What IS this Stuff?

I know, as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) member, that it can be intimidating when that box of green, orange and purple stuff arrives on my doorstep. I often find myself GOOGLeing around just to identify those oddly gnarled, rooty things. Or that stuff that looks just like a weed that I would hack out of my grass, should I really EAT that? I ask simple questions like

1. What IS that?
2. What does it TASTE like?
3. How in the heck do I COOK it?
4. What else should I THROW in with it?
5. What do I tell my KIDS?

As we talked with our contacts at STEP the other day they suggested that I am not the only one with these questions. They proposed that EVERYONE that receives a bag of freshly picked farm-goodies has the same set of questions. And, the best part is, STEP had a simple solution for me and our bewildered recipient families. They suggested that Produce For Patriots simply host a cooking show and feature the goodies that are in the bag that week.

Brilliant!

So, we are going to host a Facebook Live cooking show. Each week, we will identify the items, explain their taste, demonstrate some quick cooking techniques, feature a dish or two, and talk about the nutritional value of each item. We will show people how to substitute, maximize the flavors, minimize the complain from our kids and demystify all of the greens, the purples and the weedy lookin' stuff. STEPsocal suggested that if we do this, not only are we helping feed today, but we will be helping people understand that fresh and different are not scary.

And as we move this forward, we will invite some of our families to show US how to cook these things. People are ingenious when it comes to food, and we can want to build a community around our common goals.

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