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Stories and Events in the WPSU Community

The opinions expressed in these blogs are solely those of the people who wrote them, and do not represent the views of WPSU or Penn State University.

Local Food Journey

Celebrate spring and think of summer with a rhubarb mojito

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/30 at 08:43 AM

A friend of mine is something of an amateur mixologist, or cocktail creator. A year ago during a visit, I introduced him to shrubs, the delightful fruit/sugar/vinegar concoction that has made something of a comeback. Originally a way to preserve harvests in Colonial times, shrubs are definitely back in Central Pennsylvania thanks to Tait Farm Foods. Tait Farm offers a variety of shrub flavors, such as lemon, ginger, raspberry, apple, and rhubarb. The main purpose of shrubs is as part of a beverage.

Now, you don’t have to drink alcohol to enjoy shrubs; in fact, they are quite nice with just tonic water or ginger ale. However, they make a great mixer for alcoholic drinks, and when my friend was visiting, we brainstormed a drink for rhubarb. It was a warm April day when he was up, so we came up with a sort of rhubarb mojito.

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Local Food Journey

Five great local food restaurant items

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/23 at 07:59 AM

Since this blog has been in existence, the local food restaurant scene in Central Pennsylvania has expanded. Not only have there been some new local food restaurants popping up, there are also some established restaurants that have began serving food sourced with local ingredients.

While there have been an increase in local food options, that has created a bit of an issue…what to choose! The options are many, so it can be hard to pick. To help you decide what to try, here are recommendations for five different items you can find on Central Pennsylvania menus that feature local ingredients.

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Local Food Journey

Seed libraries in Pennsylvania allowed to engage in free seed exchange

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/18 at 08:47 AM

Thanks to a statewide coalition of concerned advocates, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has clarified that seed libraries and other non-commercial seed exchanges are not subject to the cost-prohibitive licensing, labeling and testing requirements required of commercial seed distributors in the Seed Act of 2004 (Seed Act). In providing this clarification, Pennsylvania sets a precedent to protect and encourage seed libraries throughout the commonwealth.

The statewide coalition, led by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), Grow Pittsburgh (GP), the Public Interest Law Center, and members of the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council (PFPC), as well as individual growers and organizations, worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) to clarify protocol about the Seed Act. The Act was originally applied to a seed library at the Joseph T. Simpson Library in Mechanicsburg, PA, which severely limited its operations as a result.

Seed libraries are nonprofit, community-based organizations. Through seed libraries, growers maintain and increase biodiversity, as they save seeds from season to season, and share seeds with one another. The number of seed libraries has surged in recent years; there are an estimated 26 seed libraries across the Commonwealth, with more than 350 nationwide. Concern about the compliance with the Seed Act has been a deterrent to seed library operations in Pennsylvania.

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Local Food Journey

Be authentic Irish for this St. Patrick’s Day dinner: Potato and leek soup

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/17 at 09:11 AM

If you are looking to have something that’s a traditional Irish food for your St. Patrick’s Day dinner, you probably do not want to serve corned beef. Corned beef is not something many folks in Ireland eat, and at St. Patrick’s Day tables in Ireland, you will find lamb and/or bacon, but not corned beef. Instead, corned beef is more a nod towards the immigrant history of Irish-Americans.

So, you can serve corned beef as a nod to your ancestors if you have Irish blood in you, but what if you want to serve something that Irish people eat? And what if you’re vegetarian?

Well, here’s a recipe that’s based on something Irish people actually enjoy. Potato and leek soup is a traditional Irish comfort food, enjoyed with brown soda bread. Plus, it’s colored green!

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Local Food Journey

Slow your roll, gardeners! Don’t let these warm temperatures trick you

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/10 at 09:16 AM

The weather this week has caused many of us to catch a seasonal illness: spring fever. With temperatures more like May than March, the itch to start the garden may be really tough for some of us to resist. Is it too early to plant? Well, for the most part, yes. However, there are exceptions, but it will mean some extra work.

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Local Food Journey

Elk Creek Fish Hatchery: 30 years and still hatching

Posted by Alexandrea Scott on 03/08 at 11:27 AM

Dan Brigham has been the owner of the Elk Creek Fish Hatchery for about 30 years, in recent years with his loyal dog and co-owner, Rusty, by his side. It all started when Dan originally wanted to seek out a career in oceanography, but realized that there probably werenâ€™t many related jobs he can do in a field around Millheim, Pa. So a fish hatchery it was!

After a nice scenic drive through the country, you reach the hatchery. I have to add that I have never been to one before, so I was really curious as to what it would look like. When you pull up look for the Alaskan license plate, thatâ€™s when you know you are at the right house. When I arrived the friendly Rusty, and Captain Dan, greeted me. He started to tell me how he just got back from borrowing some fish food from a fellow hatchery.

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Local Food Journey

Brian Snyder joins leadership team of OSU’s Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/04 at 09:38 AM

In lieu of our usual Local Food Notes for today, we are going to run this breaking news from the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA):

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) announced today that longtime Executive Director Brian Snyder has accepted a position by the same title, leading the Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT) at The Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus. The new position will begin in June. The ultimate goal of InFACT is to create sustainable and resilient food systems for Ohio and beyond. President Michael Drake of OSU has committed a minimum of $100 million over the next ten years to achieve this goal.

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Local Food Journey

What does Penn State Ag Extension do?

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 03/01 at 09:48 AM

As you likely have heard by now, Penn State President Eric Barron told university trustees at the regular meeting last Friday in Hershey that 1,100 agricultural extension employees face potential layoffs if the current Pennsylvania budget fight isn’t resolved. Along with being a tremendous source of stress for those employees, these layoffs would be a blow to Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry.

While you are of course a fan of local food, you may not be aware of exactly what a university extension office does, and why they are important. They offer a variety of services for not just farmers, but for the entire state since a lot of the food you eat is grown, raised, and/or produced in Pennsylvania. These services range from food safety to business support for small farmers to sharing research on health, gardening, and improving our food system with the public.

So, the Penn State Extension is an important part in not just farmers’ lives, but all of our lives. Here are some examples:

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