- In this episode of "The Farmer and the Foodie", we got to experience a New Roots Fresh Stop Market.

We got to head to Barr Farms and talk with Adam Barr, who is one of the contributing farmers to New Roots.

- I'm Maggie Keith, and I'm the farmer.

- And I'm Lindsey McClave, and I am the foodie.

- So New Roots brings community together to make sure that everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

They work alongside a variety of different farmers and bring food to their local community.

We wanted to learn more about New Roots, so we decided to talk to Barbra.

So Barbra, can you tell me about New Roots?

- New Roots was started about -- I'm going to say 12 years ago by Karen Moskowitz.

It's basically a nonprofit dedicated to the idea and belief -- not just an idea -- but the belief that fresh food is a basic human right, and that everybody should have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and nobody should be denied because of lack of ability to pay.

- That's beautiful.

- We are at First Unitarian Church in Old Louisville.

In another room, we have our Fresh Stop Market getting prepared.

We have the market here every two weeks on Wednesday from June to the end of October.

- And can you tell me about fresh stops?

- Well, the Fresh Stop Market is basically a combination between, I guess a farmer's market and a food co-op.

People buy what we call shares, which is a bag of food.

It's based on a sliding scale, according to your income.

On the day of the market, the farmer delivers the vegetables.

- That's great.

- So it works out well for the limited resource people, it works out well for the people with a little more money.

Because we all get the same food, it's a big help, especially in a place like Old Louisville where our grocery store closed four years ago.

And there's really no place to get fresh vegetables.

I'm one of the limited resource people, I'm retired on social security, so buying organic vegetables from a regular grocery store is kind of out of my price range, and this way I can afford them.

- Can you sort of tell me the difference between a food co-op or a weekly share in a food bank?

- Well, we try to make sure that our shareholders know that this is their market.

We like for you to support us, we like for you to come volunteer, you have input into how this is run.

There's so much need, that there's a place for everybody.

We're not a charity, we are a bunch of people come together to try to make this happen.

- We're going to head out to Barr Farms, and I hear that some stuff from Barr Farms.

Maybe some celery, perhaps?

- Celery is wonderful.

They can't send me too much celery, because it doesn't even look like the celery that you get at the grocery store and it doesn't taste like it, it's fantastic.

I had a friend of mine visit me when we got it in the share, and I made potato salad with the celery.

She was like, "Where did you get this celery?"

I said, "Fresh Stop Market," and she loved it.

- Oh, that's so good.

Well, I look forward to seeing what he's growing this year.

- Yeah.

- I hope you're able to join Lindsay and I when we eat.

- Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

- Yeah, she's a great cook.

- Oh good, good, good.

To learn more about how the Old Louisville Fresh Stop Market runs day to day, we spoke to Neicy who manages the weekly Fresh Stop pickup in Old Louisville.

- Neicy, I'm Lindsey.

Thank you so much for having us out today.

- Thank you for coming.

- Tell me what a general visit.

if I'm a new person interested in becoming a shareholder, what does that look like?

- You will come in, go to each table, get your fresh fruits and vegetables.

Then you say, "My name is - " I'll mark you off.

You get a piece of paper and it tells you what farm it comes from, what vegetable it is.

It also gives you ideas of a recipe on there.

- So as a lucky shareholder, what am I going to be taking home in my bag?

- So today we have broccoli, zucchini, we have Swiss chard, carrots, blueberries, cabbage, and bok choy.

- Delicious.

- We have about nine things.

- What do you find the most rewarding about being a part of the New Roots organization?

- Meeting the people.

The people and hearing people's different story, how they come together to help for a common purpose.

It's just not Old Louisville, it could be in Russell neighborhood and all over.

So it's pretty cool.

- Food bringing community together, community brings food.

- Ain't that nice?

- Adam Barr is a local farmer.

He's a generational farmer.

His farming practices are organic and very in line with how I believe food should be grown, without chemicals, pesticides, herbicides.

I've known him for quite a while and have a big respect for the vegetables that he grows.

So Adam, thanks for having me out.

- Yeah, it's good to see you, Maggie.

- I've known you for a while, but I've never been out here.

- Welcome, glad you're here.

So tell me about Barr Farms.

And is it Barr Farms or Barr Farm?

- Barr Farms.

Yeah, because we have three families that are actively farming the family land.

So our part of the operation, my wife Ray and I run an organic vegetable operation on about 25 acres.

And that includes mostly 18 acres of vegetables, and then some of that is pastured poultry, we also have pigs.

