SF Local Foods

Article: Radical Homemaking?

2010-08-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

From Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle

Yet another way of labeling the 'trend' away from Velveeta. Dropping out in the 21st century makes news, but more like nontrevercy. However, the author does try to stir it up. She brings on a professor of sustainable design at UC Berkeley, Jessica Carew Kraft. She said, "At the end of the day, after you've recycled gray water into your garden, biked to work and washed a hundred diapers by hand, you've done a lot of good for yourself, but have you really changed the world?" Kraft asks. "Radical homemaking can become too self-righteous." I think if a quarter of us would do a quarter of that, we would be changing the world.

Read the Chronicle Article

Another radical, Robin Johnson Simpson, of Belmont, has an interesting blog Frustrated Farmgirl.

NPR Story about food carts

2010-08-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

Nice national story about food carts in different cities (or maybe just Seattle, although this is not disclosed in the story). Charla Bear says a number of new chefs use mobile kitchens as lower risk first ventures before moving into brick-and-mortar establishments.

Mobile food seems all the buzz here lately. My family and I visited this Saturday's street food event sponsored by La Cocina in the Mission. The food was great and the street was packed. It was a dilemma whether to chose a stand for its fare or for how short the line was. We compromised with our stomachs and settled for a pair of kati roles from Kasa Indian Eatery. One was chicken the other vegetarian and both were yummy.

Hear the story

San Francisco Art and Politics

2010-08-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

I picked up a free paper called San Francisco Art and Politics at a coffeeshop and found two thought provoking articles in it. One was a short article about a San Francisco newsletter from the 70's called Turnover: The Newsletter of the People's Food System. Five front covers were reproduced as well as an article about food politics by Pam Pierce (author of our food growing bible, The Golden Gate Gardener). The writer mentions that issues can be seen at the History Room of the San Francisco Public Library as well as the Prelinger Library. I can't wait to peruse them.
The other was entitled Stone Soup. In it Ellen Roggermann exposes her thoughts on the loss of communal food sharing and subsequently the social glue that used to provide. The most interesting point she makes is that some place are beginning to revive communal ovens that apparently were fixtures in many European villages and likely still are in other parts of the world.
It begs the question: How much further can we push the idea of community gardens? How about community orchards? Sheep herds? Cheese dairies? Fish farm? Not that this is that novel an idea.
Check out the community chicken coop in How-to Homestead videos website.
And pick up a copy of San Francisco Art and Politics at your local independent bookstore (better yet, get it at Green Arcade, a great newish bookstore specializing in environment/landscape/local history, near the corner of Gough and Market St.)

Turnover cover image from Found SF, Chris Carlson's wikisite of San Francisco history.

Portland, Oregon - a movable feast

2010-08-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

My favorite personal discovery during our summer road trip was the

food cart scene in Portland. It is funky delicious, and a whole lot of fun seeking great eats scattered around the city. We had a yummy and filling breakfast at the Waffle Window (if you go, don't forget to get a side of pepper cured bacon) followed by lunch the same day at a Vietnamese cart downtown.

If serendipity in eating is not your thing, you can take out the guess work by visiting virtually at Food Carts Portland http://www.foodcartsportland.com/
Even if your are not planning a trip soon it is worth a web visit to get a flavor for the variety and liveliness of this scene. Maybe we could import some of this to the Bay Area.

Quote: Planting for the future

2010-08-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

Dean Crowford quoting Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills, Charleston, South Carolina -

"He mentioned the Southern tradition of planting a pecan tree not for oneself but for one's grandchildren, since the pecan takes sixty-five years to bear."

Gastronomica, Spring 2010

Leaping Lamb Farm Stay

2010-08-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

My family and I had the great pleasure of traveling to Oregon this summer, running away from the fog, and having four glorious days in this farm near Corvalis. Apart from reducing our standing blood pressure reading by at least 10 points, we got to see some of the inner workings of a hobby farm.

The inside view both inspired and tempered our fantasy of "living the dream" in a farm of our own. The place was beautiful and pastoral, especially as seen through our cabin windows while reclining in a comfortable chair, and from the perspective of our unhurried vacation mode. At some point however, I realized that what looked to me as a landscape to contemplate looked like an endless check list of chores to our farm hosts. For them there seemed to be a relentless pace, a rhythm to each day, that needed tending to without fail. I was never under the illusion that farming would be easy work but it was nonetheless sobering to realize the constancy required.

Our hosts, Scottie and Greg, were very friendly and invited us to join in for the most pleasureable of the tasks. The kids most enjoyed ringing a small cow bell on a string to bring in the sheep, the horses, and a donkey named Paco.

We wandered about the farm at our leisure. It was wonderful and I highly recommend this farm stay especially for families with kids. We hope to return a number of times while the kids are young.

Book: Twain's Feast

2010-07-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

This wonderful summer read is a quest by Berkeley-based author, Andrew Beahrs. While Twain was on an extensive tour of Europe he had a terrible bout of home sickness. He expressed this by denigrating the food he was served throughout the continent and by creating an imaginary American menu, the feast referred to in the title (he included the list in his "A Tramp Abroad", 1880).

What is amazing about this recounting is that more than a century later, Twain's Feast should strike such a relevant chord. Most of the items he fondly desires are rooted in a specific place and would have been eaten only fresh and in season. It reminds us that we are not so much inventing a new way of sourcing our food - rooted, fresh, and limited in geography - but returning to what was. It is a view to a time before freight trains and refrigeration homogenized our American palate.

It is also a reminder that food was one of the most important way in which place was distinguished. Not mussels, but San Francisco mussels steamed in their shell. Not just bacon, but Virginia bacon, broiled. Twain was not just day-dreaming of taste but also the flavor of a place.

It may seem obvious to say that this connection between place and food must in part be driving our impulse to local food. In choosing to eat a more rooted cuisine we are helping to distinguish our city, town, village, etc. I, for one, celebrate this renaissance of difference.

Taking off from this idea Beahrs dives into an investigation of a select few items from Twain's menu. It has been quite a treat to go along for the ride.

KQED's Forum Features Ghost Town Farm's Novella Carpenter

2009-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

On tomorrow's Forum program, Michael Krasni will interview Novella Carpenter who has been running an urban farm in Oakland. She is a journalist as well as farmer and has published a book, Urban Farm. KCRW also interviewed her recently in a program called Good Food (great program).
So listen in tomorrow or anytime throught the Forum archive.

Here is the episode of Good Food with Carpenter's interview

Tom Philpott on the media voices of food politics

2009-07-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

In this article on Grist.com, Tom Philpott gives a nice run down of the growth in media attention about our food systems. I thought it was especially relevant to link to his column after my post on Pollan's talk. Tom seems to be wondering if a more diverse discussion can emerge from under the "long shadow" cast by Michael P's work.

Well, just in the last hour I read, aside from Tom's article, two items in the New York Times magazine (I know... this is M.P.'s main vehicle) on Will Allen's Growing Power in Milwakee and another item, with recipes, about D.I.Y.'s in blighted Oakland (curing meats, foraging, and canning). There is some variety after all and these four are good reads. So here are the links and enjoy:

Tom Plilpott Grist.com

Street Farmer (Growing Power's Will Allen)

Home Sweet (Urban) Homestead

Gut Check, Ezra Kleins new food politics column in the Washington Post

Swap your excess production a la Forage Oakland

2009-07-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

In the latest issue of San Francisco Magazine there is a write up about Asiya Wadud, founder of Forage Oakland, one of my favorite blogs (see blogroll right). I would love to start a gleanig swap right here in San Francisco. Email if you would like to participate and I can schedule a date, time and place to share.

