tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68262629608789236182024-02-06T21:48:00.415-08:00Agrariana Bloglaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10233452121898522371noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-9264742558117181732010-11-02T11:42:00.000-07:002010-11-02T11:44:00.270-07:00We've moved!Agrariana has updated our website to host our own blog, so check us out at <a href="http://www.agrariana.org">www.agrariana.org</a> for the latest.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-65894143328785572682010-09-20T13:50:00.000-07:002010-09-20T13:54:36.356-07:00Backyard Seed Banks on QUESTAgrariana is proud to announce coverage of the Backyard Seed Vault on KQED's science program QUEST. Agrariana Executive Director Mat Rogers talks to reporter Lauren Sommer about the genetic savings in our own backyards, developing landrace crops, and promiscuous corn.
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<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,19,0" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="player" id="player" bgcolor="#3f3f3f" width="320" height="202" > <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /> <param name="wmode" value="window" /> <param name="swliveconnect" value="false" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param value="http://www.kqed.org/quest/flash/KQEDMediaPlayer.swf" name="movie"/> <param name="flashVars" value="poster=http://www.kqed.org/quest/images/audio_poster.jpg&link_url=http://www.kqed.org/quest/radio/backyard-seed-banks&id=2169&source=http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/quest/2010/09/2010-09-20-quest.mp3&"/> <param value="high" name="quality"/> <embed name="player" wmode="window" allowFullScreen="true" swliveconnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" id="player" bgcolor="#3f3f3f" width="320" height="202" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" src="http://www.kqed.org/quest/flash/KQEDMediaPlayer.swf" flashvars="poster=http://www.kqed.org/quest/images/audio_poster.jpg&link_url=http://www.kqed.org/quest/radio/backyard-seed-banks&id=2169&source=http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/quest/2010/09/2010-09-20-quest.mp3&"/></object><br/><a href="http://www.kqed.org/quest/">QUEST</a> on <a href="http://www.kqed.org/">KQED</a> Public Media.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-43664432000080565722010-07-09T11:54:00.000-07:002010-07-09T12:15:27.173-07:00Colbert to become farm worker<p>United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez was the guest on Thursday's Colbert Report, discussing the UFW's "Take Our Jobs" campaign. Host Stephen Colbert accepted UFW's challenge to come work as a farm worker to experience the jobs that undocumented workers are taking away from American citizens. Sign up for your own day in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastures_of_Plenty">pastures of plenty</a> at the <a href="http://www.takeourjobs.org/">Take Our Jobs</a> page. </p><br /><table style="font: 11px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="353" width="360"><tbody><tr style="background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);" valign="middle"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.colbertnation.com/">The Colbert Report</a></td><td style="padding: 2px 5px 0px; text-align: right; font-weight: bold;">Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c</td></tr><tr style="height: 14px;" valign="middle"><td style="padding: 2px 1px 0px 5px;" colspan="2"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/340925/july-08-2010/arturo-rodriguez">Arturo Rodriguez</a><a></a></td></tr><tr style="height: 14px; background-color: rgb(53, 53, 53);" valign="middle"><td colspan="2" style="padding: 2px 5px 0px; width: 360px; overflow: hidden; text-align: right;"><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(150, 222, 255); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.colbertnation.com/">www.colbertnation.com</a></td></tr><tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 0px;" colspan="2"><embed style="display: block;" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:340925" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="autoPlay=false" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" bgcolor="#000000" height="301" width="360"></embed></td></tr><tr style="height: 18px;" valign="middle"><td style="padding: 0px;" colspan="2"><table style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" width="100%"><tbody><tr valign="middle"><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/">Colbert Report Full Episodes</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/">2010 Election</a></td><td style="padding: 3px; width: 33%;"><a target="_blank" style="font: 10px arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.colbertnation.com/video/tag/Fox+News">Fox News</a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-49092075438444369882010-04-23T12:52:00.000-07:002010-04-23T13:00:28.426-07:00Friday Multimedia MelangeFor your perusing pleasure on a Friday afternoon, three tidbits from the food world: a slideshow of Slow Food Berkeley and friend-of-Agrariana Peter Jackson's latest workshop on making tasso and andouille, King Corn filmmakers' raising funds to finish a short film about a very small farm, and a video from Ohio about why farmers do what they do. Enjoy!<br /><br /><p><iframe src="http://www.flickr.com/slideShow/index.gne?group_id=&user_id=35254394@N02&set_id=72157623904589538&tags=workshop,cajun,sausage,tasso,andouille" scrolling="no" align="center" frameborder="0" height="500" width="500"></iframe><br /></p><br /><br /><a href="http://kck.st/aejaLY"><img src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wickedelicate/truck-farm-a-wicked-delicate-film-and-food-projec/widget/card.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XKuGPOoyHHc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XKuGPOoyHHc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-73153657088285614182010-04-20T10:10:00.000-07:002010-04-20T10:18:29.378-07:00CUESA Story on Stocking the PlastikiThis story originally appeared in the <a href="https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:34641.6644759115/rid:fb7247ff44b47b53378c166ecd9051dc">CUESA newsletter</a> and was so interesting it deserved a cross-post here. Check out this video of the Plastiki's garden and see the story below.