On Monday night, the officers (I’m the secretary) and the volunteers of the Winthrop Food Pantry hosted a reception in honor of Carole and Norman Ricker. For 14 years, the Rickers have been instrumental in running the food pantry, but they both decided the time had come to retire. Carole had been the executive director, and Norman did so many things for the food pantry that it’s impossible to list them all. He made many of the shelves and all of the carts. When something was broken, Norm fixed it. He stocked shelves. He kept the food organized, an important task all year round but especially so at Christmas, when the food pantry distributes its Christmas baskets.
As for Carole…over the years I found her to be steady, tenacious, persistent, tireless, organized, fair, stern, but compassionate, and understanding. She had a keen sense of how people suffered when they lived on the edge of financial stability and how some people are mysteriously more resilient than others. I once had a conversation with Carole about the probable age of a food pantry recipient. Old or middle age? We couldn’t tell, and Carole noted, “Many of the people who come here look older than they really are. They are just worn down.”
The reception was held at the Winthrop Middle School so that it could coincide with the town council meeting, where Carole and Norman would be officially honored. First there was a buffet, and I must say that we food pantry volunteers certainly know how to throw a tasty shindig. There were finger rolls, salads, cole slaw, homemade crackers and cheese spread (guess who made the crackers?), potato chips, and a whole table devoted to desserts. Then came the town council meeting, where Kevin Cookson, the chairman, thanked the Rickers for their many years of service.
Carole Ricker speaking at the reception. Norman Ricker is the man sitting to the left of Carole.Marie Pettengill reading a poem she wrote for Carole and Norman
The Winthrop Food Pantry is now in the capable hands of JoEllen Cottrell, our new executive director, and Mike Sienko, our new president. They are both energetic and compassionate, and even in the short time that JoEllen and Mike have been at the food pantry, they have done a terrific job during very tough economic times that show no signs of getting better in the near future.
Still, we will always remember Carole and Norman and all that they did for the food pantry.
Yesterday was Election Day across the country, and I went to the Winthrop Town Office to do my civic duty by voting. My name was on the ballot—I was running for a trustee position at Bailey Public Library—and it’s the first time I’ve ever voted for myself. To top off the day, I agreed to help staff the Keep Winthrop Warm table, which had a big jar for donations as well as lots of goodies on hand to give as a thank-you to donors. Keep Winthrop Warm is, well, an organization that provides fuel assistance to Winthrop residents who are in need. Despite climate change, Maine winters are still long and cold. With the price of fuel going ever upward, and salaries remaining flat, the cost of heating a home has become a significant expense. Not long ago, when my husband was at the grocery store, he overheard a conversation where one person wondered how he was ever going to afford to heat his home this winter. So I was happy to help with this project, which combined food with staying warm, two essentials.
All the goodies were homemade, and they included blueberry muffins, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, blueberry cake, oatmeal cookies, and chocolate-frosted brownies. As I sat at this table filled with treats, I showed remarkable restraint by eating only one small piece of blueberry cake, which was everything blueberry cake should be—moist, light, and loaded with blueberries. Oh, how I love blueberry cake.
The Keep Winthrop Warm table was right outside the big room at the town office where people were voting, and even though it was an off-off year for elections, it seemed to me that voter turnout was brisk. (Today, on the town of Winthrop’s website, my suspicions were confirmed: voter turnout was 45 percent.) As I sat at the table, I noted with interest the number of people who stopped to donate and the number of people who either walked by without noticing us or who flat-out refused to donate. Some people sheepishly admitted they didn’t have any money on them, a believable statement in this era of credit and debit cards. Other people had money in their cars and came back to give us a donation.
Priscilla Jenkins, who is on the Keep Winthrop Warm committee, was with me at the table, and I asked her what she thought the percentage was of people who donated. “When you take into account the people who don’t notice us and the people who don’t give, I’d say about one-third of the voters donate,” she answered.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this is par for the course for such organizations as Keep Winthrop Warm. Still, by the time I left at 2:00 P.M., the big jar was nearly full, and the generosity of that one-third will go a long way to help heat the homes of Winthrop residents who are in need.
And, as it turned out, I was indeed elected to be a trustee of the library, a place that is very dear to my heart. I will certainly do my best to help the library thrive in these tough economic times.