Here is the description of Asiya's work on the Magazine's website. I guess for the full article you'll have to see the issue.

Don’t get stuck with a lemon
You will, if you have a tree that produces more than you can use—an all-too-common embarrassment of riches that inspired Chez Panisse bartender Asiya Wadud to establish Forage Oakland. When she noticed piles of backyard fruit left rotting on the ground all over South Berkeley and North Oakland, she decided to create an online community where people can trade their excess lemons, figs, or anything else. Now, between shifts at the restaurant, Wadud spends her spare time bicycling through Rockridge and Temescal, gathering tree fruit and redistributing it among the group’s 200-plus members, forageoakland.blogspot.com

Now Hear This - Conscience-in-chief, Michael Pollan puts it all together in one talk

2009-07-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Some may say that Pollan over-dominates the issue but no one articulates the principles of the growing food revolution like he does. KQED aired this talk three days in a row and if you missed it, check in to the Long Now Foundation website where it will soon be available as a podcast. It is amazing that Pollan has such a comprehensive view. My favorite, for the moment, point is that of all the ills in the world today (most of which make mortals like me feel overwhelmed) reforming the food systems is empowering. We are the change we want to see by the choices we make when we procure our food.

Here is the program description and link to Long Now Foundation:
Michael Pollan Deep Agriculture (The Long Now Foundation): Deep Agriculture: Re-solarizing the Food System to Fight Climate Change and the Health Care Crisis -- This special program consists of a seminar on long-term thinking produced by The Long Now Foundation and featuring Michael Pollan. Pollan will describe his program to transform American agriculture as a "sun food agenda." Hes the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Pollan is also the director the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley. This seminar about long-term thinking is hosted by Stewart Brand and was recorded at the Herbst Theatre on May 5, 2009.

http://www.longnow.org/

Chicken Coop Chic on the Radio

2009-05-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

I recently read a slimly substantiated op-ed piece on Slate about the supposed media driven non-trend of backyard chicken rearing. The author contended that these news items were popping up and that news outlets where all feeding off each other. The argument hinged around the fact that the numbers were never included. Well a raspberry to you, Slate. In the course of the last few months several friends have expressed interest, had owned chickens in the past, or have begun to build their own coops. The chicken and duck workshop I attended had over 40 attendees. At least three other people I know bought chicks. I either live in a chicken bubble or the trend is real.

So it was great to hear this story on NPR. There is also a link to the "Chicken Whisperer" and his web radio show from Atlanta.

As for our three little ones, it is amazing how fast they have been shedding their downy feathers and how much they grow each day. The kids love to watch them.

Coop Slides

2009-05-16T22:36:00.001-07:00

Chicken Build-a-palooza

Chicken Coop-raising

2009-05-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a full day of shelter building for our new chicks. Although they will be indoors for some time to come, we are getting an early jump by building our yard-tractor coop. This A-frame enclosure is designed so that you can move it around and have the chickens graze on different patches of the yard (and act as a fertilizer spreader). We have to thank our friends Thuha and Debbie for hosting our little build-a-palooza, and Thuha for making sure that 98% of our building materials were reused. She got all the supplies from Habitat for Humanity's East Bay ReStore.
Thuha is building her own poulet chalet at the same time. A great thanks also goes out to our friend Oliver who brought his considerable skills and calculator. Thank goodness he invited Sohcahtoa as well.

And as if Thuha had not done enough, she also got us our downy chicks. She got some of them from a Concord feed store and the rest from a chicken rescue outfit on Sherman Island in the Delta. We have three of them: a Buff Orpington, a Cookoo Maran (a great name for a boxer, don't you think?), and a Welsummer. No one is more excited about our new arrivals than our almost 3 year old son, Elias. This is only the beginning. We'll keep you posted.

The Chicken Diaries: Workshop at Garden for the Environment

2009-04-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

The first chapter of our gallusian (Gallus gallus domesticus) saga begins this Saturday when GFTE is hosting a chicken and duck workshop. I hope that I will be better equipped to handle the responsibility of adding new members into our growing arc of creatures (the kids don't qualify as domesticated animals but we still have to feed them). So many questions. What do you think I should ask? Want to join me? Here is the link.

A Little Off Topic: Weaving to-go

2009-04-09T12:06:00.001-07:00

While mining the web on food related material I came across a crusading weaver with a simple loom you can make out of card stock and use anywhere. I tried it out recently with great results. It was fun and meditative. I did much of it in the park while the kids were playing. It was also great to feel that I was doing something that humans have been doing at least since the Neolithic. Instructions and how-to videos are at actionweaver.com

To start with I used some cheap acrylic yarn I found at SCRAP. If you use left over wool and then wash it, it becomes a very tight cloth. I want to try making a bunch of small pieces this way and stitch them together into a quilt-like wool blanket.

Article: NYT, No Progress on Food Safety

2009-04-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Not to be complacently smug about it, but the recent scares with salmonella and nuts did not even raise one of our eyebrows at home. Knowing where most of our food comes from helps us keep a leveled head about this. I'd be interested to know how organic, locally sourced produce compares with industrial production (send me a link if you have seen a study). In light of the fact that dispersed, small-scale food production is one way to increase food safety it is worth examining this angle. The article is at NY Times.

Documentary: Greenhorns

2009-03-29T20:38:00.001-07:00

Check out the trailer of a documentary about new farmers joining in the revolution.

Article: Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?

2009-03-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday , the NY Times Business section included a long article about the mainstreaming of the organic and local foods movement. The heart of the argument is that the "revolution" has penetrated even to the top echelon of our government elite. The ebullient mood of many of the movements heavyweights, such as Alice Waters (pictured above), was mentioned several times. Much was made of the posturing among these "pioneers" and some of the leading non-profit lobbies, as they elbow their way to sit at the table with Obama and his administration. But, with all due respect to the godmother of locavoring, a celebrity cat-fight in Washington is quite a boring and unproductive topic.

Given that this article was in the business section I can only assume that its purpose was to gauge the profit potential of a sector now in vogue on Capitol Hill. The author however does paint a candid picture of the situation: while the higher ups are enthusiastic they are handcuffed by a congress that is still in the back pocket of agribusiness. Philosophy talks, money walks.

No matter. As the author also points out, this movement has been steadily chipping away, using a growing purchasing power to force the market. The most optimistic point made in the article is that The Omnivore's Dilemma is now ubiquitous in the halls of congress. Maybe we are in vogue.

Read it at NY Times

Edible Garden at the White House

2009-03-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

They did it! Michelle Obama was out there today with a group of elementary school kids preparing some beds for planting. The Obamas, with the help of these same kids, are hoping to grow enough food to supplement the White House kitchen and donate some to a homeless shelter. Read more about it in the White House website and at the NY Times.

Urban Foraging

2009-03-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

This recent story in SF Weekly is about Iso Rabins. He forages wild foods in the city. Iso is even launching a subscriber based "Community Supported Forage" box. Much of his foraging is fungal, but he also gathers such common annuals as stinging nettle and miner's lettuce.

