Farm Indiana | January 2017 by AIM Media Indiana

January 2017

Rural Living & Local Food

Meeting Demand Langeland Farms takes organic approach to diversified enterprises

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Farm Indiana // January 2017

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Contents January 2017

6 Langeland Farms 10 Fantastic Food Fest 12 Piazza Produce 16 Purdue University’s Food Product Development Laboratory

18 Eat Gather Go 20 Chef Q+A: Tanorria Askew 21 Recipe: Spaghetti Squash and Sweet Potato Casserole 22 From the Field Columns by Nate Brownlee and Katie Glick ON THE COVER Langeland Farms.

A monthly publication of AIM Media Indiana, Farm Indiana offers the local news and views of Indiana’s farming world, including features about local families and their farms, agriculture businesses, equipment and technological advances, educational outreach programs and more. Farm Indiana promotes and celebrates Indiana’s rich history and tradition in farming; serves as a conduit of information among growers, producers, farmers, retailers, farming organizations and local food consumers; educates readers about the nutritional, social and financial importance of local food support and consumption; and highlights Indiana local foods and agritourism.

Photo by Chad Williams

PUBLISHER

Advertising art director

Chuck Wells

Amanda Waltz

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

ADVERTISING DESIGN

Nate Brownlee Katie Glick Shawndra Miller Starr Miller Jim Poyser Jon Shoulders Twinkle VanWinkle

Dondra Brown, Tonya Cassidy, John Cole, Ashley Curry, Julie Daiker, Jessica Dell, Cassie Doles, Kassi Hattabaugh, Josh Meyer, Tina Ray, Robert Wilson

COPY EDITOR

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Katharine Smith

Chad Williams, Twinkle VanWinkle

SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST

Margo Wininger

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Matt Quebe

Beyond question Patty Lange Fischer always finds answers for her farm challenges By Shawndra Miller Photography by Chad Williams

Farm Indiana // January 2017

Patty Lange Fischer checks the quality of incoming certified organic popcorn. It is a critical step in determining the percentage of estimated popcorn that will be available for sale to various buyers.

Patty Lange Fischer didn’t know she would grow up to raise grass-fed cattle, or operate a seed/grain cleaning plant, or market organically grown popcorn. All she knew was, she liked to follow her dad around and ask question after question. Now she owns and runs Decatur County’s 450-acre Langeland Farms, while her father, Dale Lange, retains ownership of the land. Because of her organic operation’s positive impact on the environment, Sustainable Indiana 2016 named Langeland Farms to its Green Light Legacy Hall of Fame. Fischer represents the fifth generation on this sixth-generation farm, living in

Dewey Barrett monitors the gravity table of food grade soybeans.

the white clapboard house where she grew up. Her grandfather built it over a century ago. “I was the little shadow person,” she says, shrugging on a leather barn coat on a sunny November afternoon. She walks to the historic barn where two black and white cats, Apple and Whiskers, take mouse patrol. “The farm was my playground.” This barn, where she and her school friends made hay houses, now serves as shelter for her cow-calf operation. She points out the solid beam supporting the structure; it is made from one tree. The long-ago builders used pegs and notches throughout the barn instead of

nails. She recalls hearing stories from her grandmother about barn dances held in the loft. As a child she absorbed both family history and farming know-how effortlessly, around the dinner table or while helping out alongside her three sisters. She recalls writing seed tags, which the children did as soon as their handwriting was fast and legible. Such tasks exposed her to concepts like germination, inert matter and purity, adding to a knowledge base that later would serve her well. Her father had diversified the business with value-added income streams like Farm Indiana // January 2017

Fischer tends to the cattle.

small grain seeds. That laid the groundwork for Fischer’s business today. In between, there were a few detours. When she went off to Purdue, fashion retail drew her interest. She loved the coursework and was excited by the possibility of a career in fashion. But there was one big problem with that idea: She knew where she’d have to live to pursue this career. “I was like, ‘But this girl doesn’t want to go to the city,’” she says, “and if you’re going to make it in this business, you probably have to be there.” Meanwhile she’d been taking electives from the ag school. With each elective, her adviser had to call the ag department and inquire if there was room in the class she wanted to take: “She wants to do meat science,” the baffled adviser would say into the phone. “She was as frustrated with me as I was with her,” Fischer remembers. Eventually she cobbled together a mass communication degree with a specialty in animal science, merely because it fascinated her. “I never thought I was going to be selling all these products.” In 1978, she graduated, got married and moved with her husband back to the farm, where they raised four boys. For a

