Idaho's Bounty, a nonprofit organic food cooperative based south of the Wood River Valley in Hagerman, established its roots over the past summer. Wood River Valley and Hagerman residents and a cooperative of growers in south-central Idaho founded the organization.
The project is based on similar grassroots co-ops in Oklahoma, Montana and elsewhere. Idaho's Bounty producers and consumers pay an initial membership fee and then can shop from a changing list of seasonal produce. This month, the group introduced its new Internet shopping list. There is virtually nothing for a good wholesome diet that can't be found on this list. Hungry for trout? Danish Havarti style cheese? Apricot jam? Lamb from Lava Lake? Beans, squash, eggs, raw milk? Alligator for your dogs?
It's all available through Idaho's Bounty. Its numerous growers contribute to Idaho's Bounty's Food Shed in Hagerman with vegetables, salad greens, melons, corn, tomatoes, farmed fish, poultry and eggs, fruit, dairy and ranch-raised meat.
On Thursday, Oct. 11, the group celebrated with a dinner at CK's restaurant in Hailey. Guests included members of Idaho's Bounty, organizers and growers. All the food served was grown or produced within 100 miles of CK's, fitting the description of a "locavore" meal, except the chicken, organically raised in Idaho and processed in New Plymouth, and the delectable chèvre cheese from Parma, both about 200 miles from Hailey. Prepared by owners Rebecca and Chris Kastner, the dinner—a mouth-watering, five-course meal—elicited plentiful praise.
After each course, the growers spoke about their farms, how they raise and produce their food and about their plans for the future.
For instance, the Ballard Family Dairy in Gooding supplied the ricotta for the third-course ravioli. The Ballards raise a small herd of Jersey cows, untreated with bovine growth hormone, to create their fabulous cheeses in small, handmade batches.
Bill Stoltzfus recently bought the old Smith Dairy in Buhl, which he intends to resurrect as an organic diary. "It's an exciting time," he said.
Morningstar Organic Farm, in Richfield, the supplier of a sweet meat squash, which Chef Kastner pureed for the chicken course, will soon be offering healthful, hormone-free raw milk.
As each dish was served, a different Idaho wine was poured, prompting one guest, Nancy Cohn of Sun Valley and Salt Lake City, to remark happily, "I now have three glasses in front of me. They're all beautiful and they're all from Idaho."
Represented were the wineries Carmela, Frenchman's Gulch, Phantom Hill and Cold Springs. Among the growers were participants in the weekly summer Farmers' Markets in Hailey and Ketchum.
"Idaho's Bounty is on the cusp of something really big," said Fred Brossey, owner of the Shoshone-based Ernie's Organics, and one of the organizers of Idaho's Bounty. His farm supplied the dinner's potatoes, eggs and Lakota squash. "We need to partake of local food."
Idaho's Bounty is certainly looking to continue this trend into the future. It just received a $60,000 federal grant in the Farmer's Market Promotion Program, one of 23 awarded in the country. The grants are targeted to help improve and expand domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities.
James Reed summed up the experience he and his wife, Leslie Jago, and friends have had since they founded Idaho's Bounty.
"I'm not a religious person," he said. "But this is God's work."
Cold Springs Winery?s winemaker, Jamie Martin, left, and CK?s chef/owner Chris Kastner flank Fred Brossey, owner of Ernie?s Organics, who shows off an impressive Lakota squash. Raised organically, the squash was served at a Fall Harvest dinner. Photo by Dana DuGan
