Thursday, June 26, 2008

Local food research

I thought you all might benefit from the research I have done to find local foods. I think it is a good idea to include my dead ends, as well as successes, so that you don't need to go through the same process.

Butter: Buttercup brand is made by Pine River Dairy in Manitowoc. I called them to find out where their milk comes from, and the farthest dairy farm they source from is near Fond du Lac, which, by my calculations, is just inside the 100 mile radius circle. Buttercup is available from Rendard's Cheese for $2.60/lb.

Cream: Call ahead to Renard's to find out if they have cream available. It's not available every day. I'm not sure if the Hwy 57 store has it, but the one on County Road S does. 743-6626

Cheese: Of course Renard's has cheese. They sell many types, some of which they make themselves from milk from about 30 local dairy farms. Renards makes all the cheddar they sell and also Monterey Jack, string cheese, colby, brick, and muenster. I'm not sure about mozzarella, but I know the parmesan they sell is not made by them, and therefore is not made with local milk. Because I really love parmesan, I traced the source back to the dairy that makes it to learn the hard news.

Ice cream: Schopf's dairy farm sells their milk to Land O Lakes which mixes it with milk from farms both inside and outside our Challenge area. Then they ship it to a different facility in De Pere where even more milk from other places is put into the mix. Finally the milk comes back to the Dairy View Country Store where it is made into ice cream. So, no chance for a local product there, though perhaps some of the milk molecules are actually from Schopf's cows. (I have a hard time understanding how this is cost effective, but it must be. Cost effectiveness is the impetus for many of our unsustainable behaviors.)

Hot dogs: The meat eaters in my family are fond of Salmon's hot dogs which are made in Luxemburg. I called them to learn that they get most of their meat from Packerland Packing in Green Bay. A call to Packerland revealed the fact that Salmon's hot dogs are made with meat which comes from any possible place in the country. Too bad. Marchant's in Brussels may have sausages, if not hot dogs, made from local meats. If anyone calls them, please post the results of your research.

Sorghum: I made a new discovery. Mr. Wittgreve of Rolling Meadows Farm in Elkhart Lake grows and processes delicious sorghum syrup. In a cup of hot water with cream, this will replace hot cocoa for my daughter and me this winter. It's also good on fried corn meal mush. $5.00/pint. Rolling Meadows Farm can be reached by calling 920 876-2182.

More research results later,
Ann

14 comments:

Pam in Namur said...

Does anyone know of a local source for raw, organic milk? I bought a farm share from a place in New Holstein that has it (within the 100 mile radius) but it's a long way to drive for mile. I'd like to find a source closer to home. Any ideas?

Pie Guy said...

Boy am I glad to hear that Renards still offers cream. We used to pick it up regularly and it was the real McCoy. No guar gum, etc. It whipped up in half the time.

Dave

Pie Guy said...

Sunny Slope Dairy is an Organic dairy, but I don't know about raw milk. They are south of Egg Harbor on Sunny Slope Road.

Pie Guy said...

I don't see why oil would be a problem. Sunflower seed from the area should be readily available and an oil press should not be too difficult to locate. New Dawn Engineering in Swaziland makes a hand operated (or rather two strong guy operated) oil press.

Dave

Pie Guy said...

Good ol' Google! Try this web page:

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/oilpress.html

Dave

Pam in Namur said...

As long as cream is available at Renards, there's no need to pay $2.60/pound for butter. It's easy to make. I use my Kitchenaid mixer - takes about 10 minutes. Just be sure to squeeze out the extra buttermilk out and give it a rinse. Then, let the buttermilk sit and thicken for a couple of days and use it to make buttermilk salad dressing (no need for oil).

Pie Guy said...

Another excellent cooking oil is, of course, ghee, or clarified butter. Just heat the butter and separate out the solids and use the clear yellow liquid.

Dave

Pam in Namur said...