And the other two families in the Barr Farms have run a beef cattle farm operation for as long as I've been alive, probably longer.

That's my dad and his brother, my uncle.

The deed for the old farmland house is 1835.

Our kids are the eighth generation here of settlers.

It's a mixed farm.

I feel like we're pretty typical.

Kentucky farm has transitioned to direct marketing and organic practices on our side.

- You said direct to consumers, so there's CSA and we visited New Roots and saw some of your produce there.

So can you tell me about the other relationships you have?

- Yeah, sure.

CSA is great.

CSA has been our bedrock of how we built our farm in terms of marketing.

They get a box a week from us of the produce that's in season.

But New Roots is cool because they've turned the CSA model around and created it where the community is organizing the CSA and partnering with farms.

We do a small amount, we do an item every week.

So last week we did carrots.

This week we'll do potatoes.

We had greens and garlic and things already this season.

But they do a fantastic job, New Roots is amazing.

We love partnering with them because it allows us to help fulfill our mission, which we want to feed everybody.

It's not just about feeding people who can afford it.

So we love that New Roots is able to take the leadership and really develop those community relationships and then partner with farms to bring the food in.

And it helps us too, because that's a scale then that we're not having to bring small amounts in.

They're feeding 300, 400 families a week.

- Nice, and so can you tell me how do you grow your vegetables?

What are some of your farming principles?

- So we're certified organic with the USDA.

That basically means we're not using any synthetic anything chemical fertilizers, pesticides or any herbicides like that.

Our bedrock principles, the mission of our farm is that we want to feed our community and take care of the Earth at same time.

that's who we are.

That's why we came into this and why we want to do it.

- The farm was beautiful.

It was very flat, and you could see different aspects of it from where we ended up parking and walking around from.

It also had such an array of vegetables, and he clearly had area for his spring crops, his fall crops, thinking ahead, thinking between seasons and crop rotation.

In this episode, I really enjoyed understanding New Roots' concept of a shareholder.

This is not a food bank system, they're not giving away food, everyone is buying into bringing fresh vegetables to their community.

And that goes full circle where the farmers are also then compensated for the food they grow at a fair way.

So it continues the cycle of farming and food in our community, but also puts access at the forefront.

- Our food ways need to be fixed and we need to find systems to aggregate and distribute local food.

And it really is community driven.

So it shows that our community really can help solve some of the issues in our food ways and have it farmer focused and community focused at the same time.

- Well, I had such a wonderful time visiting New Roots, then going out to Barr Farms and seeing where some of these amazing vegetables actually come from.

The baskets that New Roots puts out every week obviously shift based on what the farmers have to give and what's in season.

One thing that is always available are root vegetables.

And one of my favorite things to do with those is make a hummus.

So I was thinking today we would take these beautiful carrots from Adam's farm that we got in our New Roots basket and make a carrot hummus.

- Great!

So where do we start?

- Well, I like to roast them.

I think it really just develops the flavor, adds a little bit more depth to a hummus.

And yeah, so first things first we are going to take off the bugs bunny end, but we're not going to get rid of these.

We will use these in a pesto or chimichurri or -- carrot greens are fantastic and are so nutrient dense.

So keep them, and if nothing else compost them, but we don't want those to go to waste.

Another thing that I'm not going to do is peel these carrots.

So we saw Adam's farm.

We know that these carrots are grown in a natural environment, and so we don't need to worry about getting rid of the peel because that's just getting rid of more good nutrients.

- Yeah, he has great farmers working the land and naturally doing some of the weed control, like hoeing.

- Definitely.

- So, you know that nothing is added to the soil that would hurt us or the carrots.

So do you chop them first so that doesn't take as long, or - - Yes, absolutely.

You could roast them whole, it's just going to take longer.

So we just want to chop them roughly into a similar size.

And if you eat some, that's okay.

And then we're just going to toss them with a little bit of salt and pepper and olive oil and into the oven they go.

I like to roast them at 400 for about 10 minutes.

I do a quick toss just to make sure they're evenly cooking and then it takes another 8 to 10 minutes.

You really just want them to be tender so they'll puree really nicely in the food processor, along with the rest of the ingredients that are required for a nice classic hummus.

Okay, so our carrots have roasted, they are tender, and now we just need to whip everything up.

So I'm going to and add them directly to our food processor.

And then Maggie, if you want to add the rest of the ingredients.

Any good hummus generally involves a creamy bean, and I love a garbanzo bean.