<br /><br /><object height="300" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IiC934zNIZ4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IiC934zNIZ4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="300" width="500"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local Ahoy: Farmers Help Stock the Plastiki </span><div class="feature"> <p><img src="http://www.cuesa.org/html-email-images/Bill-Crepps-and-Jennifer2-225x300.jpg" alt="bill crepps" align="right" height="261" hspace="8" width="162" />When Nona Lim and Jennifer Tuck of <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192812/34641/goto:http://www.cooksf.com/">Cook! San Francisco</a> set out to plan, gather, and prepare the food for the <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192813/34641/goto:http://www.theplastiki.com/">Plastiki</a> expedition, they had no small task ahead of them. In fact, planning and sourcing meals for six people at $15 a day for an 11,000-mile trip from San Francisco to Sydney was a voyage in and of itself. </p> <p>Near the end of last year, Lim and Tuck responded to a call from Jo Royle, the skipper on the Plastiki, <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192814/34641/goto:http://www.adventureecology.com/">Adventure Ecology</a>’s catamaran made from 12,000 post-consumer plastic bottles made in part to document the <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192815/34641/goto:http://science.howstuffworks.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm">Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch</a>. Royle wanted an alternative to the pre-packed meals that sailors often take on such trips. “She described long journeys where she’d live for months on freeze-dried food and the ill consequence that has on the body,” recalls Tuck. </p> <p>The pair — and the crew of chefs that Nona employs to prepare the ready-made meals she sells through Cook! San Francisco — were up for the challenge. “We wanted to provide something healthy and flavorful over a three–month period, which is pretty tough,” says Lim. And, seeing as how the Plastiki expedition is focused on sustainability, Lim and Tuck decided it would be a great opportunity to incorporate as much local, Bay Area-produced food as possible. The answer, they soon realized, would be to prepare meals based largely on home-canned stewed meat and dehydrated vegetables. They added a pressure cooker to the equation, collected and developed recipes (including quite a few by pressure cooker expert <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192816/34641/goto:http://www.lornasass.com/">Lorna Sass</a>), and set about making it happen. </p> <p><img src="http://www.cuesa.org/html-email-images/plastiki_on_water.jpg" alt="plastiki" align="right" height="265" hspace="8" width="139" />That’s where <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192817/34641/goto:http://www.cuesa.org/markets/farmers/farm_28.php">Everything Under the Sun</a>’s Bill Crepps, a farmer known for his wide range of dehydrated products, entered the picture. When Tuck approached him with a list of ideas, Bill saw it as an opportunity to try out some new things. “Finding Bill was a dream come true,” she says. “He was willing to dehydrate any and all veggies he could get his hands on – and the experimentation began!”</p> <p>“She would tell me what she needed; if I had it I’d dry it for her,” recalls Bill. “If I didn’t, I’d find someone who did. That’s how <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192818/34641/goto:http://www.cuesa.org/markets/farmers/farm_24.php">Dirty Girl Produce</a> got involved—with carrots and beets—and <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192819/34641/goto:http://www.cuesa.org/markets/farmers/farm_25.php">Eatwell Farm</a> with leeks.” Once dehydrated, most of the produce weighed around one tenth of what it had fresh; for instance, 20 pounds of fresh carrots became a mere two boat-friendly pounds of dried carrots. Crepps also experimented with olive oil and salt to create chips with vegetables like kale, eggplant, and cilantro (his personal favorite). And with the help of some regular customers, put together a Plastiki-inspired soup mix that combines his kale, onions, garlic, and peppers for his every-day shoppers who want an easy way to flavor beans or broth-based soups. </p> <p>“The crew were the guinea pigs for a lot of stuff I hadn’t dried before,” says Bill, who tends to dehydrate things like apricots, mandarins, and tomatoes. He ended up donating a portion of the food (such as a big batch of summer squash he’d dried last summer) and selling a great deal of it at cost. In return, he says the effort reinforced the fact that he could dehydrate fresh produce that doesn’t sell year-round, and market it to backpackers and others who need a nutritious alternative to the pre-packed meals sold in stores like REI. </p> <p>As for meat, Tuck and Lim ordered more than a hundred pounds of organic grass-fed lamb and beef from <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192820/34641/goto:http://www.cuesa.org/markets/farmers/farm_60.php">Marin Sun Farms</a> (with the goal of providing seven to eight ounces of meat per person, per day). In the Cook! SF kitchen, they canned 110 quart-sized mason jars full of beef bourguignon, lamb ragout, Thai chicken curry, lamb tagine, and some additional meat in stock for the crew to use in their own recipes. “We had four pressure cookers that each fit four mason jars that had to cook an hour and a half in order to properly preserve the meats. If you do the math, we were in the kitchen many, many hours.” The crew was also given back-up jerky and other forms of preserved meat from sources like <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192821/34641/goto:http://www.cuesa.org/markets/artisans/artisan_131.php">Fatted Calf</a>, in case the canned meat doesn’t hold up in tropical temperatures. <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192822/34641/goto:http://www.theplastiki.com/2010/04/eating-well-at-sea/">(See a video of Jo Royle preparing Beef Bourguignon on the boat</a>.) </p> <p><img src="http://www.cuesa.org/html-email-images/Plastiki_freshfood.jpg" alt="plastiki" align="right" height="177" hspace="8" width="200" />The Plastiki <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192823/34641/goto:http://ngadventure.typepad.com/blog/pastiki/">left Sausalito on March 2</a>, with an initial supply of fresh fruits and vegetables (see their kitchen at right), but have been transitioning to the preserved food over the last week. There is also a small <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192824/34641/goto:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiC934zNIZ4">hydroponic garden</a> on board the ship, which will provide occasional fresh greens for the six crew members. And. of course, they enjoy occasional <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192825/34641/goto:http://www.flickr.com/photos/plastiki/4496259413/in/photostream/">fish</a> when they can catch them. (To date they have only caught one tuna and hope to call attention to diminished fish populations while on their journey.)