Basil-Blackberry Crumble

If you haven't already read it, run -- don't walk -- to pick up a copy of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle.  We both read it this summer and it's without a doubt the most inspirational food book we've read to date. 

Sure, other food books are inspiring. Heat, for instance, may make you want to go slave away in a maniac's kitchen.  And Garlic and Sapphires may make you want to leave your desk job and go become a professional food critic.

But to us, Animal Vegetable Miracle is most inspiring because it shows you another way to live, how to truly change the way you eat and make more informed decisions about the food you consumer and who you support by doing so. (And the book also contains tons of easy recipes to show off your local purchases, like this amazingly delicious and simple Basil-Blackberry Crumble.)

The book -- in case you're not familiar -- is the tale of how Kingsolver and her family strived to eat locally for one year, growing and preserving much of their food and purchasing needed staples from local farmers. Over the course of the year, they made a few exceptions but were largely successful in their endeavor. 

Obviously, this is not an attainable goal for everyone.  Living in the heart of our nation's capital, we recognize the challenges of attempting to eat exclusively locally and we do what we can to eat locally, within limits.

As we've mentioned many times before, we belong to a CSA, which gives us seasonal produce for six months out of the year.  On a nearly weekly basis, we shop at our local farmer's market, picking up additional produce and sometimes some meat.  These two experiences -- at least during CSA season -- supply the vast majority of our vegetables but still leave us lacking for many staples (onions, flour, oatmeal, etc.). 

Meat is where we really struggle.  Admittedly, we often pass over buying meat at the farmer's market due to cost.  We're simply not in a position to pay $20 for a chicken at the farmer's market each week when whole chickens at our neighborhood grocery are less than half that cost.  We recognize the multitude of benefits to buying our meats from local farmers -- especially humane raising practices, control over what is fed to the animal, and how the meat is processed -- but we can't seem to cut the cord with consumption of meat from the grocery. 

And speaking of said grocery, we do most of our shopping at a Harris Teeter.  It just moved into our neighborhood this year and happens to be the closest supermarket to our apartment.  We were surprised to go there last week and see this:

Huh? 

Is six hours from the farm an acceptable definition of "locally grown"?  What exactly does that look like, you ask?

Based on this handy map, and assuming one drives an average of 60 miles per hour, a 360-mile radius from D.C. includes nearly a dozen states.  Sorry Mr. Teeter, but we don't consider eating produce from South Carolina or Toledo, Ohio, to be eating locally. 

Cynically, we suspect Harris Teeter may be selling produce that it has already been carrying under this "locally grown" banner, capitalizing on customer interest in local produce. We applaud their encouragement to eat locally, but wish the produce was from a 100-mile radius, from actual local farmers. 

Summer is winding down, but it's still prime time for summer fruits and vegetables.  Do yourself a favor and take advantage of your local produce by making this Basil-Blackberry Crumble.  If you can't find local blackberries, buy another fruit:  peaches, plums, whatever you can get your hands on that's in season and local.  The recipe will be very forgiving and really, how can you go wrong when you're topping it with flour, sugar and butter? 

One of the most striking things Kingsolver says towards the end of the book is how proud she is that her family spent a year without consuming high-fructose corn syrup. That sounds like a pretty good goal to us.

What's been your experience eating locally?  What's most challenging?  And what solutions have you found?

We'd love to hear your stories. 

BASIL-BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE
Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Buy Animal Vegetable Miracle

2-3 apples, chopped
2 pints blackberries
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 large handful of basil leaves, chopped
1⁄4 cup honey – or more, depending on tartness of your berries

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine the above in an oven-proof casserole dish, mix
and set aside.

5 tbsp flour
3 heaping tbsp brown sugar
1 stick cold butter

Cut butter into flour and sugar, then rub with your fingers to make a chunky,
crumbly mixture (not uniform).  Sprinkle it over the top of the fruit, bake 30
minutes until golden and bubbly.

Comments

[Luke]

I noticed that at the Harris Teeter too. I am a bit of an idiot though and thought that it meant everything on the table was less than 6 hours old and from a farm. This would be cool... but I am guessing that is not what they mean.

[Clay@TheBittenWord]

Hey Luke! Your comment made me paranoid that I had misread the sign, so I called HT. It does indeed mean a six hour drive from the farm to the store.

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

Thanks for the rec. Definitely will check out the Kingsolver book.

Blackberries are one summer treat that I always look forward to: they're here for a brief time and this looks like an ultradelicious way to enjoy them. I love the addition of basil to it to give it a different edge.

[Lori]

Great post. Barbara Kingsolver is my favorite writer. I ahve read all her books. She has a distinct way of inspiring and making you think.

Next year I was to do the CSA thing here. You guys have inspired me on that one.

I shop at the Farmers Markt here and I love it. Soem of them are not local though. You have to be careful. Some are warehouses trying to unload there stuff. After a while you get to know who's who. Also our supermarkets say the location of the "local" marker and a pictures of the farmer who supplied. How nice is that?

We have a friend who is Vegan and he tells us the horrors of meat, not that we havent heard a lot of it already. Here is my solution until I am ready to really cut the cord. We eat as many beans as we can stand. At least we have cut down on our meat consumption. That is a difficult one to change, I agree.

Great post!

[maryeb]

This sounds wonderful. I love blackberries and I have a beautiful basil plant that has been providing me with lovely leaves all summer.

Thanks so much for the recipe. I may just have to make it tomorrow.

[Mrs. L]

After reading the Kingsolver book this past winter I vowed to try to support my local farmers market more. But I still have to get in the car and drive farther than my local grocery store to get to said market. And they don't carry any meat or some of the other interesting things I've heard farmers markets carry. And I struggle with other issues (like the raspberries that were moldy on the bottom of the carton or the peaches that just had no flavor). I have been buying fresh eggs which are absolutely wonderful and totally make the weekly trip and I spend way to much money on flowers there, but they last longer and are much better than those you get at the grocery store. But it's a start and it's what I can do with where I live and my lifestyle. Baby steps but steps non the less.

[Zach @ The Bitten Word]

Lori and Mrs. L. -- I think you guys have hit the nose on the head about local food, and it's a big point that Kingsolver emphasizes: You don't have to completely overhaul your eating habits to make a difference. If you can incorporate some local purchases -- even if it's just buying eggs locally, or switching out some beans for meat -- you're making a difference. It's better for you, the environment, small farmers and your local economy.

Thanks for the comments!

[Zach @ The Bitten Word]

Umm... I just realized I typed the phrase "hit the nose on the head" in the comment I just posted.

Clearly, that doesn't, you know, make any sense.

That's what I get for commenting before I've had a cup of coffee...

[cassidy]

I made this for Bryce and Amy's party on Saturday night. I think the best suggestion I received was to take a big spoonful for myself BEFORE putting it out on the community food table. Good call. By the time I went back for some after dinner, it was completely gone. We're talking about 15 minutes later. A success indeed. Mmm...mmm...good!