Tomato blossom from our new veggie garden. Each flower will produce its own sweet and delicious tomato.

Coming back from an international trip can often be an overwhelming experience. Transferring from Latin America, where the culture revolves around friends, family, relaxation and taking things slooow, to the U.S., where people are often too busy to stand still for a few moments, and where sitting down for a family meal is a rarity, can be confronting and shocking. Reverse culture shock is very real!

So it made sense for us to try and escape from this reality a little by getting our hands and feet literally immerged in fresh soil and planting seeds in our new veggie patch.

What better way to come back home in the middle of a beautiful summer and to reengage with the origins of our food than by planting a late summer crop. The recent rain and beautiful sunnny days have helped our little seedlings grow into well-developed plants and we are now celebrating a healthy looking patch of beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes, radish and lettuce. We cannot stress enough how wonderful this experience has been for us. After many years of travel and moving from place to place, it has been our dream to finally be somewhere long enough so we can plant some roots, or at the very least, plant something that has its own roots!

Garlic scapes were a common gem found in our CSA box for the last few weeks and we have had a blast coming up with great ways to use this vegetable. Our favorite method to maximize the garlicky taste is chopped small while still raw and thrown into a fresh summer salad. Awesome in hummus, too!

So what else has been busy filling these July days for Origins of Food? Coming back to Vermont, we were thrilled at the amount of local activity happening during these warmer months of the year. We have been spoilt with options for connecting with local food producers and have gleefully spent many an afternoon tasting one of the plethora of delicious local beers from the surrounding breweries (have you heard, sours are the new IPAs?). When we feel like something a little less alcoholic, our weeknights and weekends have been occupied with blueberry picking, pie-making, catching up with friends, exploring farmers' markets and getting as creative as possible with our CSA box vegetables. 

Some of our most delicious tastings to date have involved this little brewery from Brattleboro, in southern Vermont. 100% sours!

Origins of Food and IPSL Present Guatemala: One Health

We are very excited to announce a three-week program we will be running in January in Guatemala. Students will receive 3 university credits, but the program is also open to the public!

The theme is One Health - "the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines — working locally, nationally, and globally — to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment." Within this concept, we will be working with coffee farmers and food producers, and social, environmental and animal activists. In addition to studying food systems, and their social and environmental impacts, we will examine alternative ideas of community as well as animal and social justice. We will also take full advatage of Guatemala's natural beauty with hikes, swimming, surfing, caving and other forms of play.

For a more detailed itinerary and for more information on the program, check out the dedicated page on our website: www.theoriginsoffood.com/ipsl

Thanks for being a part of our story and please keep in touch

with any new ideas, photos, food stories and inspirations. For more of our Peru program photos, check out our instagram feed and facebook page.

Un abrazo,

L & M

Our VERY FIRST selfie stick photo, taken in Cordoba, Argentina. And we thought we would never use it :-)