It is interesting to note how fringe this ideas is presented in the pages of the weekly. It must say something that this story sounds so Quixotic. It is probably indicative of the loss of common knowledge about the bounty at our feet.

I must confessed that I even feel a little uneasy ingesting something that is not some how mediated for me by a grower or sanctioned by processing by General Mills (and this is only indicative of my own conformity with the agro-industrial complex).
The basic questions posed by the author is food for thought: how did foraging, one of the most basic of human endeavors, become so foreign.

Even before reading this article I had resolved to learn about some common local edibles that I could begin to gather and bring to our table. To that end I cracked open a copy of Edible and Useful Plants of California, by Charlotte Bringle Clarke that had been on my bookshelf for a while. It has been recently reprinted by UC Press. The book is organized by habitat and includes recipes and medicinal use information.

Something I learned that I may soon get to apply is that small branches of California bay can be placed in a chicken coop to keep fleas away. I also want to try making tea from dried blackberry leaves (I'll post it when I do).

Read about Iso Rabins at SF Weekly. His website is ForageSF

Thanks Manuelito for sending me this link.

Quote: The Local Food Revolution

2009-03-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

All over the world, people are standing up to the agro-industrial complex and calling for food sovereignty - the right to nurish and strengthen their families and communities, sustain their culture, build health, and protect biodiversity.
Sarah van Gelder
Executive Editor of Yes! Magazine

The Spring issue of Yes! is dedicated grassroots food projects. Yes! Magazine.

Asparagus on My Mind

2009-03-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Corner

Until last night I thought I’d make it through next week without buying asparagus.

I’ve been trying to pare down my time spent thinking about, buying and preparing food. We subscribed to a CSA farm box, and I decided to go to the Alemany farmer’s market every other week. I wince imagining my flat of eggs running out in the refrigerator, and buying a few non-local, less juicy apples at our local grocer, but my time is precious these days so I wanted to reclaim a few hours of my Saturday morning.

Back to the asparagus. The season is so tantalizingly brief, and asparagus are so easy to prepare. They work alongside pasta, chicken, in risotto. Maybe part of the pull is the thought of only a few precious weeks of asparagus each year. But I thought I could skip this coming week. Then I tried the most amazing, crunchy, grilled, juicy asparagus recipe, and now I can’t stop thinking about those stalks. The best part is that the recipe takes only 12 minutes, one or two knife swipes, basic ingredients, and your home stovetop.

Pan Roasted Asparagus

Wash and chop bottoms off a bunch of asparagus.
Heat up a 12” skillet (I used my favorite cast iron) at medium high heat with one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil.
Add asparagus, with half the tops in each direction. Cover for 5 minutes.
Uncover, add salt and pepper, raise heat to high. Cook 5-7 minutes, rotating asparagus towards center of the pan.

The asparagus come out tasting grilled, and brilliantly flavorful.

I got this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, which is my latest cooking obsession. They tested this recipe with all kinds of variations and settled on this version. I have to concur, it’s perfect.

I might just have to buy three bunches this Saturday.

Pollan on Bill Moyer's Journal

2009-03-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

Great Interview. See it here.

Article: Bay Area Wheat Makes a Comeback

2009-03-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

A great article I missed during my hiatus. Eat Well and Full Belly Farms revive an historic wheat strain, Sonora wheat, that may have arrived in the Americas with Columbus. Wheat may never be king here again but the revival adds diversity and excitement to the locavore scene. Read it at Chronicle.com while you can.

What's more you can purchase Sonora wheat at the Pie Ranch farm stand. You can then mill it yourself as the ranch has just received shipment of a new stone mill from Austria. More on that at Pie Ranch.
We can owe this revival to Monica Spiller who has a non-profit working to promote sustainably grown grains. See her work at Whole Grain Connection.

Also, check out Morrell's Bread, made with this local wheat at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin.

Susan Stamberg Goes to Duarte's

2009-03-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Listen to this great piece from NPR's Susan Stamberg about Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero. If you have yet to experience this local treasure, get yourself there soon. A recommended outing around Pescadero: hike the marsh, U-pick 'em olallieberries at Phipps Farm and Country Store and the half-and-half bowl of cream of artichoke and green pepper soup at Duarte's. Personally I precede the soup with half a dozen oyster on the half shell and a Bloody Mary (green bean rather than celery at Duartes).

Hear Susan's piece here

Check out What's up with Urban Sprout

2009-03-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Urban Sprouts, an educational organization focusing on gardens, nutrition, and food justice, runs programs out of several San Francisco Middle Schools. They develop the gardens and help teachers integrate curricula with food growing. They are proposing a new garden for MLK Middle School in the Portola District. Check out their newsletter and slide show.
Slide Show
Blog

Article: The Perils of Efficiency

2009-03-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

In this short article James Surowiecki of the New Yorker argues that we have traded efficiency to the detriment of resiliency in our food systems. Another troubling trend. The Perils of Efficiency.

Article: Spoiled: Organic and Local is So 2008

2009-03-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Locavoring under attack on the pages of Mother Jones. Just in case we started feeling too comfy within the easy confines of our local foodscape, Paul Robert reminds us that we are 6.5 billion and growing. Sustainability in a food system will have to be a lot less neater that many of us envisioned it in order to feed us all. Spoiled: Organic and Local are SO 2008.

Article: Farmer in Chief

2009-03-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I refered to a serious discussion of an edible garden on the White House lawn. Well Michael Pollan is the main proponent of this idea and you can read his open letter to the President here, Farmer in Chief.

A little excerpt to get you in the mood: "Put another way, when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis -- a process based on making food energy from sunshine. There is hope and possibility in that simple fact."

Meals-on-Wheels Hits the Farm

2009-03-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

What is bright yellow, goes up to 60 mph, and has a fire on its tail (actually a custom built grill)? Apparently Meadow Lark Farm Dinners. These folk prepare an outdoor meal right next to the farm field out of a converted yellow school bus. Its extreme locavoring and it sounds wonderful. The down side for us is that they do this only in Colorado but it is such a great idea someone from Northern California will surely steal it. Meadow Lark Farm Dinners

Article: Eat Local, Kill Local

2009-03-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

Pass this up if you don't eat meat. If you do and you want to do it locally and ethically, Read Heather Smiths article about a group of ranchers attempting to open a small-scale slaughterhouse in the Bay Area. Apparently even locally grazed, organically raised cattle must be trucked out to some industrial slaughterhouse in the Central Valley to be killed. These folk want to close the loop and bring some honesty to our local meat consumption. Read it hear Eat Local, Kill Locall

In the works: Documentary Film 'Edible City'

2009-03-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Check out video clips and help support this homegrown film project.

Edible City Trailer 1 from East Bay Pictures on Vimeo.

Food Deserts

2009-03-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

This old post at FOOD MAPPING is worth revisiting because it brings up an important point about food accessibility. Although not local (the post focuses on NYC, of course we have our own food deserts. See the post @ FOOD MAPPING

Back on the Blog

2009-03-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus because our family has sprouted a new addition (Inez is now almost 9 months old), San Francisco Local Foods is back. It is hard to believe how much more momentum this movement has taken in the meantime. From the start, this energy has come because of grassroots efforts but may not be unrelated to a new sense of optimism brought on by the change in leadership in Washington. There has even been a serious discussion about displacing a portion of the White House lawn to make way for an organic kitchen garden (along with a new position of Farmer in chief).

