Welcome to Phyllis’ Kitchen (and All Around the House)
| Hi! I’m Phyllis Fitzgerald from Louisville, KY, and have been on a mission for many years: To live lightly on the Earth. I try to live my life intentionally, doing what I love, advocating for healthy food and healthy living, loving family, and friends, and creating a life that results in a sustainable Earth and a vibrant local community.
By training, I am a Certified Home Economist, educated at the Universities of Kentucky and Louisville. In past lives, I have shared many of the food ideas, recipes, and techniques in former jobs as a Home Economics teacher, Cooperative Extension Home Economist, TV home Economist at WAVE 3 TV, food writer for The Courier-Journal, and radio food show host on The Local Life, WCHQ FM, among others. In semi-retirement, I continue to share information through this website and through writing and teaching through various venues. When I use a recipe that is not my own, I try to give credit to that writer. However, since I have been cooking and writing for over 50 years, I don’t always know the origin of the recipe, and assume it is public domain. If you use a recipe from this website and write about it, please credit me or the source cited for the recipe or technique! Under the Recipe section, you will find individual recipes for specific dishes. But since most of my writing now is for a CSA, the recipes and techniques are listed in weekly seasonal notes sent to the CSA members, telling how to use the food. At this website, you will (soon) find past issues of the food notes from “A Place on Earth” CSA, operated by Carden and Courtney Willis and family in Henry County, Kentucky. CSA means Community Supported Agriculture, whereby individuals subscribe to a box of seasonal food, usually weekly, during the growing season, May through November. I write the notes on how to use the food in the weekly notes page, including information about the food, and recipes/techniques for using seasonal foods. Hopefully all the notes will eventually be added, from 2006 to the present. Know that many times I wrote the notes late at night, tired, and as a single parent, so expect occasional typos and other lapses. But if you see a recipe/technique that does not seem right, don’t hesitate to contact me at phyllisfitzgerald@yahoo.com and we will make every effort to correct misinformation. Feel free to contact me with questions and comments at phyllisfitzgerald@yahoo.com. Live simply that others might simply live! |
WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT LOCAL FOOD & LOCAL PURCHASING?
Every year, I become more and more dedicated to buying local. That means local food, going to locally owned restaurants, hardware stores, clothing stores, and other local shops. Sometimes I have to go out of my way to shop local, but not often. In addition to belonging to a CSA (local), I patronize two farmers markets, and there is a locally owned supermarket, where I try to buy local/regional products. For instance, when I check the label on a product, such as flour, I look at the address of the place it is produced. In my case, that would be Weisenberger Mill, located near Frankfort, KY. If not available, the next closest is White Lily, produced in Knoxville, TN. Forget the brands that must be hauled hundreds or thousands of miles!
Where food is concerned, I also try to buy organic, when possible, and in the case of meat, try to learn about the farmer’s farming practices, avoiding hormones and antibiotics, as well as feed lots & CAFO’s (confined animal feeding operations.) At the farmers markets, I purchase home baked breads, pickles, jams, cheeses, etc. because I want to reward small businesses, especially cottage industries and small farmers who are struggling to make good products and make ends meet. I once purchased a can of organic tomatoes when in a terrible hurry at the grocery store, and was chagrinned to discover that they were grown and packaged in Italy. They also came a long way on a boat. Yes, they were ok, but there are local or regional products that work perfectly well, and I do not need to buy canned tomatoes from Italy when I can get perfectly good tomatoes from Kentucky or the region.
So, why worry about local?
• I want to support independent entrepreneurs who are my neighbors, friends, and people who are supporting my community, spending their money in my community—not in California, Florida, and Washington state.
• If I purchase local/regional products, I can pay attention to what kind of corporate citizens I am supporting, make sure they use just practices, and treat their employees fairly. I vote with my $$! I don’t care to support corporations with unjust practices. How do I know what kind of corporate citizens they are? I check them out in the “Better World Shopping Guide,” a book available at most book stores. This guide rates corporations according to several fair and just practices that make for a better world.
• When products from far away are purchased, we not only pay for the products, but the transportation of the goods often causes air pollution and wear and tear on highways, which all of us have to pay with our tax dollars.
• Buy food in season, minimally packaged to avoid waste of paper, plastic, and other packaging, and reduce waste that must go into landfills. And of course, take your own shopping bags.
One last concept: we as Americans are so determined to get bargains, that we are willing to overlook the fact that farmers, producers, chefs, clerks, etc. are often not paid a living wage, or have unsafe working conditions because of keeping the price down and the company profits high. Doesn’t it make more sense to shop local, and pay more so our friends and families and neighbors can earn a living wage, and live safer and more just lives?