Welcome to Local Forage

Hello, friends!

Welcome to Local Forage.

If you're like me, you've been stunned by the dizzying array of contradictory nutritional advice in the media. You've also likely been overwhelmed with the task of finding food that is truly clean, nutrient-dense and raised/grown in a conscientious manner. This blog is an attempt to get to the bottom of some of the food and nutrition myths that abound and to help you find food locally that will actually support your health rather than diminish it. The emphasis here is on real foods (yes, my friends, say hello and give a big hug to...butter, eggs, cream, and grass-fed beef) and old-fashioned methods of preparation and production.

My goal is to engage you in the discussion and nudge you to share information with the group. What will result is an up-to-date, searchable database of information that will benefit all.

Go to the About page for more about Local Forage's raison d'etre and...please...enter the discussion!

Cheers,
Carla

Comments

[Kathryn vanSteyn]

Carla,

I had no idea that you were into all of this healthy food eating—Bravo! And your blog is quite good. I have just begun making my own sauerkraut, have read about the virtues of raw milk (so loved to hear your reinforcement)—we drink Straus’ whole milk, not the same, I know, but haven’t quite made the jump, and purchase 3/4 cow from Morris T.O. Cattle Company (grass fed). Like you, I tried to be vegetarian for a few years, but my body fell apart. So I am a big proponent of meat and organic veggies. Another great fermenter/lactobaccilis, that I’m sure you’ve explored is Kefir—we have grains growing in our refrigerator, and the kids love it!

Anyway, thanks for sharing your blog with us. It’s packed with tons of great info and fun to read! I have it bookmarked for future reference…

-Kathryn

[Carla]

Hi Kathryn! Sounds like you share my fermentation fetish. Kefir is good stuff. I think you'd find the Weston A. Price yahoogroups list to be interesting. Here's the SF chapter and here's, the East Bay chapter. Have you visited T.O. Cattle Co?

[Alenka]

HI Carla,
I had a great pleasure meeting you after the sauerkraut "pounding marathon" the other day with Mark and Viv. I am new at this "bloging" and I think I will get hooked on yours! I love food.

The raw milk report brought back some of my most fond childhood memories spending summers at my grandma's. My brother and I would walk to the next village over from my grandmas house to get raw milk from the farmer. Sometimes the farmer let us milk the cows and we loved to clean manure. We were city kids, so that was cool. Anything is cool if you don't have to do it every day at 5am before you go to school. The hot sweet smell of fresh milk always seemed to overpower us on the way back and the tin can was usually half empty by the time we returned. Oh, the taste of fat, rich, creamy fresh milk. I am sure grandma Hani got mad at us, but I don't remember that. By the way, my grandma is 95 years old, works in her garden every day, eats only vegies and fruits she grows and drinks raw milk.

The small farms are dissapearing where I grew up in Slovenia as well. Big, clean, steril food companies have the power to control and now with EU, milk, eggs, vegatables etc. are coming into stores from who knows where in Europe. It is sad how things are changing so quickly. I hope open markets in Europe and farmers markets here are going to support small organic farmers and help them survive all strict regulations. I wonder how people used to survive eating all raw and fresh home grown foods before goverment agencies came to the rescue and made sure everything is sealed in plastic.

cheers from Tahoe
Alenka

[Carla]

Alenka,
Thanks for the great imagery from your childhood. Your Grandma Hani sounds like an amazing woman. Does she eat any meat? Or just the fruits (and veggies) of her labor in the garden? I want to be her at 95!

In your Grandma's day (early 1900s), raw milk was being used as an orthodox, accepted therapy for a number of medical conditions. You may find this interesting. It's a link to an article written in 1929 by a doctor at the Mayo Clinic.

[Alenka]

Hi Carla
Thanks for interesting link to milk therapy. Although I strongly belive my garndma is so beautiful and mostly healthy because of the way she lives working and eating what she grows in her garden, lately she has been loosing to much weight. Doctors and my family stressed the importance to her of increasing protein intake particularly meat products. There is the other side to the story though. She doesn't buy meat so much because she belives it isn't healthy, but because she is frugal (she survived two world wars)and now more then ever saves money to give to church. I think my family will enjoy reading links to raw milk therapy.
DOes anybody know where can I get the Kefir grains so I can make my own. I remember my mother and her friends were passing grains around when they had enough for themselves. I'd love to try to make my own.
Alenka

[Carla]

Alenka, if you look at my response to Kathryn above, you will see links to the Weston A. Price email lists. Their members are always trading kefir grains. I let my grains die (you have to keep them growing by constantly making kefir), so I don't have any to offer. Kefir is also a fermented milk, but it has different organisms than yogurt. For those of you that don't know, kefir is made with "grains", actually colonies of yeast and bacteria that look like curds, which you strain out of the milk after fermentation. It's a great idea to consume both kefir and yogurt to get a full range of organisms.