</p> <p>In a recent email from onboard the ship, where the crew regularly <a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6644759115/208160940/212192826/34641/goto:http://ngadventure.typepad.com/blog/pastiki/">blogs </a>and shoots footage for a film about the voyage, Royle discussed her efforts in the boat’s kitchen. “I am trying to move the guys away from simply opening the yummy Cook! SF canned food to experimenting with the dried. I made Lorna [Sass]’s veggie bean chili — and adapted it a little to include lots of Bill’s vegetables. It was sooo good.”</p> <p>Before the boat launched, David de Rothschild, the founder of Adventure Ecology and the Plastiki expedition leader, also commented on the community-wide effort to stock the vessel with local food. He wrote: "The Plastiki has [been] exposed to many diverse, curious, passionate and incredibly generous individuals and none more so than the committed and diverse group of organic farmers and local suppliers who have not only overwhelmed the team and myself with their carefully crafted meals, snacks ands treats but they have also deeply inspired me with their unrivalled commitment to authenticity, quality and community spirit."</p> </div>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-39738853953395857342010-04-05T09:34:00.000-07:002010-04-05T09:44:55.737-07:00Announcing the Backyard Seed VaultThe 1979 children's book <em><span>Ox-Cart Man</span></em> describes a colonial family who spends all year raising a crop and an ox, building the ox's cart, making mittens, brooms, and candles. Then the ox-cart man sets off to market to sell the crop and the mittens, brooms, and candles, then the ox, then the cart. He returns home carrying the supplies from the market the family will need for the next year and everyone starts over again raising a crop and an ox, building the ox's cart, making mittens, brooms, and candles.<br /><br />Maybe at one time we all shopped at markets visited by ox-cart men. Since then, farmers, artisans, cooks, and eaters have had to develop ways to recover from the American institution known as the supermarket. Starting with <a href="http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0104/csa-history/part1.shtml">farm CSAs</a>, we've developed ways to reconnect with our communities and share the bounty of <a href="http://www.masumoto.com/public/adoption.htm">fruit trees</a>, <a href="http://www.meatshare.org/">meat</a>, <a href="http://foragesf.com/">wild foraged food</a>, <a href="http://fermentchange.org/events/">ferments</a>, <a href="http://www.yeswecanfood.com/">canned goods</a>, <a href="http://forageoakland.blogspot.com/">backyard fruit</a>, <a href="http://threestonehearth.com/">ready made traditional food</a>, <a href="http://www.boccalone.com/Salumi-Society">charcuterie</a>, <a href="http://foragesf.com/market/">homemade goods</a>, <a href="http://bullmoosehunting.com/">wild game</a>, and on, and on, and on.<br /><br />But what about the genetic diversity underlying all of that delicious food? Can we grow out heirloom crops in our backyards and share the collective gene pool using all the know how and social networking we've developed for these other models of sustainable food? Allow me to explain.<br /><br />If you're not on the Texas or Kansas Boards of Education, or have read Darwin and his ilk, you know that in biological systems, variation and the transfer of genes between individuals is essential. Despite the controls industrial agriculture operations try to impose, agricultural systems are ecosystems that rely on this genetic diversity. Governments, NGOs, and seed companies alike know that crop genetics are all important.<br /><br />Seed companies seek to develop new, better crop varieties, but also want to protect their investment. One way to do this is by producing and marketing F1 hybrids. These hybrids are a uniform variety of the first filial generation of two parents with desired traits and expressing the characteristics of one or both parents. While F1 hybrids often express hybrid vigor or other desirable traits, they do not "come true from seed," that is seeds from an F1 hybrid parent will not produce offspring of the same variety and cannot be saved from year to year. Hybrid seed is the first biotechnology that allowed seed companies to develop a value-added product and protect their property from being co-opted by others. And this is without even mentioning the controls offered by the modern biotechnology of GMOs. Here, on a <a href="http://cookingupastory.com/"><em>Cooking up a Story</em></a> segment, organic seed producer <a href="http://www.wildgardenseed.com/aboutus.php"> Frank Morton</a> describes the predicament.<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" height="300" width="480"><param name="src" value="http://blip.tv/play/hK5wgcynZQI%2Em4v"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://blip.tv/play/hK5wgcynZQI%2Em4v" allowfullscreen="true" height="300" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br />Today, Big Seed works as hard as ever to maintain control of their investment and is not always interested in maintaining diversity or continuing to produce your favorite variety. This causes major problems for farmers, as Judith Redmond pointed out in a recent Full Belly Farm <a href="http://www.fullbellyfarm.com/newsletter/3-31-10email.pdf">newsletter</a> discussing difficulty in securing Early Girl tomato seed.<br /><br />In contrast to corporate control of seeds, seed banks have been established both as a library of genetic diversity for lending to research facilities or as doomsday vaults to "back up" important plant varieties in the event of major global catastrophe. The U.S Department of Agriculture maintains the <a href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=54020500">National Seed Storage Laboratory</a>. The <a href="http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/conservation-climate-change/millennium-seed-bank/index.htm">Millennium Seed Bank Project</a> is the largest <em>ex situ</em> plant conservation project in the world, saving seeds from the around the globe dried and frozen in underground vaults. Smartest, and scariest, of all is the <a href="http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220">Svalbard Global Seed Vault</a>, a facility bored into rock on remote Spitsbergen island in the Arctic. The joint project of the Norwegian government, the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an international consortium, serves as a back up of the back up from the world's seed banks in case of global catastrophe.