Resources
Resource Books:
My most used cookbooks:
From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, Third Edition. The Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition
Available from Appalachia Star Farm for $19.95 plus tax
Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone both by Deborah Madison. We are not vegetarians, but both books offer wonderful information about vegetables plus other useful recipes like pie crusts, biscuits, pancakes, etc.
Basic Necessities Soup Cookbook by Sue Pfaltz. Basic Necessities is a wonderful restaurant, wine, and cheese shop on Rt. 151 in Nellysford. Their soups are wonderful and this cookbook is great. It is available at their shop.
Nutrition and Farm Information:
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon with Mary Enig, Ph. D. This book is a cookbook but it is also full of information about traditional farm and earth based nutrition. It will change the way you look at food, especially the so called “bad” things like fat and cholesterol. This book is available at www.westonaprice.org which is the website for the Weston A. Price Foundation, a foundation dedicated to educating people about farm based nutrition and promoting traditional foods.
Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Plank is probably my favorite book about nutrition. Nina is the daughter of farmers in Northern Virginia. The farmers at Waterpenny Farm, where we interned, interned at her parent’s farm, Wheatland. Nina gives plenty of research information but the book is very readable.
Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol by Mary G. Enig, Ph. D. This is a very technical book and not an easy read, but if you really want to understand what fats are good for you and why, it is a wealth of information.
Websites dealing with issues I support:
www.westonaprice.org also has information about the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund which provides legal help to farmers trying to provide nourishing farm products to their customers.
Also, please do your best to educate yourself about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and if you feel strongly against it, please write your representative. www.nonais.org has lots of information.
The other big issue on my radar is Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s. There are many books and websites out there and I encourage folks concerned about GMO foods to educate themselves and take action whenever you can. The companies that create these foods have strong political connections - many times they are even in positions of political power - so if we want to limit their impact on the food system it is important to make our voices heard. Of course, the best way to use your voice is to use your dollar. Since GMO foods are not currently labeled, but most surefire way to avoid them is to eat most of your diet from the farm. Sourcing local foods from local farmers your know is your best bet in avoiding GMO foods. Currently, GMO’s are not allowed in the National Organic Standards so buying organic is another way to avoid these foods.