Volunteer Kristi Good, left, and Chad Goodale, a farmer with Twin Buttes, wash lettuce that was harvested from the farm and will be sold to local restaurants and stores./Photo by Jennaye Derge

There’s no place like home

Eat Local Celebration kicks off with Iron Horse Chef cooking competition

by  Tracy Chamberlin

For the fifth year in a row, the organizers of the Local First program are hosting a month-long celebration of local food, beer and culinary community in the Southwest.

From cooking competitions to crop mobs, each event highlights the individual farmers, ranchers, distributors and restaurants that make the local food system tick.

The 5th annual Eat Local Celebration kicks off Sat., Sept. 5, with the Iron Horse Chef competition. This year, reigning champion Chef Cliff Bornheim, of the Ore House, looks to defend his title against other area chefs from 9 a.m. - noon at the Durango Farmers Market.

Over the next four weeks, Local First will have a booth at the market featuring local chefs. “This gives us an opportunity to show off a little bit,” said Kristi Streiffert, managing director of Local First.

What Streiffert said she’s likely most excited about is an event Thurs., Oct. 1. Tagged “A Picnic to Celebrate Our Humane-ity,” the Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College and the Real Food Challenge group are hosting a picnic lunch with best-selling author and activist Temple Grandin from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at the Fort Lewis College Student Union.

Considered a pioneer in the fields of autism awareness and animal behavior, Grandin’s been featured in Time magazine, Forbes and the New York Times. She’s also been a guest on the “Today Show,” “Larry King Live” and NPR’s “Fresh Air.”

Grandin’s life was even the focus of a major motion picture in 2010, titled “Temple Grandin,” one which not only brought her message to audiences around the world but won Claire Danes, who portrayed Grandin, an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award.

She developed what’s called the “hug box” or “hug machine,” a v-shaped, padded device that applies pressure along the body and offers relief to hypersensitive and autistic individuals without the human contact that can sometimes be uncomfortable or simply impossible for them.

Along with her work helping people with autism and autism-spectrum disorders, Grandin is well known for her role in animal welfare. After studying cattle behavior, she designed corrals that can reduce stress on the cattle and championed for their ethical treatment and humane slaughter.

Now a professor of animal science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Grandin continues to consultant for the livestock industry and be a voice for those with autism. Streiffert said it’s a real treat for the organizers of the Eat Local Celebration to have someone like Grandin on the schedule.

Throughout September, the celebration continues with weekly workdays at the Manna Soup Kitchen Garden, which helps feed families in need, gardening after-school programs through The Garden Project of Southwest Colorado’s Dirt Club, and several other events featuring produce straight from the student-run gardens at Fort Lewis.

There’s even an Old Fort Hops Pale Ale Release Party from 5:30-9 p.m. on Sept. 9 at Carvers, featuring a pale ale brewed using locally grown Old Fort Hops.

Another new event on the calendar is a workshop on “Extending the Gardening Season” at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 21. Streiffert said with the short growing in the Colorado, it’s a welcome addition.

Sometimes when the harvest season does hit, it’s too much for gardeners or homeowners to handle, and excess fruits waste away or attract bears looking for some extra fall calories. In an effort to solve both issues, fruit gleaning programs have sprung up in recent years.

One of those is the Crop Mobs, out of Fort Lewis’ Environmental Center. The student group helps gather up all the excess.

Much of the apple harvest becomes the highlight of the Apple Days Festival from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Oct. 4 at Buckley Park.

The other festival ticket on the Eat Local calendar is Oktoberfest, taking place Oct. 10-11 Main Avenue. The annual fall festival is typically limited to Durango beers and breweries, Streiffert said. This year, however, is the first time it will have a food component. “We’re really excited about that,” she added.

The Eat Local Celebration serves up the sides from 11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., showing off locally grown produce in dishes prepared by local talent. 

During the month-long celebration, the focus is on Durango and La Plata County. But local food systems aren’t just taking root in the Four Corners. Across the nation, communities are looking to keep the money at home while reducing carbon emissions.

In a recent study, researchers with the University of California at Merced found that 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes.

It’s a statistic Local First organizers just might prove right over the next month.