Local Produce in November

Being a green school is more than just turning the lights off when we leave a room. It also includes being good stewards of the crops that are grown here, in the Midwest. Local foods don't have to travel as far, they support the regional economy, encourage sustainable agriculture, and allow us to trace our food back to its origins. With cold weather, and our goals to eat local ninety percent of the time, variety can be challenging. However, we have a great group of farmers who have an assortment of crops we can choose from.

In November, we leaned hard on our local cold weather fruits, especially a unique fruit called the Asian Pear. Shaped more like a large apple, and with a brown papery skin, this fruit has a surprising honey-flavored sweetness. It's crisp and juicy, and has a hardy shelf life. Asian pear trees are growing in popularity in our area because they are very disease and pest resistant, and thrive in our Midwest climate - also they're delicious!

Our Asian pears last week were grown by Broom Orchard in Carlinville, IL. We