Addendum—11/10/11: Today, I went for a walk and had lunch with my friend Debbie Maddi. When I spoke about the people who would not donate to the Keep Winthrop Warm fund, she said to me, “You know, times are hard, and some people have nothing to spare, not even a dollar. You can’t tell by their clothes how people are doing, especially if they’ve just been laid off.” Yes, indeed. Important words to keep in mind.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, for the past 13 years, I have volunteered at the Winthrop Food Pantry, and I am currently its secretary. During those 13 years, The Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn has been our mainstay in buying affordable food. Supermarkets and stores have given their surplus and cast-offs to the Good Shepherd, which we (as well as other food pantries) would then purchase for 16 cents a pound. We also received donations from our local grocery store and federal food, and along with what we got from the Good Shepherd, this meant we could easily stock our shelves using money generously donated from Winthrop businesses, churches, organizations, and individuals.
But then a not so funny thing happened on the way to the recession. As Craig Hickman, a Winthrop farmer, has noted, “The excess in the system is drying up.” Supermarkets and stores no longer have much of a surplus to donate to Good Shepherd, and the amount of federal food we receive is also greatly diminished. Not surprisingly, because of the recession, more and more people in need have been coming to our food pantry.
For the first time in my memory, in the past few months the Good Shepherd has been unable to provide enough food for our food pantry, and we have had to scramble to get food at retail prices that are quite frankly unsustainable for us. (This is a problem for many other food pantries in the state as well.) As a result, our stock had become very low, and we were looking at significant increases in our food budget.
Then along came the Winthrop High School and Middle School students with their Make a Difference Day, where they collected food and money for the Winthrop Food Pantry. Before I list the results, I want to note that Winthrop has a very small school system—between the the middle school and high school there are about 570 students. Yet they collected 2,300 pounds of food and $1,700. It hardly seems possible that 570 students could collect so much, and it certainly goes to show what these plucky, hardworking students can accomplish when they work together. (I understand that many of the students donated their labor in return for cash donations.)
I am happy to report that the shelves at the food pantry are now well stocked with food collected by the students. Also, the $1,700 will go a long way toward purchasing more food. JoEllen Cottrell, the executive director, and I are nearly beside ourselves with joy that we now have so much food. Truly, the Make a Difference Day made a huge difference to the food pantry and to the people in Winthrop and Wayne who are in need.
As secretary, I have sent a formal thank-you letter to those involved in the schools. But again I would like to thank the students, the student council, the advisors, and the parents who must have inevitably helped with this food drive.
I know this is a cliché, but I’m going to write it anyway—Winthrop High School students and Middle School students, you rock!
Let’s just say that when we planned an October trip to go to New York City to visit our daughter, my husband, Clif, and I did not expect to have to cope with a northeaster that alternated between driving snow, sleet, and rain. But, as I’ve become fond of saying, when it comes to the weather, weird is the new normal, and the weather was definitely weird this Saturday.
We knew bad weather was coming, of course, but hearty Mainers that we are, we decided to press on with our plans. It was the weekend of our daughter’s birthday, and we wanted to be there. How bad could it get?, we reasoned. We loaded up the cats with food and water and brought our dog, Liam, to Portland so that he could stay with our daughter Shannon and her husband, Mike. All the animals were well cared for.
As if to mock us, Friday, the day we left, was a beautiful sunny day with a bright blue sky. (The same was true for Sunday, the day we came back.)
The sleeping tents
But, oh, Saturday—which just happened to be our daughter’s birthday—with its rain, sleet, and snow. We had it all. Despite the bad weather, we decided to “Keep calm and Carry on” with our plans, which included a trip to Zucotti Park to visit Occupy Wall Street and to donate some homemade biscotti.
When we left Dee’s apartment, the rain was coming down hard, and armed with umbrellas that flipped in the wind, we made it to the subway without too much discomfort. Our first stop was Zucotti Park, and after 40 minutes or so on the subway, we emerged from the underground to a pelting, slanting snow, wet and heavy. We were soaked in minutes and very cold. We took pictures, found the food tent, and donated the biscotti. We got a distracted “Thank you and God bless” from one of the volunteers, but it was clear that nobody was in the mood to chat about food, so we left relatively quickly. (I don’t blame the volunteers at all. It was damned cold to be out there in that park.)
The food tent
After that it was on to Chelsea Market, an old factory whose downstairs has been converted to a food market. All the stores are indoors where it is warm and dry, a perfect place to recover from weather that had gone from snow to sleet. By then, my shoes were soaked and so were my gloves. My hair was plastered to my head because I had given my umbrella to Clif while I took pictures of Occupy Wall Street.
We wandered about, checking out the various food places, and decided to stop at Bar Suzette, where crepes are meticulously and creatively made with fillings that range from sweet to savory. Dee got a savory crepe with portobello mushrooms, and Clif and I shared one with Nutella and bananas. Very tasty indeed. (I could have one right one.)
A crepe is born
Because it was Dee’s birthday, we decided to let her plan the rest of the day.