Farm Indiana // January 2017

while she worked in Purdue’s administration department and enjoyed it to the hilt, initiating programs in her own community. But when her oldest boy entered junior high with its whirlwind of school activities, and her mother wanted to retire from the bookkeeping end of the farm business, her work in the farm office began. For several years she managed both farm and family life as part of a team. Her husband took care of the operational side of farming, while she oversaw the office. In 2009, the bottom dropped out when her husband told her he was leaving. “At that point,” she says, “we had crops in the field, grains in the bin, the harvest was coming, and with nine head of cattle, what were we going to do?” Through that traumatic time, Fischer and her father kept the farm going. The cattle had to be fed, so she would get up in the morning and feed them, then do whatever else needed to be done. The farming community lent strength to the family to pull them through. “Farmers are known for their independence,” she says, “and yet I found such a safety net in the community. … They didn’t come in and tell me what to do, but they were willing to answer questions and be that support.” With the community’s help, she knew that she and the farm would make it, and she realized how broad her own knowledge base was. She built on the varied experiences she’d had and continued her childhood habit of asking question after question to get the answers. Only now it wasn’t mere curiosity that drove her, but the farm’s survival. The 2012 drought proved to be a turning point for the farm’s fledgling popcorn enterprise. Having planted popcorn later than other Midwestern farmers, Fischer’s crop was young enough to recover from the stress of heat and drought when a midsummer storm swept through with much-needed rain. “It was July the 20th,” she says. “I remember the date. We got two inches

of rain. Our soil is a heavy clay which holds moisture longer. And that popcorn came around.” After that, every week to 10 days, rain fell on Langeland Farms, even when farms seven miles away stayed dry. Since popcorn across the Midwest wasn’t surviving the weather, Fischer began getting calls from purchasers. She developed her buyer base and eventually needed contract growers to fill all the orders. Now she works with organic popcorn growers in Iowa, Ohio and Illinois. Organic regulations require a broad

crop rotation schedule, so to keep the fields active on non-popcorn years, Fischer looked into other crops. She began offering black beans, which became a popular item as fast food restaurants started featuring vegetarian options. She also grows cereal rye and markets the seeds for cover cropping. Barley and oats are also among her products. She’s begun using Carthage Mill’s service to mill Illinois-grown hull-less oats into oatmeal and flour, which she may sell through Hoosier Harvest Market and other channels. Recently she’s started hearing

Fischer doesn’t toot her own horn in more noise about the craft brewing industhis regard. “I believe in being part of the try, so she is researching malting. community,” she says simply. Langeland Farms’ growing operation That, too, began in her youth. Like and grain cleaning plant are both certimost farm youngsters she participated fied organic. Getting certified was more in social activities centered around a matter of paperwork than a change in 4-H, school, church and Farm Bureau. practices. Fischer says they were already She accompanied her dad to Farm used to completely cleaning the equipBureau meetings in nearby New Point. ment, augurs and bins to maintain In another full circle, she now serves as product integrity in the seed industry. So Farm Bureau’s county president and also it was mainly a matter of documenting a coordinates the organization’s county Ag protocol they had already adopted. Day Fair. And because the grain cleaning opIn recent years, eration is small, Fischer she has enjoyed a can be nimble in maknew partnership, ing shifts to respond having reconnected to market demands. “I “Farmers are known for with longtime family have no reason to ever their independence, and yet friend Gary Fischer. go gambling,” she jokes. I found such a safety net Two years ago they “I farm. Everything’s a in the community. … They married. “We’ve gamble. It’s a strategididn’t come in and tell me known each other for cally planned risk.” what to do, but they were 30 years. We weren’t But the business willing to answer questions on each other’s radar. of Langeland Farms and be that support.” … God kind of said, ‘I isn’t her only work. — Patty Lange Fischer think you two need to She’s deeply involved cheer up and build a in many community new life.’” initiatives. She served A seed merchandiser, Gary brings his as market master for eight years at Batesown background in farming to the opville Farmers Market, where her marketing eration. On this sunny afternoon he pulls prowess helped to attract more customers. in the gravel drive with the grain drill, She helped launch Hoosier Harvest Market, having just planted cereal rye at one of where she’s still a board member, and the Langeland Farms’ other properties. Food and Growers Association, a local food Cattle, however, were new to him. initiative serving southeastern Indiana. While he complains about the way the Kathy Cooley served as Food and cattle have to be fed every day, he also Growers Association president while “makes pets out of them,” says Fischer. Fischer was vice president. “She is a “He goes out and scratches their heads forward-thinking entrepreneur,” Cooley and calls them over to the fence.” says of her friend, “who wanted to keep Some 45 head of cattle can be seen the family farm profitable and going for grazing in a field adjacent to the barn. the long haul.” Fischer picks up a long-haired black Cooley praises Fischer’s dedication kitten, new to mouse patrol, and muses to the FGA, which sponsored annual about what’s next. “If you ask me about breakfasts at the Batesville market. more diversification,” she says, “I can’t “She’d spend the whole night before say yes and I can’t say no. I have thoughts getting ready and packing up her van,” in my mind. ... Is retirement on the Cooley says, “and then put on this big near horizon?” She shakes her head and affair to feed the farmers and the marlaughs. “I’m having too much fun.” ketgoers breakfast.”

