SWEET & SAVORY, SUSTAINABLE & CHIC
QUALITY INGREDIENTS
I am a self-proclaimed foodie that is committed to a healthy lifestyle with a heavy emphasis on fresh ingredients. On a daily basis I seek out content related to these topics from my favorite chefs and health experts publishing on Instagram and blogs and I also read articles from a few key periodicals. It was just a short time ago that the general public was not aware of food production concepts including sustainability and environmental friendly. Many factors contributed to the general consumer’s awareness of food production including the SLOW FOOD Movement founded in Italy in 1989 and a long list of influential chefs whose menus were inspired by seasonal ingredients. Just fifteen years ago, those of us in the food production and culinary industries were questioning if this trend was a fad or permanent, but the latter has prevailed. Consumers are demanding increasingly more in depth information about where their food comes from and exactly how it is produced. This month Bon Appetit published “The Ten Sustainable Food Terms You Need to Know Now” and the phrases included were much more specific and included words like biodynamic and tree and vine ripened.
My daily diet consists mainly of quality whole ingredients that can quickly be assembled, usually in the form of greens and a protein. Even traveling has become easier with the increased number of offerings that mainstream grocery stores now provide and making educated decisions at restaurants. As inspired as I might be in consuming only the highest quality fresh food, I still find some challenges, specifically when I am under time constraints. My biggest difficulty is that I have a certain level of expectation of presentation while entertaining, even when not in my home. The majority of my social life has definitely shifted to events that revolve around my equestrian lifestyle, including parties at the stable (trunk shows, birthday gatherings) and my favorite spectator class at horse shows, the hunter derby. Recently I was introduced to a very easy solution that meets both my “chic” aesthetic needs in presentation and quality of ingredients: Terra Vegetable Chips.
TWO CHEFS IN A TINY KITCHEN
Terra was founded in 1990 by 2 Manhattan based chefs, Dana Sinkler and Alex Dzieduszycki, who left the high end restaurant business to cater elite parties. They needed a beautiful and versatile dish that could be first be enjoyed with cocktails and also served with entrees. The VERY abbreviated version of the story is that they “invented” Terra chips in Ms. Sinkler’s tiny kitchen and the product was so popular in catering circles that the two started to market the items to retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue. In order to keep up with the growth, the business was eventually sold and now is part of The Hain Celestial Group, which is known for providing “better-for-you” natural and organic products to customers around the world.
ENTERTAINING AND THE EQUESTRIAN
Terra’s expansive variety of unique whole root vegetables includes beets, kobocha, carrots, parsnips, yuca, plantain, purple sweet potatoes and more. My equestrian social circle is inclusive of all ages, which can make choosing a dish for entertaining at events tricky. Terra provides both sweet and savory flavor profiles that reflect the latest culinary trends and pair well with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, thus solving this dilemna. Additionally, Terra transitions from casual to more formal settings. The fresh vegetables are specially packaged so that they hold their flavor and texture; this is particularly important on long days when you can’t leave the grounds!
VEGETABLE ROOT AND SPARKLING BEVERAGE PAIRINGS
MEET THE TERRA FAMILY: An Interview with Jared Simon of Hain Celestial
TERRA® brand works with independent farmers to source non-GMO vegetables. TERRA® brand works closely with the LaJoie Family, who has a fifth generation family farm in Van Buren, Maine, to source a majority of the over 4 million pounds of blue potatoes the brand uses annually. TERRA® also uses fresh produce in our chips, to ensure quality and consistency. While TERRA® brand is inherently susceptible to issues that might arise during the growing cycle, such as drought or storms, and the brand is highly dependent on seasonality of our vegetables, we consider the quality and uniqueness of our product worth this risk.
We are also really proud that TERRA® brand can help bring unique vegetables to consumers. TERRA® is committed to biodiversity – ensuring the continuance of many different types of vegetables. In addition to the positive environmental implications of biodiversity, crop diversity also makes snack and meal times much more interesting, because it offers an array of different colors, textures and tastes. That’s why TERRA® brand partners with Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and proliferation of heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties.
Finally, TERRA® brand looks for ways to improve sustainability … 99% of TERRA® brand’s solid ingredient waste is recycled and we attempt to source some of our paperboard from recycled sources…. Hain Celestial has partnered with TERRACycle® to provide an end-of-life solution for the flexible packaging which cannot be recycled in most municipalities.