“Well,” she replied. “You know what I would like to do—a movie, dinner, and another movie.”
As Captain Picard from Star Trek would say, “Make it so.”
We saw In Time, had dinner—our treat—at Spice restaurant, and then saw Margin Call. The movies are very different from each other yet both explore the nature of the greed that seems to be running unchecked in our society. In Time, which could fairly be called a “gourmet popcorn” movie, did it in an alternative reality, allegorical kind of way, where the world was divided between those who had time and those who did not. And I mean this quite literally. When your time ran out—there was some kind of clock on a person’s arm to keep track of such things—then you died. Those at the top hoarded time, keeping it from those at the bottom, who had to scrabble constantly to find time to carry on. Sound familiar? Margin Call was more direct, a morality story about the collapse of a firm obviously based on Lehman Brothers, where everyone is so corrupted by money that they do things they know they shouldn’t do and in fact would rather not do. A quiet but powerful movie.
As we were following our daughter around New York City, I had on odd, haunting thought. When I had her 34 years ago, I never would have guessed that on October 29, 2011 she would be leading the way through New York City, her home, and we would be following.
“What did you envision?” Dee asked when I mentioned this to her.
“Really, nothing,” I said. “We just wanted you to grow up to be healthy and strong.” And creative I might have added, but didn’t since I just thought of it now.
Dee is certainly strong, healthy, and creative, and she just had a birthday we will all remember.
Post Script: After the long ride home, Shannon had a hot meal waiting for us—roast chicken with lemon, thyme, and garlic; roasted potatoes and carrots; salad; and bread. It’s not every day that you find someone who will take care of your dog and who will also cook a lovely meal for you on your return. Lucky us!
Tomorrow, my husband, Clif, and I will be heading to New York City for the weekend. As the title of this post indicates, we will be visiting our daughter, and we will also be checking out lower Manhattan and Occupy Wall Street. Being in the 99 percent that lately has gotten such short shrift from the top 1 percent, my husband, my daughter, and I feel a strong solidarity with this movement, and we all hope that positive change will come as a result of the protests. Our very own “Arab Spring,” so to speak. (Even though it’s fall.)
I had heard of OWS’s food tent, which accepts donations so that those who protest can eat without spending a lot of money. Since I would be making anise biscotti to bring to my daughter, I decided to make a double batch so that I could give some to the protesters. It’s not much, but it will be a little homemade contribution from Maine. I plan on taking pictures of this tent, and I hope to talk to a few people there to get a sense of what it’s like to be part of the protest and to feed so many people.
After that, we’ll to head to Chelsea Market with its many food vendors. I’ve read great things about this market, and I’ve wanted to go for a long time. If time and the weather allow, we’ll walk the High Line. If not, we might move on to a movie and dinner. Or go through some of the art galleries in Chelsea. Or browse at the Strand Bookstore.
It’ll all be grand, as the Irish might say, and I’ll be reporting back next week.
In yesterday’s post, I wrote about a Winthrop Food Matters meeting I went to at Margy and Steve Knight’s house in Winthrop, and I focused on some of the issues that are involved in feeding a community. Today, I want to touch on a less tangible role that food plays (or should play) in all our lives, and that is the role of fellowship.
Before going over to the Knights, I had gone on an eight-mile bike ride, and the day was brisk, typical of late fall in Maine. When I went into the Knights’ house, there was a wood fire burning in the little wood stove in their large kitchen. We were all invited to sit around the table. Steve made tea. I had brought homemade crackers and an olive and rosemary cream-cheese spread. JoEllen Cottrell, the executive director of the Winthrop Food Pantry, brought a walnut cake. Jenn Currier brought bread, and Margy had warm apple sauce simmering on the stove.
In that cozy kitchen—is there any better heat than that which comes from a wood fire?—as I sipped my green tea with honey, ate some walnut cake, and watched as the others dug into my crackers and cream cheese spread, I felt warm and relaxed, happy to be sharing food with these people who cared so much about feeding others.
Craig Hickman, who runs Annabessacook Farm Bed & Breakfast, is temporarily hosting the town’s Hot Meals Kitchen, and the food is served as take-away. Previously, the dinners were held at St. Francis Xavier Hall, where people could sit down and visit with one another as they ate. Craig is an accomplished cook, and I’m sure the take-away food is delicious, but he told us that people really miss the fellowship they had with each other when they ate together in the hall. (With any luck, the Hot Meals Kitchen will soon be back in the hall.)
Food nourishes the body, but it also feeds the soul. Eating together is immensely satisfying, and I suspect this is why so many holidays and celebrations revolve around food. (As long as we don’t eat as though every day is a holiday, these occasional indulgences will do our diets no harm.)
