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Give thanks like the pilgrims
It's easy to find foods grown locally — including in Mountain View back yards — for our Thanksgiving tables

by Ann Duwe

If the pilgrims could return for Thanksgiving, and feast on what they found within 100 miles of their table, would they be amazed at the bounty within their reach?

Back then, of course, they ate what was in season. The yams, corn and wild turkeys they enjoyed were harvested within the area, and they were grateful.

In that spirit, this season there is renewed effort to get consumers in touch with locally grown foods, with the purpose of calling attention to the many ways we can eat well — bountifully, even — without processing our food or shipping it thousands of miles.

One Peninsula nonprofit group, the Valley of Heart's Delight, took this idea to its logical conclusion by sponsoring the "100-Mile Thanksgiving," meaning that every item on the table was harvested within a radius of 100 miles.

The group — which took its moniker from Santa Clara Valley's nickname, given by its agrarian residents long ago — held a get-together in Palo Alto on Thursday to showcase locally grown "tastes, recipes, lists of sources for ingredients," said Susan Osofsky, co-director of the project.

"We'll have them set out in courses in a way that opens a conversation with staff and volunteers about where our food comes from," she said.

Appetizers, salads, soups, side dishes and desserts were prepared using food from the region, including from Mountain View. The only thing missing was the turkey, although the group has suggestions for that too.

Below is a list of foods that meet (more or less) the group's requirements: All are organically grown and produced in the region.

Turkeys and meats

Turkeys top any Thanksgiving list. And when it's a local-grown list, the recipe calls for heritage turkeys, which are native breeds in danger of extinction.

Two sources for heritage turkeys — S&B Farms in Petaluma and Willie Bird Turkeys in Santa Rosa — lie within the 100-mile limit, while two others — Spomer Turkey Breeding Farm in Kingsburg and Mary's Turkeys in Madera — are close. ("One hundred miles is guideline, it's not about denial!" Osofsky says.)

Heritage turkeys are available from Draeger's and Andronico's. Both markets advise ordering early, because the supply is limited.

Family-owned Draeger's is stocking heritage birds from Mary's Turkeys. "Heritage turkeys arrive fresh rather than frozen and come only in approximate sizes: 12 pounds and under, or 12 to 16 pounds," said John Draeger, who also stocks Diestel brand turkeys from Sonora. The latter are not heritage breeds, but the turkeys are range-fed and chemical-free.

Andronico's, for its part, stocks Willie Bird free-range turkeys.

In Mountain View, Dittmer's Gourmet Meats & Wurst Haus features house-smoked ham and turkey as signature items, smoked with hickory or maple wood and free of dangerous chemicals. While good meats come from all over Northern California, the expertise for making grutzwurst, landjaeger, bratwursts, merguez and many sausages, including chorizo, is the realm of Bubert Dittmer himself.

Vegetables and grains

Vegetables are easiest of all. That's because choosing local, seasonal vegetables at a farmers' market can satisfy many objectives — support for local farmers, help for the local economy, and avoidance of daunting packaging and long-distance transportation costs. Best of all, farmers' market vegetables are always at their peak of freshness and flavor.

If you want to go vegetarian this Thanksgiving, protein-packed legumes or dry beans might be a substitute. Osofsky discovered pozole, a large dried-corn-like hominy, among the 20 to 30 varieties of dry corn and beans offered by Rancho Gordo in Napa. The farm also sells genuine masa flour. Their products are available at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, by mail order or online.

Rice is a Northern California product. Lundberg Family Farm sells California-harvested wild rice in addition to other varieties. As an alternative to rice or potatoes, Osofsky suggests the Peruvian staple quinoa.

Locally and sustainably grown products are also available at nearby markets, or one can go straight to the source (nearby small farmers) or order online.

Breads and cheeses

Appetizers for the "100-mile Thanksgiving" might include locally made bread and cheese. Campbell Bread in San Jose or Esther's German Bakery in Mountain View are easy to reach, and local markets such as Country Sun on California Avenue in Palo Alto and Whole Foods carry breads from other bakeries within 100 miles.

Cheese hounds will not be disappointed with selections from Harley Farms Goat Dairy in Pescadero or Cowgirl Creamery at Point Reyes Station. A huge range of locally produced cheeses are always available at Mountain View's Milk Pail Market. And Country Sun carries cheeses from more than seven Northern California makers (some of which are more than 100 miles away, but all of which are much closer than Europe).

Melissa Reynen, customer service manager at Country Sun, is particularly fond of firehouse cheddar, plain or smoked, made by Springhill Cheese in Petaluma. While cheese need not be "fresh" like broccoli or Brussels' sprouts, buying locally supports local producers.

Seafood

The pilgrims surely looked to the sea, whence they came, for food, and some local groups recognize the value of the search.

Princeton Seafood Company in Princeton-by-the-Sea (the harbor of Half Moon Bay) features Dungeness crab bought from fishermen coming into Pillar Point Harbor. According to fishmonger Randy Haake, other varieties available now include rock fish, lingcod, albacore tuna, halibut and, from slightly farther north, Petrale sole.