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L Taste Test Fantastic Food Fest promises a plethora of palate-pleasing activities By Jon Shoulders

Farm Indiana // January 2017

Leslie Swathwood has big plans for the Fantastic Food Fest happening in January at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, not just for this year’s fest, but also for decades to come. In January 2016 Swathwood and her husband, Jason, owners of the event production company Circle City Expos, organized and launched the first Fantastic Food Fest at the fairgrounds with more than 200 food and culinary equipment exhibitors, cooking demonstrations and workshops, and celebrity and local chef appearances. More than 8,400 people showed up for the two-day event that, from day one, the Swathwoods have intended to be a perennial Hoosier favorite. “Our vision is that just as people go to a home show every year, or a garden or holiday show each year, we’re trying to create that tradition with Fantastic Food Fest,” Swathwood says. “We hope that 20, 30, 40 years from now people are still putting it on their calendars and looking forward to it. We’re trying to create a legacy with this event and make it something that central Indiana and even the whole state looks forward to every year for years to come.” The second annual fest will include speeches and cooking demonstrations by Alex Guarnaschelli, a frequent judge on the Food Network program “Chopped” and author of the cookbook-cum-autobiography “Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook,” as well as Loreal Gavin, a finalist on season 10 of the television program “Food Network Star” and former butcher at L.E. Kincaid and Sons meat market in Indianapolis. Tannoria Askew, a 2016 finalist on the competitive Fox cooking show “MasterChef” raised in Indianapolis, will battle Dave Smiley, local radio host of WZPL’s “Smiley Morning Show,” in a culinary competition on day two of the fest.

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Farm Indiana // January 2017

A Scott Lutocka

Waste

Warrior Scott Lutocka and Piazza’s quest for zero waste By Jim Poyser

Farm Indiana // January 2017

At any moment, I fear I might be struck and killed by a forklift. As I stand in the Piazza Produce warehouse, numerous forklifts go buzzing by me like a nimbus of menacing moths. The crazy swarm carries stacks of boxed produce — grapes, lettuce, bananas — as well as waste products like plastic and cardboard boxes. It seems chaotic, but after a while, I settle into the ballet of their mostly silent, electric mechanism. Save for the occasional beeping alarm of a forklift in reverse, the effect is rather calming. I’m here today to meet Scott Lutocka, facilities manager of Piazza and its zero waste warrior. Literally, that’s what Lutocka’s email signature says: Zero Waste Warrior, a title anointed by a friend in the zero waste business. “I never expected to be a zero waste cheerleader,” he says, “but I relish the opportunity today.”

Piazza Produce, located on the northwest side of Indianapolis, is a zero waste to landfill facility, diverting over 90 percent of its waste via comprehensive recycling or composting. I work in area schools and have achieved some minor success in recycling, but now I want to go big. I’m trying to get a school to adopt a zero waste cafeteria, to show all the rest of the schools it can be done. From there it can spread like a virus of good environmental practices and teach systems-thinking and problemsolving, essential aspects of learning not manifested in a standardized test. If I’m going to pursue such an ambitious goal, I better know what the heck I’m talking about and understand how it’s possible for a business to be zero waste. My Earth Charter Indiana intern, Anni, is accompanying me. She is a recent

PhotoS by jim poyser

BRANSON’S NEWEST SERIES the “15 Series”

15 Series graduate of Hanover College and works as a nature interpreter. She, like me, is a bit of a nerd about sustainability. We are full of questions, and Lutocka, he is all about the answers. In fact, I bet what makes him happiest is showing people what he’s accomplished over this past decade or so. In the beginning … there was cardboard

We begin our Piazza tour in the lobby, where a cabinet full of gleaming awards greets visitors. Lutocka is a tall, friendly man with the occasional conspiratorial

wink of an eye, and the litany of awards Piazza has received becomes the plot points of the larger narrative of their success. Lutocka explains that his quest for zero waste began in 2005 when he noticed Piazza’s trash bill was high — ranging from $7,000 to $11,000 per month. Going deeper, he discovered that half of Piazza’s waste was corrugated cardboard. Talk about low-hanging fruit. By capturing corrugated cardboard, Piazza’s waste and thus trash bill were cut in half. From there, Lutocka recalls, he tackled one item or class of items at a time, from shrink wrap to plastic to the angle boards that support and protect the pallets of produce during transport. Then there were the in-house waste challenges, the office paper, the plastic bottles and aluminum cans. “A company’s operations does one thing: It eats profits,” Lutocka says. “So my challenge was to identify ways to best manage our operational expenditures and control them to the best of our ability.” One by one Lutocka found ways to control them, devising systems to capture waste and make sure the item found the appropriate destination to be processed and put back into the market stream. “I believe in the circular economy,” he says, “where products should first be designed to minimize waste, energy, and be accounted for at the end of a product’s life cycle.” By the beginning of this current decade, Piazza started to make profit from

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diverting its waste and by 2011 had reached the extraordinary threshold of an 85 percent waste-to-landfill diversion rate. Some would have stopped there, but not a zero waste warrior. The last frontier, really, was composting Piazza’s food waste. Among other negatives, food waste in landfills creates Awards methane, a powerful green2012 Indianapolis Mayor house gas that contributes to Greg Ballard’s Sustainability climate change. To explore Award in the area of Reduce, options, he contacted Carey Reuse and Recycle. Hamilton at the Indiana Recy2013 Heritage Interactive cling Coalition for assistance. Service’s “A World of Difference “I shared with Carey our Award” for reaching zero landfill. current recycling practices and the amount of waste we 2013 International Facility reduced going to area landfills Manager Association or incineration. She was quite Indy Chapter’s “Award of impressed ... [and] … provided Excellence” for design of me with contact information a Zero Waste Program. for GreenCycle of Indiana, 2014 Food Logistics Top which is owned and operated Green Award Provider. by John Repenning.” 2014 RecycleForce’s Recycle Repenning and GreenCycle Corporate Challenge Award. were game to partner with Piazza, says Lutocka. “Our 2014 U.S. Zero Waste compostable waste was just Business Council’s Gold Level what his company was looking Zero Waste Certification. for and could process while using the Windrow open-air compost method.” Lutocka quickly learned compostable waste was regulated. “We would need to apply for and receive a Commercial Compost Permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.” Unfortunately, the early stages of its permit request became complicated. “I was astonished to learn that two departments within IDEM were passing our permit request back and forth, and it was going nowhere.” Lutocka reflects: “There are times in business, as in life, when you run into obstacles. Whenever you do, you typically have options to choose from: • View it as insurmountable and quit. • Plow through, around, under or over the obstacle. 14