Here's a little more info on making butter: the first bit is from a KitchenAid site, and the second (a web site) I found from a Google search. They both seem like lengthy processes, but don't be fooled by the detail. It's easy.
-
In days gone by, most people gathered cream through out the week and when enough was collected, it was allowed to stand at room temperature until it just barely began to sour. Then, my grandmother and my mom, would make butter using 2 quarts of the cream and let the mixer run at a medium speed. The cream would thicken slightly and then begin to curdle. They would lower the speed to prevent spattering and let it run until the butter had separated from the whey (buttermilk or the gray runny looking stuff). The the entire mixture was poured into a colander lined with a dishtowel and allowed to drain. After resting 30 minutes or so, the butter would be washed in cold, cold water, kneading it and washing out more of the whey, which would allow the butter to last longer, without becoming sour. It is also entirely possible to make butter from sweet cream, after it has a few days to age. It is hard to get fresh cream to whip. Salt the butter to taste.
I used to buy fresh cream from a dairy, when we had a bakery, in the 80's. If I had too much cream, I would make batches of butter in the food processor. It would take just a few minutes and soon the butter ball would go whirling around the container and butter milk would leak out around the lid. I learned to put the processor in the sink and cover it with a towel. When I was done with all the batches I needed to make, I would rinse all the mess down the sink and towel off the base of the processor.
Butter in America had a more pronounced taste in the first part of the 1900s and it was Land o'Lakes who pioneered "sweet cream" butter. Of all the brands I buy, Darigold is the only one I have found that still has a mild twang. When I travel, I look forward to butter from Europe and Australia for it reminds of the taste I grew to love as a child.
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http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/113/Making-Butter - probably more detail than needed, but the pictures are helpful

Pam in Namur said...

Also, for buttermilk dressing recipes, do a Google search. There are tons of recipes. Some will require some creative substitutions to stay within the 100-mile spirit. For instance, for mayo I'd probably substitute a local ricotta to give the dressing body, then up the herbs a little bit, or - if you're allowing conidments in your challenge - maybe add a little prepared mustard to give it a nice tang.

DoorDreamers said...

Pam,
If we could convince a local farmer to provide a cow as Wayne and Kay Craig do at Grassway Farms near New Holstein (920 894-4201), I'd certainly go in with you on it. How many shares are needed, and what does it cost? I would approach Wayne and Marilyn Maedke (sp?) in Clay Banks with the plan if you could help me with the details.
Ann

DoorDreamers said...

Dave,
Your comment about oil and how it "should" be readily available represents the primary problem we are facing in the Hippensteel household. Things that "should" be easily available because they grow here, like oats, wheat, milk, oil stuffs, are not available because they are not processed within the 100 mile limit, or are not legally sold off the farm. This is where there need to be food distribution policy changes. I hope UW Ext Ag Dept can help with this. Maybe it is a topic we can put to our legislators at the next Door County delegates trip to Madison.
Ann

Pam in Namur said...

Ann - Sorry, I didn't see your July 14 post since I started watching the forum discussion only. Anyway,yes I'd be interested in trying to get a local farmer set up (like the Maedke's) to sell shares. Are the Maedke's organic?
Pam

Pam in Namur said...

Ann - Sorry, I didn't see your July 14 post since I started watching the forum discussion only. Anyway,yes I'd be interested in trying to get a local farmer set up (like the Maedke's) to sell shares. Are the Maedke's organic?
Pam

Ann Hippensteel said...

More Research

Fish: Bear Cats in Algoma has white fish year around, chubs and smelt in season. Other fish, including their salmon are “imported” from outside the 100 mile radius of Door County.

Milk: Morning Glory dairy plant #55-8 in De Pere assures this locavore that the milk, sour cream, and French onion dip are made from milk raised on farms within a 30 mile radius of the plant, and thus within the Door County 100 mile food challenge boundaries. The additives in the sour cream and the onions in the dip are not local. We confidently use Morning Glory milk and less confidently the sour cream. We don’t purchase the dip, but have dried onions and garlic from our garden which we could add to the sour cream if we were so inclined. Other dairy products with the Morning Glory label (butter, cream, etc) are not local.

Bread: one of my first attempts at local food research was to check in with Natural Ovens of Manitowoc, an independent bakery which originally made a point of raising its own grains, even by old fashioned methods – horse and walk-behind plow. After several decades, during which bakery processes were increasingly automated and ingredients sourced from more distant farms, the business was sold to some people from Chicago.

Still no oats or oil.

Ann