Winter Doldrums

Will whoever pulled the plug on America's appetite for fresh vegetables please reinsert.  It is hard to believe the markets are as slow as they appear to be.  I have spoken to many people in the last two days who say this is the slowest January they can remember, with many admitting to more than 30 years experience.  As usual, no one is certain of the cause, but the tried and true excuses are trotted out and excercised.  The Christmas bill hangover, the cabin fever syndrome, Super Bowl anticipation, and on and on.  Personally, I think people are cooking fewer meals at home and not eating vegetables as often at restaurants.  The success of the Texas Roadhouse chain, which has been packing them in at the Plattsburgh location since opening two months ago is a case in point.  You cannot get a seat without waiting up to two hours.  I refuse to wait that long for mediocre food, but having eaten at one of their stores in  Myrtle Beach, I can tell you that vegetables are like an afterthought at an Alzheimer's convention.  I can guarantee a similar size vegetarian restaurant opening in the same location would probably have closed by now. 

Back to the "Frozen Tundra"

Or not.  Got back from the land of palm trees and illegal immigrants and was immediately  reminded of why I want to go back as soon as possible.  The roads were black ice from Montreal to the border as the temps hovered near the freezing mark.  Saturday was another story and Sunday was even nicer with sunshine and temps in the 40s.  Got some housekeeping work in the garden done, then harvested some fresh spinach in the cold frames.  Usually, even the protected greens are toast by the end of January, but I think these will even have a second cut by the end of Feb.  So far, this winter is more a rumor than reality here on the NCR.  They had to import ice to build a castle for the winter carnival at Lake George, since the lake has not frozen.  There are a few protected bays on Lake Champlain that have frozen enough so ice fisherman can try for pike and lake perch, but the main lake is quite open and when the wind blows out of the south it is quite rough.  At this point in the season, we would have to have several weeks of sub freezing temps to have a general freeze.  I am anticipating an early spring.  The USDA has reconfigured its hardiness zones, and most areas of the country are at least a half zone warmer than they were the last time the agency adjusted them in the mid  1990s.  Even if the politicians refuse to acknowledge what is happening, the legions of gardeners across the country are witnessing the changes on a daily basis.  We may not be planting palm trees in the Adirondacks anytime soon, but what is happening is not trivial and needs to be addressed without the ad hominem attacks on Al Gore.   It may seem counterintuitive to many people, but the facts do seem to have an undeniable liberal bias.

Palm trees and guacamole

Leaving for vacation tomorrow, so posting will be somewhat erratic, although I'm sure the tropics will inspire me, if only the wi-fi will cooperate.  I'm looking forward to tropical fruits and veggies as a change of pace from the usual fare.  I think many of us get locked into a fairly narrow range of choices in what we eat, so to break away from the routine is enlightening.  Unfortunately, when we get back home, unless home is an ethnic melting pot like NYC, the choices inevitably steer your menu plans back to where they were before.  I guess that's all the more reason to enjoy the tropical variations.  I have also seen fellow travelers keep to the same choices as at home.  Bacon and eggs for breakfast, hamburgers for lunch and steak for dinner.  Let it go.

eating for health

That Paula Deen fessed up to her type 2 diabetes diagnosis is surprising, only that it comes 3 years after the fact.  That she should use the announcement as a platform to hawk a non-injectable medication to combat the disease is as tawdry as it is unsurprising.  According to the news story I saw regarding Ms. Deen's announcement, she does not plan to change her approach to southern cuisine, just cut back on the portions of salt, fat and sugar she has been pushing for years.  If she is your guide to southern cooking, you are probably unaware that drowning everything from collard greens to chicken with monumental portions of bacon drippings, lard and salty and sweet seasonings is the only way southerners can enjoy food.  Vegetables are certainly an afterthought in the Deen world.  It would appear she is not planning a road to Damascus moment of conversion to healthy cooking and eating.  More's the pity.

Is corn food?