Farm Indiana // January 2017

• Identify the root causes of the obstacle, determine if it can be resolved or seek outside expertise, assistance or influence in order to resolve the issues relating to the obstacle.” A U.S. Department of Agriculture arbitrator intervened on Lutocka’s behalf and helped resolve the impasse at IDEM, which granted Piazza its Commercial Compost Permit. Lutocka, an Eagle Scout and outdoorsman, says the lesson here was to “resist the temptation to quit whenever an obstacle appears in your path. Finding a solution will often motivate you, and when you finally win, the victory is that much more rewarding.” The financials support the idea of this being a victory. Lutocka says, “Our total savings from 2005 to nearly the end of 2016 is approximately $1,750,000. The company broke even on its waste expenses for the first time in its history in mid-2010 and has been in the black ever since.” He adds, “One of the things I’ve identi-

fied in our zero waste journey is identifying the ‘cost of doing nothing.’ We spent $100,000 in 2005 to send 2,415 tons of waste to area landfills. Had we not challenged the status quo and continued to enrich our waste hauler, our annual waste hauling expenditures would be well in excess of $150,000 per year when you factor in our company’s year-over-year sales growth rate of 40-plus percent.” Everything is in its place

We come at last to the end of our tour in a large room, 90-by-30 feet, where everything is destined for a facility designed to turn waste into something useful again. The clear plastic is baled together. The colored plastic is similarly squashed into a cube reminiscent of the visual art of Thornton Dial. Bogglingly, there are stacks of invoices over 20 feet high ready for an upcoming shredding party, courtesy of Ray’s Recycling. Anni, who’s been relatively quiet, suddenly reflects aloud: “This is an OCD

Piazza Produce PiazzaProduce.com Begun in 1970, this food service provider is still a family-owned business and employs over 400. Part of its growth over the years includes handling food service distribution for Indianapolis Fruit Co. Piazza delivers to more than 150 cities in five states. Got zero waste questions? Email SLutocka@piazzaproduce.com. Piazza is a member of Pro*Act, a buyer’s co-op. Its Greener Fields Together promotes seed-to-fork programs to help support local farmers. For more on that: greenerfieldstogether.org. For more on zero waste: https://uszwbc.org/

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person’s dream come true.” Lutocka and I respond with hearty laughs, because it’s true. Everything is in its place at Piazza, and everything here will find subsequent use: the produce to GreenCycle for composting, the cardboard to a paper mill, the polystyrene to Crossroads Industrial Services, the used lighting tubes to Lighting Resources, LLC. Finally, the small percentage remaining — 5 percent — is taken to Covanta to be incinerated and turned into energy. It’s quiet; the only forklift that invades is carrying three small containers of items bound for Indy recycler, RecycleForce. In Lutocka’s mindset, even small, random items need to find a home. To that end, Piazza offers its employees the opportunity to, for example, bring in their end-of-life electrical items and appliances to deliver to RecycleForce, spreading the zero waste mission beyond the confines of its warehouse to the homes and neighborhoods of the employees. Lutocka tells us a couple of final stories. One is about the early days of trying

to achieve a less wasteful warehouse. “I asked our night operations manager to pick two people to train to recycle on the night shift,” he recalls. “By the fourth month we had two months of consistent reduction in waste hauling cost … so I took the opportunity to have two jackets embroidered with the company logo and their first names and presented them with those jackets as a reward for their efforts.” Lutocka pauses and reflects: “They were so appreciative they literally had tears in their eyes because they’d never been shown that level of appreciation.” Lutocka himself is moved in telling this story. His eyes tear up at the memory, and so do mine in response. I realize this — as it often is for a warrior — is a personal crusade, this zero waste quest. It’s about scratching some ineffable itch to be the best. It’s about being environmentally minded, it’s about being more like nature, it’s about saving money, and it’s about building teamwork and, ultimately, community.

Jim Poyser is executive director of Earth Charter Indiana; he can be reached at jimpoyser@earthcharterindiana.org. Farm Indiana // January 2017

Students in the Skidmore Product Development Lab.

