Field Trip -- Cornercopia and Campus Club

So this was a two-part field trip, but really thematically tied together.

In the morning (this happened May 8th) we took a trip to the organic student farm, Cornercopia. We got a tour and a quick history of the establishment. I was particularly interested to hear how receptive the school administration had been to their land allocation; organic farming doesn't seem like something the U really leverages to its advantage (in admissions or advertising) and it takes up a lot of space compared to, say, an eight-story building packed with classrooms. But I suppose land is a lot easier for the school to dole out when they don't have to build a modern facility covering it and fill that facility with paid faculty.

There has been a lot said about this trip on the other blog posts, but what it really got me fired up about is doing my own growing. I'm always a little bit entranced by the ability of plants to grow, turning light and water and air into FOOD, right in front of your eyes. Walking through greenhouses and fields and the little orchard section made me excited to get moving on my own garden. In fact, it got to the point where I couldn't really keep track of which sorts of things I was most excited to grow!



Later in the day we all met back up and got a tour of the Campus Club. I'll be honest -- what I remember most is that fantastic curry with cilantro chutney. But I also was impressed by the business acumen I saw there.

Really, that's something I noticed in both places. I felt like there was significant time spent in this class in sort of a head-in-the-clouds "wouldn't it be nice if we planted daisies in every other row of this industrial, profit-focused factory farm?" and "why don't we just lift all of the subsidies from meat and apply them to produce?". And don't get me wrong -- those sound amazing. But they get no points for practicality, or even plausibility. On the other hand, both Cornercopia and Compus Club gave the impression of extremely practical and squarely-run operation that also just happened to be organic, local-focused, whatever.



That was what most impressed me, and what has stuck with me. You probably can't shoehorn organic and local priorities into any old business model and expect it to work, but you can make an organic or local food business WORK.

Campus Club!

For my second field trip experience, I figured I would write about our lab field trip to the campus club on the fourth floor of Coffman.

 

When we first got there, we were introduced to the executive chef at Campus Club, Beth, and Courtney, the sort of director of Cornercopia, the student organic farm on the Saint Paul campus. Courtney had brought over some food for Beth's restaurant and joined us for dinner. It was nice. We sat outside for a bit since it was such a BEAUTIFUL day and just talked about what they did and how they got to be in their current positions. It was really cool to hear how different their stories were but how they both work so closely together.

 

We then took a tour of the facilities including the back kitchen area and refrigerators. I thought that this part was super cool. We were shown where the food was served, where it was prepared, and even where it was stored. She told us some cool stories about prepping for weddings and how it is all super efficient now and I thought that was cool too. While we were in the back kitchen, there was one of the cooks making what looked like bruschetta and it looked good. Beth showed us what she was making for dinner for us and it seemed super simple! It was definitely something that I will be trying when I get a chance. She was a little disappointed that her polenta didn’t retain its shape well but I thought it still looked good. It was nice to see that even the most seasoned professionals can make mistakes in the kitchen.

 

When we were given the full tour, we sat down and ate. Man, it was yummy. We had a spinach salad with berries (the spinach was from Cornercopia!) and the polenta with the veggie soup/sauce. Just writing about it now is making my mouth water! While we were touring, I found out that the campus club is open to non-members over the summer. Luckily enough, I am a non-member and I will be here for part of the summer so it is perfect! I have already told a couple of my friends about my experience and they are ready to go back there with me once it opens for us in June. This was definitely a cool experience and I am looking forward to going back.

Mill City Market

For my field trip experience, I visited the Mill City (winter) Farmers Market on Saturday, April 13th. 

Since it was still winter in Minnesota, the market was held inside the Mill City Museum. As a result, there weren't that many vendors and it was quite small. Instead of having a variety of fresh produce, there was a lot more baked goods and jarred fruits than one would expect.

 
 

 

 

I actually ran into Tim Page at one of the stands so I talked to him for a bit! He was selling some micro-greens that were grown using the aquaponic systems that he and Cherry Flowers discussed in class when we had them as panelists. He also had a variety of jarred goods--almost like a relish-- that he was selling that were made from last year's crops. Additionally, He had some cute little zucchini breads that were made from zucchini that was frozen from last year. Though I didn't buy any of his products, I thought they all looked delicious and so did the little boy next to me who was begging his mom for a zucchini bread. 

I looked at a couple of the stands that were selling meat and stuff and one thing that stood out to me the most was how much the eggs cost. At one of the stands, is was $5 per dozen eggs! I just payed $1.99 for 18 eggs at rainbow so the cost was a little unsettling to me. I understand that they are farm fresh and organic and all that, but they definitely aren't accommodating for a college student's budget.

I did end up buying a bavarian cream filled croissant to eat on my walk home and it was super delicious. So good in fact that I considered turning around and buying another one for my roommate. I decided that I would make the short trek over the river again with her later in the year so we could pick up more. 

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed with the market. I don’t know what I was expecting since it was still practically snowing out, but the selection and prices were not really what I had hoped for. I do think I will go check out the market again sometime this summer when it is in its full glory. I've heard good things about it in the past so I will definitely give it another try before I write it off.

 

Dig It!

Field trip number two involved going to see an exhibit on soil! There is a surprising amount of information about soil that I never even knew existed. For example, every state has a state soil that has properties distinguishable from other soils in the state. In Minnesota, our state soil is called Lester, and used to be forested areas before it was converted to farmland. Now it is a good soil to grow crops on, and mainly supports corn and soybeans. You can see a sample of our state soil on the very left.