The commercial salmon season closed in October, and the season for sport fishermen closed Nov. 11; but intrepid anglers can collect mussels or poke for eel during November's low tides.

For oysters to serve on the half shell or tuck into the stuffing, one can shop at Hog Island Oyster Company at the Ferry Plaza Market in San Francisco or go straight to their source on Tomales Bay. Johnson's and Tomales Bay Oyster companies are within walking distance of Hog Island.

Drinks and desserts

There's no dearth of locally made desserts. Like cinnamon and nutmeg, chocolate only grows in the tropics, but once it arrives here, it is transformed into fine-quality delicacies by Guittard, Ghirardelli, Scharffen Berger and Richard Donnelly chocolates.

There are too many bakeries to count producing pies for Thanksgiving. Country Sun's Reynan waxes rhapsodic when describing pies from Christine's Upper Crust in San Rafael.

Meanwhile, not every recipe ingredient for that pumpkin pie must fit the local criteria, Osofsky said, noting that spices have traditionally come from regions far from here; just use them knowingly, she said.

Locally made juices and herbal teas are widely available. More than 30 wineries are within 50 miles, mostly in the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to Randy Richardson, owner of Vino Locale in Palo Alto. Not all use organic, sustainable methods, but Aptos Creek Vineyard uses dry-farmed grapes; Bonny Doon, which offers lovely dessert wines, uses the "biodynamic method"; and Hallcrest and Silver Mountain vineyards are genuinely organic, Richardson said.

The fat of the land

Of course, local markets aren't the only source of food here on the Peninsula. The farmers of old didn't call this the "Valley of Heart's Delight" for nothing: Gardens everywhere still produce delicious vegetables, often with little effort. And it seems every yard around has fruit or nut trees, often neglected, which on their own produce food by the crate-full.

Unfortunately, those trees' bounty often goes unused. One local nonprofit, Village Harvest, specializes in harvesting these many private trees for donation — including to Mountain View's Community Services Agency, which uses it to feed the region's poor.

"An average harvest will deliver 500 to 1,000 pounds of food from Mountain View and Los Altos back yards that would have otherwise dropped and withered away," explained Village Harvest member Joni Diserens. She said the group's most recent harvest, on Nov. 11, gathered more than 1,300 pounds of fruit for Mountain View and Palo Alto pantries.

Diserens mentioned one huge persimmon tree at the corner of Calderon Avenue and Church Street which the group began harvesting last year.

"One of our volunteers who lives in Mountain View, and takes his walks along this street, approached this homeowner and they were so delighted to have the fruit go to good use rather than be a community nuisance," she said.

In one form or another, Diserens said, the colorful fruits will find themselves onto plenty of Thanksgiving tables this year — including the 100-Mile Thanksgiving event. Village Harvest makes a line of chutneys and jams from locally grown fruit (available at Common Ground in Palo Alto or online at www.villageharvest.org). Quince or persimmon dishes made with locally grown fruit could add color and a new twist on tart.

"There's going to be a number of products that are Village Harvest-made at their 100-mile dinner," she said.

According to Osofsky, the 100-mile Thanksgiving was designed with flexibility in mind, so that locally produced foods can be easily substituted in whatever way the thanks-givers like.

"Our menus were chosen with an eye toward encouraging people to try new foods or to substitute local ingredients for things that traditionally grow elsewhere. Chutney might make a good alternative to cranberry sauce," Osofsky said.

For Osofsky, the efforts of groups like hers underscore the true intent of Thanksgiving.

"Thanksgiving is about gratitude, and we have much to be thankful for," she said. "There is incredible abundance in our area. We have land for agriculture, a year-round growing season and organizations working collaboratively to make this abundance visible. When you know where your food comes from, you can say 'thank you' to the farmers."

INFORMATION:

To learn more about Village Harvest, or to volunteer for the next harvest, call (888) FRUIT-411, visit www.villageharvest.org, or e-mail info@villageharvest.org.

The group's upcoming harvest schedule for Mountain View CSA is as follows:

* Sunday, Nov. 19: persimmon orchard in the Santa Cruz Hills

* Sunday, Dec. 3: backyard persimmon harvest

* Sunday, Dec. 17: backyard fruit trees, early citrus

To learn more about Valley of Heart's Delight (a project of the nonprofit organization Conexions: Partnerships for a Sustainable Future), call (650) 938-9300, visit www.conexions.org/vhd, or contact Susan Stansbury at sstansbury@conexions.org.

Mountain View markets carrying locally grown food include:

* Dittmer's Gourmet Meats, 500 San Antonio Rd. (across from the shopping center), (650) 941-3800

* Esther's German Bakery, 2510 Old Middlefield Way #G, (650) 969-3060

* Milk Pail Market, 2585 California St., (650) 941-2505

* The Mountain View Farmers' Market, held every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the downtown Caltrain station parking lot, 600 W. Evelyn Ave.

This story was adapted from one which originally ran in the Palo Alto Weekly, the Voice's sister paper.