It is now hard to find a mainstream publication or news outlet that has not covered local food movements and no more telling sign than the recent adoption of the word locavore by the editors of the Oxford American Dictionary (although this html editor still underlines the word in red).

We missed bringing you the news from our local scene and we are glad to be back in the stream.
Francisco.

Presto Pesto

2008-06-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

Presto: Pesto!

According to my Local Food Wheel, basil is in season so I went to the farmers' market this Tuesday and bought about ten bunches as well as some garlic for pesto.

Home made pasta pesto is one of my favorite meals, unfortunately basil has a very limited season. While I have heard of freezing extra pesto in ice cube trays it takes up a lot of space and suffers from freezer burn if you keep it for very long that way. In college I discovered a better method: plastic zipper bags!

With approximate measurements here is my recipe for pesto:

5 bunches basil (about $1.50 each at your local farmers' market in the summer)
2 to 4 ounces of Romano cheese (cut into big cubes is fine)
1/2 cups pine nuts, slightly browned
5+ cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Olive oil to taste (about 1 cup)

Using a blender or a food processor puree all the basil and begin adding olive oil. The pured basil will taste a little like lawn clippings, add olive oil slowly tasting frequently. The mixture will lighten in color and as soon as it no longer tastes like lawn clippings and begins tasting like pesto you have enough oil. Now add the salt, pepper, pepper flakes, pine nuts, garlic cloves and chunks of cheese. Puree the rest of these ingredients and your are done!

Spoon the mixture into zipper bags so that when spread flat they lay about 1/4 to 1/2 inches thick. Lay the zipper bags flat directly on the rack of your freezer (you put your frozen foods right on top while the pesto freezes). Freezing the pesto against the rack means that it will freeze in segments (which are usually about one serving each) which can be broken off any time during the year for a pesto dinner.

Oliver

Oberlin College Green House

2008-05-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

Check out this great short video at the NY Times. I really like what the student says about blending idealism and pragmatism.
"We are not trying to bring America back to its agrarian past, but we care about these issues, we act, and we move fast." Paraphrasing but you get the kernel.
See it at Oberlin Green House

Bill Moyers on the Farm Bill

2008-05-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

Watch a short video podcast of Bill Moyers' view of the current Farm Bill. He expresses the ambivalence that many of us feels towards this irrational, corrupt, and unsustainable piece of legislation that nevertheless is tied to the welfare of many poor families through the funding of nutrition assistance and school lunch programs. Someone is going to have some political 'cojones' one day to clean up this mess. Obama leadership maybe?

Watch it at Bill Moyer's Journal.

While you are there why not see the Exposé segment on BPA in clear hard plastics, and the heroic work of the EPA in protecting us from corporate greed (tee hee hee, that's a joke).

Blog Review of all Farmer's Market in the Bay Area

2008-05-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

A great blog about Farmer's Markets all around the bay area.
http://bafarmfresh.blogspot.com/

Local Honey

2008-05-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a very local source of sweetness. Mint Hill Apiary has its bee hives in the Castro. They sell honey and beeswax candles at Bi-Rite Market and at the Alemany Farmer's Market on Saturdays. On the websites there is even an offer to show you the hives if you contact them to make arrangements.
Mint Hill Apiary.

While I am on the subject, I might as well make a plug for the San Francisco Beekeepers Association. They meet at the Randall Museum on Corona Heights, on the second Wednesday of each month.
Maybe you want to try your hand at gathering your own sweetness. For more information SF Beekeepers.

Your Food Choices and the Environment

2008-05-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

This from our contributor Oliver Hickman

A recent report by Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews (funded by the EPA and NSF) published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (and available on the American Chemical Society's website) investigates the impact of dietary choices on the environment. The report finds that while eating locally can reduce the environmental impact of your food, the choices of what you eat can have a greater impact.

According to the report shifting your diet away from red meat one day a week can reduce the environmental impact of your food consumption as much as eating all your food locally does.

While the report finds that eating locally has a comparatively smaller impact than the choices of what you buy and eat, due to its scope focusing on dietary choices alone, it is important to remember that reducing the environmental impact of the transport of your food is just one of many reasons to eat locally. Eating locally encourages locally, family and minority owned agriculture and businesses, dissuades monoculture, returns the community involvement in the food supply, reduces packaging, provides tastier, healthier and fresher produce, reminds us of the seasonality of food and gives a direct feedback loop to the food producers, each of which is reason enough to eat locally.

The report may be found on-line at the ACS website at:
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es702969f.html
The ACS also has a summary and discussion of the report at:
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2008/apr/science/ee_foodmiles.html

An interview with Christopher Webber may be heard on Science Friday's website:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200805092

This one graphic pretty much sums up the report:
http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/esthag/asap/figures/es-2007-02969f_0001.gif

Thanks Oliver.

Through the Looking Glass Farm Bill

2008-05-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

It is a testament to the Alice in Wonderland nature of the Farm Bill that I find myself agreeing with the Bush administration for the first time. This bill deserves a presidential veto. The promise of reform into which the democratically led congress entered the reworking of the bill has long given way to special interest, back door dealings. Subsidies for racehorse breeders?

There are many things in the way of crafting a truly rational farm bill. The most profound obstacle is the inaccessibility of information on the bill. How is the ordinary voter to judge if the bill works towards developing a logical system of food production that serves all Americans? And what about a system that does not despoil the land, leaving a food crisis legacy to future generations?

Special interests live within the obscurity of federal policy. They count on our inability to devote time, energy, and resources to become informed. The more convoluted the legislation becomes the more riders can be attached. Otherwise, which congressperson would have the face to attach a multi-million dollar subsidy to horse racing to the bill?

On top of the obscurity is the fact that most Americans still picture an archetypical farmer – pitch fork in hand and clad in a denim overall – anytime we mention food production in the United States. The ugly truth is that the farm bill is not for farmers, it is instead corporate welfare at its boldest. Picture a bigwig in a finely cut suit carrying a laptop and knowing nothing about soil conservation the next time you hear about the farm bill.

The biggest truth is that farm state legislators count on the misguided support of most uninformed Americans because in our hearts we know we must protect farmers. After all, the farmer was one of the key builders of our nation. Farming is core to what it means to be American. It is time to see that the nature of food production has changed, to take our Grant Wood glasses off, and understand that the farm bill is mostly about shoving excess calories down American gullets.
Once we swallow this truth we can begin to fight our representatives to get a rational farm policy that does honor the remaining steward-farmers of our country.

One of the most eloquent accounts of how we got into the quagmire of farm subsidies was written by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Let us just say it is covered in corn syrup but is not that sweet.

What could we do to the farm bill in order to make it a vehicle for sustainable agriculture and rural revitalization? Read the recommendations of the Center for Rural Affairs. http://www.cfra.org/policy/2007

Here is a flavor of what we are up against http://www.usda.gov/documents/07finalfbp.pdf the full text of the proposal and through the library of congress’ Thomas System http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas
This stuff is great if you are suffering from insomnia.

