Archives for August 2017

A great last week of August. Just unloaded (and ate) some Excelsior plums, white peaches, and first pear harvest. Going to be a tasty week.

 

 

The Dinner Bag for the Week
Week of 8/28:
Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas with Local Free-Range Eggs and Locally Grown Veggies. Side of Organic Pinto Beans.
2 Medium Pizzas with Fresh Mozzarella and Garden Veggies

Take Me To Your Web Site

I had a great conversation with a long-time member of the farm this week about the value of our food. Bang for the buck. Stretching your pesos. Or whatever you want to call it. During this conversation I realized that it is time to devote a newsletter to this notion of value. So let’s dive in.

First off, I have to say that I am happy that Amazon has stepped in and actually cleared up some confusion that existed in the marketplace. As Whole Foods started to see their sales numbers cool off (about 3 years ago), they began to act more like their competition rather than the pioneer of the Organic food industry that they were founded on originally. As Sprouts germinated and began to harvest some of Whole Foods’ market share, Whole Foods assimilated to look more like Sprouts rather than define themselves as The Organic leader. Instead of drawing a line in the sand, Whole Foods just threw mud in the water to make things confusing for customers.

So Organic products became harder to find and I honestly feel that Whole Foods “mined” their brand and tried to play up their historical commitment to Organics even when their current purchasing did not reflect that rooted commitment. Right now, walking through the produce section you are pretty hard-pressed to find a lot of Organic items. That is definitely a stray from the mantra of their past.

Amazon has no such historical (or current) commitment to Organics. So buying Whole Foods, I think Amazon will actually solidify that the future of both companies will not be as a champion for small or Organic farms. The Whole Foods/Amazon crew will now head off to go battle with Wal-Mart for world domination. And the Organic movement will be left to reshuffle the deck and look to see who will carry the flag of the small producers that Whole Foods dropped.

In watching all of this craziness unfold with Amazon and Whole Foods, I have to tell you that our mission has become even more resolute. As I see the natural food industry dilute itself down in a race to the bottom, I feel even stronger that we need to distance ourselves from that race. When they assimilate, we have to separate. No other path feels right.

In my first newsletter of this year, I vowed to you that 2017 would be the year of Authenticity for us. We would bring you closer to your food and give you better experiences with your food. And all of that was written before Whole Foods sold to Amazon and before a national company, Instacart, launched their home delivery model in ABQ (this week).

These are some amazing times for the future of Organics, the Local food movement, and grocery delivery. 2017/18 will go down in the history books as a watershed moment for all 3 of these separate movements. As Hans and Franz used to say on their SNL skit, “Hear me now and believe me later.”

So all of that brings me back full circle to the value discussion I was having with our member. After our discussion last week, I took my tush to two different grocery stores to price check our offerings. I left both stores with smile on my face and maybe even a little more pep in my step. Our price for comparable Organic produce was 10% less on average than the stores. In addition, neither store even carried all of the Organic products that we do. Finding Local Organic growers was like searching for a needle in a haystack. And neither of the stores will come to your home and deliver for free.

Seeing these numbers, I was definitely reassured that we are on the right path. We bring value to our customers, pay living wages to our employees, and offer fair/consistent prices to our growers. All three of these core principles make up the backbone of our business philosophy. We want (no, need) to have a business that customers, employees, and suppliers all believe in or we will not be sustainable. It is that simple.

In the end, I think that all of these curb-side pick up models and new national home delivery models coming to town will bring awareness to shopping for food online. At that point, it will be up to the community whether they want to support local businesses or national chains. Economic democracy in its purest sense. I look forward to the transition here as grocery finally gets into the 21st Century with online ordering and home delivery. It will be a win-win scenario for everyone.

Thanks for the continued support, Farmer Monte

The Dinner Bag for the Week
Week of 8/21:
Classic BLT Sandwich with Local Chevre and a strawberry apple fruit salad
Asian Salad with Shrimp and steamed Cauliflower with a side of Citrus

Take Me To Your Web Site

I had a great conversation with a long-time member of the farm this week about the value of our food. Bang for the buck. Stretching your pesos. Or whatever you want to call it. During this conversation I realized that it is time to devote a newsletter to this notion of value. So let’s dive in.

First off, I have to say that I am happy that Amazon has stepped in and actually cleared up some confusion that existed in the marketplace. As Whole Foods started to see their sales numbers cool off (about 3 years ago), they began to act more like their competition rather than the pioneer of the Organic food industry that they were founded on originally. As Sprouts germinated and began to harvest some of Whole Foods’ market share, Whole Foods assimilated to look more like Sprouts rather than define themselves as The Organic leader. Instead of drawing a line in the sand, Whole Foods just threw mud in the water to make things confusing for customers.

So Organic products became harder to find and I honestly feel that Whole Foods “mined” their brand and tried to play up their historical commitment to Organics even when their current purchasing did not reflect that rooted commitment. Right now, walking through the produce section you are pretty hard-pressed to find a lot of Organic items. That is definitely a stray from the mantra of their past.