<br /><br />In an era when we worry about peak oil and climate change wreaking havoc on food prices and availability you can even buy your <a href="http://rareseeds.com/cart/catalog/Seed_Collections-97-1.html">own little seed bank</a> to <a href="http://www.sustainableseedco.com/deluxe-safety-seed.html">keep in the freezer</a>. Disaster preparedness companies are marketing personal <a href="http://www.survivalseedbank.com/">Survival Seed Banks</a> to the survivalist fringe. You know, for the <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124906766">post-health-care-bill apocalypse, when the socialist Antichrist Obama tries to round up patriots into FEMA concentration camps</a>. Stephen Colbert just had to poke fun.<br /><br /><object style="display: block;" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" height="301" width="360"><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"><param name="flashvars" value="autoPlay=false"><param name="src" value="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:267141"><param name="wmode" value="window"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><embed style="display: block;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:267141" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="window" flashvars="autoPlay=false" bgcolor="#000000" height="301" width="360"></embed></object><br /><br />Having a stock of seeds on hand to sew a yearly garden and some extra for larger community plots in case of food supply disruption does appeal to agrarian self sufficiency and a DIY ethic. Official seed banks have their place as libraries and back-ups, but those remove us from a 10,000 year old lineage of crop seeds developed by our ancestors to suit the particular tastes and growing conditions of a region and saved every growing season over these many millennia. Seed savers form an <em>in situ </em>seed bank and reconnect with this heritage by saving seed from their gardens and farms and exchanging genetic diversity in cooperatives and seed swaps.<br /><br />Correctly saving seed can can be a bit of a challenge in small, urban garden plots. The main issue is separation distance, the space required between plantings of the same species of crops of different varieties to ensure the variety remains pure. Some vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce and peas are inbreeders, with closed flowers that almost always self-pollinate, but to be safe should have a small separation distance. Other crops are outbreeders and rely on spreading their pollen far and wide and are fertilized by the pollen from other individuals. These crops include corn, carrots, onions, beets, and brassicas (broccoli and the like). To complicate the issue, outbreeders can suffer from inbreeding depression if there aren't enough individuals grown in the same plot to maintain genetic heterogeneity. The number of individuals to stave off inbreeding depression varies from 6 to 40 individuals and recommended separation distances range from 25 feet to 1 mile, which would be hard to achieve unless you have a <em>very</em> large garden.<br /><br />But what if you grew Bull's Blood Beets, Cosmic Purple Carrots, and Country Gentlemen Sweet Corn; the couple on the next block grew Chiogga Beets, Arkansas Traveler Tomatoes, and Perisienne Carrots; and the family across town grew Amana Orange Tomatoes, Strawberry Popcorn, and Tete Noir Cabbage? Then you met up regularly to exchange surplus produce, ensuring everyone experienced the full variety of the crops grown. At the end of the season all the seed was saved and distributed, and next season everyone grew different varieties than they did this year (and hopefully some new folks were able to join up). You and your community would have a chance to sample a greater variety of produce than you could grow yourself and you would create a living seed bank held in common trust.<br /><br />With this idea in mind, <a href="http://agrariana.org/">Agrariana</a> is pleased to announce our new program, the <a href="http://agrariana.org/programs/backyard-seed-vault">Backyard Seed Vault</a>. We'll collect your contact info and information about your gardening experience and space, then provide opportunities to get seed and planting information suitable to your skills and garden. We'll organize meet ups to trade produce and gardening advice, and lead workshops on saving seed at the end of the season. The Backyard Seed Vault will also improve participants' gardening skills by providing access to cover crop seed and teaching how to make and use compost tea. Gardeners of all skill levels are welcome to jparticipate and we hope you will <a href="http://agrariana.org/programs/backyard-seed-vault">join us.</a><br /><br />I like to think that the ox-cart man socialized with his fellow farmers at the market and returned home with a few traded seeds in his pocket to try in the family kitchen garden. A bit like at the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOzMdEwYmDU">Bailey Building and Loan</a>, the ox-cart man's genetic 'savings' weren't locked up in some vault or owned by a company, they were in the soil of his neighbor's plots, awaiting a withdrawal should anyone need it. In an era of uncertainties - economic, environmental, political or otherwise - this is a plan I can feel certain about.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-10493008868262482622010-03-20T15:07:00.000-07:002010-03-20T15:21:08.686-07:00Mapping Food<div style="text-align: left;">The <a href="http://www.ediblegeography.com/">Edible Geography</a> blog covered it much better than we can, on their post <a href="http://www.ediblegeography.com/united-states-of-food/"><span style="font-style: italic;">United States of Food</span></a>, but you absolutely must check out the USDA's <a href="http://maps.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/">Food Environment Atlas</a>. For food nerds like us, you can spend hours clicking around plotting demographic data on food in the U.S., like this one on adult obesity.