Connect by Phone to Farms and Food

If you are on a road trip and want to have your breakfast at the nearest farmers market, “There is an app for that!” If you are in the grocery store and want to know what is freshest, you got it. There is an app for that too! These days, telephones can be used for more than just making phone calls. They can help consumers connect with farmers and farmers markets.

Pop Quiz! Farms, Food, and the Environment

A few weeks ago, we tested hundreds of farm and food supporters at the 2010 Farm Aid concert with our new Farms, Food and Environment Quiz. Test you knowledge on our new quiz about America’s farmland and the food and environmental benefits we enjoy because of it. Send us your score and we will select one lucky quiz taker to receive a free No Farms No Food® advocacy package!

Dine Out to Save America's Farms!

As the changing colors remind us of the autumn harvest, we hope you’ll join us at the table from now through Sunday for our Dine Out for Farms™ national event. From October 10-16, 2010, participating restaurants in your area and across the country are raising funds for American Farmland Trust’s programs that support farms and help save the land that sustains us.

Watch this video of USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and connect the dots between American Farmland Trust's efforts to protect our working lands and eating out at restaurants!

Want to get involved? Here are a few things you can do to participate:

Don’t miss out on this fun and easy way to support a sustainable future for farms. Check-out the full list of restaurants participating in our first Dine Out for Farms™ week!

If your favorite restaurant is missing from our list, let us know and we will invite them to join us next year for Dine Out for Farms™ week!

Can’t make it to a restaurant in your area? Make a dinner for friends and family and support a sustainable future for farms too by making a donation to support our work to educate communities about ways to protect their local farmland and push policy makers for legislation supporting local foods, farmers markets and farmland protection across the country.

Farm Fresh Recipe

This issue’s Farm Fresh Recipe comes from Open Kitchen in Falls Church, Virginia—one of our 2010 Dine Out for Farms™ participants. Open Kitchen is a neighborhood bistro where food and wine lovers enjoy seasonally inspired handmade food, local and international wines, freshly roasted coffee, hand-crafted teas, and made-in-house desserts. In addition to serving up delicious and seasonal food, Open Kitchen also provides a unique service to Northern Virginia by allowing new entrepreneurs to rent a kitchen space to start their own small businesses producing unique handcrafted food. The Open Kitchen space can also be rented for a host-your-own “Iron Chef” competition.

Autumn Strudel

Phyllo Dough
1 pint artichoke hearts, chopped1 pint mushroom, sliced
1 pint onions, sliced in half and caramelized
1 cup sundried tomatoes, julienned
1 pint fontina cheese, cut into chunks
¼ cup garlic cloves, roasted
Green Bread Crumbs – Panko bread crumbs, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano
2 cups Wine
Chopped herbs
Butter
Salt and Pepper

Method:

• Run bread crumbs through food processor and add chopped herbs to processor. Pulse to thoroughly combine – be careful not to pulse into a green paste.

• Caramelize onions in a pan over medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms and saute down. Add artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and roasted garlic cloves. Bring to temperature and then when a coating develops on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with white wine. Cook for a few minutes to allow alcohol to boil off. Set aside to cool.

• Cut cheese into chunks and place in bowl. Add green bread crumbs and herbs to bowl.

• Once vegetable mixture is cooled, combine together in bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

• Lay 1 piece of phyllo on table top. Brush melted butter on to the surface of phyllo dough, lay a second piece of dough on top and brush melted butter. Lay a third piece of phyllo dough on top and brush with butter.

• Place two spoonfuls of the filling in a line about 1 inch away from the edge of the dough and about 2 inches on either end. Begin to roll and press sides down.