Wayzata High School senior Nicole Finsaas has more on her mind than next week’s organic chemistry exam. After reading Barbara Kinsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle last spring for a school project, Finsaas was inspired to embark on a project of her own. With the help of her teacher David Motes, Finsaas created her own experiment―to eat locally for a week and blog about it.
Finsaas did her experiment in the first two weeks of April, making it exceptionally challenging to eat local due to the lack of fresh produce available. But she didn’t let that stop her. “We ate everything from beets and potatoes to Minnesota-manufactured ice cream,” she says. And what was Finsaas’ favorite culinary creation from her experiment? She said it would have to be the locally made noodles served with home-cooked pasta sauce (see the recipe on page XX).
On Finsaas’s blog, An Experiment in Eating Locally, you’ll find snippets of her experience. “My favorite part of eating locally was the sense of community,” she says. Finsaas even had the opportunity to meet the farmer who had raised the meat her family was eating. “It was great to know that the animals were being raised with such care,” she says.
Finsaas is glad she tried eating locally and says now that she’s got the basics down of where to find food and knows what’s available seasonally, it would be much easier to try her experiment again. “We are trying to integrate local eating into our [family’s] lifestyle,” she says. “Whenever there is a choice between Minnesotan grown food or food from elsewhere, we always choose local products.”
Fansaas has inspired us with her eating experiment, so we’re giving you your very own guide to all things local (and edible!) that the Plymouth area has to offer.
One-stop Shops
At Fresh & Natural Foods you’ll find everything organic and fresh, not to mention a wide selection of local produce and food products. This independent, locally owned full-service grocer buys local whenever possible. After you’ve picked up your produce for the week, you’ll definitely want to reward yourself with a sampling of some raw honey from Homestead Apiaries, Oakridge Apiaries “Nature’s Nectar” or Ames Farm, or maple syrup from Waletzko Maple Farm and Stanley’s Sugarbush ($4.95–$11.50). freshandnaturalfoods.com
Harvest Moon Natural Foods Co-op is practically legendary in the nearby Long Lake community, making its name as the first grocery store in that town. Just opening this past June, Harvest Moon focuses on organic and sustainably grown products and sells a variety of fresh and local products, including local meats and cheeses in the deli. harvestmoon.coop
Make sure you fit a trip to the New Hope Farmers Market into your schedule before it closes October 16. You’re sure to find a host of local vendors offering everything from fresh fall produce to locally made sweets and spices from Alexandria-based Tastefully Simple. newhopemarket.org
Meats
Well worth the 40-minute drive, Ridgeroll Farms in Buffalo has been raising purebred Simmental beef cattle for the past 40 years. Raised with sustainable farming practices, the beef you’re getting is top of the line. ridgerollfarms.com
Nelson’s Meat Market has been providing fresh and custom-cut meat to Hopkins locals since 1963. Beef steaks cut to any size and Minnesota raised pork are just a few of the options on a lengthy list of premium quality local meats. nelsonsmeats.com
Fruits and Veggies
Gregor Farm & Greenhouse in Medina is the place to go for fall harvest produce. Owners Tom and Patty Gregor say this fall’s crop of squash, cabbage, broccoli, gourds, peppers, eggplant and more is one of the best in recent memory. You won’t want to miss the pumpkin patch wagon rides on weekends in this month. gregorfarm.com
Sweets
Nothing stands up against a good old homemade cookie recipe straight from mom’s kitchen, and nobody knows that better than Erin Bennett, owner of Cookie Nook. Her variation on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies is to die for and will only cost you a dollar a piece. You can find these scrumptious cookies at the New Hope Farmers Market through October 16, or order straight from the website. thecookienook.com
Spices
Mark Brown, owner of Favorite Son Spice Company, knows how to spice things up. With his tasty selection of spice rubs, seasonings, popcorn toppings and bloody mary mixes, you don’t have to worry about creating the perfect combination of flavors, because it’s already done for you. Brown recommends the Garlic Pepper Seasoning or Boone Ave. Burger Mix ($3.49). You can find a variety of his products at the New Hope Farmers Market, or online. favoritesonspice.com
Wine and Beer
New this year to Plymouth, Vino 100 specializes in artisan crafted wines produced by small wineries. You’ll also find bottles from the Minnesota distributor Paustis Brothers. vino100plymouth.com
Vinifera Wines and Ales is what we call a true family business. Owned by son and father Christian and Dave Nesheim, Vinifera boasts a selection of ales, liquors and wines from Minnesota suppliers. Cheers! viniferawinesandales.com
Resources from Fresh and Natural Foods
Much of Plymouth’s Fresh and Natural Foods’ produce is locally produced, the closest of which is the produce from an Annandale farm and the honey from Ames Farm in Watertown.
Bulk
Whole Grain Milling, Welcome
Produce from Annandale and other small local farmers
Meat
Eichten’s Hidden Acres (bison), Center City
Larry Schultz (ground turkey), Owatonna
Thousand Hills (grass-fed beef), Cannon Falls
Sweets
Waletzko Maple Syrup, North Branch
Stanley’s Sugarbush Maple Syrup, Miltona
Oakridge Apiaries (raw honey), Ramsey
Homestead Apiaries (raw honey), Dennison
Ames Farm (raw honey), Watertown
Dairy
Hope Creamery, Hope
Crystal Ball Farms, Osceola, Wis.
Check on Nicole Finsaas’s blog at eatlocalexperiment.blogspot.com.