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maps.ers.usda.gov/foodatlas/ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Web.MimeImage.ashx?ImgID=19e5dfb9acad4e1889d36853661a14d1&CacheTime=1&kc=1"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 281px;" src="http://maps.ers.usda.gov/foodatlas/ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Web.MimeImage.ashx?ImgID=19e5dfb9acad4e1889d36853661a14d1&CacheTime=1&kc=1" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Oh, and on a mapping note, you have to see this video about how obesity is interconnected in social networks.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pJfq-o5nZQ4&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pJfq-o5nZQ4&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" width="425"></embed></object>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-73496480051640103352010-03-19T23:47:00.000-07:002010-03-20T00:04:06.785-07:00School Lunch Blogs Two Ways<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9FIo1_Ov9DFkfsuWtXQxcwVr9tHblGezNAPWcu9gaw2nq-UX6YeutmLP212-cZe_tUXkn2RLueq9GxkXdW0xV3z-QR13m8k581HuQkFJt4MvgIdTNCaHAR9BO27g2NlTgj-Ba9iV3aeIa/s320/chicken1-719453.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mrfergusonsclassroom.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4440699292_448034330a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We ran across both of these school lunch blogs recently. Mrs. Q blogs school lunch in the American Midwest on <a href="http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/">Fed Up With Lunch</a>. Mr. Ferguson teaches English to kindergarteners in Fukuyama, Japan and blogs at <a href="http://www.mrfergusonsclassroom.com/">Mr. Ferguson's Classroom</a>. The differences, as illustrated by the above photos, couldn't be more pronounced. We'll let you guess which meal is from where.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-59763747269051983642010-03-15T01:14:00.000-07:002010-03-15T01:16:24.977-07:00Crock Pot Apple Butter<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BSr0R_t_LUhmiAFK2qYt8Q?authkey=Gv1sRgCNfZlf3A98qhQQ&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFSdffBhpf6bMxgyjXVtZaOeCwn7JZacNeEKgaVP2T4Gi5JCjjM59MNM8mM_ZiZXZbaUCUZS7xWFBRGly6nuh_dP6ZRpEIXMcyCpnNF5u1vwz2C8OtMVfRjFhkvzqfXQOzDUJWJ11GNXK/s400/IMGP0139.JPG" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Quick! While there are still apples coming out of cold storage and now that they're starting to go a bit soft and mealy, cook up a batch of apple butter. Here's the recipe.<br /><br />Crock Pot Apple Butter<br /><br />Yield: 1 dozen half-pints of apple butter, plus a couple bowls of applesauce to sample while cooking.<br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><br />18 lbs. “cosmetically challenged” apples of various varieties, preferably organic, from the farmer’s market, U-pick, backyard trees, or your own orchard<br /><br />A few lemons (to make acidulated water to prevent apples from browning)<br /><br />3 cups apple cider or water<br /><br />2-5 cups of sugar (Depending on how sweet you want the apple butter. I like about 2.5 cups)<br /><br />3 tablespoons fresh ground cinnamon<br /><br />Instructions:<br /><br />This project is best for a long weekend at home while the weather is still crummy.<br /><br />Give the apples a dunk in a sink of water to wash. Peel, core, and quarter apples and drop in a LARGE container of acidulated water.<br /><br />To one or more large pots (you may need more than one), add the apples and cider or water and cook over medium heat until tender, occasionally stirring and mashing with a wooden spoon or potato masher. This will produce chunky applesauce.<br /><br />To continue making apple butter, blend the applesauce until smooth in a blender, or better yet, use a stick blender. Transfer the smooth applesauce to a crock pot set on low and cover. All the applesauce may not fit and you may need to add the rest after the applesauce in the crock pot has reduced in volume by a quarter. Stir the applesauce occasionally, scarping the bottom and sides of the crock pot. When the applesauce has reduced in volume and begun to darken, add the sugar and cinnamon. The added sugar along with the apples’ natural sugars slowly carmelize with the gentle heat of the crock pot, yielding apple butter’s characteristic color. Continue to heat in the crock pot and stir until the applesauce has reduced to approximately half its original volume attained a thick and silky consistency. This process may take several days, depending on if you need to turn off the crock pot to leave the house, but it’s better than keeping a fire going under a big copper kettle like they did in the old days.<br /><br />Check the acidity of the apple butter, adding lemon juice or ascorbic acid if necessary to bring pH below 4.6. Can your apple butter in sterilized half-pint jars following the instructions that came with the jars and canner. Published processing times vary between 10 and 20 minutes.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-11404048431920239212010-02-18T12:03:00.000-08:002010-02-18T12:39:49.903-08:00A Traditional Foodway Meets the Food MovementOn Tuesday, February 9, the Saul's Deli hosted a 'Referendum on the Deli Menu' panel featuring <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf" target="_blank">Good Food</a> host Evan Kleiman, <a href="http://www.michaelpollan.com/" target="_blank">Michael Pollan</a>, Gil Friend, author of <em><a href="http://www.natlogic.com/resources/publications/the-truth-about-green-business/" target="_blank">The Truth about Green Business</a></em>, Willow Rosentha<a href="http://civileats.com/2010/02/18/2008/07/12/victory-garden-watch-day-10" target="_blank">l</a>, urban farmer and founder of <a href="http://www.cityslickerfarms.org/" target="_blank">City Slicker Farms</a>, along with Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt, Co-Owners of Saul’s. The event was covered extensively on <a href="http://www.ethicurean.com/2010/02/15/jewish-deli/">The Ethicurean</a> and <a href="http://civileats.com/2010/02/18/referendum-on-the-deli-menu-at-saul%E2%80%99s-restaurant-and-delicatessen-what-is-tradition/">Civil Eats</a> and you can watch the video of the talk<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="264" width="400"><param name="flashvars" value="webhost=fora.tv&clipid=11451&cliptype=clip"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="movie" value="http://fora.tv/embedded_player"><embed flashvars="webhost=fora.tv&clipid=11451&cliptype=clip" src="http://fora.tv/embedded_player" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" height="264" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />I'm proud that this Berkeley institution has the matzo balls to take a cuisine steeped in tradition and reevaluate its sustainability, despite the risk of alienating staunchly traditional clientele. <br /><br />I grew up in the Midwest, far from a Jewish deli, and have learned to love deli food mostly through the lens of Saul's. Despite my lack of familiarity with Jewish food, the panel struck a chord with its discussion of a food culture based on thrift and a response to scarcity, much like the Southern and farmwife food of my youth. These themes are universal to regional foodways and will hopefully speak to your background too. <br /><br />The fact that the panel covered seasonality, especially as it pertains to meat/eggs and that we shouldn't expect to eat the same dishes year round, is profound and something we need to hear more about.