NORWALK — Ripka’s Beach Cafe at Calf Pasture Beach has heeded the environmental call to make the switch away from plastic straws, but it took six months of hard work to make it happen.

“I don’t know how people are doing it, if they’re doing it at all. I looked for them at the beginning of the season. I was told I’d be able to get them and I never got them,†Clyde Ripka, owner of Ripka’s said on Tuesday, just a few days after he finally did receive his first order of paper straws.

Ripka said his usual distributor, W.B. Mason, told him there was a backlog on the paper straws, which have surged in popularity recently. Instead, he was forced to order through a smaller distributor, at a price nearly 12 times per straw as he paid for plastic.

Ultimately, Ripka announced the straws’ arrival — though they were not the correct size — in a Sept. 6 Facebook post, to which he said he received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

But the fact remains, the straws are an added cost.

“It’s a worthy cause,†Ripka said. “But I was amazed at the wall that was put up “

According to projections by the World Economic Forum, by 2050 plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish. Better Alternatives Now, a pollution research nonprofit, estimates that 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers. Numbers like those have groups like Skip the Plastic Norwalk — whose Facebook page states that 500 million plastic straws are used daily in the U.S. — up in arms.

Skip the Plastic Norwalk started a local campaign earlier this year to eliminate single-use plastics, starting with straws, and educate local businesses about the damage done to the environment by plastics. Nearly 20 restaurants have signed on as of earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the movement nationwide has been so swift and successful, the largest producer of paper straws in the U.S., Indiana-based manufacturer Aardvark, was bought out in early August by the Indiana-based Hoffmaster Group, in part to increase production to meet demand.

Andy Romjue, president of the Hoffmaster Group, said he started hearing about the push away from plastic five or six years ago, but didn’t see it start to pick up momentum until November or December 2017. The movement was largely spurred by legislative bans on plastics, especially on the coasts, and ecological concerns spread quickly over social media.

“Our demand is way outstripping our capacity. It was that way when we came in and it continues to be that way as more and more demand is built up,†Romjue said.

In response, Hoffmaster is expanding its facility and adding machines and personnel to keep up with demand. Though Romjue warned it could take some time, depending on the rate of market shift.

Local efforts to ditch plastic also come in the midst of a changing global recycling market, in part because of tariffs placed on China by President Donald J. Trump, which drew retaliation.

On Wednesday, the City of Norwalk announced that it would update its single-stream recycling collection list as a result of the ban on plastic imports from the U.S. into China. Beginning Oct. 1, plastic bags and thin plastic film (including bubble wrap), polystyrene, paper and single-use coffee cups and straws are no longer recyclable.

Mayor Harry Rilling said he hopes the city might also take a hard look at drafting ordinance banning some of those materials.

“For the environmental issues that are facing us, we should seriously consider an ordinance that would ban plastic bags, plastic straws, Styrofoam cups, Styrofoam containers. Those kinds of things that never break down,†Rilling said. “A lot of communities are doing that and I think we should start looking at it as well.â€

Others groups have acted as well.

In May, the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk announced it would significantly reduce its use of single-use plastics, in accordance with the Aquarium Conservation Partnership, a group of 19 aquariums nationwide hoping to reduce the about of plastic in the ocean.

“We’re trying to practice what we preach. Our mission is educate about long island sound and create stewards for conservation. Plastic in the environment is a huge problem. So it just seemed wrong for us to be contributing to the issue,†David Sigworth, associate director of communications for the Maritime Aquarium said. “We’ve had no real negative feedback about it. People are very understanding.â€

The aquarium replaced bottles of water with boxes of water, eliminated all straws and plastic lids, and purchasing coffee cups and soup cups made out of paper coated with polylactic acid (PLA), produced from renewable resources such as corn and sugarcane.

“A lot of the burden on this fell the to company that runs our cafeteria and operates our gift shop. They went through a lot of hoops to find the best way to do that,†Sigworth said.

About six months ago, Harbor Harvest in East Norwalk responded to customer requests that they remove plastic, in keeping with their sustainable mission statement. They’ve begun the process of removing all plastic items from the store, beginning with straws and coffee stirrers. In place of plastic, owner Bob Kunkel discovered two options: a straw made out of pasta, or the “Ultimate Straw,†a stainless steel reusable option that costs $29.

Kunkel is selling the UltimateStraw out of Harbor Harvest at no profit, and the manufacturer donates $1 per sale to ocean research. He said the pasta straws are only slightly more expensive than plastic. Plus they can be used in cooking and are not backlogged. He didn’t have the same trouble with backlog that Ripka experienced ordering paper.

“On the pasta straw there was no price gouging at all, and they were readily available. But I have seen on other biodegradable options there’s been a delay in receiving the equipment and it is pricier,†Kunkel said.