A story on NPR this morning caught my attention.  American farmers plan to plant 93 million acres of corn this year, with more than 50% slated to go to ethanol production.  In a world where billions of people go hungry every day, we put fuel production ahead of food.  What does this say about the priorities of our country in the 21st century?  Most of the rest of the corn will either feed animals, or be processed into high fructose corn syrup for the soft drink industry.  The logical commentary about social responsibility to the rest of the world or the profit centered business model which produces an obesity rate of 60% or more of the population fails me.  Unbridled capitalism seems a social as well as an economic failure as we head into a pivotal election season.  Unfortunately, neither political party is willing to touch the blight that is American agriculture policy.  So we will continue to drive our gas guzzlers and continue to our unchecked consumption of corn based non foods for another four years.  Sorry about the sour mood of this post.  It only happens when I think about the "leadership" we inflict on ourselves.

Small steps

The new year is pretty uneventful so far.  No outrageous weather, but business seems sluggish overall.  The economy is weighing heavily on most people in the produce business.  The consumer is holding onto food dollars and spending on what is generally perceived as expensive produce items is off.  It doesn't help that when people cocoon during the winter months, it seems produce consumption falls off.  Despite abundant evidence produce is better for you and actually costs less than processed foods there is resistance to eating for health or economic reasons.  Salt and fat taste better and unfortunately, the produce business does not have the advertising budget to counteract the blizzard of commercials we are subjected to in the run up to Superbowl Sunday, when even I will indulge in an orgy of unhealthful eating.  This is the apothesis of the junk food year.  I guess we will have to hold on til the last bag of Doritos is consumed and perhaps some sanity returns to the mind of the consumer.

Winter's Discontent

As we get further into January, the weather is getting uglier.  Snow and sleet changing to rain and back again.  This weekend looks like the deep freeze with temps in the below 0 area.  Plus there are no bright spots in the produce world.  The only good food related news was a story in the NYT about the popularity of Greek yogurt and how New York state farmers are jubilant about prospects in the coming year.  It seems it takes a  lot more milk to make the greek style yogurt than the regular variety.  I know it is a big hit at Casa Monzeglio.  We should have bought stock in the companies which make the stuff.  Now if only someone would come up with some vegetable that would be on everyone's must have list.  Such are the fantasies of January.

Stormy weather

We are getting the worst of winter today.  Snow, sleet, freezing rain and the flying spaghetti monster knows what else are arriving as dawn breaks.  Deer are moving through open fields, posing another driving hazard, and the weekend promises a deep freeze.  Fortunately for sales, the rest of the state and points south are only getting rain.  People should be moving about and hopefully carrying out their New Year's resolution to eat healthy.... well maybe healthier than last year anyway.  It will be fun trying to convince truckers to head into the maelstrom tonight.

The cruelest month

January is arguably the worst month on the year in terms of veg sales.  For most of the country, the combination of short days, cold, snow and televised sports turn us into couch potatoes with a yen for comfort food.  That used to include soups and stews, which required at least potatoes and a few vegetables.  To the present generation, comfort food is more like Domino's pizza and Big Macs.  Next time you go to a supermarket, check out the food choices of the people with the full carts.  Highly processed foods, carbonated beverages and a few frozen or canned veggies is the bulk of the fare many people bring home to their families.  The upcoming super bowl is a veritable junk food orgy which will suck up the grocery budgets of many shoppers for the next two weeks.  At least there will be a the obligitory veg tray with dips, so sales of carrots, cauliflower and peppers should be strong as we head toward February 5.  About the only thing to cheer is the steady increase of daylight as the country staggers toward spring.  That and the comic spectacle of the Republican primary clown car as it careens from the northeast to South Carolina and Florida.

