When we walk into a supermarket we are hit with an illusion of diversity. We have 50 options for cereal, cheese,yogurt, etc. In reality the majority of those options contain the same ingredients, and most of them will contain some form of corn. This commodity crop has become so cheap to produce, that we had such an excess of corn we had to find uses for. Thus began putting corn into all of our food products, as well as feeding it to our animals. High fructose corn syrup is now as much a part of our diet as water is. Ketchup, coke, stove top dressing, Yoplait yogurt, any Kellogg’s cereal, candy, bread, cough syrup, baking mixes, applesauce, ice cream, syrup, salad dressing, bbq sauce, soups, and the list goes on and on. The list of supermarket food that contains some form of corn is staggering. Take moment to watch this short video to understand a little more about how this came to be.

Look inside your fridge or pantry- what one item surprises you the most that has a form of corn in it?

Join the movement, shop local, know your farmer.

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Recently the Woodbine Farmers’ Market sponsored a Movie in the Garden featuring the documentary Food Inc. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly encourage you to do so. For a GREAT synopsis of the movie, you can read one here on the blogsite Not Without Salt.

Food, Inc. “lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.” (www.foodincmovie.com) It does so in a way that is honest and not intended purely for shock value but to inform and educate the often misguided and undereducated consumer.

Instead of being left with a feeling of dispair, the film does a great job at ending with hope and ways to help combat the current food crisis. Here are the final quotes from the movie:

The irony is that the average consumer does not feel very powerful. They feel they are the recipients of what the industry has put out there for them to consume. And the reality is, it is the exact opposite. When we run an item across the super market scanner we are voting for local or not, organic or not. Individual consumers  can and have changed the some of the biggest companies based on their preference. To eat healthy in this country is more expensive then eating badly and it will take more time and more money to make the change on a policy level so that the carrots are a better deal than a bag of chips. People think these companies are so big and so powerful and feel they will never change them. Look at the tobacco industry, it had huge control of public policy, and that control was broken. The battle over tobacco is the perfect model of how an industry’s irresponsible behavior can be changed. You have to understand that we farmers have to deliver to the market what the market place demands. If you want to buy $2 milk you are going to get a feed lot in your back yard, it’s that simple.

• You can vote to change the system THREE TIMES A DAY
• When you go to the supermarket, buy foods that are LOCAL, IN SEASON, AND ORGANIC
• Know what’s in your food, READ LABELS
• The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to the supermarket, BUY FOODS THAT ARE LOCALLY GROWN
• SHOP AT FARMERS’ MARKETS
• Ask your school to provide your kids with HEALTHY LUNCHES
• YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD WITH EVERY BITE

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Since we are about to have the best weather of the season, we know you’re going to want to hang out longer at the Market. So we are calling all local musicians to come play at the Market. We are looking for really upbeat, fun and family friendly artists. Since it will be acoustic, we are thinking it will mostly be instrumental. We’d love to see bluegrass or cultural bands like last week’s Latin band Kazique’s. Just email info@woodbinefarmersmarket.com and let us know what week you would like to play and we’ll give you the rest of the details.

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Every week I see okra and always shy away from buying any because what can you really do besides fry it? You can tell I’ve lived in the South all my life. I figured that many of you probably feel the same way, and I starting researching recipes. As I found several recipes, I realized that many of them contain some kind of tomato or citrus. The reason for this is the same reason most people fry it, to avoid the sliminess when cooked. Mix it with a little acid and you are good to go. So okra is perfect for jumbo, chili, or just stewed with tomatoes to top rice. Here are a few of my favorite recipes:

• Quick and Easy Stewed Okra from Emeril: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/quick-and-easy-stewed-okra-recipe/index.html
• Seafood Okra Gumbo from Emeril: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/seafood-okra-gumbo-recipe2/index.html
• BBQ Okra: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bbq-with-bobby-flay/barbecued-okra-recipe/index.html
• Wet Fried Okra from Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/wet-fried-okra-recipe/index.html
• Okra and Tomatoes from Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/okra-and-tomatoes-recipe/index.html

Do you have any favorite recipes you like to cook with Okra? Send us a comment and share your recipe.

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Came across this great article in the Nashville Scene about Gitano’s delicious street food at our Market.

“Among the innumerable taco trucks, the occasional hot dog or snowball stand, and rumors of additional looming developments (pizza!), Nashville has a true left-field surprise: a tiny mobile grill cart dispensing Argentine sandwiches and desserts.

We first encountered Gitano Herrera and his awesome Buenos Aires Grill at the Woodbine Farmers’ Market, where he’ll be this afternoon (and most Tuesdays through next month) from 4 to 7 p.m. We haven’t tried his eggplant sandwich, but we’ve found it hard to resist his choripan — a stout little sandwich of grilled sausage, homemade chimichurri and slivered tomato on a soft, fresh roll. The sweetly spicy sausage gets a light crust on his small but evidently powerful grill, and the chimichurri intensifies its flavor without overpowering the whole.

Better still is Gitano’s panqueque, a thin crepe onto which he squeezes a thick reddish-brown ribbon of homemade dulce de leche — a substance one onlooker aptly described as “caramel on steroids.” Imagine a pastry filled with the texture of custard but the taste and intermittent crunch of creme brulée crust. Small wonder folks were lining up for these as Gitano was trying to pack up last weekend.

Gitano comes to Nashville by way of New York, where he manned a bar for several years, and he says he ultimately hopes to get his own place. For now, he says, he’s happy reproducing some of the street food he loved in Argentina.

For additional buzz, slip over to the adjacent table for Banjamin’s “elixir,” a sauce made with the thermonuclear heat of India’s fabled bhut jolokia “ghost pepper.” Use only a drop at first, unless you’re nursing a cast-iron gut — or you’re ready to sprint across the lot to Izzie’s shaved-ice cart.” By Jim Ridley

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