[Alanna]

Welcome to food blogging! I think you'll find it a warm and welcoming community. Join in! AK

[Carla]

Thanks, Alanna! How did you hear about Local Forage?

[Patricia Biesen]

HI Carla,
I just wanted to say "hi" and I just recently subscribed to your blog. You are totally a girl after my own heart. I got hooked reading about health when I was diagnosed with many candida-related health issues (adrenal fatigue, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism). I've become an advocate for real food. I eat a mostly high raw diet and just started purchasing raw dairy (raw sheep milk is yummy by the way!) from a raw dairy "speakeasy" (ha!)in Chicago. I tried to be a raw vegan which didn't work so I guess you'd say I'm a flexible raw omni. Like you I'm also a fan of fermented foods. Anyway, I enjoy your blog and keep up the good work!

[Doug Cragoe]

I found your site searching for raw milk ice cream. For many years it's been a dream of mine to one day find a source or maybe even start up a raw ice cream company. I know raw ice cream would be way more expensive than any other ice cream, but I think there is a market for it in some big cities. Has anybody else thought about making it commercial?

Yours site is well designed and nice to look at. I look forward to the Los Angeles edition.

[Steven]

Doug:
I love ice cream, too. To answer your question, I consulted with Mark McAfee; from Organic Pastures. He explained the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will not permit raw ice cream to be sold at retail. There exists a standard of identity for ice cream. Legally, it cannot be called ice cream unless it is pasteurized. For now, keep making ice cream at home and support local ice cream shops. If you know of any in LA that are worthy, let me know. Thanks, Steven

[Doug Cragoe]

Thanks Steven for this information. But I have a few more questions about this. If it cannot be called "ice cream" unless it has been pasteurized, then could it be sold under a different name? For example, could you make an ice cream like raw product and call it "frozen cream?" Is the problem just the wording?

Or, would the CDFA not permit ANY frozen raw milk product to be sold regardless of the labeling?

[Doug Cragoe]

I decided to call Organic Pastures and get my questions answered. Here's the good news: Organic Pastures is expanding and plans to offer frozen products in the future. So we probably will have raw ice cream one day. California law says most milk products have to be pasteurized to have standard names like ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, chocolate milk, etc. OP makes a chocolate milk but adds a little collostrum to make it a dietary supplement and puts a different name on it.

[Steven]

Doug:
For now, the introduction of raw milk ice cream to Organic Pasture's product line is a function of consumer demand and profitability. OP's raw milk is held on a truck at 35 degrees. Ice cream requires a much colder tempature of minus 10 degrees. If someone in the marketplace could develop a truly raw milk ice cream including a raw sweetner, such as unheated honey and a thickening agent, while eliminating raw egg yolk....this would be a truly incredible item. Also, for now the name of the product would need to be changed to something other then "ice cream." I am optimistic that eventually the laws will evolve.

[Doug Cragoe]

I didn't speak to the head of Organic Pastures, just an employee who knew a lot about what I was asking. You might know more about OP than me. I feel if somebody did make a raw ice cream, even if it was called something other than "ice cream," it would still be a successful commercial venture. The OP employee said they do have plans to do frozen products in the future, so I'm hopeful. Currently, they ship their products via UPS in boxes with ice. Mabye a box with ice could keep ice cream frozen.

[Beti]

Hi Carla,
I signed in last summer.I love and enjoy reading your blog! I studied chem.Lab Technician in Germany and was always interested in healthy food and teaching my kids the importance of good food. I have three kids, that enjoy gardening cooking and eating home made meals.We especially enjoy Italian food even though I grew up in Germany. For it's simplicity and the taste, the same time for the memories of home Europe. There is no such great ice cream than Gelato in Europe.
We miss the farms like they exist back home. We leave in the south bay and have no idea where you would get your milk from a farm.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge . B