COzy soups for the winter

As the temperature drops and daylight fades, my search for warmth leads me to the ultimate winter companion – a steaming bowl of soup. Below are 5 of my go-to soup recipes that have become my daily solace during the colder months. These hearty creations not only warm the body but also embrace the current bountiful offerings of local, seasonal produce.

While these recipes are vegan, these recipes are versatile and easily adjustable to your own dietary preference.

INGREDIENTS
• 26.5 oz butternut squash (1 small butternut squash)
• 3 carrots
• 1 white onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp curry powder
• ⅔ cup red lentils, dried
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 inch ginger, fresh
• Salt and pepper to taste
TOPPINGS
• 4 tsp roasted pumpkin seeds-optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Peel and dice the squash, carrots, onions, and garlic and fry them in oil for one minute in a large saucepan.
2. Peel and finely dice the ginger. Add it together with the curry powder to the pot and fry for another minute. Tip in the lentils, vegetable broth, coconut milk and give it a good stir.
3. Bring it to boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15-18 mins until everything is tender.
4. Use a hand blender and blend it until smooth then season with salt and pepper.
5. Top with roasted pumpkin seeds(optional) and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
• 4 small-medium red beets, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces.
• 2 medium kohlrabies, peeled cut into ¼-inch pieces.
• ½ inch fresh ginger root, peeled
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tspground cumin
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• Pinch of ground cardamom
• Himalayan salt to taste
• Dash of lime juice to taste
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Put beets, kohlrabi, ginger, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until beets are fork tender.
2. Transfer soup to a blender. Add spices and lime juice. Purée on high until creamy and smooth. Return soup back to the pot. Add more water if soup is too thick.
3. Add olive oil and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt to taste.
4. Serve and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
• 5 shallots, diced small
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1- inch cube of ginger, shredded
• 2 medium-size red bell peppers, diced
• 1 small head cauliflower
• 8 small eggplants
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• ½ block of firm tofu cut into ½” cubes
• 4-8 tbsp red curry paste (adjust up or down depending on your heat tolerance)
• 8 oz. wide rice noodles
• Juice of one lime plus 2 limes, quartered (for optional garnish)
• Cilantro, for garnish
• Thai basil, for garnish
• Additional salt to taste, if needed

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a large pot, bring about 8 cups of water to a boil and cook the noodles until al dente. Drain noodles with cold water and rinse. Set aside.
3. Cut eggplant into 1” cubes and place on baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, ½ tsp salt and toss. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping at the halfway mark.
4. While the eggplant cooks, place a pot on the stove over medium heat and add the coconut oil and shallots. Sauté onions until translucent and add the garlic and ginger. Sauté the onions garlic and ginger about for one minute.
5. Add half of the curry paste to the onion mixture and sauté for another minute. Add the cauliflower, tofu and red pepper to the pot and continue sautéing for another 3 minutes.
6. Add the coconut milk and broth to the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer. Continue simmering for about 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower becomes slightly tender. Turn the heat to low, and once the eggplant has finished baking, add it to the soup and stir, simmering another 2 minutes.
7. Add the rest of the curry paste a bit at a time, stirring and tasting after each addition until it suits your preference. Finish with the lime juice and add salt to taste.
8. To serve, place desired amount of noodles into soup bowls and pour soup over the noodles. Garnish with chopped cilantro and basil leaves. Serve with a dollop of chili garlic sauce, for an extra kick. Serve with lime wedges for extra acidity, if desired.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 (8-ounce) package crimini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
• ¾ cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup thinly sliced leek (white part only)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced.
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper.
• ½ cup chopped carrot
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup chickpea flour
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme.
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the stock, mushrooms, wild rice, leek, and garlic in a 5-quart Dutch oven or soup pot. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 45 to 50 minutes or until the rice is tender (kernels will start to pop open). Stir in the bell peppers, carrot, and salt. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes more.

2. Combine the almond flour and chickpea flour in a small bowl; stir in ¼ cup water. Stir the mixture into the soup. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Stir in up to ½ cup more water to reach the desired consistency. Stir in the thyme and vinegar.

