Were you raised on microwaved food and green beans? Do you use your refrigerator to store your phone book? Are you confused about what to buy at the grocery store?
You’re not alone – home cooking all but vanished from American home life in the last couple of generations. It’s not your fault, or your mom’s for that matter; the American food system moved food processing out of the kitchen and into the factory, and the resulting products and ad campaigns virtually chased us all out of our kitchens.
It seems that we lost control of what we are eating, and now we want that control back. Some of us are worried about food contamination in factories. Some of us want to eat fresher, healthier food. All of us want to feel more comfortable in a room that is the heart of the home.
There are lots of web sites that can help you figure out how to shop, budget, and eat food from conventional grocery stores. This web site is for people who came into cooking, like I did, because we want to eat healthier food, to free our kitchens from the industrial food system.
How can you take back your kitchen? By buying directly from farmers, shopping at local stores, and cooking and eating at home. This is much easier that you might think. The quality of local food ingredients is so high that the simplest preparation brings out the natural flavors of the food. It’s much easier to turn out a great meal with farm-fresh food than the stuff that comes out of packages and cans. That’s why the country’s top chefs use local food as often as they can.
Buy Local, Cook Local, Grow Local
What is Kitsap food? First, it’s meat (beef, lamb, pork and chicken), milk, eggs, and vegetables grown in Kitsap County. The Kitsap foodshed also includes Jefferson and Clallam counties, covering both the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. Farmers from Chimacum and Quilcene (Jefferson) and Clallam (Sequim and Port Angeles) sell goods at Kitsap farmers markets. These agricultural centers produce beef, pork, milk, vegetables, fruit, beans, and grains.
Can you buy everything you need to create a complete cuisine in the Kitsap foodshed? Almost! The Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas don’t yet produce a cooking oil, like butter or olive oil, or other dairy products like cream.
Local home cooking depends on a stocked pantry, fresh ingredients, and food safety in the kitchen.