-Yes, these look great.

- That's one can drained.

- Okay.

- Straight in.

- Super simple.

- We have this fresh garlic that is also from Barr Farms.

I know, so good.

So that's two cloves.

We'll do a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Just a pinch.

Just add a little warmth.

And then two tablespoons of tahini.

That is a toasted sesame seed paste, and also very classic in any hummus.

We're going to add some cumin.

I think that just brings out the smokiness of the carrot.

I really like that seasoning in there.

And we want to make sure everything stays super bright, so a third of a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

And to drive that brightness home, if you want to zest this lemon directly in there.

- Love a little zest.

- I know.

And you immediately smell it.

The zest, really, if you really want to bring out some citrus, obviously juice is your go-to, but the skin is where the citrus oil resides.

So when you zest this, it just immediately blooms, opens up, and adds just such big flavor.

So, fantastic.

Let's go ahead and also add just a little bit of water.

We want our hummus to be super smooth, and there's going to be some carrot texture in there, but we'll start with that and we'll add more if we think we need it.

- Okay.

- So perfect, about a tablespoon.

Let's throw on our top and get this mixed up before we add our olive oil to make it nice and creamy.

So if you want to hit on.

And then let's just go ahead and drizzle our olive oil.

And then I always know we're going for about a half cup, but really I just look at the side of the bowl and the texture, you suddenly see it start to seem creamier.

And this isn't eyeballing.

Some carrots might end up having more moisture than others.

So you really just -- This is where you taste adjust.

And if you like a chunkier hummus, no problem, go for it.

I like something a little bit smoother, especially because we're going use the squash that was in our New Roots basket to dip in our hummus.

So I think this could use a little more olive oil and maybe a little bit more water.

So if you want to go pour the rest of that water in.

You add a healthy pinch of salt in there, excellent.

A slightly less healthy pinch of pepper.

We're going to continue to add our olive oil.

- Looking creamy.

- Looking creamy.

Beautiful.

All right, if you want to grab a spoon, let's each have a taste.

- Love to.

- See if it needs adjustments.

Cheers!

- Cheers!

- I think it's perfect.

- The citrus is perfect.

- So good.

All right, let's plate this up.

I think we should add some really pretty garnishes, that's one of my favorite parts about a hummus.

And we'll move on to this delicious broccoli quinoa recipe that New Roots shared with us.

- Yay, sounds good!

So we have just blanched our broccoli really carefully.

We got a beautiful head of broccoli in our basket from New Roots.

We also got in the basket a list of recipes.

So the recipe that stuck out the most to me was the broccoli quinoa salad.

It's really nutrient dense, just a handful of ingredients, super quick to throw together.

It starts out with a lemon juice in olive oil vinaigrette.

So I'm just going to take this big bowl and add about -- we're going to add about three tablespoons of olive oil.

Maggie, if you want to do a really healthy squeeze of lemon.

We're looking for about a tablespoon of the lemon juice to the olive oil, so that's perfect.

Give that a quick whisk.

This is as simple as a vinaigrette can be, and I love that.

It doesn't have to be more than lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper, you're ready to go.

So we have some quinoa.

Delicious, great alternative to rice, a really nice filling nutrient dense grain.

So we're going to dump that in there.

That's about a cup of cooked quinoa.

Then we also have some toasted cashews.

So we're going to add those in.

- Salted?

- Nope, unsalted.

We're going to have some salt that we'll sprinkle in.

Now our beautiful broccoli, there we go.

Last but not least, this is a great place to add these spring onions.

- Great!

Delicate, light.

Just like some quinoa.

- With the raw onion, you're going to get a punchy flavor.

If you really didn't like raw onion, you could certainly do a quick sauté of it to soften it, but I really like it.

You add in the green parts which adds great texture.

You can hear the crunch as I cut it.

So this is nice and fresh, and we'll just do a quick mince.

Put in our onion.

- Plenty of veg, not just a bunch of grain.

- Yes, exactly.

Then nuts add a nice protein source.

So it is filling.

Now, they just say add a little bit of salt and some pepper and we'll toss it together really, really well to make sure the lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette coats everything.

- Yum.

- And that's it.

- This is so bright and vibrant, it looks like spring.

- We'll put this in a nice serving bowl to add to our table for our guests that are coming from New Roots.

And there's just one other recipe I wanted to put together to celebrate the Swiss chard and bok choy that came in our box.

So let's get this out of the way, One more thing to cook and then it's time to eat.

- Great!