INGREDIENTS
Marinated Tofu
• 12-ounce block of extra-firm tofu
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp liquid aminos
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• Pinch of salt
Veggies
• 1 cup sliced red cabbage
• 1 cup sliced brussels sprouts
• 1 cup slivered red onion
• 2 cups broccoli florets, bite-sized
Broth and Garnish
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 cups water
• 1/4 cup liquid aminos
• 6 ounces brown rice pad thai noodles
• 2 tbsp white miso paste
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup diced green onion.
• 2 tsp black sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Drain the water from the tofu, wrap tightly in a clean cloth, and press it, by putting heavy objects on top of it, for 15 to 20 minutes. While your tofu is being pressed, prep your vegetables.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together water, sesame oil, liquid aminos, garlic powder, onion powder, maple syrup, and ginger until combined.
3. Once most of the moisture is pressed out of your block of tofu, cut it into 32 pieces (or cut it into quarters, then those pieces in half for 8 rectangles, and lastly cutting those into quarters). Place pieces in a shallow container and pour marinade over the top, moving them around to get them coated. Marinate for 15 minutes, get started on cooking veggies and preparing broth.
4. Heat up your cast iron (use a panini press for those cool, grilled lines) and cook the slices of cabbage and red onion for 2 mins each side. Cook the tofu & brussels sprouts for 4-6 minutes until browned on each side.
5. While the veggies are cooking, warm toasted sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic and ginger to the pot and sauté until the garlic begins to brown lightly. Add broth, water and liquid aminos to the pot and bring to a boil.
6. Once boiling, add broccoli and rice noodles to the water, and cook according to the noodles packaging. Halfway through, add in half of the grilled vegetables and continue to cook.
7. When the noodles are tender, turn off stove and stir in miso paste until dissolved. Divide soup between four large soup/noodle bowls, arrange remaining grilled vegetables, grilled tofu, cilantro, green onions, and black sesame seeds on top and serve!

Resigned and reauthorized every five years, the largest piece of food-related legislation is up next year, the Farm Bill. This bill determines policy and funding levels for agriculture, food assistance programs, natural resources, and other aspects of food and agriculture under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its impact on the farming industry, its related programs and industries, and the communities they support is tremendous.

The original Farm Bill was enacted during the 1930s as part of the New Deal and had three main goals:

• Keep food prices fair for farmers and consumers.
• Ensure an adequate food supply.
• Protect and sustain the country’s vital natural resources.

While each new Farm Bill is unique, and 18 bills have followed the initial one, the issues addressed in the last 2018 Farm Bill encompassed agricultural commodities, conservation, trade, nutrition, credit, rural development, research, extension and related matters, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance and miscellaneous. To the left is a chart of the $428 million dollars that went towards farm and program support in the last bill.

Discussions on what is due to be the 2023 Farm Bill have already begun at field hearings and producer meetings across the country, where stakeholders have been vocalizing their recommendations and priorities for the next Farm Bill:

• The American Soybean Association shared their soy industries 2023 Farm Bill priorities
• The National Association of Wheat Growers released their 2023 Farm Bill priorities
• The American Farmland Trust’s formal recommendation
• Native Farm Bill Coalition’s Successes from the 2018 Farm Bill and Opportunities for the 2023 bill
• Recommendations from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

The current baseline for Farm Bill programs for the next five years is $648 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s May 2022 estimates. A new estimate in spring 2023 will set the budget for the new Farm Bill.

Here is a quick rundown of what the process of passing the Farm Bill looks like:

1. HEARINGS

Legislatively, it all begins with hearings in Washington, DC and across the country – these are listening sessions where members of Congress take input from the public and organizations about what they want to see in a new bill.

2. AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEES

House and Senate Agriculture Committees each draft, debate, amend and change, and eventually pass a bill; the two committees work on separate bills that can have substantial differences.

3. FULL CONGRESS / “THE FLOOR”

Each committee bill goes next to “the floor” – the full House of Representatives or Senate. Each bill is debated, amended, and voted on again by its respective body (House or Senate).

4. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

After both the full House and Senate have passed a Farm Bill – which can take a while, and may require a bill being sent back to committee for more work before passage, the two bills (House and Senate) go to a smaller group of Senators and Representatives called a “Conference Committee,” which combines the two separate bills into one compromise package. Conferees are typically chosen mostly from House and Senate Agriculture Committee members.

5. FULL CONGRESS

The combined version of the Conference Committee’s Farm Bill then goes back to the House and Senate floors to be debated – and potentially passed.

6. LAST STEP: THE WHITE HOUSE

Once the House and Senate approve a final Farm Bill, the bill goes to the President, who can veto it and send it back to Congress or sign it into law.

Once the Farm Bill is signed into law, it’s time for the Appropriations phase: Setting money aside in the yearly federal budget to fund the programs in the Farm Bill, which the federal government operates on a fiscal year from October 1st to September 30th.

 Happening simultaneously with the annual appropriations process is Rulemaking. After Congress passes a Farm Bill, the USDA is responsible for writing the actual rules for how these programs will be implemented on the ground. 

The recent pass of the Inflation Reduction Act will play a major role in the Farm Bill

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown says the Inflation Reduction Act should help jumpstart the 2023 Farm Bill process.

“When we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, we funded some farm programs ahead of time, something we’ve never done,” he says. “So, this Farm Bill should be more productive and more helpful both to consumers and farmers because we planned for it better than we have in the past.”

According to an analysis from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the Inflation Reduction Act will provide about a 47% increase over previous Farm Bill levels.

And with the Biden Administration making Climate Change a federal priority, it is likely that the new Farm Bill will reflect such efforts.

No exception to previous years, the final draft of the bill will impact every American in a way that so few others do and will require immense collaboration and compromise on both sides of the aisle — and the final product will impact the food and beverage ecosystem for generations to come.

