Interesting graphic showing obesity trends

From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. There's a neat flash animation showing the trend through time, but unfortunately we can't embed it, so you'll have to go see it

Visit to Devil's Gulch Ranch and Clark Summit Farm

Here's a slidehow from our rainy and wondrous Valentine's Day visit to Marin County farms




And a short video clip of vignettes from the day. The cacophony was amazing!

Abraham Lincoln on community food security

Excerpt from Mr Lincoln's address to the Wisconsin State Agricultural
Society.  Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1859

"...And thorough work, again, renders sufficient, the smallest quantity of
ground to each man. And this again, conforms to what must occur in a world
less inclined to wars, and more devoted to the arts of peace, than
heretofore. Population must increase rapidly -- more rapidly than in former
times -- and ere long the most valuable of all arts, will be the art of
deriving a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil. No
community whose every member possesses this art, can ever be the victim of
oppression of any of its forms. Such community will be alike independent of
crowned-kings, money-kings, and land-kings...."

Source: Full text at USDA's National Agricultural Library, Special Collections

My heart beets for you

In light of Valentine's Day approaching this weekend, I've decided to share one of my easiest and most trusty recipes. Though I make these beet muffins for just about anyone at any time of year or day, they have great potential as a lovely accompaniment to a romantic breakfast in bed that no lover could resist. Their pink color, high vegetable content, and sheer deliciousness make them a favorite among my housemates. 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs (to make vegan, use 4 tbsp of cornstarch and enough almond or soy milk to make the mixture batter-y)

2/3 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups shredded beets

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit 

Grease and flour muffin cups

Beat oil with eggs (or substitute), sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon

Combine wet and dry ingredients, stir well and add more almond milk now if it seems dry

Fold in beets

Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way up

Sprinkle with more cinnamon

Bake 20 minutes or until fork comes out clean

Eat them warm with jam or butter!

(artwork and post by jackie: jackieclark88@yahoo.com)

Meet your Meat

The Society for Agriculture and Food Ecology is proud to announce an upcoming series of tours, panels, and workshops on good, clean, and fair animal husbandry and meat production. The series, called Meet Your Meat , is a portrayal of the local meat economy in the Bay Area and how that model can be improved and spread. We want to show how animals can be part of a vibrant and diverse agricultural system and some part of our diet as responsible omnivores. Meet Your Meat is offered as a counterpoint to the brutal industrial meat system and the rightfully appalling PETA video of the same title.

The series will metaphorically follow an animal from farm, to slaughter, to butcher, to cook, to plate in the following events:

Visit to Devil's Gulch Ranch and Clark Summit Farm

Saturday, February 14, 8am-4pm, Marin County

Meet at 8am in the West Circle on the UC Berkeley Campus

With Mark Pasternak (Devil's Gulch Ranch) and Liz Cunninghame (Clark Summit Farm)

Limit 50 people, please RSVP to agrofoodecology@gmail.com with subject line 'Marin'

Potluck picnic lunch hosted at Devil's Gulch Ranch (please bring a dish to share and your own plate, silverware, napkin, and cup). Come prepared for inclement weather.

Local Slaughterhouses, Local Meat

Thursday, February 19, 7pm, UC Berkeley Campus (location TBA)

With panelists Sallie Calhoun (Cutting Edge Meat, Inc., Paicines Ranch), Sam Goldberger (North Coast Meats), Mac Magruder (Magruder Ranch), Mark Pasternak (Devil's Gulch Ranch), Paul Canales (Oliveto), Marsha McBride (Café Rouge), and journalist Heather Smith as moderator.

Please RSVP to agrofoodecology@gmail.com with subject line 'Slaughter' so that we may secure a location with adequate space.

The Art of the Butcher

Hosted in collaboration with Meatpaper

Thursday, March 5, 7pm, UC Berkeley Campus (location TBA)

With panelists Ryan Farr (Ivy Elegance, CHEFS Program), Nate Appleman (A16, Urbino), Melanie Eisemann (Avedano's), Mark Pasternak (Devil's Gulch Ranch), and Marissa Guggiana (Sonoma Direct, Secret Eating Society) as moderator.

The discussion will be followed by a demonstration by Chef Ryan Farr on how a whole carcass is broken down into cuts of meat.

Please RSVP to agrofoodecology@gmail.com with subject line 'Butcher' so that we may secure a location with adequate space.

Fête du Cochon and hog roast

Saturday, March 7, details forthcoming

A working visit to Soul Food Farm and a tour of Meridian Jacobs Ranch

Saturday, March 14, 8am-4pm, Solano County

Meet at 8am in the West Circle on the UC Berkeley Campus

With Robin Lynde (Meridian Jacobs), Alexis Koefoed (Soul Food), and Samin Nosrat (Eccolo)

Limit 50 people, please RSVP to agrofoodecology@gmail.com with subject line 'Solano'

We will be helping with chores at Soul Food Farm. Come dressed for work and prepared for inclement weather. Please bring a picnic lunch. Samin Nosrat, Sous Chef at Eccolo Restaurant in Berkeley, will discuss using Soul Food Farm products over lunch.

Hide Brain Tanning Workshop

April 11-12 or April 18-19, all day, Ghost Town Farm in Oakland

Cost $100

With Tamara Wilder (Paloetechnics, author of Buckskin: The Ancient Art of Braintanning ), and Novella Carpenter (Ghost Town Farm)

Braintanned leather is a beautiful, soft, durable, and washable material which is made using the same natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable methods employed by most Native American groups. In this two day class, participants will partake in the whole process using using goatskins and/or deerskins—from scraping the hide to smoking the softened hide.

Limit 16. Please RSVP to agrofoodecology@gmail.com with subject line 'Tanning' with your preferred weekend so that we may pick the weekend with the most interest.

Salumi Tasting

Hosted in collaboration with Slow Food Berkeley

April 20, details forthcoming

Unless otherwise noted, there is no admission charge for any SAFE event and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. We do request a $5 donation to SAFE for each event attended to defray the cost of the event and reimburse the travel costs of the panelists who so kindly donate their time. We ask those with more resources to consider a greater donation to underwrite the attendance of students or community members with limited means.

Please distribute this announcement freely. If you received this message indirectly and would like to be reminded of future SAFE events, please visit Agrariana.org and subscribe to our announcements list.

For more information, please visit Agrariana.org or contact Ma