Unmold it to serve. Garnish with a fresh thyme sprig and serve with thinly sliced baguette or crostini and a couple of crackers.
Comfort Food
Eating at the Scottish Bakehouse on Martha’s Vineyard means eating a square meal in every way: flavor, clean fair food, and balance. Owner and cook Daniele Dominick manages to provide affordable meals (mostly to go) using local produce, local chicken, and as many organic ingredients as she can manage. If she makes less on the local food, she balances it out with the other less-expensive ingredients.
“I just jumped in with the local chicken once it was available,” she says. “I had to. If you just look at the cost of local meat on paper, you’ll never do it, as a business owner. But once you get your hands on it, you’ll see the difference.”
The way she makes local chicken affordable is by using the whole bird and knowing her clientele. They are working people: builders, landscapers, window washers. Feeding them hearty, home-cooked, and comforting foods that will fill them up without putting them to sleep is Daniele’s mission. Her chicken stew (see page 118), for example, is an economical way to use the whole bird, and it hits her customers’ sweet spot. Comfort food.
Daniele’s advice to a restaurant that wants to start using the more expensive local chicken: “Know your customers. Buy only a small quantity of birds and go from there. Start with a Special.
“Local chicken looks, tastes, and cooks differently,” she adds. “If all you know is Sysco and you never try local chicken, you don’t know what the differences are.”
Farmer’s Checklist for Day Of
Adapt this checklist to your farm, the farmers you serve, and your community. Determine ahead of time how water-soaked woodchips, all INEDIBLE offal, and used chill-tank water will be transported to compost.
Number of birds slotted for humane slaughter:
Date to be slaughtered:
Any special considerations (weather, age of birds, other…):
What number in order of slaughter (first, second, third, etc.)?:
Chicken Crew contact info:
1)
2)
3)
Site: The site must be above and away from the water table. Do not set up near a pond or stream, and look for some (not much) elevation so the wastewater drains away from the working area. This site should be a level workspace, grass or cement, about 15' x 25', free of all fire hazards and spacious enough for two tents.
Recommended: Hot water source nearby to fill scalder and reduce the time it takes for scalder to heat
Electricity: 20-amp breaker on a 100-amp 120-volt service
Two working, safe extension cords
Two food-grade hoses with spray attachments for potable water
One 4-way hose splitter
Copy of the farm’s Potable Water certification for the Crew manager and/or regulator
1⁄2–1 cubic yard of clean wood chips (not pine shavings or sawdust)
Safe holding crates for birds
Caged healthy birds, feed withheld for at least 8 to 10 hours, preferably 12
Clean, loose, cubed ice: 4–5 pounds/bird (err on the side of more ice)
4 plastic chill tanks with lids, 30 gallons minimum, marked with indelible ink: EDIBLE
A drain rack for dressed birds
Labels for bagged birds
Refrigeration space ready for processed birds: 34°F with a thermometer in place
Compost that includes wood chips, ready and accessible for inedibles
Fire extinguisher on hand and functional
First-aid kit accessible and up to date
Meet the Chicken Crew when they arrive and check in throughout the processing.
Have payment ready for the Crew.
Appendix
Farmer Survey Suggestions
Find out what’s going on in your farming community by taking a survey — perhaps during an off-season farmer’s dinner. Here are some sample questions.
Do you raise poultry now? How many egg layers? How many broilers? What breeds?
If you don’t raise broilers, why not?
If you do raise broilers for sale, where do you take them to be slaughtered?
Are you satisfied with the outcome? Consider: confidence in animal handling
disposal of waste
quality of product (appearance, taste, texture)
cost of slaughter, processing
How much do you think an eater will pay for local chicken?
How much do you charge per pound for your chicken?
Do you pasture your birds?
What do you describe as your “chicken season”? (For example, is it April to November?)
When do you order your chicks? From which hatchery do you order your chicks?
How many do you raise at a time? How many would you raise if you could?
Do you raise other animals for meat?
If a there was a licensed mobile trailer or unit, would you use it on your farm?