For this final dish, I wanted to make the most of the greens that were included in our basket from New Roots.

They happen to include my most favorite green, Swiss chard.

I'm quite partial to it.

It's the perfect consistency between spinach and kale.

It's a little bit more hardy than spinach, but not quite as fibrous as kale can be.

It just so happens to make a wonderful lettuce cup.

We're going to do a quick sauté of our bok choy with a really easy sauce that I like.

It's very simple, straightforward.

It's got honey as a sweetener in it.

So it's a healthy way of kind of balancing out some flavors that we're going to incorporate from some miso paste and soy sauce.

We're going to blend all that up and we're going to sauté our bok choy with the remaining delicious spring onions.

A little ginger, a little fresh garlic, and we'll have a really tasty, Swiss chard pocket that we can share with the group.

- Great.

I'm so glad you're using greens, greens, and greens.

Because that is definitely a big part of the CSA.

- It absolutely is.

And we want to make sure we use all parts of the greens.

So while we're not using the Swiss chard stems today, we're going to save these.

and I love to pickle Swiss chard stems.

So probably be doing something like that.

They're great in just a veggie sauté.

So yeah, I think we've really made the most of this basket.

- Great!

- So our bok choy is about done sauteing in our mirin sauce, and I think it tastes really good.

I'm excited to share it with our guests, who've arrived and are settled in on the side porch.

So we're just going to de-stem these Swiss chard leaves quick to create our little cups.

And we're definitely going to hang on to these stems for a delicious pickle or another sauté.

And so, yeah, we'll just make our little Swiss chard cups and we'll head outside to talk about New Roots and celebrate the food that they've been helping get out to the community.

- Great, I'm looking forward to trying this.

It smells delicious.

- Fantastic.

Well, if you want to get de-stemming.

- Of course.

- That would be great.

- Hi!

Barbra, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you.

- To celebrate this food from New Roots.

Oh my gosh, one basket made all of this and we still have plenty more to work from.

I felt the blueberries were a bonus in there.

So made some muffins, although a lot of them were also consumed because they're delicious.

Well, let's dig in.

Maggie, do you want to tell Barbra what we made today?

- So we have our Swiss chard cups, which has some bok choy and green onion sauteed in there.

And then this carrot hummus is absolutely delicious.

A lot of lemon in it, so it's very vibrant and bright.

But Lindsey makes hummus with all sorts of root vegetables, We thought this was a good way to celebrate the carrots.

- I don't think I've ever had carrot hummus before.

- I know, I haven't either.

It's so good!

So we use chickpeas in that one.

And then we have this quinoa salad, which is also really bright with some of the lemon zest, but it has cashews, and green onions, and tons of broccoli.

So you actually get a lot of veg with your grain.

- That was the New Roots recipe that was shared with us.

I so appreciated the simplicity, but also as few ingredients there are, every ingredient serves a great purpose.

Cashews add some protein and make it a little more filling.

The quinoa is just a wonderful underused ingredient often.

Maggie pointed out, and I couldn't agree more, the ratio of quinoa to vegetable is almost equal, which is nice.

So really hardy, delicious salad.

So thank you for sharing that recipe.

- I don't know who wrote it.

I find out and thank them.

- Yeah, and I feel like you could do this sort of salad all throughout the season.

Once you get to Fall, maybe some winter squash and a different -- Maybe a pumpkin seed.

- The hummus is really good.

- I'm so glad you like it.

Obviously just the freshness and the nature with which these vegetables are grown, I'm just so glad to know that people throughout every part of the city are given access to that thanks to New Roots.

- Yeah, yeah.

That's one of the main priorities of the Fresh Stop Markets is to be where people don't have access.

- I think one of the biggest takeaways I've found from our discussions and what we've gotten to know, being at the Fresh Stop and how the farmers are brought in is just the sense of community.

And Adam speaking to how much he can tell the success of each Fresh Stop is really based on how much the community has gotten around and supported that.

And that's something seems like you have experienced too.

- We have.

When we started the market in Old Louisville, we had 30 shareholders.

Last year we topped out at 113.

This year we're around about 90.

So we've really grown and people come and volunteer their time.

Pre-COVID when we could really have a full-on Fresh Stop Market had a chef making sample dishes and people would swap recipes.

And hopefully we'll get back to that again soon.

But even now with things more limited, we still have a big turnout, and people love it.

People are very enthusiastic about it, and they seem happy.

- Food brings people together.

- Nothing like food, dude.

[ Laughter }