Back in October, Raquel and I had the opportunity to attend Terra Madre, the biennial international meeting of Slow Food International (SFI). The Terra Madre Network brings together food communities, cooks, academics and youth delegates for four days to work towards increasing small-scale, traditional, and sustainable food production. Below is a report we wrote for CUESA, the organization that selected us to attend Terra Madre.

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Opportunity for cultural exchange was everywhere at this year’s Terra Madre, which hosted 7000 people from 153 countries. We spoke with rice farmers from Madagascar, India and Thailand, learned about the wild almond groves in Uzbekistan, and ate sausage made near the tiny Portuguese village where Greg's grandfather was born.

We did bring back a few nuts-and-bolts ideas that will be directly applicable to our farm. We learned about some interesting grains that we could experiment with, such as einkorn, one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat with a more easily digestible form of gluten than modern wheat, and fonio, a small-seeded millet from Africa.

From a philosophical perspective, there was even more to take home — some of it new, and some a confirmation of what we already believe. For example, one of our farm goals is to grow and market our rice without harming small farmers in other parts of the world. This means that we won’t be exporting our rice cheaply, but it also means that we won’t grow Basmati or Jasmine rice, because we wish to avoid stealing the genetic heritage of generations of small Thai or Indian farmers who developed those varieties. Growing those varieties here in California would impact the ability of Asian farmers to export their rice to the more lucrative US market. Our discussions with some farmers from Madagascar who grow pink rice confirmed this for us. Conversely, there are other grains — such as Red Fife wheat from Canada — that are so close to extinction it would in fact be beneficial to grow them and increase the seed supply and demand.

In the minds of some Americans, Slow Food seems to have an elitist membership and message. However, we found the international organization to be remarkably populist. Their mission of “good, clean and fair food for all” resonates with us, though the implementation of that ideal is difficult at best. There is plenty of “good” food at farmers’ markets everywhere. But “clean” food is becoming scarce in today’s globalized food system. Even on a local scale there are problems: we learned this week that a fungicide used on non-organic almonds and grapes in California is directly linked to a higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease. “Fair” food may be the most difficult to achieve, as making good, clean food available at a fair price to everyone in the food chain (including farmers) is a real challenge.

The trip to Terra Madre was a whirlwind — and much too short. We left our five children at home, split between two babysitters, so we had little extra time to spend on vacation! But we feel very privileged to have been part of this “gathering of the peasants of the world.”

We are most grateful to Slow Food San Francisco and CUESA for making our trip possible.

Greg Massa and Raquel Krach
Massa Organics

Pancake recipe!

The following recipe comes from Suzanne, one of our great customers in Chico. She grinds our wheat berries to flour using a KoMo grain mill that she purchased at www.naturaleurope.com. Enjoy!

Massa Organics whole wheat pancakes

In large measuring cup, melt 2 T butter (in microwave), add 1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt, heat till warm, stir in 1 egg. In a separate bowl mix: 1 cup fresh ground (warm) Massa whole wheat flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda. Stir in wet ingredients till just mixed. Add small amount of warm water if batter seems too stiff. Cook on hot griddle. Yummm!
Thanks so much for the delicious rice & wheat. Suzanne

Thanksgiving

A few months ago, a parent at our kids' school asked for help in putting together a shipping container full of relief supplies to send to Ethiopia. His friend operates an orphanage there, and described the situation as very dire. Food is in short supply, and the kids have nothing at all. Many people in our community stepped up and donated all sorts of things, from soccer balls to food, diapers to school supplies. (See a description of the project here. That's our rice and wheat on those pallets).

Two weeks ago, one of my close friends (a fellow farmer) had a hemorrhagic stroke while visiting San Diego. His situation was also dire. His paralysis is now easing, and he appears able to understand speech, though he can't talk himself. He was moved out of the ICU this week, and hopes to be able to move to a rehab facility closer to home soon.

This week, I'll be giving Thanks for life, health, family and food.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Rice pudding with pistachios, raisins

It's here! This is the rice pudding we have been serving as samples at the Davis Farmers Market. It's one of the most requested recipes we've ever had, so here you go! Now you can make it at home. Enjoy!

