Interested in eating locally grown food and supporting area growers? Keen to help heal the environment by cutting the number of miles your comestibles travel from farm to table? These goals, coupled with the tasty benefits of dining on super fresh ingredients, are yours for the asking in this land of fertile fields and industrious farmers.
Santa Maria-area residents have been quick to recognize and take advantage of the edible bounty that grows all around them. Their readiness to tuck into regional meat, fish, and produce qualifies them as locavores, a nifty neologism that pairs “local” with the Latin suffix “vor,” which means “eat,” and was chosen as 2007’s Word of the Year by the publishers of the New Oxford American Dictionary.
By practicing their preference for neighborhood eats, locavores here and abroad have launched a global movement to consume food closer to its point of origin for personal well being, planetary health, and simply because it tastes better.
“Local food is making headlines,” Karen Schmidt, of the Ventura County Ag Futures Alliance, wrote in an e-mail. “With growing concerns about food safety, childhood obesity, and global climate change, eaters are becoming increasingly aware of the impact their food choices have on the health of their families, the environment, and the local economy.”
To help conscientious consumers find locally produced edibles, the association has partnered with Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Environmental Defense Center to publish a farm-to-fork Buy Fresh, Buy Local Food Guide specifically aimed at Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, as well as the Los Angeles environs that lie north of the Santa Monica Freeway.
“This new guide,” Schmidt wrote, “provides reliable information on where to find delicious, high-quality fresh foods grown by people you can look in the eye, on farms that are within arm’s reach of home.”
The guide’s authors present detailed listings of growers and their contact information, as well as where to find their products. The Santa Barbara County section lists growers, caterers, farmers markets, and food artisans, as well as grocers and specialty markets, including Lassen’s in Santa Maria, and El Rancho Marketplace and Los Olivos Grocery in the Santa Ynez Valley. Restaurants highlight local favorites from Café Quackenbush and Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos, to Orcutt’s Chef Rick’s and Casmalia’s Hitching Post.
This handy booklet provides a valuable resource for those willing to vote with their food dollars to help put a familiar face on our otherwise anonymous food system. It also offers a wealth of information about community-supported agriculture, farm-to-school programs, edible landscaping, and dynamic projects into which hungry locavores can sink their teeth.
The Buy Fresh, Buy Local Food Guide is available at Lassen’s Natural Foods, local farmers markets, and online at buylocalca.org, caff.org, and edcnet.org.
Susie Q’s Brand, the original maker of artisan foods dedicated to Santa Maria-style barbecue, has long been a provider of locally grown specialties, such as pinquito beans and signature seasonings. Founded in 1981, Susie Q’s Brand is the brainchild of local cook and entrepreneur, Susan Righetti, whose parents launched Guadalupe’s Far Western Tavern more than 50 years ago.
Susie Q’s Brand recently scored headlines for its mention in a new book called Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods. The book divides America’s food traditions into 13 regional food “nations,” and fits Santa Maria’s famed pinquito beans into the Acorn Nation, which stretches along the Pacific coast from Baja north through what once was known as Alta California.
The authors of the book are all members of Renewing America’s Food Traditions Collaborative, founded by Slow Food USA, Chefs Collaborative, and Seed Savers Exchange to help conserve, restore, and celebrate the food traditions unique to North America. They have deemed Santa Maria-style barbecue to be “a mainstay of California’s culinary heritage” and praise Susie Q’s Brand products as providing its essential ingredients, especially to those not lucky enough to live near the Central Coast.
“Preserving and celebrating the flavors of Santa Maria-style barbecue has always been the mission of Susie Q’s Brand,” Susan Righetti said. “It’s quite an honor to be recognized for this in such a prestigious book.
“Our seasoning has quite a cult following,” she added. “It’s very easy to use, but it adds a lot of style and flavor to a dish.”
Whether your goal is to protect the environment, support local industry, or simply dig into a meal of super fresh food, look no farther than Santa Maria’s bountiful backyard. Here, in the heart of the Acorn Nation, you’ll find fertile fields, busy farmers, and a menu bursting with wonderfully satisfying, homegrown food. m
K. Reka Badger is a mainstay of the Central Coast’s culinary heritage. Contact her at rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 5, 2009.