In her review of Richard Wrangham’s Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Christine Kinneally writes, “But what if the roots of who and what we are lie not in this restless and raw state of nature but in our discovery of the secret to a more sedentary life: the home-cooked meal? That is the bewildering, but brilliant, idea proposed by Richard Wrangham, a Harvard-based biological anthropologist.” According to Wrangham, cooking food in fire brought to early humans all kinds of changes, both physical—smaller jaws and stomachs—and psychological—the notions of trust and companionship that come with sharing a meal.
So let us gather around the table as often as we can, with family, friends, coworkers, and members of our communities. Everybody can bring something, and if you really want to impress the crowd, bring these homemade crackers along with a spread. Somehow, making crackers seems like a process best left to big manufacturers, but in truth, although they are a bit time consuming, these crackers are a snap to make. They also keep well in a tin, which means they can be made well ahead of time.
Homemade Crackers
Adapted from a recipe by Mark Bittman
Last Sunday, after a chilly October bike ride along Lake Maranacook and its russet-colored shores—somehow we have skipped the blazing colors this year—I rode to Margy and Steve Knight’s house for a Winthrop Food Matters meeting. Various members of the community came to the meeting, and they all were concerned about community, good food, and resilience.
Patrice Putman, who works as director of employee development at MaineGeneral Health, moderated the meeting, and the first issue raised was food insecurity in our community. I have volunteered at the Winthrop Food Pantry for 13 years, and JoEllen Cottrell, the Food Pantry’s new executive director, was at the meeting as well. In addition, Craig Hickman, of Annabessacook Farm Bed & Breakfast, was there. His farm sponsors a private food pantry and is also the temporary home of Winthrop’s Hot Meals Kitchen, which serves free meals on Wednesday to anyone who wants dinner. (Until recently, the Hot Meals Kitchen had been in St. Francis Xavier Hall, which belongs to and is adjacent to the town’s Catholic church. Why the Hot Meals Kitchen is no longer there is a long story worthy of its own post.)
JoEllen, Craig, and I had all come to the same conclusion—due to the horrible economy, more and more people are struggling and therefore need our services. At the same time, inexpensive food from places such as the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn is becoming harder and harder to get. This, in turn, puts a huge strain on the budgets of food pantries and hot meals kitchens as they must buy more of their food at full price from conventional grocery stores. (The lack of food from The Good Shepherd Food Bank, which has been Winthrop Food Pantry’s mainstay for as long as I’ve volunteered there, would be another subject worthy of an entire post on this blog. ) Craig Hickman put it succinctly: “The excess in the system is drying up.”
From there the discussion turned to having a licensed commercial kitchen in Winthrop, where donated fruit and vegetables could be processed and then given to the Hot Meals Kitchen and to the Winthrop Food Pantry. (Because of federal guidelines, the Food Pantry is unable to accept food canned or preserved by home cooks. Such food must come from a licensed commercial kitchen.)
Various homes for the Hot Meals Kitchen were discussed, from the Winthrop Middle School to an abandoned factory in town to a new building on a piece of land. Craig spoke of how the board of the Hot Meals Kitchen voted to investigate having its own place. “That way, we can control our destiny. We won’t be beholden to anybody,” Craig said. Craig’s feeling was that if everything went according to plan, the Hot Meals Kitchen would soon be back in St. Francis Xavier Hall, giving the board time and space to pursue its goal of building a community center focused on food. (I must admit, I love this idea.)
By the time the meeting concluded, there were plans of action. Margy offered to do research about food processing for food pantries in other communities; JoEllen, of course, will be devoting her time and energy into keeping the shelves stocked at the Winthrop Food Pantry; Steve volunteered to check into the Middle School about the possibility of of having a commercial kitchen there; and Craig and I discussed writing a regular food column for our local paper—the Community Advertiser—so that we could bring various food issues to people’s attention as well as provide seasonal recipes.
Even though the Winthrop Food Matters meeting ended on an upbeat note and the mood throughout was positive, one thing is certain. When it comes to food matters, there are many angles to consider—politics, resources (both food and money), time, and energy. Yet what can be more important than the food we eat and how communities are fed? Our health and well being are inextricably twined with food.
But there are lots of reasons to be hopeful. In Winthrop, the interest in local food has never been greater. Thanks to the many farmers in the area, Winthrop grows some of its own food, and the community makes an earnest effort to provide food for those in need.
Now, onward!