Renewing America's Food Traditions, on NPR

2008-05-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

The author of the book, Renewing America's Food Traditions, Paul Nabhan, has a talk with Andrea Seabrook of NPR. In his newly published book Nabhan argues that in order to maintain our diverse food traditions, we must create local markets for such regional specialties as grass fed bison and Tennessee fainting goat (yes, it seems that they keel over if you startle them). The book is a wonderful mixture of recipes and essays on endangered food ways. Each chapter covers a different region relabeled (instead of the Southwest, the areas is referred to as the Chile Pepper Nation, for example)
Click Here to listen

While you are on NPR why not check out the Kitchen Sister's great audio archive of food ways stories,
Hidden Kitchens

Searchable Database of Food Systems Related Books and Films

2008-05-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a tool to arm yourself with information. A professor from Michigan has created a searchable list of current books and films related to food systems. I will also include the link in the bibliography section. Click here.

Bike Ride for Good Local Food

2008-05-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

This is pure genius. A bike ride about alternative food systems in the city! What could be more wholesome? The San Francisco Bike Coalition and the documentarian producing the upcoming film, 'Looking for Good Food,' are jointly sponsoring a bike tour of relevant sites in the city. There will be guest speakers along the way. The ride will last approximately 2 hours and end at the Alemany Farmer's Market. Riders will meet at Mission and 16th Street. The Coalition requests that you RSVP. For more information, and to see a short clip of the film visit Looking for Good Food website or The Bike Coalition ride page.

The website for the film also has many interesting links.

Old Duboce Farmer's Market

2008-05-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

Looking for a new banner image in the historical photo collection of our local library I was surprised to find pictures labeled, "Farmer's Market, Duboce and Market Street." The images seem to show the market was located at the foot of the mint hill - just where the Safeway is now. Not a great trade off. Please post a comment if you know anything about this market.

Photos from the historical photo collection, San Francisco Public Library

Victory Gardens 2008+

2008-05-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

If that weedy patch of what seems unusable ground seems just too intimidating to start cultivating, there are some folks in the city that will hold your hand to get you started. No border or window box is too small that it can't be put to use growing food. In the spirit of small-scale, urban agriculture that flourished during WWII, Victory Garden 2008+ aims at increasing backyard food production with as low an impact on the environment as possible. VG2008+ walks the walk too. For a time they were giving away garden starter kits and they delivered them by cargo tricycle. This coming summer they are planning to develop edible gardens at our City Hall. The ground breaking is scheduled for July 1, and they are looking for volunteers to join in.

If you are already growing food at home, fill out their garden registry. VG2008+ is compiling a data base of food gardens in the city to help estimate the amount of food produced here.

They have a great website, VG2008+ . Check out the home made knee pads. There is also a link to an article on the potential of urban agriculture.

Avedano's Holly Park Market

2008-05-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

Come check out a recent, and wonderful, new addition to our local foodscape. Avedano's Market on Cortland Avenue, in Bernal Heights, specializes in sustainably produced meats, locally produced organic produce, and specialized pantry items. They make amazing sandwiches. And on Sundays, if you are carnivorously inclined, they have the most addicting pork tacos north of the Rio Grande. To walk into Avedano's is to treat your nose, toungue and eyes, and will give you hope that we can reclaim a diverse food pallet right in a neighborhood market. Please ask questions. The staff is well informed and friendly, and knowing your food is what this place is about.

While new to many of us, Avedano's is also an attempt to revive the tradition of a neighborhood based, family operated store. It is in the site of Cicero's Meats, a neighborhood butchers that had served Bernal Heights since 1901 until just of few years ago.

Check out their website at Avedano's Holly Park Market

P.S. They have a fun selection of small-market sodas, Like Moxie Cola

Foodastrophic Anxiety

2008-04-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

It is with increasing alarm that the mainstream media is awakening to the growing insecurity of our food supply. Items on exploding commodity prices, destabilizing food riots, and the tension between food and energy have been appearing in the news lately with increasing frequency. Just today the New York Times featured two illustrative items. The first dealt with the increasing scarcity of chemical fertilizer (read at fertilizer) and the other focused on the loss of American food culture (read at culture).

Since I recently found my anxiety level rising every time I read another foodastrophe article, I resolved to fight it the best way I know how: make a list. What could I do to further distance my family and myself from the run-away freight train that is industrial food production? Here is what I came up with:

Grow my own and save seeds: The first is obvious, but saving seeds and sharing them is an act of hope. Managing your seeds will be a bump up in the ladder of food independence of course, but it will also teach you some valuable lessons that you may take for granted if you just order your seeds every year. And sharing the seeds… well, what gift holds more promise? Start at BASIL, the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library, part of Berkeley’s Ecology Center http://www.ecologycenter.org/basil/

Oh, and if you are not growing you own yet, or like me your are taking a respite, maybe you need a few words of inspiration. I recommend Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

Raise chickens: The lessons of husbandry, fresh eggs, and good manure all wrapped into a fun feathered package. Get started with BackyardChicken.com http://www.backyardchickens.com/raising-chickens-basics.php

Volunteer and help plant a school garden: Like sharing seeds but exponentially. Nothing will help you feel more like you are at the helm again than passing on your experience. Speak with genuine passion about the importance of knowing our food and you will practically see children’s heads sprouting a crop of their own. Start here – Get connected through Urban Sprouts http://urbansprouts.blogspot.com/ or the Edible Schoolyard’s Link page, http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/how_res.html

Join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm: It always helps to join others in the effort and the most effortless way to do it is to join a farm. Feel free to call yourself a farmer every link in the chain of a CSA is necessary to make it work. Visit the farm on member days and read the newsletter regularly (guaranteed not to add calories to your diet but will result in an expansion of the waistline of your pride). See links on this page.

Become more informed: Well, this one might not reduce your anxiety, but know thine enemy. To double your satisfaction pass it on like a seed. Drop me a line if you read something relevant, have further suggestions for things to do or resources for the ones mentioned above.

Locavoring Across the Country

2007-09-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

A recent local foods piece was broadcast on National Public Radio.
From NPR:
Weekend Edition Sunday, September 9, 2007 · Liane Hansen talks with a woman who has just finished a cross-country road trip devoted to pie-eating. Diane Hatz is executive director of Sustainable Table, a New York-based organization that promotes the eating of local food. Hatz says she chose pie because it is a metaphor for homemade, locally grown food that's meant for sharing.

To listen click here

You Pick 'Em

2007-06-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

My favorite ways of getting closer to the earth is getting some under my fingernails. You-pick-‘em farms are wonderful family outings. It is, guaranteed, the most fun you will have procuring your food.

To find a farm near you first visit PickYourOwn.com.

Our favorite so far is Phipps Ranch near the coastal town of Pescadero, in San Mateo County (2700 Pescadero Rd., tel. 650 879-0787). They have olallieberries, strawberries, and boysenberries for the picking on a handsome farm. It also doubles as a mini-zoo park with farm animals and exotic birds on display. Their farm store has a wonderful variety of novel food items including rare varieties of beans, spices, and honey.

After picking at Phipps you should head into Pescadero to Duarte’s Restaurant for a bowl of their amazing green pepper or artichoke soup (or ask for the half-and-half and have it all). They also serve wonderful pies for dessert. Closer to Highway 1 is the Pescadero Marsh and its trails, well worth the stop.

