Rancher's Lamb and Eating Locally Grown Stuff

A few posts ago, I mentioned some lamb I bought at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Waimea. We were thrilled to be able to buy locally raised lamb, right from the ranchers themselves.  And, it was excellent, I might add.  Should you be interested, the source is Kahua Ranch, (808 882-4646) on Kohala Mountain Rd.  They have meat available at a local Farmers Market, which is usually held on the first Saturday of the month in Waimea, as well as Monday thru Friday at the Ranch.  Call for directions and availability.

And, going along with the concept of locally produced foods, a worker at my favorite, healthy foods store, Island Naturals, was able to put me in touch with people selling fresh, local pork products.  Things are looking up around here.  If you're an omnivore.  And, I am.  Our neighborhood CSA, Ke Ola Farm, is doing more veggies now (not only greens) and I've been really happy with the last boxes....

which have included tender young eggplant, burgundy okra, and cucumber,both  long and a lemon heirloom variety, not to mention some pretty Sweet Williams.

Somewhat in the same vein,  I recently read a reference from Martin Lersch's Khymos blog, worth passing on:

 A Statement on the ‘new cookery’ which was formulated by Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Harold McGee back in 2006. I think they are well formulated and it’s hard to disagree with any of the statements. I also believe that most of them could be adopted by many chefs world wide by substituting their own country into the statements. I bring the statements here in extenso for your convenience:

1. Local ingredients. Work with regional products.
2. High-quality ingredients. Work with products of the best quality available preferably in Belgium. Work with seasonal products in the right season.
3. Producer orientation. Chefs have the power to control the quality of the ingredients by making specific choices and demands. Belgian chefs are partly responsible for the motivation of producers to supply the highest quality.
4. Consumer orientation. Chefs have the power to broaden the palate and to revalue or upgrade specific products by paying attention to forgotten, seasonal and local products, or products with low intrinsic value.
5. Inventiveness and openness. Be open to new techniques and products. Strive for innovation and improvement.
6. Inventiveness and cooperation. Strive for intensive cooperation between chefs, the industry and the scientific community. Information exchange is particularly important, also between chefs.
7. Innovation and tradition. Innovation and tradition are not opposites. Have respect for traditional Belgian cuisine by including this respect or tradition as such in dishes.
8. Tastiness and well-being. Strive for food which is tasty above all, but also keep in mind to provide a state of well-being during and after the meal.
9. Moral responsibility. Strive for the use of products that have been produced in an ethical, ecological and sustainable manner.
10. Multisensorial tastiness. Strive for an optimum and ample stimulation of all senses of the consumer. Create a socially agreeable and exclusive experience. 

Do you cook?  Hey, consider yourself a chef in your own home.

Well, a few of the extremely innovative chefs, mentioned above, are known also for serving up some pretty strange creations, though their guidelines don't seem so crazy. There appears to be an event tide rising here.  Even Walmart is getting into the act, as an article in the Atlantic notes, they are now competing with Whole Foods on the Mainland, for the locally grown, organic market.  However, here in Hawaii, it's usually a different story.  As per the unfortunate Hawaii Superferry fiasco.  The concepts of "Fair Trade", competition, and free enterprise have yet to be fully grasped. So, naturally, a few existing Supermarkets were able to prevent Walmart from carrying fresh produce???  How fair is that?

For outstanding, even exciting results with using aquaponics agriculture, composting and vermiculture  in big cities, (you don't have to live in the country for this) here is an excellent, very inspiring, video clip.