Presented by: Michele E. Mukatis
One of the most common questions I field is, “How do you eat local in the winter in Colorado?” The answer, while not simple, is that it can be done. I choose to use what I need and supplementwith produce that I’ve frozen from the harvest season and there are a plethora of Colorado-raised foods to seek out right now. If you are a meat eater, of course there are all of the wonderful locally-grown meats available through purveyors like Ranch Foods Direct, Larga Vista Ranch, Frost Farms and Lasater Grasslands Beef You can get highquality, pasture-fed
meats, frozen at their prime, everything from beef and bison to lamb,
pork and chicken. Next, find produce that keeps through the winter. Apples, many kinds of winter squash, root vegetables and potatoes are what people would store to eat through the winter. Their higher natural sugar content gives you an extra boost to help your body manage the cold, dark months. Many greens can handle a freeze, so if you have a greenhouse, a cold frame or some other type of covering, you can harvest fresh kale, spinach and salad greens all winter long.
These veggies provide necessary vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, E, and K as well as other trace nutrients such as iron,
zinc, potassium, and phosphorus. Greens are great for blood purification and provide lots of energy, so adding those
to the sugary vegetables gives you a nice boost while, at the same time, balances out the heavier tastes of winter. In Colorado Springs, Ranch Foods Direct sells as much local produce as possible throughout the year. They also have a nice selection of value-added products (I know, an industry term) such as salsas, honey, and sauces. The ingredients may not all be sourced locally, but the businesses are likely to be Colorado-based and therefore supporting our local economy more than some of the wellknown picante sauces. Sourcing local foods
takes a little more work than just going to the grocery, but it’s worth it since you get fresher, more nutrient-dense
meals. Searching online or contacting your local Slow Food Chapter,
as well as the Peak to Plains Alliance in southern Colorado is the quickest way. In Denver, the first winter farmers market has opened. In Boulder, there are many farms such as the Cure Farm that grow through the winter and supply the local restaurants like The Kitchen. In Colorado Springs,restaurants such as Pizzeria Rustica and
Adams Mountain Café source locally in the off-season. Create the demand, and it will come! Happy New Year!

For A great recipe by Michele:

http://www.equinaut.net/?p=780

Tags: Food, Healthy Food

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 10:07 am and is filed under Cooking & Recipes, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.