If you want a Napa-like experience in fruit picking head out to Brentwood in Contra Costa County, where the You-Pick-‘em farms are almost as numerous as the megadevelopments threatening to engulf them. Pick up a map guide to the farms at any of the establishments that have the sign, ‘Harvest Time Member.’ Harvest Time also has a great website. There are so many of these farms in the area that you can’t miss, but if you are set on picking at specific farms call ahead of time for open days and times. Early in the week after a busy weekend is a terrible time to go as much of the ripe fruit has been picked. The best days for beating the crowds and finding sweet, juicy fruit seem to be Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Two highlight farms are The Farmer’s Daughter Produce (on Walnut Blvd., tel. 925 634-4827) and Pomeroy Farms (also on Walnut). The peaches and apricots are wonderfully ripe and warmed by the weather are a delight to eat right off the tree.

Chris, who runs Pomeroy Farms, and is the fourth generation keeping the family orchards going, is very approachable. Be sure to ask him about the ‘lay of the land’ in Brentwood.

As I mentioned before, the signs of a coming tidal wave of bulldozers is everywhere evident. The most probable future of this area is on display closer to the town center, with many new walled housing tracts sporting young lawns. But the tentacles of paved “progress” are reaching far into the surrounding fields. Many of the single lane roads have sprouted two or three additional lanes with large intersections leading to open fields. Billboards advertising monster developments with ironic names like ‘Oak View’ or ‘The Orchards’ liter the road side.

There is a Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust who, like the better known MALT in Marin County, aims to preserve farmland while increasing economic opportunities for the growers. I get the impression however that BALT has less muscle than their counterpart in Marin at the moment and is being overwhelmed by the pressure to build.

At the risk of further pontificating the fun out of your outing, picking your own will also give you a sense of what it takes to get perfect produce to you. As you work down a row of berries say, your learning curve is steep. At first you may pick every berry you can reach easily. Soon enough you realize that not all fruit are created equal. How many berries do you pass up in order to get only the ones you feel are right? These are too young. This one has cobweb on it. This one looks to have insect damage on it while others are too firm.

If you are like me, you will go through a period of ultra-selectivity with an image of a perfect olallieberry tart made only with perfect fruit. Once your eyes become sore from the bird-like scanning behavior, and your lower back kicks you back for reaching those fruit down low (where the average picker won’t go), you will revert back to pick-‘em all. But now it will not be from lack of picking wits. My realization is that berries summed up in a tart or in preserve or even eaten one-by-one are in a spectrum of flavor and beauty. It is a good lesson to learn early about the imperfection and glorious messiness we live within. There might be something here to say about tolerance as well but I will stop.

I hope the experience also makes you pause to think about the men, women, and children who do this for a livelihood.

I don’t mean to be a wet rag on the fun. When it comes to food there is room for everything under the sun (pun maybe?): you-pick-‘em, you grow it, someone else grows it locally and you get it at the farmer’s market… only we can’t continue to do it mindlessly. So this will be my only apology for pontifications ad nauseum – it’s my mission.

New Feature: A Food Miles Calculator

2007-05-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the amazing work of my friend Oliver, we now have a food miles calculator. Just enter your zip code and the zip for any of your food sources and - presto! You get an as-the-crow-flies approximation of your food miles. Oliver also included a pull-down menu with many of our local farms. Explore it and let us hear from you. The calculator will be a permanent part of this blog. Thanks Oliver.

Food Miles Calculator

Slow Food Lecture

2007-05-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food Movement International, will give a talk on Thursday, May 10th, at the Cowell Theatre in Fort Mason. The event is sponsored by the Museo ItaloAmericano. Carlo will describe the grass-root efforts of his organization. Food, wine and mingling to follow. He will also be signing copies of his book, Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean and Fair.
Book signing 6 to 6:30, talk from 6:30 to 8. Tickets are $16. For more information visit the Museo ItaloAmericano website.

Barbara Kingsolver Gets Local

2007-05-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

A new book by Barbara Kingsolver, her daughter and husband, documents a year in their quest to eat only food they produce or source locally. After many years living in Arizona, Barbara and her family move back to a family farm in Virginia to explore old roots and establish new ones. I have read two very favorable reviews. Kingsolver has a lyrical style well suited for this topic and I am looking forward to being immersed in her narrative. Get it through your local bookstore (my favorite is Christopher's Books on Potrero Hill) if you want it soon - the SF Public Library has 17 copies ordered but already 28 reserve requests posted.

Michael Pollan on the Farm Bill

2007-04-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine published Michael Pollan’s latest piece focusing on a labyrinthine piece of legislation commonly known as the Farm Bill. Pollan explains that this bill, whose passage comes around in cycles every five year or so, is in large part responsible for our hegemonic processed foodscape. The most insidious consequence of the bill is that the cheapest calories at the supermarkets are the most unhealthful. This perversity is accomplished largely by directing subsidies enabling large corporate entities, such as ADM and Cargill, to overproduce corn and soy. The largest portions of these commodified crops end up as high fructose corn syrup and soy derived fat additives. If all of this is making you sick in the stomach (I won’t even mention your arteries, heart and liver) you should know more. Read Pollan’s article.
Then write a note to your congress people. In recent incarnations, the Farm Bill has been authored behind closed doors by representative from farm dominated states, Iowa, Texas, Nebraska, and such, with the help of ADM and Cargill. Our senators and representatives are all too impassive because of voter’s misperception of the bill’s scope as a “farm” bill. You need only look to our national waistband to realize that there is no such thing as a Farm Bill state. We are all being silently assaulted in our local supermarket.

Therefore ask your representatives and senators to clue in this time. Ask them to be involved in eliminating incentives that result in overproduction of commodity crops. Ask them to make sure that provisions in the bill do not earmark federal funding of school lunches to the dumping of excess crop production (one of the more perverse aspects of the bill in its current form is that it treats our children as omnivorous pigs at a trough – as a way to dump surplus crop production and pad corporate profits). Lawmakers should write into the bill incentives to increase organic production (and fund research in this area) and promote the expansion of local food systems.

If you live in San Francisco, email these folks: Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and Dianne Feinstein.

The April 18th Chronicle food section features locavore!

2007-04-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

The cover story profiles several people, some seasoned locavores, some not, and their joys/struggles to eat exclusively local foods. The articles were published in anticipation of the coming Pennywise Eat Local Challenge week, April 22-29. Challenge participants pledge to eat foods produce no further than a 100-mile radius from where they live, and to do it on a budget ( information at eatlocalchallenge.org ).

The articles were fun to read and offered some useful information (such as the name of local producers of specific food items), and a few suggested recipes. You can check them out at http://www.sfgate.com/food/
It also seems to be part of a much-welcomed Chronicle series titled Food Conscious.

A big theme of the writing was the Quixotic nature of eating strictly local. All the people profiled had to work hard not to contaminate their food supply with excess carbon emissions. They had to know more, pay more, travel more (and to more places) to adhere to their eating principles. One couple used foraging as a strategy for staying within bounds and on budget. All of them expressed some guilt when they indulged in any outsider treat. They sounded just like serial-dieters who can’t control themselves.

Where was the joy of exploring our foodscape? Where was the fun of meeting your local producers and visiting farms? The author did not ask the most basic question anyone would ask someone fighting such odds: Why do you believe in eating local foods?

Not that it should come as a surprise to any of us, but doesn’t it seem topsy-turvy that it is such an upstream swim against spring runoff to supply yourself locally? I don’t want to misrepresent this point either. Much of the upstreamness of locavoring comes from our predilection for a varied diet chock full of exotic flavors. Many of these come from products that, like vanilla and coffee, cannot or should not be produced in our foodshed.