The new Skidmore Food Product Development Laboratory at Purdue University features many tools typical of a kitchen – griddles, fryers, steamers, mixers and more. However, you won’t find any cooks or bakers plying their trades in the space. According to Brian Farkas, head of Purdue’s department of food science, the lab, located in the Philip E. Nelson Hall of Food Science, is a research and idea space for students to begin developing innovative ways to facilitate the transition of food from a raw, agricultural state to a store-ready product in the safest and most efficient manner possible. This, says Farkas, is the essence of the food science discipline. “Processed food has become somewhat of a dangerous word these days, but that fresh apple from Washington state you buy in a store is a processed food. It didn’t get to a store here in Indiana on its own,” Farkas says. “The harvesting, the cleaning and culling, and the preservation of it to get it to us in the most safe, nutritious and desirable form is because of food science. The lab is meant to allow students to create and ideate for new ways to bring nutritious, safe food products to the consumer.” When Farkas joined the Purdue faculty in 2013, he noticed an underused classroom space in the

Farm Indiana // January 2017

Innovation Station

Purdue University’s Food Product Development Laboratory affords food science students a creative workspace By Jon Shoulders

and Lafayette-based Keystone Architecfood sciences building and proposed the ture helmed a five-month construction idea of renovating the 820-square-foot process that began in May. A ribbonroom into a food product development cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 26. lab to his department colleagues. After Farkas says undergraduate and gradureceiving the go-ahead to make the lab ate students will be able to use the lab, a reality, Farkas spread the word and even independent of their coursework if eventually heard from Doug Skidmore, they obtain department approval first, to the owner of Ohio-based Skidmore Sales combine their knowledge of chemistry, and Distributing and a Purdue alumnus who shared his enthusiasm for the project. “The lab is The Skidmore family. not the kind of thing the university can pay for, but luckily we have some of the best alumni in the world, and Doug saw the vision of what we wanted to do,” Farkas said. A donation of $200,000 followed along with equipment donations from Maple Leaf Farms and Cargill Inc., PhotoS provided by Purdue University

Brian Farkas and Doug Skidmore.

biology, microbiology and process engineering with creativity to develop new food products related to optimal storage, innovative packaging and preservation. “Converting agricultural material into something the consumer would recognize as a food or food ingredient is integral to the mission of food science, and the lab will really assist the learning experience of bringing food products to commercial reality – the kind of thing these students will do when they go out into industry,” he says. In addition to many traditional kitchen tools like induction, gas and electric stoves, the lab features several coldprocessing mechanisms including an anti-griddle with a metal top for flashfreezing or semi-freezing foods. “Our students take biochemistry, microbiology, calculus and physics, and they can use what they learn in the lab to create new textures and structures and functions,” Farkas says. “One of the things that confuses people is that we’re not a culinary program; we’re a core science program.”

The lab sits adjacent to the food science department’s pilot laboratory, which operates as a model manufacturing area to test new products and processes, and features state-of-the-art equipment for processing, packaging, quality control and sensory evaluation. Erik Kurdelak, manager of the pilot lab, says after students have formulated a potentially successful product in the Skidmore lab, they can pursue the possibility of modeling full-scale production of that product in the 9,400-square-foot pilot lab. “The Skidmore lab is a key link in the chain here and will help anyone who wants to develop an interesting idea have many of the tools to do so,” he says. “They have a bridge from a proof of concept to a model processing facility.” Farkas calls the lab a dynamic space that, in addition to student use, will be available for Purdue Extension faculty to work with food entrepreneurs across the state. “We want to engage with food entrepreneurs that need help and have an idea, so for the mom-and-pop entrepreneur that comes up with a really great food product, transitioning from their kitchen to the broader public poses significant challenges both real and regulatory,” he says. “There’s real challenges in making it in bulk safely as well as navigating the regulations that are set forth by the state and federal government that protect us from alteration or adulteration of foods.” For additional information on Purdue University’s department of food science, including the Skidmore Food Product Development Laboratory and Pilot Laboratory, visit ag.purdue.edu/foodsci.

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Purdue’s online nutrition program targets Hoosier families in need By Starr Miller

The American celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme once said, “You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food,” a sentiment that organizers with Purdue Extension are focusing on as they help people throughout Indiana attain both quantity and quality of nutrition. For the past two-plus decades, Purdue’s Nutrition Education Program has worked to improve the nutrition and health of audiences with limited resources in Indiana by offering two major initiatives to communities, free of charge. Its newest marketing effort showcases what is arguably the most pertinent form of sharing information and thus, educating the masses in the 21st century. Launched on Nov. 21, eatgathergo.org 18

Farm Indiana // January 2017

Eat Gather and Go is helping the organization center the attention of users into one, easy-to-use cyber location. Melissa Maulding, who serves as Purdue’s Nutrition Education Program director, says that the new Eat Gather Go website is both marketing and social recruitment, with the goal of reaching Hoosiers who are in need and connecting them with the resources available to them. “In 2011, our funding guidelines changed, so it enabled us to do more creative things as far as outreach for communities,” Maulding says. “For many years, we operated under the assumption that maybe the majority of our clients did not have access to the internet … maybe that they didn’t have computers

in their homes. But times have changed. Now, you don’t need a home computer to use the internet or have access to outside information about available resources. “Most folks now have a phone; even smartphones are not privy only to the upper economic class of the population. Eat Gather Go – and all of the information we are making accessible online – lends itself to this knowledge. Phones make it easy to click and be informed. We are very hopeful that streamlining the website helps us in our chief intent, which is to deliver our message clearly to those who need it the most.” Maulding says that prior to launching the website, the organization was dependent solely on face-to-face interaction.

