michael tuohy's

one Farm at a time, partnering to preserve small farms

today, i was invited to a lunch at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op. the luncheon was hosted by the co-op and was attended by some local chefs, media and members of the local sustainable food movement. the agenda was presented by co-op general manager Paul Cultrera and Annie Main of Good Humus Produce. we are at a critical juncture and in danger of losing small family farms in our region and across the country. the problem is, farmland is lost to development of non-farm related purposes such as strip malls, shopping centers and subdivisions. the rate is over 1 million acres per year. 50,000 acres per year are lost in California alone. there are 8 farmers over 65 years of age to every 1 farmer under the age of 35. land costs in California and elsewhere are too expensive for young farmers to seriously consider farming as an economically viable career. 

One farm at a time program aims to preserve and protect, small local family farms that will provide a sustainable source of food for our local community. 

please take a moment and visit this link and read. i encourage you to take action now!

Sacramento Beer Week at Grange! Feb 26-March 6

starting saturday, February 26th we will celebrate the second annual sacramento beer week with a tasty menu paired with delicious craft beers from north coast brewery. the forecast this weekend calls for a cold and wet one with the possibility of some some snow, even in the bay area! i say, that is perfect for our brother thelonious beer braised short ribs. clearly, it is NOT spring yet, but....we are encouraged that it is not too far away. Cheers!

Bourbon Dinner at Grange!

grange bar

this wednesday night, February 23, is our second annual bourbon dinner. grange mixologist ryan seng and chef de cuisine brad cecchi, went to the woodford distillery in kentucky to oversee the blend. joining us for the evening is woodford's master distiller. we are preparing a fantastic wild boar centric menu with boar from the broken arrow ranch in texas to accompany the spectacular cocktails from ryan. we hope you will join us! 

Raw Milk

coincidentally, i have been contemplating a post on the topic of raw milk, when I came across a ny times article in yesterday's paper, on raw milk cheeses. just recently on a visit to my local sunday morning farmers market, i discovered a new stand that was selling organic raw milk. the milk is produced by one of two, that's right two (2) raw milk dairies allowed to sell the milk, to the general public in the state of california. organic pastures dairy , produces several different milk products under this label. i listened to the very informative woman at the stand explaining the virtues and differences between raw vs pasteurized milk. i stopped drinking pasteurized milk around 20 years ago because i suspected that i was allergic to it. my stomach was having trouble with it, my sinuses were having trouble with it, i was even experiencing some chest congestion after consuming milk. i switched over to soy milk, which seemed to have had an immediate impact on the allergic symptoms I had been experiencing. after learning about the potential health hazards surrounding soy milk, i decided to switch to goat's milk from redwood hill dairy in sebastapol, ca. for the past year or so, i have been enjoying this goats milk but my curiosity about whether or not I could enjoy cows milk ever again was too much for me and I had to buy some from the farm stand.

I must share with you, i am thrilled with what i have discovered! first and foremost, the taste and flavor is great. i have had none of the symptoms that i was experiencing when drinking pasteurized milk. in fact, perhaps it is a coincidence, my energy level seems to be greater on a daily basis. i personally use milk minimally, usually just in my morning cereal, never as a beverage. today, i think i will try just drinking a glass midday, to see if i notice anything different. 

being a chef of more than 25 years, i have developed a style of cooking that does not rely on the use of a lot of dairy. in fact, due to my own inability to digest dairy products containing pasteurized cows milk, i pretty much avoid using them in my cooking. rather relying more on the use of natural sauces made from stocks, or olive oil based preparations, fresh herbs and spices. this is a more mediterranean approach and one that I have become fond of. one of my job hazards is to have to taste pastry & dessert recipes that sometimes are dairy rich. I inevitably pay for it later so i try and minimize that process whenever possible. 

In doing some research on raw milk and it's benefits, i came across this article by dr.douglass in the douglass report which discusses the benefits and safety issues surrounding raw milk. i took the leap and started using it prior to finding this article while doing some research. hopefully, you can and will make your own decision about whether or not to use raw milk. i'm glad that i did!