Back to the land

The NYT had an interesting article on a new back to the land movement in Greece.  With unemployment hovering in the 15-20% range, a cross section of middle class and professional workers are heading back to the countryside to get in touch with their agricultural roots.  Starting enterprises as diverse as snail farms and tapping trees for edible sap, these folks are going back to the ways of their recent ancestors.  Although some of them are reluctant agriculturalists, and some of their parents and grandparents are horrified they are abandoning the possibility of high paying jobs in engineering, international trade, etc., the general feeling is one of hopelessness that Greece will ever recover from the austerity being imposed by their European bankers.  I have not seen anything like this occuring in the US.  Granted their are a few local back to the land types in Plattsburgh, but these farmers chose this life at a fairly young age, not like some of the middle aged types in Greece.   Also, as the article pointed out, many of these people inheireted the land they were retreating to.  I doubt many Americans have that option.  Besides that, much of America has moved to a sanitized supermarket culture with only boutique farm options available to the aspiring farmer.  I don't know about the Greeks, but I doubt most 21st century Americans are ready for the 80 hour weeks most farmers work for a monetary return they would consider a joke.  I hope we never get to the point where this becomes the attractive, or indeed the only way some people will survive.













5

January Blahs

The weather continues unseasonably mild here on the NCR.  We should top out in the upper 30s today, with snow and rain showers.  It feels more like March.  The rest of the country still has a topsy turvy weather regime.  Snow in Texas and record highs in North Dakota.  I doubt the weather has anything to do with consumption of veggies, but it certainly impacts the supply.  The recent cold in Florida has boosted the price of heat lovers such as cukes and peppers, while the similar weather out west has seemingly depressed the prices of lettuce, spinach and cauliflower.  If the veg market was a casino, most of the players would be leaving the premises minus the contents of their wallets.

Downsizing veggies

At the local Hannaford's on Sat., I noticed something that may be a renewal of a long term trend toward baby vegetables.  One repacker was offering baby collard greens, and another a 6 pack of baby cukes.  The collard greens offering seems an attempt at upscaling a long time southern favorite to trendy northern tastes.  The cukes may be more appealing to mothers who want to supply something healthy in their kids' lunch boxes.  Either way, it looks like the downsizing of veggies will continue.  I can hardly wait for micro cauliflower and individual serving butternut squash.  It's a brave new world.

Frustrating Friday

When markets fall and no one wants to speak with you, it brings me right back to those awkward high school dances.  The girls all want to dance, but the guys are either too shy or self conscious to ask.  The few guys who do are immediately the most popular with the ladies and the rest of us wind up in the corners imitating wallflowers.  The majority of customers are so afraid of being burned by rapidly falling markets they refuse to order, thereby causing the markets to fall even further.  It's the opposite of a virtuous circle.  More like a circular firing squad as shippers keep cutting prices to steal orders from one another.  The few buyers with cojones are able to buy the best labels at rock bottom prices and make friends of those shippers, while the rest of us head to the dark corners.  Now I know why I hated high school.

Fickle markets

Squash is hot, lettuce is cold.  So go the markets this morning.  A little cold weather in Florida has the brokers in Nogales dancing in the streets, while warmer weather in Yuma is depressing everyone from growers to truckers as lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower piles up in coolers.  Meanwhile, the vaunted market system has atrophied to the point where chain stores blithely continue with advertised specials planned 6 weeks ago when there is no product available and ignore piles of cheap produce because it is not in the plan.  When I first started in this business, a produce buyer had wide latitude to adjust prices and specials on the fly.  Cauliflower is unexpectedly cheap, then let's put an in-store special.  The squash you advertised for next week is frozen, no big deal, we'll promote potatoes instead.  This can do attitude has been replaced in most chains with a by the numbers mind set which assumes broccoli and spinach are the same as manufactured widgets.  In this bizzaro produce world, if the squash froze, you either buy against the account of the hapless grower or broker who guaranteed the availability, or you put up a sign in the produce dept. lamenting the vagaries of the weather and promising to do better at some unspecified time in the future.  Then raise the prices of some plentiful produce item to bring your bottom line into balance.  The grower or shipper then dumps trailerloads of whatever item was priced out of movement at retail and vows to not plant as much next year.  There are cordial relations between buyers and sellers, but the fundamental equation that obtained 25 years ago is now invalid, since the bottom line of the buyer has replaced the market driven system.  This disconnect is harming the ability of the American farmer to supply affordable produce to the consumer.  What needs to happen is to give the buyer the ability to change on the fly and take advantage of abundant supplies on the spot market.  Will it happen?  I doubt it, as long as buyers are treated as little more than button pushers, and growers are expected to produce advertised specials on demand, regardless of weather conditions.