However, for many of us bordering locavores, this is our main dilemma: with our already busy and complicated lives, how can we invest the extra time, effort, and expense to go exclusively local? My take is to forget the guilt – some conscious locavoring is better than none. In time as more of us join the ranks, at any level, it will become easier.

And as for the foraging, the author included two useful references: “Flavors of Home”, by Margit Roos-Collins, Heyday Books, 1990 and “America Eats”, by Nelson Algren and David E. Schoonover, University of Iowa Press, 1992.

Producers mentioned in the articles:

Old Mill Farm
Zuckerman's Farm
Spring Hill Cheese Co.
Eatwell Farm
Little Organic Farm
Point Reyes Farmstead
Clover Stornetta
Gowan’s Apple Farm

Mendo Bistro is in Ft. Bragg and is owned by one of the couples profiled in the articles, Nicholas Petti and Jaimi Parsons.

US Stamps Commemorate Pollinators

2007-04-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

This upcoming stamp set depicts some of the diversity of pollinators that plant species depend on. It is a great reminder of the need to protect these keystones in our ecosystems. Remember to think beyond the European honey bee.

Best Practices for Sustainable Agriculture

2007-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

The best way to become informed about sustainable agriculture is to talk to growers. Most of the people who staff your local market stall are also directly involved in the farm operations. But, if you are concerned about how something is grown as well as its flavor, what should you ask about? What are sustainable farming’s best practices? This is important because you can help promote sustainable practices using your purchasing power and by engaging in dialogue with growers.

I don’t mean to imply that the grower has the full burden of satisfying the consumers’ demands for sustainability. There are limits to what the growers can do and still have a viable, accessible product to bring to market.

Also, for a balanced approach it would seem that we should generate a list of best practices for the farmer and another for the consumer.

For the growers these practices would revolve around some critical areas: farm labor, water use, pest control, soil conservation, fertilizer use, energy use, transportation, open space preservation, and wildlife protection. For livestock raising it also involves humane treatment of animals, enclosures, animal waste handling, and the use of dietary additives such as hormones.

Although I will begin a list of best practices in this posting I really want to rely on your expertise to make it more complete with your input, and also hope to start a dialogue about the relative merits of these measures. Please post your comments and suggestions. Here are a few to start with:

Grower’s Best Practices

Buffer Zones: Some farmers choose to leave marginal areas out of cultivation. These fallow areas provide refuge for native wildlife and plant species. They may also act as a riparian buffer protecting rivers and streams from the impact of cultivation (such as increased silting of streambeds or the influx of excess nutrients which may lead to algae blooms and the depletion of dissolved oxygen).

Water Use: Every Californian should know that, unless you live in the northernmost region of the state, you live in a seasonal desert. Our Mediterranean climate is characterized by wet winters and summers with nearly no precipitation. Our agriculture essentially thrives because of Sierra Nevada’s snow pack (a natural reservoir) and piping. Irrigation is the name of the game particularly with industrial operations. High water dependent crops such as cotton and rice (both of which comprise a large percentage of industrial crop output in our state) are essentially water-subsidized by us (not to mention the salmon and other wildlife, whom I am sure we have not gotten consent from). Aside from volume use, best practices should also protect water sources by avoiding pollution and excess nutrient influx (more on these under pest control and fertilizers).

From Oliver the following:
Diversity of Crops: While monoculture farming eases labor it may also create conditions for insect and pest invasions, by keeping farm stocks diverse farmers can reduce their dependency on chemical pest control and their exposure should an infestation occur.

Cover Crops and Crop Rotation: Related to the previous note, tilling under cover crops to rejuvenate soil (Though I understand that tilling its self can be damaging to soil health) or their use in suppressing weeds and annual rotation of cash crops in a given field help control pests. Rotating crops means that species specific pests will last at most one growing season.

For the Consumer :
Buy in-season: Understanding and accepting that certain produce can not be sustainably produced year-round is a good step in reducing the impact of farming. While most people accept that peaches are seasonal, many still insist on ripe tomatoes all winter. Buy purchasing food out of season you are often supporting unsustainable farming or requiring that produce be shipped from the southern hemisphere.

Buy Locally Grown Food: this seems redundant in the context of this forum; however, by buying from local farmers who practice green farming you create a demand and a market for the food they produce. As mentioned above, the sellers at your local farmers’ market are often very connected to the production of the food in their stall so by talking to them you can give direct feedback about what impacts your food buying decisions.

More to be added in coming days, stay tuned.

Bay Area Deep Rooted Foods on CUESA's Newsletter

2007-03-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Check out a feature in the latest CUESA Newsletter. It is on locally significant produce and foods. Read about the Bay Area history of such produce as Blenheim apricots, Crane melons, and Gravenstein apples.

CUESA manages the Ferry Building Market, and the newsletter also contains market highlights and the latest information about growers attending on market days.

Listen to Farm Bill Segment @ The California Report

2007-03-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

Listen to Dan Imhoff discuss the farm bill and a related segment about organic farmers demanding a piece of the pie.

The California Report and look for the archived segments

Farm Bill Changes To Be a Lesson in Cascading Consequences
"Every few years Congress tinkers with the Farm Bill, which determines how much federal money farmers get to subsidize their crops -- and a whole lot more. Host Scott Shafer talks to with author Dan Imhoff about his new book "Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to the Food and Farm Bill.""

Organic Farmers Want a Place at the Farm Bill Table
"California farmers grow more fruit and vegetables than growers in any other state, but when it comes to the Farm Bill, they're pretty much left out in the cold. Legislation introduced this week by Central Valley Congressman Dennis Cardoza aims to change that by redirecting federal dollars to marketing and research for fresh produce. But some of the state's organic farmers are saying "what about us?""
Reporters:Sasha Khokha

Ten Good Reasons to Buy Local

2007-03-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

These ten good reasons were posted on a site for a new CSA in our area, Two Small Farms. For more information or just to sign up Two Small Farms

10 Reasons to Buy Local Food

1. Locally grown food tastes better. Food grown in your own community was probably picked within the past day or two. It's crisp, sweet and loaded with flavor. Produce flown or trucked in from Florida, Chile, Mexico, or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. Several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles. In a week-long (or more) delay from harvest to dinner table, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality.

2. Local produce is better for you. A recent study showed that fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Food that is frozen or canned soon after harvest is actually more nutritious than some "fresh" produce that has been on the truck or supermarket shelf for a week. Locally grown food, purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients.

3. Local food preserves genetic diversity. In the modern industrial agricultural system, varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment; for a tough skin that can survive packing and shipping; and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds or even thousands of years of human selection; they may someday provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate.
This is broccoli romanesco grown on our farm in Hollister, CA.

4. Local food is GMO-free. Although biotechnology companies have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables, they are currently licensing them only to large factory-style farms. Local farmers don't have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them wouldn't use it even if they could. A June 2001 survey by ABC News showed that 93% of Americans want labels on genetically modified food - most so that they can avoid it. If you are opposed to eating bioengineered food, you can rest assured that locally grown produce was bred the old-fashioned way, as nature intended.

5. Local food supports local farm families. With fewer than 1 million Americans now claiming farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing breed. And no wonder - commodity prices are at historic lows, often below the cost of production. The farmer now gets less than 10 cents of the retail food dollar. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food - which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing the work they love.