Amazon has no such historical (or current) commitment to Organics. So buying Whole Foods, I think Amazon will actually solidify that the future of both companies will not be as a champion for small or Organic farms. The Whole Foods/Amazon crew will now head off to go battle with Wal-Mart for world domination. And the Organic movement will be left to reshuffle the deck and look to see who will carry the flag of the small producers that Whole Foods dropped.

In watching all of this craziness unfold with Amazon and Whole Foods, I have to tell you that our mission has become even more resolute. As I see the natural food industry dilute itself down in a race to the bottom, I feel even stronger that we need to distance ourselves from that race. When they assimilate, we have to separate. No other path feels right.

In my first newsletter of this year, I vowed to you that 2017 would be the year of Authenticity for us. We would bring you closer to your food and give you better experiences with your food. And all of that was written before Whole Foods sold to Amazon and before a national company, Instacart, launched their home delivery model in ABQ (this week).

These are some amazing times for the future of Organics, the Local food movement, and grocery delivery. 2017/18 will go down in the history books as a watershed moment for all 3 of these separate movements. As Hans and Franz used to say on their SNL skit, “Hear me now and believe me later.”

So all of that brings me back full circle to the value discussion I was having with our member. After our discussion last week, I took my tush to two different grocery stores to price check our offerings. I left both stores with smile on my face and maybe even a little more pep in my step. Our price for comparable Organic produce was 10% less on average than the stores. In addition, neither store even carried all of the Organic products that we do. Finding Local Organic growers was like searching for a needle in a haystack. And neither of the stores will come to your home and deliver for free.

Seeing these numbers, I was definitely reassured that we are on the right path. We bring value to our customers, pay living wages to our employees, and offer fair/consistent prices to our growers. All three of these core principles make up the backbone of our business philosophy. We want (no, need) to have a business that customers, employees, and suppliers all believe in or we will not be sustainable. It is that simple.

In the end, I think that all of these curb-side pick up models and new national home delivery models coming to town will bring awareness to shopping for food online. At that point, it will be up to the community whether they want to support local businesses or national chains. Economic democracy in its purest sense. I look forward to the transition here as grocery finally gets into the 21st Century with online ordering and home delivery. It will be a win-win scenario for everyone.

Thanks for the continued support, Farmer Monte

 

We just received a fresh delivery of beef from our butcher. We are thankful for this animal that was born and raised in the South Valley, lived on pasture and never saw the confines of a feed lot (the way nature intended). I have highlighted this animal in our weekly seasonal recipe offering,  The Dinner Bag for the Week

Also a great week for Peaches. So many yummy flavors to help celebrate the return of the school year.

Take Me To Your Web Site

The Dinner Bag Recipe Ideas
Week of August 14th

SKRS Farm’s Grass-Fed Steak Salad with Melon Slices
Ingredients:
Grass-Fed Steak SKRS Farms Grape Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Melon Preferred Produce, Deming NM
Salad Mix Josie’s Organics, CA
This was so good that I ate it back to back dinners this week
1. Fire up the grill to about 425 degrees. While that is heating up, season your steak with salt and pepper and some garlic powder, or however you like your steak. NOTE: Make sure to remove steak from the fridge for up to an hour before hitting the grill. Try and avoid cold steak hitting the grill and never cook a frozen steak.
2. When grill is hot (really as hot as you can get it), place steak on grill. Cover grill. You want the grill to sear the meat, but also act as an oven to help cook quickly. At 2.5 minutes, flip meat and recover grill. Cook for another 2.5 minutes then remove steak and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting. At 2.5 minutes you will have a medium cooked steak. Cut time by 30 seconds a side for rarer; add 30 seconds for more well done. 2.5 minutes is my favorite with a hot pink center.
3. As steak rests, dice cukes and slice cherry toms in half. Reserve some toms for your taco night 
4. Throw salad mix into a big bowl and again reserve a little mix for taco recipe.
5. Toss all salad ingredients with some of the dressing pack (to taste), then slice steak on top
6. Serve with sliced cantaloupe and you are in business. I also like a squirt of lime on this salad.

SKRS Farm’s Ground Beef Corn Tacos with Sautéed Zukes, Spinach & Onions
Ingredients:
Ground Beef SKRS Farms Corn Tortillas Mi Rancho, CA Lime Patagonia Orchards, AZ
Zucchini and Spinach Preferred Produce, Deming NM and Cilantro and Onions Veritable Vegetable, CA
Tacos for dinner?? So at least you know you are having a good start to the night.
1. Warm skillet over medium heat. Drizzle some olive oil. Sauté ground beef until perfecto. Remove.
2. While beef cooks, slice up your zucchini and onions. Put in a bowl and keep sliced spinach in a separate bowl. Chop up left over tomatoes and pull out the salad mix you left for tacos.
3. In the same skillet the beef cooked, sauté the onions and zucchini. When those are almost done, toss in the spinach leaves and mix together. Season to taste.
4. Here comes the meal maker… over an open flame on your range or hot skillet if you have electric, run the tortillas under water for a split second and then in batches, lay them directly on the flame or hot skillet. With forks or thongs, flip them over a few times just before they begin to smoke. This gives you a very authentic Mexican taco cart flavor to the meal.
5. Build your tacos and serve with zucchini mix on the side. Garnish with cilantro and wedges of lime.

Buen Provecho, Farmer Monte