Sustainable Table... and more!

I am so very excited about what is going on at TCU Wesley. For those who don't know what that is, TCU Wesley is the Methodist's student ministry for college students at Texas Christian University, here in good ol' Fort Worth, Texas.

Last semester I started cooking there for their Thursday lunches. The Wesley has a free/donation lunch for whoever wants to come (mostly TCU students attend) every Thursday from 11:30am to 1:30pm. You can eat for free or donate a few bucks which is always welcomed of course. Anywhere from a handful to 20 people show up. There's some regulars and floaters, and we love everyone as family. Which doesn't mean we all get along or agree. It's a real community with real discussion on real things.

My personal moral moves me to try to purchase local (minimally US, preferably Texas grown) and/or organic for the meal. I never buy from Wal-mart. In the beginning I bought from Kroger because it was close, but half-way through the semester I tried to rely on Sprouts, which isn't a local company, but has more to offer on organics and US Grown produce.

Personally, I am called to be a vegetarian for several reasons, the top reason being the effect on the environment. Many say that being vegetarian (even better, vegan) has a more positive effect on the environment than not driving a car.

I also like eating with the seasons. Instead of fighting against what the earth is more willing to provide, eating what is in season is a focus in my personal home-stock as well as with the meals at the Wesley.

Working with all of these concepts, their new Community Garden, and more- we are officially calling the mealtime Sustainable Table. We want to create an intentional community surrounding sustainability in all aspects of life.

I'm really excited to plan, prepare, and serve these meals. It is certainly a challenge! I have a budget where the average meal does not cost more than two or three bucks. Believe it or not, it's possible!

Here's a pic of the first Sustainable Table meal! I am going to start making pie charts of each meal to show exactly what is what. This meal included about 1/3 of each Local/Texas, Organic, and Neither. The goal of course is at least all local and/or organic. We'll see how I do this Thursday! Tomorrow is shopping day.

The Urban Conversion

This blog is about to change shape. Not only have I moved locations (several months ago mind you), but as expected my habits have gone through such turbulence for many reasons.

Now living in Fort Worth, Texas, the sources of struggling to eat local and healthy have changed. How spoiled was I to have an entire market (open all year!) but a few miles from my house which sourced produce, eggs and other fresh foods only from Texas?

Here we have Farmer's Markets and CSA's such as Cold Spring's Farm. Yes, you can go to these weekly to pick up your local and/or organic produce and other items, but as far as I know this is mostly a weekend activity. I was going to the Benbrook Traffic Circle farmer's market fairly regularly, tagging along knitting while Garold sold Avoca Coffee.

We have a Central Market and Sprouts here. I am lucky to have these great stores surrounding me, carrying organic, semi-local (mostly USA sourced) produce, some local produce when in season, and other gourmet and specialty items. Central Market however is located off I-30; Sprouts is off I-20. I live and dwell in between.

I currently work at Oliver's Fine Foods, which besides a great breakfast place/lunch deli and other things, is an urban grocery. We focus on providing a wide range of items (including produce) for people living downtown.

What I haven't found is what I had in Tyler with East Texas Produce. I miss it. I miss the prices I paid for produce. I miss the challenge of coming back with only sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions and squash for several weeks in a row and coming up with creative, exciting dishes with the same-ol' same ol' because that was what's in season and that's what I could afford.

There was something about working more with what was available that I miss about my culinary life then. Though now I eat mostly at local restaurants, such as this evening's Caribbean Jerk vegan sandwich from Spiral, my grocery bill seems to be coming from more corporate places such as mentioned above, and not from Texas-local sources. Though my last resorts on non-produce are Kroger and SuperTarget, a lot of my groceries come from Sprouts, Central Market or Fiesta.

I spend a fair amount of time in the Fairmont (...ha) neighborhood, and I feel like something is missing. For an upcoming place such as Magnolia, I feel a calling. My main "calling" is towards justice in the food & farming industry- dealing with the issues of responsibly farming (working with season, towards organics, fair wages and conditions for workers, etc.) and financial availability (there are lots available at markets... but who can afford to source everything from boutique farms?). Dealing with "food wasted" or rather "wasted food" and re-sourcing this is also in the mix.

Something must be done. I'm thinking about being the person who does it. This blog will probably be logging all sorts of things I am considering for the future, and I would love*love*love comments.

(As always, I should probably work on editing.)