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-31289931242056705702010-02-12T11:47:00.000-08:002010-02-18T12:02:58.338-08:00Jamie Oliver at TEDI'm poaching this story after it was covered on <a href="http://civileats.com/2010/02/12/jamie-oliver-at-ted-on-a-mission-to-feed-kids-better-video/">Civil Eats</a>. If you've never seen anything from <a href="http://www.ted.com/">TED</a>, it is a great organization, with the mission devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading" and you can check them out for a variety of <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/theo_jansen_creates_new_creatures.html">intriguing talks</a>. <br /><br />Oliver's talk is probably the most enthusiastic and succinct summary of the problems of the Western diet as it affects children and how we fix it. You should watch it. Now.<br /><br /><object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/JamieOliver_2010-medium.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JamieOliver-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=765&introDuration=16500&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=2000&adKeys=talk=jamie_oliver;year=2010;theme=a_taste_of_ted2010;theme=ted_prize_winners;theme=new_on_ted_com;event=TED2010;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/JamieOliver_2010-medium.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JamieOliver-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=765&introDuration=16500&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=2000&adKeys=talk=jamie_oliver;year=2010;theme=a_taste_of_ted2010;theme=ted_prize_winners;theme=new_on_ted_com;event=TED2010;" height="326" width="446"></embed></object>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-27979700369723298692010-02-12T10:43:00.000-08:002010-02-12T10:45:24.145-08:00Pig Business TrailerA new film out of the UK, examining the global pork production industry. We hope to add it to the <a href="http://www.foodfarmfilmfest.org">4-F</a> lineup.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MFMnzno40ns&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MFMnzno40ns&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-72796869915873537472010-02-05T15:14:00.000-08:002010-02-09T15:43:53.963-08:00Temple Grandin Biopic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.grandin.com/inc.gifs/animals.in.translation.cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 421px;" src="http://www.grandin.com/inc.gifs/animals.in.translation.cover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.grandin.com/">Temple Grandin</a>, a giant in the field of humane animal treatment and slaughter, the subject of a new biopic which airs this Saturday on HBO. Dr. Grandin is the author of many books and papers including <span style="font-style: italic;">Animals in Translation</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Animals Make Us Human</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Thinking in Pictures</span>. Grandin happens to be autistic, and her unique neural structure allows her to see as an animal would and to think in pictures, which has enabled her to use her talents to become a nationally-recognized expert in designing humane slaughter facilities.<br /><br />Today, <span style="font-style: italic;">Fresh Air</span> on NPR airs <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123383699">clips from four interviews</a> with Temple Grandin in anticipation of the film's release. <br /><br />A trailer, clip of the film, and more information are available from <a href="http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html#">HBO</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><object height="240" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1074470"><param name="FlashVars" value="domain=http://www.hbo.com&videoTitle=Trailer"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1074470" flashvars="domain=http://www.hbo.com&videoTitle=Trailer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="240" width="320"></embed></object><div><a title="Trailer" href="http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/video/trailer.html?autoplay=true">Trailer</a></div><br /><br /><object height="240" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1079256"><param name="FlashVars" value="domain=http://www.hbo.com&videoTitle=A More Humane Approach"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1079256" flashvars="domain=http://www.hbo.com&videoTitle=A More Humane Approach" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="240" width="320"></embed></object><div><a title="A More Humane Approach" href="http://www.hbo.com/global-video/video.html?vid=1079256&autoplay=true&view=null&filter=featured&forumId=movies">A More Humane Approach</a></div>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-23065755085935747492010-02-09T15:33:00.000-08:002010-02-09T15:41:39.309-08:00Jonathan Safran Foer on Colbert<span style="font-style:italic;">Eating Animals</span> author and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11foer-t.html">guy who knows that chicken is chicken</a>, Jonathan Safran Foer, was the guest on Monday's Colbert Report.<br /><br /><table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com'>The Colbert Report</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/264043/february-08-2010/jonathan-safran-foer'>Jonathan Safran Foer</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/'>www.colbertnation.