We’ve spent many weeks learning about the problems within our farm labor system. This week, we celebrated a model, community supported agriculture (CSA), that connects consumers directly to the people who feed us. In the classroom, we watched Dixon farmer Lorraine Walker, a friend of our program, introduce Eatwell Farm, which is located about 70 miles north of Harvey Milk. CSA members of the farm get a weekly newsletter detailing what’s happening around the farm, a weekly box of produce with an option to purchase eggs, and seasonal opportunities to visit the farm to harvest strawberries or lavender, make tomato sauce, pick olives, or just hang out. Members can donate to a burrito fund to show appreciation for the farm crew, and can donate their farm boxes if they’re away to benefit community members who are living with cancer and others who need access to high-quality organic produce.
In the kitchen, the second graders made a stir-fry from everything in the Eatwell CSA box this week: green garlic, spring onion, arugula, cauliflower, bok choy, fennel, radishes, kale, and mandarins. We marinated firm Hodo tofu (made in Oakland!) in soy sauce, sesame oil, and the mandarin juice, added garlic and ginger to the aromatics in the wok, and stir-fried all the vegetables together until they were cooked and well coated with sauce, then enjoyed our work over a bed of warm brown rice. This is a great clean-out-the-fridge recipe, and we hope students will carry the basics of how to make a simple meal such as this one into adulthood and that access to CSA boxes from local farms continues to increase for everyone in our community.
