When I am not dreaming of getting my hands in the dirt or researching new strains of organic kale, I work at a nonprofit organization in Winooski, Vermont. My office is orientated right next to the entrance to the building and for 9 months of the year I have the pleasure of being the first to see the contents of our weekly CSA shares. Our delivery comes from the Intervale Food Hub and offers a wonderful variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins and some prepared foods. Right around the holiday season I started to hear some grumbling when my colleagues came to pickup their share. "Really, that thing again?" "I already have one of these in my fridge from last week." "Does anyone want to take this ugly root off my hands?" Curiosity led me to inquire why anyone could actually complain about a share of locally grown food delivered right to their office? The culprit, celeriac root. There is finally a vegetable that even locavore foodies turn their nose up at.
Celeriac is a member of the celery family, however only its root is used for cooking purposes. Now knowing that even the crunchiest of my friends were hating on the celeriac got me thinking. Why are we wasting our limited resources growing a vegetable that nobody wants to consume? The answer is simple, let's cut out the gnarly root left to rot in your fridge that will ultimately join the kale stalks and coffee grounds in your compost bin. There is an equally shelf-stable root vegetable that comes in beautiful colors and has endless possibilities in the creative cooking department.
When I started to tell people about my anti-celeriac movement and our need to grow more beets, I got a lot of whole hearted laughter, but not a lot of people buying the proverbial t-shirt. Instead I got interest and support from friends telling me that they actually cared what I had to say when it came to food. That they wanted to hear more about the food I grow and the meals I make.
I grappled with the concept. I have no formal training and I have learned most of what I know by trial and error (and long gardening conversations with my mother). I asked the question "Would I present as a food snob by putting myself on the web in this way?" The best answer I got lead me to launch this site ~ "What you are talking about is legit. People need to know more about what real food is and how to use it to nourish their bodies."
So that's the story. I am not starting a movement against an unattractive soil-hog, but I am going to capture my relationship with food in hopes of inspiring others to connect with it as well.