Rice pudding with pistachios, raisins
Serves 6
1 cup Massa Organics brown rice
2 cups water
2 qt whole milk
1 cup Brown sugar
6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
1/2 cup shelled natural pistachios
1/2 cup golden raisins

Cook brown rice according to package directions.
Simmer milk with cooked brown rice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamomin in a 7- to 8-quart heavy pot, stirring often, until reduced by half, 45 to 50 minutes. Discard cardamom. Pudding should thicken and the brown rice will start breakdown.

Heat ghee or butter in a heavy skillet over a medium heat setting until melted, then cook pistachios and raisins, stirring, until nuts are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir half of pistachio mixture into rice pudding and sprinkle remainder on top.

Recipe courtesy of:

Rhonda & Tony Gruska
Monticello Bistro
5 East Main Street
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 792-8066
monticello-bistro.com

Almonds are ready!

You may have read my previous post about almond harvest back in August. Well, the nuts are finally ready for sale! We'll have raw, roasted, and sliced almonds, as well as almond butter at many of our farmer's markets this weekend. They are also listed on our website now if you don't have a market near you.

So, why does it take so long between harvest and eating? Basically, there are several steps of post-harvest processing, and they all take time. First, once the nuts are knocked off the trees, they need to dry in the sun for about 10 days. This allows the hulls and shells to dry out enough that they can be removed easily by the hulling and shelling machinery without damaging the nuts. Once they are dry, I haul them to a processor for hulling/shelling. Of course, once there they have to wait in line. The hullers run 24 hours a day this time of year, but there are a LOT of nuts to process in California--about 1.5 billion pounds this year. After shelling, our nuts went to another processor to be sorted. Sorting takes out all the damaged nuts, half kernals, etc. The perfect nuts are then packaged, and sent to the freezer for about a month to make sure there are no viable insect eggs hitching along. (The alternative to this step in non-organic production is fumigation or pasteurization.) Only after all of this are the nuts ready to be sold. Of course, I've been eating them all along--even right off the trees--so I know they are fantastic!

To celebrate the release of our almonds, here's a new recipe for you--our first recipe on this blog that doesn't include rice! This recipe comes from Marianne Brenner, a local chef and columnist in Chico.

Hot-Sweet Black and White Sesame Almonds

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups raw whole almonds

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the spices, pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and mix well.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet and cook over medium heat until melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the almonds and cook, stirring, until they are coated with the sugar syrup.

Add a small amount of the sesame seed mixture to the almonds, stirring all the while. Add the remaining mixture, a little at a time, and toss until all the mixture has been used.

Transfer nuts to the prepared sheet and arrange in a single layer; separate the almonds with a fork or your hands and set aside to cool before serving.

Come Visit Us! (volume 2)

Here is yet another chance to live the dream! Come visit us on the farm next weekend as part of the Sierra-Oro Farm Trail Passport weekend. On October 11-12, you can visit us and 25 other farms and wineries in the Chico-Oroville area, including our neighbors, Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company. After a visit, make a risotto with our rice and their Northern Gold Cheese--you won't believe how incredible it is! (For a great farm blog, check out Mandy's Dairy Princess Diaries).

The tour is lots of fun, and there is truly some incredible food in this part of California--olive oil, jam, grass-fed beef, wine, wine, wine, and of course, Massa Organics brown rice, wheat berries, and our newest addition, organic almonds! We'll be serving some interesting rice dishes made by our friends at Roots Catering--you'll see rice in a whole new way. We'll also be hosting our local chapter of Slow Food, who will be selling box lunches using all local products, put together by local chef and columnist Marianne Brenner. See you next weekend!

Come visit us!

Admit it. You've always wanted to visit a rice farm. See some wildlife, sit in the cab of a combine, and touch the walls of a strawbale house. Well, now you can live that dream! On September 28, we are hosting a tour group from the San Francisco Bay Area, and there are still tickets available. The trip is sponsored by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), the organization that runs the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco. We are actually the second stop on the tour, the first being Carl Rosato's Woodleaf Farm. Check out the tour description and buy tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/42326.