Think About Eat

Something’s wrong with me. It’s the thick of winter (or at least it was a few days ago, before 70 degrees rolled into Washington this week) and all I want is vegetables. I’m craving them. Perhaps I have a vitamin deficiency, or just a masochistic urge to eat the very thing that is not-so-available this time of year, at least locally. Why am I not craving a good hunting venture and squirrel-eating festival? That’s what people are supposed to do in the winter: hibernate, eat and develop an extra layer of fat for warmth.

But here I am, exploring the art of juicing and veggie smoothie-making with my new blender. (Advice, recipes and extra Vitamixes you’re not using are all welcome!)

But what these winter veggie cravings really remind me of is that vegetables CAN be available in the winter, with a little — or sometimes a lot — of preparation and effort. Enter Cheryl Kollin, whom I met at the Farming at the Metro’s Edge conference earlier this month.

Cheryl Kollin vacuum-sealing produce for winter use.

Cheryl’s Full Plate Ventures launched the Farm to Freezer program with Bethesda Cares, a nonprofit that finds permanent housing for the homeless, after hearing about the center’s feast-or-famine conundrum.

She met Sue Kirk a year ago at a local TEDxManhattan viewing party at Bethesda Green, where Sue explained that the organization received more fresh produce than it could handle during the farmers market season — and none at all over the winter. A food-minded environmentalist, Kollin was sure there had to be a solution, at least at a local level. She worked with Bethesda Cares to recruit volunteers each week to gather, chop, blanch, freeze and otherwise preserve the leftover produce for kitchen use in the winter months. She’s looking at scaling up Farm to Freezer to serve a wider community need.

Volunteers processing food during the summer.