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:264043' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes'>Colbert Report Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258566/december-15-2009/prescott-financial-sells-gold--women---sheep'>Economy</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-75946323960340405142010-01-28T16:52:00.000-08:002010-01-28T17:11:31.503-08:00Farm Conference PodcastsIf you couldn't (pitch)fork over the 300 plus bones to attend last week's EcoFarm conference or 7 bucks a pop for session podcasts, you're not alone. It's a shame that all the knowledge and insight of the conference aren't available open source to the public. <br /><br />If you're itching to hear a name brand farmer talk about the big picture of food and farming, at least one farming conference, the Northeast Organic Farming Association winter conference, doesn't disappoint. Hear Joel Salatin give the keynote address.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://www.gracenotefarm.org/Files/JoelSalatinSpeaks/JoelSalatinNOFAKeynote.mp3" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" height="52" width="300"></embed><br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.gracenotefarm.org">Grace Note Farm</a> for recording and hosting the files. Go to their site to <a href="http://www.gracenotefarm.com/blogposts/?p=219">download mp3s</a> of the keynote and a three-part livestock seminar given by Salatin. And thank you to Joel Salatin for making what he has to say freely available.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-27566794558355226862010-01-27T15:03:00.001-08:002010-01-27T15:09:15.518-08:00Value of NothingA short video from our friend, Raj Patel. It may be an ad (which, btw, you can <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/picador/promo/thevalueofnothing">win</a> a copy of), but it succinctly sums up the thesis of the book, which is 'How should we place value on stuff, the environment, and people?' And the 'value meal' bit was classic.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYCA49dy4N0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYCA49dy4N0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-51415579836770876122010-01-22T08:32:00.001-08:002010-01-22T08:34:31.299-08:00Bakesale for Haiti<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://agrariana.org/assets/2010/1/22/haiti.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 520px;" src="http://agrariana.org/assets/2010/1/22/haiti.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-45961525570290992082010-01-12T11:04:00.000-08:002010-01-18T13:14:56.391-08:00Raj Patel on ColbertRaj Patel was Stephen Colbert's guest last night to discuss his new book <span style="font-style:italic;">The Value of Nothing</span>. Patel explains how, if environmental and social costs were counted, a fast food burger might cost $200.<br /><br /><table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com'>The Colbert Report</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/261500/january-12-2010/raj-patel'>Raj Patel</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/'>www.colbertnation.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:261500' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes'>Colbert Report Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258566/december-15-2009/prescott-financial-sells-gold--women---sheep'>Economy</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-34116069665590293632010-01-18T13:00:00.001-08:002010-01-18T13:14:16.093-08:00To save the world, market like PepsiIn the December 2009 issue of Outside, human rights journalist <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ykumsef">Nicholas Kristof argues</a> that by following the psychology used by marketing companies to sell stuff like Pepsi or Nike, those in the First World can be convinced to pay up to help people in the Developing World.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-28785455960713100192010-01-05T11:01:00.000-08:002010-01-18T11:03:03.705-08:00Pollan on the Daily ShowHere's MP discussing his new book <span style="font-style: italic;">Food Rules</span> and trading witticisms with Jon Stewart<br /><br /><br /><table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-4-2010/michael-pollan'>Michael Pollan</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/'>www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:260618' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes'>Daily Show<br/> Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/health'>Health Care Crisis</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-28515223804533467852009-11-11T14:58:00.000-08:002009-11-14T15:04:39.507-08:00Happy Girl Kitchen PartyThere's a great fundraising party in Oakland this Saturday to help raise the money for a delivery truck for Happy Girl Kitchen, the makers of local tasty canned goods.<br /><br />Details are below or visit <a href="http://happygirlkitchen.com/food-preservationists">Happy Girl</a><br /><br />“a party to pay for a delivery truck so that we can deliver the bounty of the harvest to your neighborhood”<br />Saturday, November 14th 2-6pm<br />in the oldest surviving barn in Oakland!<br />Old time drinks, local organic dinner, cuban folk music, raffle, preserving contest with prizes and more!<br /><br />$35-$200 and up donations.<br />all proceeds go to paying for a delivery truck so that we can deliver the bounty of the harvest to your neighborhood.<br />For every $5 you donate, you will receive 1 raffle ticket. Raffle items include: happy girl mega sampler (22 jars), antique canning kit, workshop gift certificates, catered dinner party for 10 and more!<br /><br />canning contest: show off your canning prowess and share your preserved bounty to become Prestigious Processor of the Pantry!<br /><br />old time drinks: Featuring hard cider made by Todd Champagne with champagne yeast! Fancy that!, wine by naki, chai cola, kombucha on tap and more.<br /><br />dinner: Buffet style delicious dinner catered by Happy Girl Kitchen Co. using all organic and local ingredients. This is going to be good!<br /><br />Music: Bluegrass and old timey music that will move your feet for you and a special visit from SF DJ Juggle Geof. (maybe he will even juggle for us?)<br /><br />Raffle items: For every $5 you donate, you will receive 1 raffle ticket. You may buy more at the event once you see how fabulous the raffle items are!Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-90745903915155079662009-09-01T23:58:00.000-07:002009-10-28T12:55:24.603-07:00Farm City on Public RadioIt was so so good to hear our friend Novella on the radio the other day talking about her book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Farm City</span>, on KQED's Forum and The California Report. Novella's Ghost Town Farm in Oakland is a huge inspiration. You can listen to Forum streaming and see a <a href="http://www.kqed.org/assets/slideshow/urbanfarm/index.html">slideshow</a> of the farm from the California Report.