Boise’s Field to Fork Festival: Reflections from an local food idealist

Last Wednesday evening I walked solo into the Basque Cultural Center in Boise to meet people like me, who support and advocate for small farms, artisan foods and beverage makers and independent producers in Idaho’s food system. Donning my second-hand outfit from various Idaho festivals – snakeskin cowboy boots, a patchwork dress and a cropped jean jacket – I wondered who I’d encounter and whether I’d fit in. In some ways, I did – I’m an Idahoan with reverence for our state’s “heritage, history, and tradition(s),” in alignment with FARE’s mission. In other ways, I was a real food idealist.

A man about my age waved me over to his wine display and asked about my preferences. “You don’t look like a chardonnay type of gal. How about CBG?” I wrinkled my forehead and tilted my head to the side, “Are we taking about grapes or Cannabis?” I asked. “I don’t recall acronyms from my past life as a wine steward.” He explained CBG as the classic blend of Cabernet, Bordeaux and Grenache. Oh, right. Clearly, my plant medicine knowledge needed a refresher. I was open to sample wine created in alignment with my Earth-centered values. I asked where and how the grapes were grown and cultivated – the man didn’t have a clear answer. He bought grapes from various growers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho – never having asked about their methodology – and made the wine here in Idaho. I wondered, does that make him an Idaho winemaker?

Importantly, does his product align with Idaho heritage, history and tradition? I wasn’t sure. Yet FARE also was created to develop a community of food and beverage folks who exhibited an “independent” and “pioneering spirit.” I was on a mission to find out – and I was there because my work, too, is only independent of the greater health system (the Western medical system) and I am certainly walking my own, pioneering path.

I took the plastic cup from the winemaker, remarked on the aromas (jam, cherry, pepper), then walked to a bistro table where a couple of friendly-looking men were talking – and drinking wine. Both were FARE board members – one owns a Boise alehouse and lounge, two places I’d eaten in the past and recalled ordering local meat, greens and milk. The other man from northern Idaho owns a suite of restaurants, from fast food chains to independent eateries. His current endeavor is to deliver locally grown food to his own restaurants and others who want to keep Idaho- and Eastern Washington-grown foods in Idaho and Eastern Washington.

My first three conversations offered a snapshot of Idaho’s expansive food system, certainly sharing complexities of all food systems. In nine years of working with Blaine County’s food system endeavors, we exposed the challenges of procurement, access, transportation, economics, collaboration – and more. How does a nutritionist fit in? Education, inquiry, quality assurance, sustainability, resourcefulness, affordability, wellbeing.

The next day at the festival, I walked into the 6th floor JUMP! exhibition space to set up my booth and encountered the woman from University of Idaho’s Extension office who approved a grant I co-wrote in 2018 for Idaho’s first Farm to Early Care & Education program. I met the microgreens cultivator; I reacquainted with alpaca farmers I met last year at a hot spring; chatted with my Blaine County friends at Future Roots; and connected with the women next to me representing National Resources Conservation Service, a government program helping farmers protect natural resources.

I met a couple making honey from hundreds of bee hives located all over Southern Idaho; a woman making artisan cheese with cow’s milk from small farms across Northern Idaho; a man who imports organic vanilla from small farmers all over the world; a man promoting agritourism in Caldwell; a representative with an app connecting people to door-delivery of organic produce from small farms; a retired ER doctor teaching her colleagues how to cook. I met a chef, a baker, a brewer, a seed grower. There were people sampling their coffee, spirits, microbrews, wine, bread, beef, lamb, labneh, microgreens, mustard, peanuts, produce, honey, tallow. And me – the sole nutritionist.

Some culinary students visited my booth, regarded my display – dried beans and morels, rosemary salt, herbal tea blends, six pasture-raised eggs, three types of squash, an onion, purple potatoes growing eyes, my homemade sourdough in the shape of a heart and a bag of local flour. All goodies were from farmers I know and trust, plus my sister – and foraged mushrooms. “What are you selling?” they asked. “I’m selling the ideal that everyone knows where their food comes from.” They looked puzzled. They’re in a culinary program in Caldwell – the same small, farming town promoting agritourism and boasting a James Beard award-winning restaurant – and they don’t know where their food comes from. “What are you learning?” I asked. “We just write lists of foods we need for meals we’re making. Other people buy the food.” Oh, dear.

One adolescent picked up my book. “I’m selling my food memoir, but…” I added, “it’s not appropriate for young audiences.” They looked curious. “I’m an edible educator, too.” I told them about my column, podcast and personalized nutrition consultations. They’d return with their teacher (and they did).

Five minutes later, a spiritual leader told me, “The US government is destroying small farms.”

Small farmers invite us to their land to pet their animals and sample the food their growing, while large-scale, conventional farms don’t want visitors (people would never return). We are teaching culinary enthusiasts how to cook, but not where their food comes from. And yet, perhaps in towns everywhere, non-profit organizations like FARE are bringing together people from all facets of our food system to cultivate connections, discuss challenges, ask questions face to face, and return home with a deeper sense of what it means for our food to travel from field to fork.

·      Learn more about FARE.

·      My friends at Future Roots, Blaine County’s source for local food & events.

Originally written for and published on 5BGazette.com