Sonoma: Farm to Table

I'm a big farmer's market person. There's few things more appealing to me on a Sunday morning than spending an hour or so at my local farmer's market perusing all the fresh produce and organic cheeses, honey and eggs. It always inspires my cooking and, most importantly, supports the local farmers.

When I was in Sonoma recently researching a farm-to-table story, I had the opportunity to meet some farmers face-to-face. We stopped by Field of Greens, which is an egg farm. The owner calls his chickens "Free Will Chickens," because they all have the free will to go where they want in a very large coop and field. Each chicken has an average of 9 feet to roam in; that's 9 feet PER CHICKEN. The eggs were fresh and the yolks were a beautiful bright yellow. We had them later that evening on top of a beautiful piece of filet mignon at Kenwood Inn.

We also visited the garden for the Michelin-starred Farmhouse Restaurant. Mick, the head gardener/farmer, showed us his crop of pea shoots, lettuces, chards and turnips. We had some of the pea shoots with a fantastic savory cannoli with mushrooms, a little smoked ham and a light cream sauce. It was fresh and wonderful.

Mick explained how the garden came to be. The restaurant had the land, which was not being used. They hired Mick - a seasoned landscaper - to plant and maintain the garden on their land. The restaurant uses what it likes and Mick can sell the rest to other local restaurants or at the farmer's market and keeps the profit. It's a fantastic arrangement that benefits everyone involved, and promotes the Slow Food concept.

Support your local farmer's markets and you'll be helping yourself while helping the farmers. On average, I spend about $15 for a whole week's worth of produce (I'm single so that's for one person). The savings allows me to buy free range chicken and organic meat, which can be quite pricey, at places like Whole Foods or How's Market while keeping my grocery bill to about the same it would cost me to buy everything at a Ralph's or Von's. Sure, it's a bit more trouble but it's worth it!