“Now, we see Eat Gather Go as an opportunity to make our client recruitment that much more successful.” The site itself is chock full of information, with the upfront focus on its namesake: The “Eat” section boasts information and guidance about how to plan, shop and cook healthy meals. A “Gather” tab explains the importance of sitting down with family members over a meal, while “Go” highlights quick tips on physical activity. This newest effort by Purdue Extension is one of many goodwill facets already in operation. Eat Gather Go is under the umbrella of the NEP, whose focus is on a handful of areas, including nutrition, food safety, food security, physical activ-

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CALL TODAY! ity and food resource management, by way of stretching food dollars. Maulding says there is concentrated effort both in educating the public about the long-standing work that Purdue Extension does, but also connecting Hoosiers in need with the appropriate resources. “We have a target audience with the NEP,” Maulding says. “Obviously, we are here to help individuals with limited resources. … We often hear about children in need, but we offer assistance to seniors, people who are homeless, single parents, migrants and even families.” Services are also available to schools with 50 percent or more of their students receiving free and reduced lunches, and in general, communities with high poverty rates. To these socioeconomic classes, it’s likely that the most important facet of all NEP services is that they are, without question, free. But educating people on what is available to them in their times of need is an arduous task, one that Maulding says is the end goal of her department. “We continue our outreach programs because frankly, we believe that while we are diligent about connecting needs with resources, there are always new people entering into these situations where they find themselves in need.” In its 2016 Impact Report, Purdue Extension NEP highlighted clear obstacles on its path of improving the lives of Hoosiers: Only half of the state’s adults meet physical activity requirements, twothirds of adults and one-third of Indiana children are overweight or obese, and one in six Hoosiers faces hunger or food insecurity. On average, just more than 14 percent of the state has limited access to grocery stores. “So we looked at all of the information, both state and nationwide, and we formed what is, in general, an action plan,” Maulding says. “With nutrition education assistants and Snap-Ed, we are able to provide nutrition education to

both youth and adults through schools and community groups, like homeless shelters, schools, food pantries and Head Start locations. We are able to give lessons that focus on how to plan nutritious meals, be active, handle food safely, spend food dollars wisely, and improve food purchasing and preparation skills.” If the new Eat Gather Go website is the simplified portal of virtual access to assistance, then Purdue Extension’s community wellness coordinators are the boots on the ground, seeing the message of the organization hand-delivered to those in need. “We like to say that our community wellness coordinators help our clients make the healthy choice the easy choice,” Maulding says. “They collaborate with community partners and municipal government leaders on broader community change that involves policy, systems and environmental changes.” The bottom line, as they say, is simple: “These communities of people who are in need, they have 101 other things to worry about in addition to how to feed themselves or their families,” Maulding says. “How to keep their electricity on, how will they get to their places of employment. … Our chief objective is to convince our partners and clients that you absolutely must see that health, good and lack thereof, plays a huge role in the midst of all of these other facets of their lives.” In essence, the amount of responsibility Purdue Extension shoulders in this state comes down to something very simple. “It’s a mindset change,” Maulding says. “We will always walk a fine line of truly educating people and helping them understand the difference between making sure their kids and themselves go to bed with food in their bellies and making sure they go to bed with good food in their bellies.” Find more information online at eatgathergo.org

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Local Food

Chef Q & A with

Tanorria Askew “MasterChef” contestant, personal chef and owner of Tanorria’s Table in Indianapolis By Twinkle VanWinkle

Tanorria Askew feels her calling is to serve, and specifically, serve food. She’s always had a love for volunteering and helping others, and when “MasterChef” called and said, “You’re in,” she soared, knowing it would mean she’d be able to grow her own brand and use it for good.

How did you get started? What made you say, “Hey, I want to be a chef”? My family. I was fortunate enough to witness what food does to people at an early age. My family was always the household that people wanted to come to because my grandparents and parents were always hosting and entertaining. I quickly learned that food builds community and communicates to people. I came from a kitchen where everything was made from scratch, so when I started cooking for my friends and hearing how amazing my food was compared to other food they had, I knew I could show love through food. How did you get involved with “MasterChef”? A friend of mine encouraged me to audition during season 5. I used that season and most of season 6 to really study and try to understand what I was getting myself into. I went to open calls in Chicago, and the rest is pretty much history.

Farm Indiana // January 2017

Can you tell us a little bit about the experience? Maybe what you learned about yourself, or advice for anyone looking to do something like that? “MasterChef ” gave me the validation I was looking for as a cook/chef. I knew I was a good cook, but to hear that from others who are just as passionate about food as I am and from the judges made a world of difference for me. Being immersed in food 24/7 helped me to confirm that I really am on this Earth to feed people. What is your food philosophy? Everyone should have access to good quality, scratchmade food. Food builds community and brings people together. I feel like everyone should experience that. What local sources do you use to supply your ingredients? My favorite Saturday morning pastime is wandering

around a farmers market. I wish Indiana had a farmers market that was open on weekdays. I would get all of my ingredients from there. It’s wonderful to see Traders Point Creamery, Batch No. 2 and others in grocery stores.

homes to prepare their meals. I love being able to support local farmers and bring in the best of the best when I am working with clients. As a small business owner myself, I understand what it means to shop and support local.