(Tomorrow’s post will be Winthrop Food Matters: Part II—Food and Fellowship)
Late fall. The trees are shedding their leaves, and when I’m in the backyard, it no longer feels as though I’m being held by the green hand of the forest. The warm afternoons of early autumn are over, and there is a decided nip in the air. Stubbornly, I bundle up in fleece and still have lunch on the patio whenever the weather allows.
But sunny or not, the time is soon coming when it will be too cold to eat lunch on the patio, and both the dog and I will miss it.
Until then, I’ll brush the leaves off the table, wear my fleece, and push it as long as I can. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to squeeze in another week or so.
From AlterNet: Why are the Danes so happy? Is it because of income equality? Perhaps, but Danish chef Trine Hanhnemann has another theory: Part of the reason the Danes are so happy is because they cook so much, both for themselves and for friends. I think she might be on to something. Even something modest and simple like, say, chicken soup, can bring about a wonderful camaraderie. People like to be fed.
From the Associated Press: Apparently, Jon Bon Jovi understands that people like to be fed. He and his wife have opened a pay-what-you-can restaurant in New Jersey. The menu includes cornmeal crusted catfish and grilled salmon with soul seasoning. And if you can’t pay, then there are plenty of volunteer jobs available for you to earn your meal.
From the Portland Press Herald: Of course, to feed a lot of people, you need farms. But the high cost of land makes it difficult for young farmers to buy their own land. In Bowdoinham “George Christopher, a visionary farmer who has bequeathed his property to Maine Farmland Trust,” has begun leasing some of his land to young farmers. I can’t help, of course, but think of Winthrop’s own Farmer Kev and his desire to have a farm.
From inhabit: Think you can’t have a farm in the city? Think again. In cities, there are miles and miles of flat rooftops that get full sun. This slide show of one rooftop farm in New York City is nothing short of amazing.
Tuesday was a day that revolved around food and town. First, I rode my bicycle, Blue Beauty, to a Winthrop Food Pantry meeting where we discussed the ongoing problem of rising food prices. Simply put, cheap food is harder to get, and this, of course, is affecting all food pantries, not just the one in Winthrop. However, the Winthrop Food Party is lucky to have an energetic executive director, an equally energetic president, a board that is willing to work with them, and a supportive town. Despite the rising cost of food, the Winthrop Food Pantry will continue to provide good food to those in need.
After the meeting, I met my friend Claire for lunch at the Flaky Tart, a new little café that has opened in town. How I am beginning to love that place, and I am not the only one. Every time I go there, the tables are full, and there is a brisk business for takeout. Claire and I sat on the high stools at a table by the window, where we could see the comings and goings in downtown Winthrop, and I am happy to report that there were indeed people on the street.
For years, Winthrop, like many other towns, has struggled with a downtown that has seemed pretty lifeless. There were a few bright spots—Becky’s Second Time Around, a very nice consignment shop, and Apple Valley Books. The area phone company was also located downtown. I am happy to say that these three establishments are still there.
But lately, things seem to be picking up in downtown Winthrop. A few years ago, a branch of MaineGeneral Medical Center set up shop in an abandoned factory, and this has brought people back into town. Recently, a store called Potato took one of the empty storefronts and has since expanded to the adjacent space. Potato sells Maine crafts, and there is such a nice variety that it is just the place to go for a special gift for a special person. A little while after Potato went in, Pete’s Roast Beef came to town, and although the decor at Pete’s might be described as utilitarian, the place is very clean, the staff is friendly, and the roast beef sandwiches are incredible.
Now there is the Flaky Tart, a place so warm and pretty that it makes you want to linger over your soup or your quiche or your tea or your coffee. Claire and I have decided to meet there once a week, and perhaps other friends will join us.
“My mother taught me how important it is to support your community,” Claire said. “And when I give gifts or eat out, I always start in Winthrop.”
Good advice!
While we were eating, Rosa, one of the owners of the Flaky Tart, came over to show us a golden beet she had just cut in half. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked. “It’s from my garden.”
A golden beet
Indeed it was. I had never tasted a golden beet, and I wondered how it compared with traditional ones.
Rosa replied, “They are a little milder, a little sweeter. If you roast some of these, then who needs candy?”
Someday, I hope to try roasting golden beets.
After lunch, Claire and I went to Potato, where we both bought gifts for special people in our lives—our daughters.
I am planning to do as much holiday shopping as possible in Winthrop. In fact, when my daughter Dee, who lives in New York, comes home for Thanksgiving, I am hoping to persuade her to spend Black Friday shopping in Winthrop and to have lunch at the Flaky Tart.
Black Friday in Winthrop. It has a certain ring, doesn’t it?
A blog about nature, home, books, movies, television, food, and rural life.
Notes From the Hinterland 