Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food….Meet Farmer & Chef Andrea!

One of the things we appreciate most about growing for our CSA program is the opportunity to connect with our members.  Forming a connection goes both ways, so we thought we’d start off the year by telling you a little more about ourselves.  I’ll share about myself this week and you can watch for Farmer Richard’s story coming in the next newsletter!

Chef Andrea preparing for a food demo.

I came to Harmony Valley Farm back in 2007.  I had signed on to be the seasonal farm chef from April through November and my primary job was to prepare lunch for the farm crew and dinner for farm residents Monday-Friday.  I was also asked to write articles and recipes for the newsletter and serve as a resource for CSA members.  I was a recent graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York (CIA).  When I decided to go to the CIA, I was labeled as a “Career Changer Student.”  I was in my mid 20’s and had been working as a registered dietitian at the University of Virginia Health System.  I was a clinical dietitian and worked with nutrition support (tube feedings and IV nutrition) and saw patients in an outpatient GI (gastrointestinal) clinic.  While I had a great career going and enjoyed my work, I always felt like there was something missing and really couldn’t see myself continuing on that trajectory the rest of my career.  So I started looking around and stumbled across the CIA website.  I had never even considered going to cooking school, but after I went for a visit I knew that was the next step on my journey.

Chef Andrea roasting garlic in the farm kitchen 

I never imagined culinary school would lead me to being a farm chef, but on the other hand, I really couldn’t see myself as a restaurant chef either.  Honestly, I didn’t know what being a farm chef was when I got here.  I also didn’t really know what it meant to be “certified organic.”  I was mostly just intrigued by all the unusual things Richard was growing here!  My vegetable repertoire was pretty limited when I started, but I quickly figured out how to tackle new vegetables.  Eat it raw, eat it cooked, overcook it so I know what it means to be cooked just perfectly, do a little research and then start experimenting.  I learned to get creative with the vegetables we had available and how to prepare lunch for 35 crew members in a cost-effective way.  At the end of my contract, I was asked to stay and help manage some other parts of the farm.

Our "kids" are pretty cute!

Fast forward to today and I can hardly believe this is the start of my thirteenth growing season!  I have a lot of different responsibilities on the farm.  I manage greenhouse transplant production as well as the packing shed.  I schedule trucks, manage our food safety practices, do employee training, manage wholesale sales, go to the farmers’ market, troubleshoot refrigeration and electrical problems, schedule drain cleaning, take care of goat babies born in the middle of the winter, and basically anything else that may need to be done.  Another important, and really fun part of my life here, is to be a culinary resource for you, our CSA members.  My mission each week is to help guide you through the boxes.  When I write in the newsletter or on the blog, I try to imagine that I’m talking to you as if I were talking to you face to face at the farmers’ market!

So what else?  Simply put, I love food! I love experiencing flavors, smells, textures and watching food change and develop as I cook.  I love the life and energy we get from food and I LOVE the beauty of vegetable fields! I like to eat soup, leftovers and salad for breakfast.  I think eggs are an amazing gift from nature and eat them nearly every day.  I think everyone should be able to eat good food, and I cringe at how many boxes of cereal I ate to sustain me during my college days.  I’m jealous of CSA kids—I wish I were one.  At least I had the opportunity to be a farm kid and have fond memories of gardening with my mom, picking and preserving vegetables for winter storage and accidentally pulling all the parsley out of my mom’s garden in an effort to “help her with the weeding” (oops—sorry mom).  I love cookbooks, especially ones with beautiful photos, nice binding and interesting stories and commentaries.  I most often don’t follow the recipes, but use them for inspiration and to generate ideas.  I like to eat out in restaurants.  However I’m often disappointed because, honestly, the food we prepare at home is always so much better!

Farmer Andrea checking on her "babies" in the greenhouse.

I’m intrigued by soil and plant health and am amazed at how nature works.  I more fully understand now why eating organic food is so important for the health of our environment, but also our bodies.  If we choose food that is alive and healthy itself, it can help us live our best lives and feel good.  Food can be our medicine, but it can also bring us pleasure, joy and connection with people and places.  Food can open our eyes, minds, and hearts and can be the common denominator in a world of differences.  It allows us to travel and experience a little piece of another part of the world without even leaving home.

I believe that anyone can cook and no one should ever be intimidated by a vegetable.  Life is research and if a recipe doesn’t quite turn out as you thought it might, that’s ok. It might actually be better than what it was supposed to be! In the newsletters each week I try to offer you simple, doable, yet interesting and tasty recipes.  Sometimes I might include a recipe that is a little more complex or uses an ingredient that might be new to you with hopes of challenging you to do something you may have never done before.

Visiting with farmer friend, Mas Masumoto

I like to know where my food comes from.  I like to know the people who make and produce it.  I want to know what impact it had on the environment and I want my food choices to make a positive difference in someone else’s life.  I like to use olive oil grown and pressed at Frog Hollow Farm by Farmer Al, which is the most “local” olive oil I’ve been able to find.  I can’t get enough of Jamie and Diane’s shiitake mushrooms from the farmers’ market.  If I’m going to eat a nut grown outside our region, it’s going to be biodynamic almonds grown by my friend Gina at Marian Farms.  Her raisins are also quite spectacular.  I prefer cheese from the herd at McCluskey Brothers at Shillelagh Glen Farms.  I am slightly addicted to Faith Annaker’s (Fizzeology) fermented hot sauce, especially the sauce she made with OUR peppers!  I like to sit down to a meal and be able to give thanks for the hands that make it possible for me to enjoy such delicious, nourishing meals and for the many friendships I’ve developed with these people over the years.

I will be the first to admit I do not know all there is to know about cooking and vegetables.  I value learning from other people and appreciate it when members share their favorite recipes with me.  I want to know how you make the best use of your CSA box each week.    I want to know what evokes the “Happy Food Dance” in your household!

Lastly, I believe CSA is a good thing—for farmers, for the land, for our kids, our families and our future.  I hope you enjoy being part of our farm this season and I look forward to getting to know you better.