Sarah Baker Hansen reported in today’s Omaha World-Herald that, “For Mary Dishman, eating fresh, local produce doesn’t end with the last of the summer tomatoes and sweet corn.
“Dishman, 52, cooks dried beans and mushrooms into warming dishes for her Papillion family. She experiments with winter squash and greens. She pops local popcorn, scrambles local eggs and cuts local cheeses.
“She gets all of those ingredients, and many other locally made products, through her wintertime community supported agriculture box, a service that locally owned Tomato Tomato started for its customers about three years ago.”
Front page of the “Living” section in today’s Omaha World-Herald.
The OWH article noted that, “Many Omahans are finding ways to eat local foods through the fall and winter, whether it be through a CSA box or shopping at places like Tomato Tomato or Lone Tree Foods, both organizations that are actively working with farmers to help make the local wintertime produce selection more robust.
“Erin Schoenberg is the sales manager at Lone Tree, and she said as more consumers get interested in eating local throughout the year, it creates new opportunities for small farmers to produce food year-round. Many local farmers are already doing it.”
Ms. Hansen explained that, “Schoenberg said many farmers who work with Lone Tree use greenhouses or high tunnels, which are non-heated greenhouses, or harvest crops earlier in the season and store them in coolers to be sold later.”
Today’s article added that, “Schoenberg said the offerings in winter are different, but still fairly diverse. Greens are a big seasonal product, she said, and Lone Tree provides spinach mix, cabbage, microgreens and kale to local grocery stores, including Hy-Vee.
“Regular and sweet potatoes carry through the winter, she said, as do beets and carrots. Dairy, grain and honey, she said, never go out of season.”
