Peter Becker Green Fair eyes best of eco-friendly food, living on a local level
Published: Friday, July 29, 2011
By Erin DuBois, Associate Editor
Hungry for a snack? Why not sink your teeth into melon wrapped with basil and prosciutto with pumpkin butter spread or sample a watermelon gazpacho shooter? These were only two of the elegant treats free for the tasting at Peter Becker Community’s second annual Green Fair for Eco-Friendly Living July 28.
“Everything we’re doing is enhancing life with food,” Peter Becker Executive Chef Stephen DePaolis said.
The ingredients for the culinary offerings came from farms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with meat for the sage turkey sausage from Koch’s Turkey Farm, Tamaqua, and produce from A.T. Buzby Farm in New Jersey.
Common Market, a local foods wholesale consolidator and distributor based in Philadelphia, assists Peter Becker in finding out what is fresh and available to incorporate in the residents’ meals each day.
But healthy eating is not just about purchasing local products, DePaolis said.
“It’s animals raised the way they should be.”
Community members and Peter Becker residents flocked in nearly equal numbers to the fair, with the total count at around 350 mid-afternoon and as many as 500 expected by the end of the day, said Bill Richman, general manager for Cura Hospitality dining services at Peter Becker.
One major attraction was the computer and e-scrap recycling service provided on-site by the fair’s main sponsor, 611 Metals Recycling, a scrap metal and computer recycling company based in Doylestown. Some of the proceeds of the recycling donations benefitted Peter Becker residents.
Nearly a dozen vendors were on hand to help guests make their lives a little greener. Cutlery made from potatoes and take-out containers from sugar cane were just a few of the compostable paper products Karl Allmendinger, of Singer Equipment Co., displayed at his table.
“[Peter Becker] is one of the biggest consumers of eco-friendly products we offer,” Allmendinger said.
Gary Hoch of Gehman Custom Remodeling, Harleysville, offered countertop tiles made of recycled glass, concrete and even paper. While people express interest in living a greener lifestyle, sometimes the cost prevents them, Hoch said.
“It’s not as easy to go green as people would like it to be,” Hoch said.
Going green may have been simpler when fair attendee Miriam Thomas was growing up.
“We called it being frugal,” Thomas said.
Thomas, who lives at Elm Terrace Garden in Lansdale, said being green can be difficult in an institutional setting, but the information she gleaned at the fair about local farmers markets was very helpful.
“I didn’t know we had so many,” Thomas said.
One of those farmers markets takes place right at Peter Becker when Skippack Creek Farm brings its produce for residents and community members to purchase the second and fourth Thursdays of the month from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The market location alternates between Maplewood and Ridgeview estates, farm owner Sherri McGonigle said.
“It allows residents to come up as they would in their more independent days and touch, feel and smell [the produce],” DePaolis said.
After residents make their purchases, the produce is sent with their name on it to the Peter Becker kitchen where it will be prepared to order, DePaolis said.
Skippack Creek Farm grows more than 70 varieties of fruits and vegetables, specializing in salad mixes, heirloom tomatoes and peppers. The farm also offers fall ornamentals like pumpkins, gourds and mums as well as more than 35 kinds of Amish-made jams, jellies and other treats, according to a farm brochure.
The farm is a member of the Pennsylvania Farmers Market Nutrition Program, a service of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture which provides eligible persons 4 checks of $5 each to use at participating farmers markets or roadside stands.
Having the farmer’s market at Peter Becker benefits the farm and the community, since road construction near the farm’s location at 64 Skippack Creek Rd. has posed some problems for motorists trying to access the farm.
“It’s been working out great,” McGonigle said.
Seminars ran all afternoon, with topics ranging from composting, presented by Penn State Master Gardeners, to the environmental benefits of purple martins and barn owls, presented by the Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center. JP Mascaro and Sons Recycling discussed how to begin a recycling program.
“Not everyone can afford organic, but you should still eat your vegetables,” said Jamie Moore, director of sourcing and sustainability for Parkhurst Dining Services, during his Sustainability and Consumer Confusion seminar.
Produce blacklisted as the “Dirty Dozen,” or those most contaminated with pesticides, still contain far less than the pesticide rate allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency, Moore said.
“They may have more pesticides than other crops, but they are still safe,” Moore said.
Peter Becker Retirement Community is a continuing care facility located at 800 Maple Ave., Harleysville. For more information, visit www.peterbeckercommunity.com.
