Published on October 28th, 2008
Guest contributor Pamela Price is the founder of Red, White & Grew, a blog devoted to “Promoting the Victory Garden Revival and other simple, earth-friendly endeavors as bipartisan, patriotic acts in an age of uncertainty.”
Not too long ago, Eat the View (ETV) founder Roger Doiron wondered here how to push the idea of creating a new White House Victory Garden further into the public sphere. At the time, he hoped to see Obama and McCain say on camera whether or not they’d follow in the footsteps of Eleanor Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and allocate a portion of the First Lawn to food production. Thus far neither presidential contender has addressed the notion, but much of the rest of the country is going to learn about it very soon… thanks to the Vimeo.com Climate Matters Video Contest. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 27th, 2008
Lettüs Organic Cafe in San Francisco is an organization committed to furthering sustainable practices and healthy living. Winner of several awards, and on the top of the foodie review lists, this cafe is truly the best of the bay area, in my humble opinion. The cafe features delicious freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, salads, yummy bowls, sandwiches and their famous mouth watering garden burgers, that even carnivores yearn for. In their own words:
“In many cases, food has been growing only a day or two before it is served to our customers. When it is not available locally, we search the globe in our quest for the best organic, natural or artisan quality ingredients as reflected in our coffees, teas, and spirits.”
While the organic ingredients for Lettüs’s dishes are practically all locally sourced, that is not so with the unique materials used for the interior…For example, Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
Biodegradable Clamshells,
Compostable Containers,
Compostable Cutlery,
Dining Out,
Fresh Squeezed Juices,
From Farm to Table,
Lettüs,
Lettüs Cafe,
Lettüs Organic Cafe,
locally grown food,
Organic Salad,
Organic Smoothies,
Potato Cutlery,
Reclaimed Wood,
Royal Mosa,
San Francisco,
Zero Waste
Published on October 22nd, 2008
The harvest season readily invokes an aura of gratitude for those of us who frequent our local farmers’ market. We feel appreciation as we wander between the overflowing piles of pumpkins, winter squash and root crops – thankful for the flavors of the past bountiful season.
Yet what can we do to express such thanks? How do we channel such inklings of gratitude? Here’s where a dash of out-of-the produce box thinking can stir up rewarding ways to contribute to your local food system in creative ways above and beyond shopping routines. Yes, you could join a committee or existing organization. But sometimes the volunteer path less traveled can be the route to go, coming up with your own vision and project.
Just ask Melinda and Dan Hemmelgarn, long-time supporters of their Columbia Farmers’ Market. Blending their photography and writing talents with their passion for local agriculture, the imaginative duo created a fund-raising calendar featuring area farmers: Farm Hands – a Tribute to the hands that feed us. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 17th, 2008
Today marks Karva Chauth, a traditional Northern Indian festival that harks from the villages of Punjab. Married women fast for the long life of their husband. Even though it is a challenging fast, Karva Chauth is welcomed and celebrated by Indian women in and outside of India as it celebrates camaraderie among married women.
Women traditionally eat sargi, the (Punjabi) name given to the delicious vermicelli kheer (pudding), early in the morning and then fast all day. Following a community prayer and storytelling at sunset, they break their fast after the moon rises. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 15th, 2008
For those who regularly shop the local farmers’ market, the last markets of the season serve up bittersweet emotions. On one hand, the amazing abundance of the fall harvest packs the stalls, from apples to acorn squash. Yet there’s also this rampant feeling of sad emptiness akin to the emotive last day of summer camp. We realistically know the growing season, at least for most parts of the country, is quickly heading to the seasonal end and our days of fresh local bounty sit numbered.
Or do they? With a little strategic planning and stock-up shopping at the final farmers’ markets, you can create your own mini market at home, continuing to savor those local flavors through the dead of winter.
Just ask Cindy Torres, manager of the Longmont Farmers’ Market outside Boulder, Colorado. Torres passionately works toward helping people, particularly county commissioners, make the connection between a healthy local food system and healthy economic development. She co-founded the Boulder County Food and Agriculture Policy Council and serves as a Food and Society Policy Fellow.
“With a little bit of planning and preparation, we can readily eat local till the spring markets start up again,” explains Torres. Here are her favorite five tips: Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 10th, 2008
After spending my first autumn surround by the amazing micro-climates of the Rogue Valley of southern Oregon, I was inspired to give the classic potato gnocchi recipe my own twist by adding roasted squash along with the roasted potatoes. Just like other dumplings, the key to making gnocchi is to make sure that the dough isn’t too sticky and that you don’t over mix or over knead the dough.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 10th, 2008
Just 15 minutes down the road from Sarah Palin’s stomping grounds of Wasilla, there is a party going on. A potato party. Bill Campbell, a local agronomist, hosted the Palmer Potato Pageant at the Railroad Depot in Palmer, AK.
The litany of alliteration unfolded with a planned Potato Potluck, exhibition of potato paraphernalia, potato poetry, and a potato party in the pomme de terre province of Palmer.
All bad puns aside (seriously), many societies would not have survived if it wasn’t for the humble potato, and some almost didn’t make it because of the potato. In fact, each American eats over 100 pounds of potatoes a year, and we are not alone. The United States produced just over 17.5 million tons of potatoes in 2007, which was a slight decrease from the previous year, but still enough to put us at the number 5 spot worldwide.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 8th, 2008
Yes, haggis—minced sheep organs mixed with onions, oatmeal, and spices, and then boiled inside the sheep’s stomach—could be the latest victim of global warming.
A vital ingredient to make the traditional Scottish dish is becoming increasingly hard to find: sheep lung. Many sheep have been infected with Lung Worm, which does not affect the rest of the sheep’s body, does render the lungs inedible.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 8th, 2008
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how the demand for inexpensive olive oil in large quantities is causing environemental problems in some of the world’s largest olive oil producing countries including Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal.
It’s estimated that 95% of the olive oil in the country comes form the Mediterranean region. For those of us in America who are trying to incorporate more local foods into our diet, this causes a problem. The U.S. isn’t known for it’s olive oil. At least, not yet. But it seems that many regions in California are stepping up their olive growing and their olive oil producing. According to a news brief on oliveoilsource.com
Olive oil is a rapidly growing industry in California, with volume projected to increase by 1000 percent in the next five years. California also produces 99.9% of the olive oil grown in the U.S.
and recently
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 634 to provide stronger support to domestic olive oil producers nationwide by giving further clarification and quality control over olive oil sold in the United States.
So it looks like there will be a lot more olive oil being produced in the U.S. and steps are being taken to ensure the quality of that oil. In fact, the article says that
the new law finally gives regulatory weight to how olive oil is labeled and marketed and substance to quality control issues that have plagued the industry involving lower-grade oils fraudulently marketed as extra virgin.
Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 8th, 2008
Searching for that truly virtuous cup of coffee? If you’ve looked into the impact of your morning cup of joe recently, chances are you know that most coffees are their greenest when they’re still on the plantation, or maybe the tree.
Roasting, shipping, marketing, bagging and processing all take a lot of energy, and most coffee in the world travels a fair distance before it ends up in our french presses. Coffee is an equatorial crop, and we don’t all live on the equator.
Read the rest of this entry »
Guest contributor Pamela Price is the founder of Red, White & Grew, a blog devoted to “Promoting the Victory Garden Revival and other simple, earth-friendly endeavors as bipartisan, patriotic acts in an age of uncertainty.”