6. Local food builds community. When you buy direct from the farmer, you are re-establishing a time-honored connection between the eater and the grower. Knowing the farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the weather, and the miracle of raising food. In many cases, it gives you access to a farm where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture. Relationships built on understanding and trust can thrive.
This is Amelia, head strawberry picker and nap taker at High Ground Organics.

7. Local food preserves open space. As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. You have probably enjoyed driving out into the country and appreciated the lush fields of crops, the meadows full of wildflowers, the picturesque red barns. That landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.

8. Local food keeps your taxes in check. Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas suburban development costs more than it generates in taxes, according to several studies. On average, for every $1 in revenue raised by residential development, governments must spend $1.17 on services, thus requiring higher taxes of all taxpayers. For each dollar of revenue raised by farm, forest, or open space, governments spend 34 cents on services.

9. Local food supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife. A well-managed family farm is a place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good stewards of the land grow cover crops to prevent erosion and replace nutrients used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help combat global warming. According to some estimates, farmers who practice conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry. In addition, the habitat of a farm - the patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings - is the perfect environment for many beloved species of wildlife, including bluebirds, killdeer, herons, bats, and rabbits.

10. Local food is about the future. By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow, and that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful, and abundant food. Buy local food. Sustain local farms.

©2001 Growing for Market. Permission to print and photocopy is granted.

2007-03-21T23:14:00.001-07:00

old farmer
Originally uploaded by fhdz1962.

How much is an acre anyways?

2007-03-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Google it and the first answer you get is, 1 acre = 4046.85642 meters squared, which makes it all the more incomprehensible. It is indicative of a disconnection most of us have with fieldwork that many of us do not have a “feel” for an acre. How many of you have ever driven an ox-towed plow across a field on a hot day? Anyone who has, I am sure, quickly developed a feel for that last acre. In fact, according to Wikipedia, the acre was derived from the area said to be arable by one man driving an ox and plow in one day.

Size does count when it comes to sustainable agriculture. It’s important to have a frame of reference when we talk to growers about their operations. Twenty-seven acres is not like 270. Scale and its economy is what industrial agriculture depends on and is in many ways the root of it harmfulness.

So, how big is an acre? Formally an acre of area is 160 square rods or 4,840 square yards, an equivalent to 43,560 square feet. If you are like me, this did not help much. In order to visualize this area we should compare it to some familiar things. An acre is roughly half the size of a regulation soccer field. If an acre of tarp were laid out on a baseball field it would cover the diamond and about 10% of the outfield. An acre would also cover 91 yards of a football field, sideline to sideline, excluding the end zones. The Alemany Farmer’s Market is approximately 3 acres if you include all the parking asphalt. Golden Gate Park is about 1017 acres, of which the Japanese Tea Garden comprises 5 acres.

Maybe you have a good mental reference. If you do post it as a comment.

Local Food Wheel

2007-03-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Check out the local food wheel website - slick and quite a resource. The wheel allows you to track the seasonal changes in produce in our local markets. They are affordable and a great tool for anyone trying to go local. Don't miss reading about the brains behind the wheel - great stories. Click here for their web site.

Community Supported Agriculture

2007-03-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

One of the most direct ways to connect to a grower is to become a member of the farm. I am not talking figuratively here. Community supported agriculture (CSA) farms depend on their subscribers to function. In ecological terms, it is a mutualist or symbiotic relationship between you and the grower. A subscriber commits himself/herself to pay up front for produce still on the stem, sight unseen. The farmer now has a guaranteed market without having to travel to several locations to peddle the product. It also provides growers with operating capital to maintain operations and sow the next crop. This passes-on some of the risk of farming to you but reduces some of the farmer’s uncertainty (not that you’ve been asking for a little risk with your organic produce, but it is part of the “cost” of going sustainable). In return, subscribers get a cornucopian delivery, as often as once a week. It is a very convenient way for busy urban dwellers to get healthy produce. And the thought that you are integral to the operations of sustainably run farm makes you food taste that much more delightful (try thinking of this as you take the first bight of the next CSA-grown vegetable you eat and you’ll understand).

I would be remiss if I were not to mention what some consider the down sides of CSA’s -- although there are easy solutions to many of these hitches. If you live alone, it is often a challenge to go through your produce before it goes south. However, many CSA’s have biweekly deliveries and you can always find a few friends with whom to share the cost and the produce. Also, organically grown food makes a wonderful gift (you will never have to worry that you did not have time to go out and get that anniversary gift again). And of course, there is always the fading art of canning.

The other major critique that some subscribers I know have had is that the content is somewhat unpredictable in both variety and quantity. To those who may share this peeve the only thing I can think of saying about it is, welcome to the real world of growing food. The industrial/food complex buffers you from this boom/bust cycle by sheer volume, importation, pesticides, mechanization, and lots of petrochemicals. But let me remind you that you are reading this blog because you want to get out of that unhealthy loop. Let’s just live with it. I, for one, think it is a good trade off.

Here are some links to some other resources, including a more extensive introduction to CSA’s and a nationwide CSA locator (if you have family outside the Bay Area, please pass on the link to the CSA locator). I also include web links to some nearby CSA’s.

Resources:
http://www.biodynamics.com/csa.html Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association’s introduction to CSA’s

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ Local Harvest nationwide CSA locator

http://www.localharvest.org/csa.jsp Explanation of what is Community Supported Agriculture

Local CSA’s

http://www.terrafirmafarm.com/ Terra Firma Farms, Winter California

http://www.eatwell.com/ Eatwell Farm, Dixon, California

http://www.goodhumus.com/pages/csa.htm Good Humus CSA

http://www.mariquita.com/ Mariquita Farms

Introducing Local Foods SF

2007-03-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Local Foods SF. Through this blog I will disseminate information on sustainably produced local organic foods enabling Bay Area residents to reduce their dietary footprint. The main impediment to localizing our eating is lack of information. This is where Local Foods SF comes in. Through LF SF I hope to connect thoughtful consumers to caring producers and close the information gap that the industrial producers count on to keep us on their processed food treadmill.

If you are a local producer, tell us about your operation, how to access your product, and how to communicate with you. There are a lot of us out here yearning to make a connection with you. If you are a thoughtful consumer, tell us where you get your food, who do you buy from, what do you know that would help us make better choices. Also, let us know what you are reading about this issue so that others can be as informed.

Over time, LF SF can become a clearinghouse to help us support sustainably produced local foods. But to achieve this I will need your help. I don't claim to be an expert or to know the entire local food landscape. Therefore I am asking you to be the correspondents for LF SF. Tell us what you know, send us your links, critique the food/industrial complex to your heart's content (and good health). More importantly, share your solutions and connections.

Through LF SF I would also like to address the issue of food justice. We should all be concerned that the "greening" of our communities has largely been a middle class and affluent phenomena. Access to healthy, sustainably produced foods must be equitable or we will be in danger of creating a green foods apartheid. Therefore one of the main commitments of this blog will be to provide information enabling limited income consumers and historically marginalized communities to have access to sustainable foods. Lend a hand by becoming informed on this issue and share what you know.

Let’s empower ourselves and, little by little, abandon the dysfunctional producer/consumer-victim situation we find ourselves in. If there is truth in the proverb you are what you eat, let’s find out who we really are.