Blogs

Modern accessibility to food combined with a fast pace lifestyle can make it easy to overlook the importance of what is happening behind the scenes of the services we utilize on a daily basis. For many of us, we throw away our trash without any thought of the garbage collector that wakes up before the sun to take it away for us, we wear clothing without consideration for the person whose hands stitched it all together and all too often, we purchase and consume our food with no appreciation for the farmworker who picked that food for us, even in the harshest of conditions. Farmworkers keep the entire world fed by working in sometimes dangerous conditions, and yet they are often not protected by the same laws that protect other workers.

Often, the first step towards positive change is through acknowledgement of the issues at hand. We believe that pushing for this positive change is the best way that we can truly show appreciation for our farmworkers. The most recent data that we have on farmworkers in the U.S. comes from a 2015-16 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Workers (NAW) Survey. Among many findings, the NAW reported that:

• There are an estimated 2.4 million farmworkers laboring on our nation’s farms and ranches, cultivating and harvesting crops and raising and tending to livestock.
• The farm labor workforce is a predominantly immigrant workforce. According to the NAWS, approximately 75% of farmworkers are immigrants. Approximately 49% of farmworkers are immigrants who lack work authorization.
• Due to the seasonal nature of the work on many crop farms, the large majority of crop workers do not work year round, even if they work for more than one farm in a single year. Farmworkers averaged 33 weeks of farm work over the course of a year and worked an average of 45 hours per week.
• 57% of farmworkers are married, and 55% of farmworkers have children
• Farmworkers averaged $10.60 per hour in wages. The average annual individual income of farmworkers was in the range of $17,500 – $19,999.
• 33% of farmworker families had incomes below the poverty line. However, because the survey results did not include dependents living outside of the United States, this number may not completely reflect the full number of families living in poverty.
• Despite the high level of poverty, most farmworkers do not receive any public benefits. At the time of this study, only 18% of farmworkers received food stamps, 17% received WIC (a supplemental nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) and 43% received health insurance through a government program, like Medicaid.
• Most farmworkers (53%) have no health insurance, and limited access to health care, making them particularly vulnerable to environmental and occupational health hazards. It was found that 71% of workers reported that their employer did not provide health insurance or pay for medical treatment for injuries or illnesses suffered outside of work. Only 18% of employers offer health insurance to their workers.

Organizations to Support

There are many great organizations that are actively advocating for farmworkers, both locally and nationally. We encourage you to check them out to learn more about the work that they are doing and how you can get involved and let us know of any other organizations we may have missed by emailing [email protected].

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF): www.crlaf.org/

“CRLAF is a statewide non-profit civil legal aid organization providing free legal services and policy advocacy for California’s rural poor. We focus on some of the most marginalized communities: the unrepresented, the unorganized and the undocumented.  We engage in community education and outreach, impact litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, and public policy leadership at the state and local level. We seek to bring about social justice to rural poor communities by working to address the most pressing needs of our community: Labor, Housing, Education Equity, Health Care Access, Worker Safety, Citizenship, Immigration, and Environmental Justice.”

Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF): www.caff.org

“Founded in 1978, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and The Farmers Guild is a California-based nonprofit that builds sustainable food and farming systems through local and statewide policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs in an effort to initiate institutionalized change. Our programs address current problems and challenges in food and farming systems, creating more resilient family farms, communities and ecosystems. We work to support family farmers and serve community members throughout the state, including consumers, food service directors, schoolchildren and low-income populations with the aim of growing a more resilient, just and abundant food system for all Californians.”

The National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH): www.ncfh.org/

“The National Center for Farmworker Health is a private, not-for-profit corporation located in Buda, Texas dedicated to improving the health status of farmworker families.  We provide information services, training and technical assistance, and a variety of products to community and migrant health centers nationwide, as well as organizations, universities, researchers and individuals involved in farmworker health.”

Farmworker Justice: farmworkerjustice.org/
“Farmworker Justice is a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers to improve their living and working conditions, immigration status, health, occupational safety, and access to justice. We work with farmworkers and their organizations throughout the nation. Based in Washington, D.C., Farmworker Justice was founded in 1981. In 1996, Farmworker Justice became a subsidiary corporation of UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza), the nation’s largest constituency-based Hispanic civil rights organization.”

United Farm Workers: ufw.org
“The UFW continues organizing in major agricultural sectors, chiefly in California. Recent years have witnessed dozens of UFW union contract victories protecting thousands of farm workers, among them agreements with the some of the largest berry, winery, tomato, dairy and mushroom companies in California and the nation. More than 75 percent of California’s fresh mushroom industry is now under union contract. Many recent UFW-sponsored laws and regulations protect all farm workers in California, especially those at non-union ranches. They include the first state standards in the U.S. to prevent further deaths and illnesses from extreme heat and in 2016 the first law in the country providing farm workers in California with overtime pay after eight hours a day. The UFW continues to actively champion legislative and regulatory reforms for farm workers covering issues such as worker protections, pesticides and immigration reform.”