But even with the store’s newly instated environmental accommodations, Kunkel said he still receives customer concerns.

“One concern was gluten free people who would come in and use the straw but have a reaction,†Kunkel said. “The gluten issue has become very important in the food industry, whether someone actually has celiac or just wants to remove it from their diet, any aspect. We have to tell people, understand this is pasta and gluten is involved.â€

Original article

NORWALK — The second annual Taste of East Norwalk festival is set for 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 19, at Longshore Pavilion at Norwalk Cove, 66 Calf Pasture Beach Road.

The $30 admission fee includes all food, drink and entertainment. Tickets are $35 at the door. Ages 12 and under are free.

“It’s to show off what East Norwalk has to offer — we have the water, we have the beach, restaurants, businesses,†said Rick Tavella of Rick’s Main Roofing.

Numerous restaurants and vendors will be on hand, and there will be activities including a volleyball tournament with a $500 prize for the first-place team. Tony Masi’s band “SummerTime†will perform.

Vendors include Copps Island Oysters, Mr. Frosty’s, Knot Norm’s, Station House Bar & Grille, Jimmy’s Mediterranean Deli, Rick’s Main Roofing, Condor Press, Italian Society of the Norwalk Police, Signsmarts, Accurate Auto, Norwalk Pizza and Pasta, Van Zant Sports Bar and Restaurant, Don Carmelo’s, Eder Bros., Harbor Harvest, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Greyskye, Partners Café, Kosta’s Norwalk Shoe Repair, Raspados Flamingo, Sunset Grille, Valentino’s Cucina Italiana, DonJulio, the Inn at Longshore, Giant Laundry, Ripka’s on the Beach, Web Realty Co., Cappello Realty, First County Bank, Step’N’Out, Cove Deli & Café, East Norwalk Business Association, Pamelonne, Milton’s Dumpster Service, Bounce Family CT, East Norwalk Neighborhood Association and REO Appliance.

Accurate Auto is sponsoring the $500 prize for first place in the volleyball tournament. Tickets and tournament signup are available online at tasteofeastnorwalk.org.

Original article

A happy surprise for me is Harbor Harvest, a quaint-looking rustic space situated in a residential urban neighborhood in Norwalk. I liked the look of the place immediately. It looked both homey and welcoming. I appreciated that it did not make a huge fuss over the fact everything served inside has an impeccable pedigree. Harbor Harvest is not a restaurant, but rather a multifunctional grocery store, espresso bar, catering center, bakery, deli, cosmetic counter, wine shop, craft-beer supplier, farm stand and butcher shop all under one roof. You can have a cup of coffee or order a standing rib roast with all the trimmings for the holidays.

Because Harbor Harvest does not trumpet the provenance of its foods, it was not until I read the website that I learned the scope of their commitment to bringing healthy delicious food to our area. Harbor Harvest’s owners run a fleet of hybrid refrigerated boats that allow them to locally source from the farms of Long Island, N.Y., as well as our home state. It was the first place to commercially grow herbs and micro greens indoors. The owners regularly go from farm to farm to select the best pork beef and chickens, and the finest seasonal produce. The meat is then butchered in-house, the vegetables are used in the meals produced and sold in bushels outdoors.

Because I arrived by car at Harbor Harvest I did not qualify for the 5-percent discount customers get if they walk there or ride a bike. Guiltily, I parked my gas-hog car right in front and ducked inside. No one yelled at me.

I started at the front of the shop near the front door. There is a serious espresso machine and a barista who knows how to use it. I ordered a well-made latte and added a large piece of still-warm homemade crumb cake on the side. It isn’t often one gets served real crumb cake in our area (unlike Philadelphia where it is ubiquitous). After one bite of the lush, vanilla-tinged pastry, which, as expected, dropped a torrential wave of crumbs down my shirt front, I considered relocating to Pennsylvania to insure a regular supply.

The stroll toward the back of the store took a while. En route I slathered on organic hand cream, looked at bottles of wine from Connecticut vineyards, was distracted by unusual groceries, like a German cake mix that promised a sensational marble cake, and stopped to admire a display of Connecticut-made Italian pastas and sauces.

My final destination was the deli and butcher shop. Once I arrived I admired the large clean glass cases filled with beautifully displayed, well-marbled steaks, lamb chops and a myriad of different sausage meats. In the next case was an array of fresh seafood sourced from Alaska to Gloucester, Mass. In both cases the produce looked of the highest quality. Unlike a regular supermarket, Harbor Harvest does not attempt to keep every single type of meat or seafood on hand every day. The more limited selection translates to the fact that these foods are fresh, hand-picked and not delivered to the store frozen or en masse.

