I said that they based their menu on local foods, and consistently heard the response, "Lot’s of places around here do that." More...

It’s easy to eat sustainably, right? Just buy all organic foods when you go to the store. Actually, it’s not that simple anymore. Like so many other green products, organic foods have become a mixed blessing as they’ve gone mainstream. As large, corporate conglomerates have caught on to the fact that we want foods grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, they’ve been using the term "organic" in ways that have little to do with the wholesome ideals which fueled the movement during its early days. More...

Here’s a holiday recipe that showcases some of our fine local produce.

You can get acorn squash at the University District Farmers’ (www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org ), from Growing Things Farm (www.growingthingsfarm.com ), Tolt River Farm (www.toltriverfarm.com ), or Alm Hill (www.almhillgardens.com ). Look around while you’re there for onions, garlic, and parsley as well.

2 ½ cups water

½ cup wild rice

½ cup brown rice

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

½ cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, then scoop out the seeds. Cut it into chunks that will fit in your vegetable steamer, then steam it for about half an hour, until it’s fork tender.

2. Meanwhile, heat the water in a small saucepan. When in boils, add the wild rice, cover the pan, and lower the heat. Cook it on medium low heat for about twenty minutes, then add the brown rice. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.

3. Meanwhile, heat two Tablespoons of olive oil in another small saucepan, then add the onion, garlic, salt, and parsley. Cook on medium low heat for about five minutes, until the onion is translucent.

4. When the rice and the squash are ready, combine the rice and onion mixture in a bowl, then scoop out the squash pulp and add it to this mixture. Mix well. (You’ll get the best results if you wait a few minutes until it’s cool enough to handle, and then mix it with you hands.)

5. Shape the mixture into patties, then cook them in a skillet in the remaining olive oil for a few minutes on each side, until they start to brown. You can also bake them in the oven, at 350 degrees on an oiled baking sheet for about 20 minutes. More...

Thanksgiving is a festival of New World foods, a celebration of the indigenous bounty that sustained the Massachusetts pilgrims through their first difficult years. So it makes perfect sense to bring locally grown foods to our holiday tables. Many Seattle area residents are taking a pledge to incorporate at least one local food into their Thanksgiving meal. So far more than 1300 people have signed up. You can take the pledge yourself by going to www.pugetsoundfresh.org/eatlocal/ . More...