If a mobile trailer or unit was available to you, would you raise more broilers?
Do you compost? Yes / No
Are there any speakers you would like to hear or topics specifically to address?
Resources
Essential Organizations
Farm-Based Education Association
www.farmbasededucation.org
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
www.farmtoconsumer.org
Protects the rights of family farms, artisan food producers, consumers, and affiliate communities to engage in direct commerce free of harassment by federal, state, and local government interference
Farmers Market Coalition
farmersmarketcoalition.org
National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation
www.servsafe.com
ServSafe Food Safety certification classes
Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network
www.nichemeatprocessing.org
For updates on slaughter programs, discussions about the nitty-gritty, and informative webinars regarding mobile slaughter units for four-legged and poultry.
Slow Food USA
slowfoodusa.org
A global, grassroots movement with thousands of members in over 150 countries, which links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.
Transition Network
www.transitionnetwork.org
Supports community initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions.
Funding
There is a trend in Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control to connect to local food systems with grant monies. Check in with your state’s public health departments for funding opportunities.
Find the USDA Rural Development agencies and offices near you. Google Hint: USDA Rural Development regional offices. Ask your regional office to come and speak to your group.
Foundation Center
www.foundationcenter.org
National foundation research
Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders
www.safsf.org
If you’re a philanthropist or grantmaker interested in supporting sustainable agriculture, use this site to find and follow trends
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE)
www.sare.org
Download this SARE book for free: Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities: Federal Programs for Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, Entrepreneurship, Conservation, and Community Development
Practical Skills And Equipment
UMass Extension, Center for Agriculture
www.extension.org/pages/24718/alternatives-to-rendering:-butcher-waste-composting
Alternatives to Rendering: Butcher Waste Composting Information
Cornell Waste Management Institute
cwmi.css.cornell.edu/factsheets.htm
Composting fact sheets
Cornerstone Farm Ventures
www.cornerstone-farm.com
/>
Processing equipment, supplies, information, workshops, and consulting. The sole distributor of Poultryman products. Poultryman equipment is made by Old World Mennonites; hence, not on the Internet, but shipped all over the world.
Homestead Poultry Butchering
www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Butchering-Evisceration-1.html
How to eviscerate a chicken
Scale Labels Etc.
www.scalelabelsetc.com/shi
Safe Handling stickers
Book List
Charles, Prince of Wales. The Prince’s Speech: On the Future of Food. Rodale, 2012.
Damerow, Gail. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd ed. Storey Publishing, 2010.
Denckla Cobb, Tanya. Reclaiming our Food. Storey Publishing, 2011.
Eastman Jr., Wilbur F. A Guide to Canning, Freezing, Curing & Smoking Meat, Fish & Game, rev. ed. Storey Publishing, 2002.
Ekarius, Carol. Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds. Storey Publishing, 2007.
Gawande, Atul. The Checklist Manifesto. Metropolitan Books, 2009.
Grandin, Temple. Animals Make Us Human. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.
____. Animals in Translation. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006.
____. Thinking in Pictures. 2nd ed. Vintage Books, 2006.
Horowitz, Roger. Putting Meat on the American Table. John Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Kessler, David A. The End of Overeating. Rodale, 2009.
Kirschenmann, Frederick L. Cultivating an Ecological Conscience. University Press of Kentucky, 2010.
Safran Foer, Jonathan. Eating Animals. Little, Brown & Co., 2009.
Schumacher, E. F. Small Is Beautiful. Harper Perennial, 2010.
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Dover, 2001. First published 1906.
Wendell, Berry. The Unsettling of America, rev. ed. Sierra Club Books, 1997.
For the activist and the advocate
Dernoot Lipsky, Laura van, and Connie Burk. Trauma Stewardship. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009.
Hauter, Wenonah. Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America, The New Press, 2012.
Nestle, Marion. Food Politics. University of California, 2002.
____. What to Eat. North Point Press, 2006.
Planck, Nina. Real Food. Bloomsbury USA, 2006.
