A Thanksgiving Meal Rooted in Local Flavor, Family and Community

Thanksgiving is a holiday focused around gratitude, family, and friendships. For many families who are juggling jobs, caregiving roles and a myriad of other responsibilities, heading into the holiday season can be a time of stress.

Amy Cox, a certified health coach and owner of omstead, is keenly aware how difficult it is to balance responsibilities and still find time for gratitude and joy.

“I went through a period of time where I was working fulltime in a corporate job, raising two daughters, tending to parents with significant health issues and I was still trying to bring the family together around the table,” said Amy. “It was a lot for me to bear, and ultimately lead me down the path I am on today -- creating programs that enable families to engage in behaviors that reduce stress and disease while infusing joy and satisfaction.”

Last year Amy created and piloted the omstead Eat Local Thanksgiving Program. Partnering with Nichols Farm and other local farmers, Amy curated a box brimming with all of the produce needed to prepare simple, fresh and delish Thanksgiving side dishes. Having received positive feedback from clients, this Thanksgiving omstead is looking to expand the program to make it available to more families and/or communities in the Chicago area who would like to participate.

Making a Positive and Sustainable Impact

Omstead client Rachel Moorhead’s three young children keep her hopping as does her current job as General Manager for Constellation Brands. Rachel’s extensive career spent in the champagne, wine & spirits industry makes sourcing high quality food of high importance. To simplify her life without sacrificing food quality, last year she tried the omstead Eat Local Thanksgiving Program.

“I absolutely loved the Thanksgiving produce box last year. As a working mom of three who hosts Thanksgiving for 16, I have gourmet dinner expectations and no time to plan,” said Rachel. “The boxes made cooking my Thanksgiving gourmet dinner easy. The recipes were simple and created with such care and love. Also, the special surprise activities included in the boxes made our Thanksgiving one to remember. I will enthusiastically be ordering again this year”

Mary Lukach of Hinsdale also tried out the omstead Eat Local Thanksgiving Program. A seasoned world traveler who has lived in many locations throughout the US and abroad, she has friends and family in many ports. Thanksgiving is a special time where she gathers them all together.

“Last year my family gathered together and used the Thanksgiving boxes to build community in our kitchen,” said Mary. “Unpacking the carton of vegetables really made us think about the backstory of the food we were about to prepare and the local farmer who grew them for us.

"As a Jersey Garden State foodie by birthright and a new resident to the area, it was interesting to learn that such quality and variety can be found locally,” added Mary. “The first thing that hit us was how beautiful the produce was. We found that cooking with such fresh and lovely vegetables actually made our cooking together more enjoyable. And, the fresh herbs added an unexpected fabulous twist to traditional recipes.”

How The Eat Local Thanksgiving Program Works

For $75, participants order online and will pick up an already packed, bountiful box of fresh produce that provide the main ingredients for preparing eight servings of four different Thanksgiving side dishes that include:

• Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes with Sage Garnish
• Ginger & Praline Sweet Potatoes
• Colorful Honey Balsamic Parsnips, Carrots & Tuscan Kale
• Fresh Herb Monkey Bread Stuffing

Recipes, which have been well received in Amy’s home as well as in her cooking classes, along with meal preparation tips, will also be included in the box. Also included is a short list of additional ingredients to have on hand such as butter, chicken or veggie stock, which will be needed to complete the sides.

Feeding Your Family and Community While Giving to Those in Need

Ten percent of each box’s proceeds will be donated to either help feed a community in need designated by omstead or a defined by the community ordering boxes.

“I see this program evolving and growing over the years, enabling more people to enjoy cooking good food in a beautiful, bountiful way while also feeding others in need,” said Amy. “Now that the program has been tested and well received, I aim to have communities such as churches, schools, not for profits, corporations -- you name it -- order the boxes and use the ten percent they raise go towards whomever they define has the need. It might be their own organization needing the revenue, it could be a sick employee needing financial assistance or homeless people in their community.”

The program has been set up in a way that makes it simple for communities to come together and order boxes. By contacting omstead, they can receive their own online link to order boxes and work with omstead to have them delivered to a centralized location that makes pick-up easy for participants. Names are listed on the outside of the boxes and the boxes are prepaid, so participants can grab their boxes and go -- instead of dealing with long lines and holiday shopping stress.

By participating in omstead’s Eat Local Thanksgiving Program, you can take the stress out of Thanksgiving meal shopping and ensure that the food you are cooking is packed with the highest amount of nutrients and freshness while supporting local sustainable farmers. Additionally, the best part about this program is that is can be used by families and/or communities to spread the love by nourishing themselves as well as others in need.

How to Order

You can find out more about omstead’s Eat Local Thanksgiving Project and order by going to https://goo.gl/Bh6GKA. If you are interested in getting your community on board with the program for this year or next, email Amy at omstead4367@gmail.com.