Why are the ingredients in what you serve so important? There is just something about good quality butter and farm fresh eggs. Those aren’t the only things that matter, but those were the first things I started to use to see if there really was a difference in what I was cooking. There is a difference, my friends. Your food tastes better, and your body feels better.

What are your thoughts on the Indiana food world and its place in the larger scheme of things? I am very excited to see how the Indiana Food World has evolved, but I do feel like it still has a long way to go. Right now, we have to go to a few concentrated areas to get really good local food in restaurants. I am looking forward to the day where that kind of food is accessible on most or every street corner. I would also love to see more diversity in food here in Indy. There are so many gaps in cuisines, even just the types of American cuisines.

What would you say to local farmers who are looking to work with restaurants? My situation is sort of unique because I don’t own a restaurant. I have the freedom to purchase my ingredients from anywhere I want and take those ingredients into clients’

You’re known to be really involved in helping others, volunteering. What’s your reason for that? Helping others is what we are all called to do. Every single one of us has something that could help someone else. I am honored that my gift is food and hospitality. There are so many people who are in need in the Indianapolis area. They don’t feel valued, important or understood. I feel like giving them a hot meal, that I took the time and effort to make, speaks volumes. I have no idea what their story is, or why they have the need they have, but that meal could give them the nourishment and energy to face whatever issue they have. It tells them that they are loved and that someone cares about them. What’s your advice for someone who wants to take their cooking to the next level? Be fearless! I should probably take that advice myself. Try more things, do more things, taste more things. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or the most advanced cook out there, keep trying. When you aren’t working, what is your favorite meal to just slow down and enjoy? I have been dying to slow down and cook for myself. I can’t tell you the last time that happened. When I do have a chance, I love making seafood and risotto. That with a glass of wine and a slice of cheesecake to top it off.

Find out more at tanorriastable.com PhotoS provided by Wilks & Wilson

Recipe

Spaghetti Squash and Sweet Potato Casserole Makes 4 large or 8 small servings

Reinvent the common casserole

By Twinkle VanWinkle

Casseroles are the definition of simple, comfort food. Delicious ingredients, mixed together and baked in a pan, oftentimes loaded with cheesy goodness, have been a staple of many households over the last 50 years or so. Sometimes I wish everything could be baked in a casserole. Life would so easy. But a casserole every day can get stale and boring. My solution to that is to change a few things around. First, try new ingredients. Skip the cream of fill-in-the-blank and make your base from scratch. A quick chicken stock and heavy cream with fresh herbs and spices are a great adjustment. Second, go for some stinky cheese. Most traditional casseroles have some form of shredded cheddar. Although I am a true believer in sharp cheddar cheese, blending it with some good Parmesan, or even Gorgonzola, gives new life to an old favorite. Lastly, change how you serve your casserole. Flip the script and let your hand-me-down Pyrex take a break. This spaghetti squash recipe is the perfect example. Save the squash skins and refill and bake. Serve something new and different with an oldfashioned twist.

2 medium spaghetti squash 4 medium sweet potatoes ½ cup olive oil ½ pound shrimp 1 medium yellow onion, diced finely 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1 cup white wine

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon sage 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon black pepper 1½ cups shredded extra sharp white cheddar ½ cup Gorgonzola 2 cups panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Pour in wine, herbs and spices and reduce to medium low and cook down for about 10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and rub with olive oil inside and out. Place on pans and roast for 30 to 45 minutes until insides are soft and pull away from the outside. Once roasted, let cool and pull “spaghetti” out with a fork. Save the skins for the casserole. Use the same pan and roast sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Reduce heat to 350 F.

While cooking down, mix together cheeses in a large bowl. Set aside 1/3 of the mix for a topping. After sweet potatoes, squash and shrimp are all cooked, toss together with the cheese in the big bowl. Top with breadcrumbs and then the leftover cheese and bake until cheese is melted and just begins to brown. Run under broiler for 2 minutes to finish the melt, then serve warm.

While veggies are roasting, peel and sauté shrimp on medium high in a little olive oil with onion and garlic until onions are translucent and shrimp is pink.

Twinkle VanWinkle is an Indianapolis-based food writer and experienced chef with Southern roots. She has more than 23 years of professional cooking under her apron strings and loves to share her unique perspective on food, foodways and culture with others. Needless to say, her family is very well-fed.

Photos by Twinkle VanWinkle

Farm Indiana // January 2017

From the field the turkeys one week longer. This year, our turkeys averaged 17 pounds, and our largest turkey was 26 pounds. This was quite a surprise and a little too much weight. In 2017, we plan to dial in our timing and our feed ration to aim for our ideal turkey weight.

» The View at Nightfall

Farm Resolutions By nate Brownlee

I have enough trouble staying awake until midnight that I have never really given much thought to New Year’s resolutions. Now that we have three seasons of Nightfall under our belts, this holiday is a nice excuse to think about goals for the year. You might see some common resolutions here on our list, but we’ve given them the ol’ Nightfall twist.

