Cheese, Chicken, and Joel Salatin!: The OEFFA Conference

So, this past weekend (Feb 13-14) was the annual Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) conference in Granville, OH. OEFFA defines itself as "a membership-based, grassroots organization, dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable, ecological, and healthful food systems." Members include farmers, farm markets coordinators, educators, political activists, chefs, educators, and people like myself, who are just interested in finding healthier ways to feed ourselves and our local agricultural community.

This was the first year I attended the conference, and was able to go on a discount in exchange for volunteering four hours of my time over the course of the weekend. The volunteering was an interesting experience in and of itself, but first, I want to share a bit about what I did. First up: Cheesemaking!!
Saturday morning started off with a class on how to make fresh mozzarella and ricotta in your home--in less than an hour! The class was taught by Angel King of Blue Jacket Dairy, and she showed us that making fresh cheese is waaaaaay easier than you would think.

I'm not going to go into all the details here, but basically, when you heat whole milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized), and add rennet and citric acid, the milk separates into the curds (whitish stuff in the picture above) and whey (yellowish liquid). Rennet is an enzyme that can be obtained from the stomach of cows, or from fungi, if you're vegetarian. It coagulates the milk so it can separate. Citric acid is also used to help separate the curds and whey. For mozzarella, you strain out the curds, heat them in the microwave and then stir and pull them until them become like taffy: Eventually, the cheese smooths itself out into a shiny, glossy glob that you can pinch off into boules or cut into strands and braid. Or, just pull off in bites and eat...yum!!!!! If you want to try your hand at making mozzarella, Angel suggested getting your rennet and citric acid at the New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. They even have a package that can give you everything you need to make mozzarella and ricotta in 30 minutes....You can fully expect to see a cheesemaking post here in the near future.


The other great class I went to was a presentation on the basics of raising chickens in your backyard. Backyard chickens are something I'd like to have down the road, when I live in something with more than a 12' x 14' patio...just a couple of hens to lay eggs, nothing too crazy. Wayne Shingler from Frijolito Farms (right here in Columbus!) took Sunday morning to explain what you need to do once you get your shipment of chicks in the mail, all the way through to how to process them, if you're raising them for meat...yep, chicks are mail order, and yep, you can "process" your chickens in your backyard, if you're really motivated. (I think I'll just stick to having them for eggs, and buying them processed from the farmer's market.)

Among the more fascinating things I learned was the fact that chicks have to be taught how to eat and drink. You literally have to dip their beaks in their water bowls so they can figure out what to do. To get them to eat, you tap on their food tray with your finger--it simulates a mother hen pecking at the food.

Wayne (that's him in the photo above) also explained ways to house them, types of feed to use, and, most importantly, some of his experience and knowledge in dealing with the authorities if you're raising chickens in municipal limits. Sadly, it's more acceptable for someone to pile rusted up cars and broken appliances in their yard than it is for a urban farmer to raise a few chickens for eggs. Here's hoping that our city and town leaders continue to realize that having chickens in the city is not dirty or dangerous. (And hopefully they realize that by the time I get around to raising them!)

As I mentioned earlier, I was able to land a discounted conference fee by volunteering at said conference. Not knowing exactly what it would entail, I said I'd like to work in the kitchen...

Um, no that's NOT me in the picture above, but that giant brazier is full of sauteed kale with raisins and pine nuts that I made for dinner on Saturday night. Yes, I actually washed, stripped, seasoned, and sauteed it myself! (The gent in the photo is Jeff Freedman of Whole Hog BBQ--he smoked the 5 or 6 hogs needed to make the pulled pork for dinner, and was giving my kale a little stir.)

It was a total blast working in a "real" kitchen--and making food for 400+ conference attendees. The best part is the picture below--see that guy in the khaki jacket and tie in the back-right of the photo?
That's Joel Salatin!!!!...Waiting to be served a plate of BBQ and my very own kale! For all you non-food-nerds out there, Joel Salatin is the owner and farmer of Polyface Farms, outside of Staunton, Virginia. His farm is a model of sustainable farming and has been featured in Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma, as well as the recent food industry expose, Food, Inc. He was the keynote speaker on Saturday evening, and was also at the conference the Friday before for a day-long workshop on how to model your farm on what has been called a "ballet in the pasture." Super, super cool stuff.

My second day of volunteering was during the lunch shift, where we made whipped cream from Snowville Creamery whipping cream and I piped it onto 450 brownies:
All in all, the conference was really great--well organized, good speakers, delicious food--and it's nice to know that there's a strong movement for healthy, sustainable, local agriculture. Hopefully OEFFA will continue to gain support for their ideals and folks across Ohio (and our nation) will take some time to consider how we can continue to do a better job of "growing with integrity and eating with intention."