 

Earth also has different "skin types," some of which are better suited for agriculture than others. One skin type I learned about expanded well in water, but when dried out could leave crevices almost 3 feet deep.

 

Scientists in the United States are considering adding another skin type to the list of skin types in the United States. This skin would be the result of human intervention.

 

Of course, some of the most interesting facts related directly to agriculture and expanded upon what we learned in class this semester. Plowing disturbs the bacteria, fungi, and other organisms that are a vital part of a healthy soil system. In the 1930's, part of the reason the dust bowl was so bad was because of poor farming practices. The topsoil eroded, leaving behind an infertile area that devastated entire communities. A similar problem is facing Africa today. Farmers in the Sahara have used up the scarce soil nutrients, and did not add nutrients back to the soil through composting or other sustainable practices. The Millennium Villages Project is helping to educate and help farmers to increase their yields and productivity.

 

 

One of the most interesting facts I learned about was that of the terra preta created by South American Indians a very long time ago. Terra preta is essentially a very fertile soil that was created from partially burned areas of the forest. Slash-and-char farming left patches of very fertile soil (which are still around today) in place of highly infertile soil. Researchers are looking for new insights into this practice in order to help farmers today. I thought the practice of burning trees to create nutrients a bit surprising, because burning of the forest to create more farm land is considered to be an unsustainable practice that yields poor soil after just a couple of years. Yet, the Indians were able to make this practice highly successful. With more research, I hope that farmers in the Amazon Basin will able to move away from practices that destroy the soil and create a sustainable source of soil nutrients. Below is a replica of what terra preta looks like.

 

Field Trip to the Minneapolis Farmers Market

I went to the Minneapolis Farmers Market for my field trip on May 5th. I absolutely love going to the Farmers market in the summer time, so going when it was barely spring made me hopeful for the end of the semester! I love the sense of community created by Farmers Markets, since it celebrates local businesses and Farmers. I have been to this market many times before, but it was a little different than is is in the summertime. At this time of year, there wasn't much local produce. However, there were some vendors selling produce at a very inexpensive price, so I got ingredients to make guacamole. Although most of the produce wasn't local, there were a lot of products produced in Minnesota. There were lots of flowers and plants, cheese, eggs, tortillas, jarred and canned food, and clothing. We stopped to talk to the man selling locally made tortillas, and it was so interesting to hear the pride he has for making local food. I also got some samples of local cheese, and the cheese maker expressed such appreciation for food and passion for the cheese he sells at the market. It's experiences like these that make the Farmers Market such a great bonding experience for the local community. I can't wait to go back many times this summer to get fresh produce and meet local farmers!

Field Trip to see Michael Pollan!

When I first got the email that Michael Pollan was coming to the Twin Cities to speak, I was immediately intrigued. I hadn't personally read any of his books cover to cover, but I had definitely heard of his work, listened to some of his Ted Talks, and listened to various friends and family discuss their opinions of his work.

This class has caused me to actually dig deeper into issues/perspectives I have never given much thought to; almost more so than any other class I have taken. I never thought I would be a vegetarian, and yet I now find myself not having eaten meat in the past three or four months. I never knew much about the food system, nor did I make an effort to get to know it, and now I find myself digging into controversial issues. The same goes for this Michael Pollan talk; prior to this course, I would have maybe thought, "Oh, that would be cool", and left it at that. But because of this class, I thought, "Wow... I would learn a lot by going to this. I need to make that happen." The next thing I knew, I was buying a, in my cheap opinion, more expensive ticket than I should have. It was so great to hear Michael discuss some real issues about our food system, and how the practice of cooking has changed so drastically- for the worse- in our country. I was genuinely interested in every word he spoke!

The experience of hearing Michael Pollan speak on behalf of his new book, "Cooked", was really great. Besides waiting in the huge line wrapping around outside the synagogue in 35 degree weather for 30 minutes, and the fact that the man sitting next to me was trying not to fall asleep the entire time (which was very distracting), I found my experience to be wonderful! I thought that Pollan to be extremely intelligent, witty, and entertaining. Though I may not have read any of his books, getting to hear him speak about one was all the more amazing! After he spoke, there was a great Q&A session.

Field Trip to Campus Club!

Going to the Campus Club was really great. I never knew that it even existed prior to our visit, so it was cool to get the opportunity to tour something I had just learned about earlier that week! I was shocked at what a beautiful view the Club has of both the city and of campus. I can imagine why it is so popular for all sorts of events.

In terms of food and cooking, it was really awesome to get the chance to tour the kitchen/storage space of the Campus Club. When you go to places such as that, or dine at events like that such as a wedding, you never really think about where the food is being cooked and what the commotion might look like inside (at least I never really had). I can imagine how hectic it may get at times in that kitchen when preparing for so many people- though that makes it that much cooler that they can create a system that works/functions great for all cooks involved!

It was also really great to learn all about the partnership between the Campus Club and Cornercopia- how amazing that their teamwork works so greatly for both of them, and they each get to benefit so much out of it! I think other local organic farmers could look at this as a great example and to gain inspiration. Also, the food was amazing! Both Diedra and I were talking about how excited we were to attempt to make the tomato sauce she made- as it looked so simple and tasted so great! Although, as discussed, there is a huge different between store-bought tomatoes and locally grown/organic tomatoes.

Overall, this was a really cool experience, and I am super excited to dine/drink at the bar at the Campus Club on vacations or during the summer! :)