Pollan, Michael. Food Rules. Penguin, 2009.
____. In Defense of Food. Penguin, 2008.
____. The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Penguin, 2006.
Roberts, Paul. The End of Food. Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
Salatin, Joel. Holy Cows & Hog Heaven. Polyface, 2005.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Scully, Matthew. Dominion. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2002.
Serpell, James. In the Company of Animals. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Singer, Peter, and Jim Mason. The Way We Eat. Rodale, 2006.
Squier, Susan M. Poultry Science, Chicken Culture. Rutgers University Press, 2011.
Striffler, Steve. Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food. Yale University, 2005.
Cookbooks
Ash, John. John Ash: Cooking One on One. Clarkson Potter, 2004.
Child, Julia, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 40th anniv. ed. 2 vols. Knopf, 2011.
Hamersley, Gordon. Bistro Cooking at Home. Broadway Books, 2003.
Jones, Judith. The Pleasures of Cooking for One. Knopf, 2009.
Oliver, Jamie. Jamie’s Food Revolution. Hyperion, 2009.
Rombauer, Irma S., Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker. Joy of Cooking, 75th anniv. ed. Scribner, 2006.
Ruhlman, Michael, and Brian Polcyn. Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing. W. W. Norton, 2005.
Stevens, Molly. All About Roasting; A New Approach to a Classic Art. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.
Waltuck, David, and Melicia Phillips. Staffmeals from Chanterelle. Workman Publishing, 2001.
Wolfert, Paula. Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
In the spirit of “eat less or no meat”
Colbin, Annemarie. Food and Healing, 10th anniv. ed. Ballantine Books, 1986.
Lappé, Frances Moore. Diet for a Small Planet, 20th anniv. ed. Ballantine Books, 1991.
Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods. North Atlantic Books, 1993.
Swanson, Heidi. Super Natural Every Day. Ten Speed Press, 2011.
Other Storey Titles You Will Enjoy
The Chicken Health Handbook
Gail Damerow
A must-have reference to help the small flock owner identify, treat, and prevent diseases common to chickens of all ages and sizes.
352 pages. Paper. ISBN 978-0-88266-611-2.
Greenhorns
edited by Zoë Ida Bradbury, Severine von Tscharner Fleming, and Paula Manalo
Fifty original essays written by a new generation of farmers.
256 pages. Paper. ISBN 978-1-60342-772-2.
The Organic Farming Manual
Ann Larkin Hansen
A comprehensive guide to starting and running, or transitioning to, a certified organic farm.
448 pages. Paper. ISBN 978-1-60342-479-0.
Reclaiming Our Food
Tanya Denckla Cobb
Stories of more than 50 groups across America that are finding innovative ways to provide local food to their communities.
320 pages. Paper. ISBN 978-1-60342-799-9.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens
Gail Damerow
The ultimate guide that includes information on training, hobby farming, fowl first aid, and more.
448 pages. Paper. ISBN 978-1-60342-469-1.
Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-60342-470-7.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry
Glenn Drowns
An invaluable resource of essential information on housing, breeding, and caring for chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, and game birds.
464 pages. Paper. ISBN 978-1-61212-000-3.
Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-61212-001-0.
These and other books from Storey Publishing are available wherever quality books are sold or by calling 1-800-441-5700. Visit us at www.storey.com or sign up for our newsletter at www.storey.com/signup.
The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.
Cover design by Lauren Dreier
Page illustrations by © Scotty Reifsnyder
Ephemera on pages 8, 29, and 63 courtesy of the Island Grown Initiative
Indexed by Samantha Miller
Excerpt,page ii, “Chickens,” by Ray Wylie Hubbard and Hayes Carll, used by permission; and page 94, from “What Did I Love?” by Ellen Bass, first published in The New Yorker; from the collection Like a Beggar, to be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2014, used by permission
© 2013 by Alice Jane Berlow
Ebook design and production by Dan O. Williams
Ebook version 1.0
July 15, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other — without written permission from the publisher.
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