At the deli you can order the daily specials, as well as amazing sandwiches and ready-to-eat meals. The specials are written each day on a chalkboard placed outside the front door. They are often unusual or exotic. One day Wild Buffalo Chili was the stew du jour; the next day a pink-hued Hungarian chicken paprikash was featured. There is an enormous selection of sandwiches, everything from the plainest ham and Swiss, to pistachio mortadella slathered with red onion and fig spread.

I ordered a Harbor Harvest sandwich, thinking logically if it bore the name of the store it had to be great. It was. The Harbor Harvest is a homemade thin chicken cutlet, layered with broccoli rabe, tomatoes, crushed red peppers, fresh mozzarella and garlic aioli. I asked for it to be put on a grinder roll. On the side I ordered beef goulash, so hearty you could stand a spoon in it. To take home with me, I grabbed some slow-roasted Cuban pork shoulder with rice and beans covered with a homemade cilantro sauce. So stuffed from the big sandwich and the goulash, I did not get around to eating it until the next day. After hibernating overnight in the fridge it was still delicious.

When I left Harbor Harvest I took a short walk. Lured by the salty smell of nearby Calf Pasture Beach it proved a perfect digestive. Listening to the cry of seagulls overhead in the cobalt blue sky I decided not to relocate to Pennsylvania for the crumb cake. I love where I live.

Jane Stern, a Ridgefield resident, coauthored the popular “Roadfood†guidebook series with Michael Stern. Join her each week as she travels Fairfield County finding a great meal in unexpected places for $20 or less.

Original article

NORWALK — When Bob Kunkel was growing up, his grandfather offered to teach him how to be a butcher, but he knew change was coming.

“He was a butcher in the Bronx and he knew the big grocery stores were coming,†Kunkel said. “I think he’d be surprised to see that trend reversing now, and that’s thanks to the millennials.â€

Kunkel, one of the owners of Harbor Harvest in East Norwalk, said he’s seen a marked change in the way people shop, think about food and care where it comes from. So with millennials returning to locally produced goods and a deepening interest in lowering their carbon footprint, Kunkel is looking to take that one step further.

Kunkel has a vision — a fleet of hybrid electric catamarans with refrigeration ferrying organic and locally produced foods across Long Island Sound. If it sounds like a lofty ambition, consider that Kunkel’s not just a food market owner, he also owns AMTECH, the company that built the Maritime Aquarium’s cutting-edge new research vessel.

Harbor Harvest is partnering with Derecktor Shipyards of Mamaroneck, N.Y., to develop the alternative transportation platform. The goal is to create an emissions-free eco-delivery marine coastal farm-to-table distribution network. It would help alleviate congestion and emissions on the Interstate 95 corridor and within the local cities in Connecticut and New York.

“Local and organic farmers spend so much effort on being as sustainable as possible,†Kunkel said. “And then they ship their goods in trucks that are inefficient, cause congestion and pollution. It doesn’t make sense.â€

Kunkel said the project would use hybrid lithium battery propelled boats to deliver dairy, produce, meat and fish products collected from the inland agricultural areas of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Long Island to coastal distribution points on all sides of Long Island Sound. Boats will distribute products along the Connecticut and Long Island coastline and eventually into New York City. Door-to-door service would be provided from the original Harbor Harvest retail farm market and distribution center in East Norwalk.

The project has garnered support from local politicians, farmers, restaurant owners and consumers, and on Wednesday the Connecticut Port Authority board voted to act as the public sponsor for the Federal Marine Highway designation in order to receive grant funding for the project.

Harbor Harvest owner Bob Kunkel (fifth from left) and the them who designed the hybrid vessels used at the Maritime Aquarium and in the future Harbor Harvest sustainable marine shipping project.

The farm-to-table organic food market has exploded within Fairfield County, and New York state continues to be a leader in agricultural with more than 36,000 farms producing $4.7 billion in products annually, according to a report released by Connecticut State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Farming in New York and Connecticut is mainly a small, family business, and Connecticut has more than 42 certified organic farms and over 120 farm stand market places, all of which are the target audience for sustainable shipping. The project has collected so much interest, that Kunkel imagines growth along the New England coastline could call for a fleet of 12 boats instead of the two he had originally planned to build.

“We have found no opposition so far,†Kunkel said. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries up and down the Hudson, in New York City, South Jersey, Rhode Island … I’ve even had farmers in Maine already making calls. It’s a return to New England history where shipping was all done by water.â€

Kunkel, who owns the global marine shipping company Alternative Marine Technologies (AMTECH) and Harbor Harvest, was previously the the chairman of the federal government’s Short Sea Cooperative Program, modeled after a short sea shipping project in Europe.