Watch Our Weight As our farm has grown, we’ve learned a bit about what size turkey our customers want for Thanksgiving and what size turkey we can reliably raise. In our first two years, our turkeys averaged about 14 pounds. This was ideal for many customers, but still a little small (some customers wanted 18- to 20-pound turkeys, and slightly larger turkeys are more financially viable). In 2016, we adjusted our timing and raised

that gives an update about the farm). In 2016, we were always struggling to remember to post a new blog or to come up with something good to write. This to-do item always fell to the bottom of the list. In 2017, we’re going to take down the blog and replace it with a list of recipes. We’ll make this easy on ourselves by using recipes our CSA members suggest, with links to the online recipes. Then at the farmers market, when customers ask, “What do I do with a whole chicken?” we can send them to this neat, new recipe list. Two birds with one stone!

Hit the Gym We sometimes joke that since our style of farming is labor intensive, we save big bucks on gym memberships. To be honest, we don’t exercise at all – we just work. Active as we are outside, we don’t always After years do a good job enjoying our of gaining whole farm, including the experience woods, ponds and wetlands. on other We hereby resolve to finfarms, Nate ish the walking trail we’ve Brownlee and started, which heads out his wife, Liz, into the woods, stops at a moved back bench by a lovely little pond to Indiana to start their own family and meanders home. They farm, which they named Nightfall say that exercise can relieve Farm. Here, they share stories of the stress, so we figure taking many trials, tribulations, successes the time to walk around and failures in running a family and enjoy the farm may business. For more on Nightfall just keep us going strong.

Farm, visit nightfallfarm.com.

Swear Less There are a few jobs around the farm that have put quite a mouth on me. Tangled nets, pulling chicken tractors through dense pasture and numerous physical tasks that don’t go as planned are hard to prevent. We always try to farm smarter, not harder, and that applies to the inside jobs too. One example is our blog (a short article we post on our website

Be Kind We are firmly committed to building the local food economy. For us this means we want to create opportunities for other farms in the area to thrive selling food locally, and we want to encourage people to buy more food grown right here in Indiana. In 2017, we’re making this a priority. This winter, for instance, we’re going to help create a local food directory for the Columbus and Seymour area, connecting eaters with farmers and farmers with customers.

There are many ways we can use the winter to ensure a successful farm season in 2017. One great aspect of our job is the interaction we have with customers. So, to all of our readers within range of one of the three farmers markets where we sell: Your job this year will be to stop in at our booth and ask us how much we’re swearing. Just don’t test our exercise levels by asking us to flex.

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From the field

We survived our first holiday season with our little girl, the first where we celebrated her life and the sparkle in her eyes when she saw the tree. According to our daughter, “Jingle Bells” is the best song ever written, and she might be one of those people who listen to Christmas music year-round (which her father will be thrilled about). After watching her grow and develop these past six months, her curiosity is quite entertaining. Can you imagine how strange the world looks through a baby’s eyes? They don’t fully understand the concept of life or death, heartbreak and heartache, or the good, bad and ugly of it all. They see shiny things and become entranced. They slowly start to recognize you and embrace what is familiar. But honestly, some things have to seem so strange and odd to them. I feel that way a lot when I have conversations with people about our farm. I’ve recently spent time with a lot of people who do not live in the country or have the slightest concept of what it is like living on a farm or working in agriculture. At a recent girls night, where I only knew a few of the women, my friend said my husband was a farmer, and you would have thought I lived in 1950. The curious looks and number of head tilts I saw were quite entertaining. Then, while opening gifts, she told everyone that I had brought her meat from our farm. Again the looks and the tilts. One of the women looked at me with a strange glare and said, “I could never raise an animal and then send it off to market. I just couldn’t. And then eat it – never.” Well, I can and I do. Here’s the thing. I understand that you don’t understand and that you can’t. But why can’t you understand that I can and that I do? I don’t know how I’m surprised by it anymore, but it seems strange to me that people don’t understand that farmers and farming still exist and that people still live on farms. We are just as normal as you, but we have a greater for-

Curiosity and Understanding by Katie Glick

tune than you, or so I think. We have been blessed with the opportunity to live on the land while raising a family, running a business, making a living and caring for the land for generations to come. Farming is a huge responsibility that we don’t take lightly and that others would find to be a burden. And yes, we get upset when our favorite animals pass away or go to market. But we understand that life and death, heartbreak and heartache, and the good, bad and ugly of farming are part of it. I appreciate your curiosity and encourage you to have a conversation with me or another farmer. I almost feel relieved when people ask me questions because they do genuinely want to know about our farm. My daughter’s eyes sparkle when she sees the cows, and she becomes entranced with their sounds and movement. I hope it stays that way. She will recognize that we care for the cattle on our farm but that they are a part of our business. She will also become familiar with the smell of cow manure and embrace it. My daughter will understand that chocolate milk doesn’t come from brown cows and all food doesn’t come from the grocery store. And at this rate, I’m guessing her first 4-H pig will be named Jingle Bells. She will be given opportunities on our farm and off the farm, and whichever path she chooses I hope she stays curious and seeks to understand others while educating them about our way of life on the farm. In the new year, I hope you genuinely become curious and understanding of what you don’t know, and then maybe the world won’t look so strange.

Katie Glick lives with her husband on their family farm near Columbus, where they grow corn, soybeans and wheat; raise cattle; and have a private seed company. She works in the agriculture industry. Farm Indiana // January 2017

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Farm Indiana // January 2017