Stupid weather

At 1 degree above zero here on the NCR, it is time to bow to the inevitable onslaught of a North Country winter.  The heavy duty coat, gloves and hat are now the order of the day, and the garden is an afterthought, seen through headlights as I leave and arrive home in the dark each day.  Fortunately, the seed catalogs continue to arrive and there is plenty of  time to dream of perfect summer days and gentle rains timed to mature picture worthy crops.  Meanwhile, the market for veg should start to turn around.  Freezes in the Southwest last week and Florida today should eliminate any surplus and spark the panic buying so near and dear to producers' hearts.  It should be interesting as we plow through January.

Our non-vegetarian society

I was informed in no uncertain terms by people who know that Americans are not going to vegetarian diets en masse anytime soon.  How stupid of me.  I guess the constant bombardment of the public by fast food hamburger ads and the whole meat is the center of the plate thing (I admit my own inability to break free from that paradigm) is hard for a vegetarian diet to counter.  The problem being most people perceive vegetables as something to be boiled, steamed or fried with minimal additions besides copious amounts of salt and or fat.  Even the Chinese traditions are overtaken by meat as a casual inspection of the average buffet restaurant bears out.  There are good vegetarian cookbooks out there, but it would seem a re-education program must be part of the solution to adding more vegetables to our diets.  Good vegetarian cooking also takes more planning and prep time.  With our increasingly on the go lifestyles, cooking is seen as a nuisance, not as the vital experience it should be.  What is more important than cooking and eating together as a family!

Weight loss and the veg business

Look around the next time you enter your office (not you Neil) and see how many obese persons you can spot in 5 minutes.  Chances are you will be surprised.  No, they are not all Walmartians, although the percentage of fatties rises exponentially in those precints.  All of these people are potential vegetarians.  The studies have been done, and weight loss goes hand in hand with increased vegetable consumption.  Weight watchers is a case in point (pardon the pun).  Their entire system gives each customer a maximum number of points worth of food to consume each day.  Most vegetables are 0 points, so you can eat unlimited portions of leafy greens, fruits and many other vegetables.  I have seen first hand that most weight watchers do not take advantage of this facet of the program.  Perhaps there should be a vegetarian weight watchers program.  It occurs to me as I write this there is probably such a program already.  We need to take such a program nationwide, touting the health benefits as well as the weight reducing ability of such a diet.

Resolutely beginning 2012

It's a quiet start to what should be a momentus year for the world in general and Casa Monzeglio more particularly.  Graduation, marriage, the 60s (as in age, not era) are all in the offing.  It should be very entertaining.  Meanwhile, the produce deal limps along as we start January, but that is not unusual.  People seem to hunker down as the winter picks up steam in the first month.  Comfort food is in vogue, and green stuff and fresh fruit may be healthy, but not what Northerners typically crave this time of year.  If you happen to be at a ski mountain, just check out the offerings in the base lodge;  chili in bread bowls, stew, and pizza are the most popular menu suggestions.  Somehow, they seem to have forgotten the broccoli and spinach, unless mixed with heavy cream and other artery clogging accompaniaments.  In the produce biz, winter is mostly something you get through, rather than an opportunity to push new products.  The fact that February is Potato Month should tell you everything you need to know about produce merchandising in winter.  Oh, and a Happy New Year to all.