AMTECH was also responsible for the 65-foot catamaran hyrbrid research vessel now used by the Maritime Aquarium. It is the only research vessel in North America with hybrid-electric propulsion, and runs virtually silently on Lithium battery electric power for the aquarium’s two-hour study cruises on Long Island Sound. Designed by Incat Crowther of Australia, the boat was built in Mamaroneck at the Derecktor shipyard.

Now, Kunkel is combing his experience in shipping, passion for sustainability and success of the Martime Aquarium vessel to once again work with Derecktor to modify the catamaran hull from a passenger vessel to a cargo vessel. The construction and delivery of each hybrid vessel is estimated at $3 million.

The cargo area will include 300 square feet of open cargo space, 100 square feet of indoor covered cargo space and 140 square feet of walk-in refrigerated space capable of carrying 12,000 pounds of cargo. Kunkel said the vessels will also have research capabilities and collect data during every trip out. Trip lengths will range from 1.5 to 3 hours, meaning the system will only be used for local goods.

Kunkel expects the vessels to run on electric power without having to burn fossil fuels, and therefor will have no emissions or fuel costs.

â€Each boat takes three to five full trucks off the roadways,†Kunkel said. “If they’re not full, it’s eight to 10 trucks off the road … but we’re doing everything sustainably. You’re not going to see Stop and Shop trucks loading up across from our neighborhood store in East Norwalk.â€

The projected trade routes along the Connecticut coast includes ports in East and South Norwalk, Stamford, Bridgeport and New Haven once the project is fully implemented. Kunkel said the project already has committed customers in Stamford and Norwalk, as well as locations further up the coastline. The first cross Sound trades will be from East Norwalk to Great Neck and Glen Cove in Long Island. Four Long Island small ports have committed to allow the project access to their docks.

Kunkel said the first boat should be up and running in a year, which will provide insight into potential expansion for the project. The first boat will run from the docks at Copps Island Oysters, across from Harbor Harvest in East Norwalk, to Glen Cove in Long Island.

â€Norwalk is on its way to becoming a nationally recognized sustainable port,†Kunkel said.

Original article

NORWALK – At the site of the decades-old East Norwalk neighborhood market on Cove Avenue, the much anticipated opening of Harbor Harvest has brought fresh farm-to-market, locally sourced foods to the area.

Harbor Harvest owners Bob Kunkel and Ernie Marsan have rendered a former old-time market virtually unrecognizable by transforming the space into an open and inviting market that features fresh produce, dairy and meats from farms and vendors throughout Connecticut and New York.

“In a way, the community demanded this market,” said Kunkel. “People want fresh meats and produce and freshly prepared foods.”

The market’s fresh meats for example, have been hand-picked by Marsan and Kunkel as they travel to farms to select the steer and pigs that are butchered in-house.

“The meat hangs in our freezer for 10 days to two weeks and everything is butchered here,” Kunkel said. “The beef is freshly ground, we make our own sausage. This is all USDA certified grass-fed all-natural beef.”

Seafood is from Alaska and Gloucester, and produce is harvested from farms in Long Island and Connecticut.

In keeping with the green technology of Harbor Harvest, there is an urban cultivator on-site in which herbs are grown hydroponically.

“We are able to grow herbs here that we can harvest and use in our kitchen as well as sell to local chefs,” Marsan said.

The urban cultivator is the first to be used commercially in Connecticut, Kunkel said.

“The urban cultivator was a joint venture with Tony Aitoro (of Aitoro Appliances),” Kunkel said. “In seven days the herbs grow to the microgreen stage.”

Marsan and Kunkel plan to incorporate green technology into their business model.

Before long the grocery will employ electric bicycles for deliveries.

“The plan will be to be able make deliveries on these lithium powered bikes,” Kunkel said.

An ambitious green initiative- an electric boat for trading voyages to Long Island is planned for the future.

Kunkel, is president of Amtech, the company that built R/V Spirit of the Sound, the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium’s lithium-powered research vessel and hopes to eventually construct a boat that will move farm produce between Connecticut and Long Island.

“There are certain things that Long Island has that we don’t have, but it takes eight hours to get there,” Marsan said. “”We want to do it in two hours, going straight across the Sound, emissions-free.”

A sign on the market’s wall explains the pair’s plan:

“Watch for our Hybrid powered refrigerated boats in the harbors of Connecticut and Long Island as we grow our sustainable transportation system. Our vision is to connect Connecticut’s farms and consumers with the farms and villages of Long Island. Seaborne delivery to reduce congestion and emissions on your local roadways. Our ‘green’ is blue.”

“I’m about half way through the plans for the boat, which would essentially be one big refrigerator,” Kunkel said. “While Connecticut is known for its dairy and meat, Long Island is known for its produce, so we are hoping to be able to connect the two and turn Norwalk into a sustainable port.”

Harbor Harvest, 7 Cove Ave., Norwalk is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.

Original article