Local food Thanksgiving

For a couple of months we’ve been planning a Thanksgiving meal made up of as many locally grown foods as possible. Thanks to the great folks who provide the CSA this endeavor just got a lot easier.


Let's start with the Thanksgiving centerpiece....turkey. We went looking for a non-industrial turkey after having read about mass production in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle . The great thing about Barbara Kingsolver's book is that even though she speaks to the inhumane side of the industrial food process, she also talks about the alternatives and people who are creating better food options. So we went looking for someone who raises heritage turkeys that were living a good turkey life. I started my search with the Slow Food preservation project called the Ark of Taste. This developed into email discussions with heritage turkey enthusiasts from all over the country who gave me tips on how to locate someone closer to home (I love the Internet!). We found Lisa Leonard at Wind Dancer Ranch. A group of us went in on a bulk purchase and Mark and I will be going to pick up the harvested birds right before The Day. Local food is generally considered to be anything produced within a certain range of where you live, and though Wind Dancer Ranch might not be considered local by the strictest standards the ranch is still within a reasonable distance. It's a day trip! And, this shopping trip will be way more fun than going to the grocery store because Lisa is eager to give us a tour of her ranch where she raises all kinds of heritage breeds. The Wind Dancer Ranch website is beautiful and informative...the attached image is just one of many that chronicle their life with heritage animals. You can still get one of these amazing birds in time for Thanksgiving; if you want the purchase to be cost effective get some of your friends and family in on a group purchase.

Next you'll need all the other dishes that make Thanksgiving and fall meals so special. This 2007 season is the second year for the spring/summer CSA program. The program coordinators and producers are amazing and they have accomplished great things in a really short period of time. As they manage the daily duties, like harvesting and packing, and the emergencies, such the loss of a pickup-spot volunteer, they continue to look for ways to meet the food needs of a diverse and complex demographic...us! With this in mind The Great Basin Basket CSA is offering fall programs this year; a fall basket and a Thanksgiving basket. I won't go into details here because the buzz has just surfaced and there are questions that only Pauline Hamilton at Great Basin Basket can answer. Email her today because you don't want to miss out.


This will be our first ever Thanksgiving planned with an emphasis on using the increasing number of locally produced foods. Those that aren't available through local producers we'll select sticking as close to possible to our food ethic without sacrificing too much. I'm not at all concerned about sacrificing taste, though, because if the turkey and fall CSA produce are anything like the other local foods we've eaten this year it will taste better than anything we've had before.