<br /><br /><object width="335" height="85"><param name="movie" value="http://www.kqed.org/assets/flash/kqedplayer.swf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="flashvars" value="file=http://www.kqed.org/radio/archives/R908071000.xml"><embed src="http://www.kqed.org/assets/flash/kqedplayer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=http://www.kqed.org/radio/archives/R908071000.xml" width="335" height="85"></embed></object>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-54255622089830658402009-08-28T12:12:00.000-07:002009-08-28T12:13:57.640-07:00Cuturing Vinegar<p>What do you do with a partial bottle of that nice red wine you had with dinner a few nights ago and forgot to finish? If I uncork a bottle of wine for cooking and drinking, chances are in my house that even if a vacuum seal topper is used to preserve it, the wine will be too oxidized before I want another glass, making me hesitant to open a bottle unless there are friends around to share.</p><p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AVbau9uBDTW41_ht66TkWg?authkey=Gv1sRgCNfZlf3A98qhQQ&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruOvG4mJBpKG75-PxNqJSKm2Mt-VCdNv_auM3jx3nYhbP6wTWa7NY-8LNI1uuRgLq7h3swD4zKOvYva99Gcjd2LYtWN1l8_gb08v8hbfg_0gyaLAffLMLIspU3VABi78vD7sPdleBoJ6x/s400/IMGP1353.JPG" alt="" /></a></p><p>Here is a solution. I'd been intrigued with the thought of making my own vinegar since hearing an episode of <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf/gf080927best_burgers_in_pari" target="_blank">Good Food</a> with a segment on reusing wine. When a midsummer bonfire left me with too many partial bottles, I decided it was time to start an experiment.</p><p>You can buy fancy vinegar-making kits online that come with small oak casks and sell for $150, but what you really need is a nonreactive vessel and some vinegar culture. A spigot at the bottom is recommended to draw off finished vinegar, because often a thick, gloppy layer of "mother" culture develops on the top. Many folks use nice crocks or other pottery vessels, such as a ceramic water dispenser for around $50. I thought an economic alternative would be a glass sun tea container I bought at the hardware store for $6. For the vinegar culture, if you have a friend with a culture, you can take a piece of their mother culture. I found a red wine vinegar culture at <a href="http://www.oakbarrel.com/">Oak Barrel Winecraft</a> in Berkeley for $12.</p><p>Vinegars can be made from nearly any sugar-containing solution. Yeasts, from the air or introduced by the maker, convert sugars to ethanol, in the familiar fermentation process utilized to make alcoholic drinks. A genus of microbes known as <em>Acetobacter</em> in the presence of oxygen convert the ethanol to acetic acid and other organic acids, which give vinegar its distinctive flavor. Winemakers and brewers consider <em>Acetobacter</em> a contaminant and do everything in their power to stamp it out. It produces cloudiness and gives and "off" flavor to alcoholic drinks. You can imagine an <em>Acetobactor</em> outbreak converting an entire cellar of wine to vinegar. But to make vinegar from an alcohol solution, such as wine, the fermentation step is skipped, and an <em>Acetobacter</em> culture from the air encouraged to develop.</p><p>The <em>Household Cyclopedia of General Information</em>, published in 1881, encourages all households to procure two barrels for vinegar making. The first is to be placed in a sunny spot, the bung covered with a piece of slate, and a small tap installed at the bottom of the barrel. After several months of culturing the finished vinegar should be drawn off and stored in the second barel in the cellar, with a pint of spirits added for preservation.</p><p>For my vinegar experiment, I sterilized the jar, then mixed the wine, culture, and a bit of water as directed. The opening was covered by a layer of cheesecloth to keep out the <a href="http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/vinegar-flies">vinegar flies</a> but allow in the necessary oxygen and the lid was screwed into place. The vinegar culture has been sitting quiescently on a shelf in my storage closet for almost two months now. In a month I'll bottle the vinegar and then age it for a few more months. If you'd like a bit of culture to start your own, let me know.</p>Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-41332821980505781532009-08-09T23:41:00.001-07:002009-08-09T23:41:47.435-07:00Onion Saver<img class="alignnone" title="Onions and garlic" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyJ7RuJ8qVf0AH8LpAPwP_vv1Zv_U-NjM7tHcci5zxnzcI89ngEdNQJgnNAh3BRo0YEraI-B7wXlxmxong2Fjqt74vkZzNwqVQm1LIL_XbN7CAfqsMPrQwEWCekAbFwYbTl1ffOGGi4zK/s400/IMGP1373.JPG" alt="" width="300" height="400" /><br /><br />Here's a helpful food and garden tip, the kind of old timey advice you'd find in a corner of my small hometown newspaper.<br /><br />I've been getting a lot of onions and garlic from our CSA. Normally I'd braid the stems and hang them in a cool but dry dark place, but these are coming with the stems off. Knowing that with so much piled in the onion/garlic basket in the kitchen, it would be only a matter of time before rot set in and wanting to hold these alliums for fresh use if at all possible, I was thinking of ways to best keep them. Then I remembered Alton Brown's Vidalia onion episode where I'm pretty sure he hung the onions in old pantyhose, with knots between each onion. When hanging you can work from the bottom up, cutting the section holding the bottom onion below the knot and the rest remain in place. It's been a few weeks and everything looks fine. The stockings allow plenty of ventilation and cradle the bulb to avoid bruising.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6826262960878923618.post-36764482669959015402009-04-01T16:39:00.000-07:002009-08-07T16:40:52.776-07:00Winter ProjectsBefore the season slips too far into spring, making it too late to mention, let me summarize some of the cooking projects that kept the hearth going this winter.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQErWAEIsoReAc0FgcGsYGCE1VmWtUuDK9xI4qee0CP1UM3vqktexyXWnbmSmAMp-Zl2IwO-i-x18rJYtK3x3wdwDHnz_N6ensIlaHgWsqHH6UM8SISs4Cei8NWjisjtQtHLZuvrZ1lbV/s400/2008_Cooking.jpg" alt="" /><br />Lebkuchen are a German holiday cookie my father remembers fondly from his youth. I'm trying to revive the family tradition by modernizing a recipe attributed to my great-grandmother Anne Hammersley (nee Frank), tracked down from handwritten copies from estranged relatives and transcribed an unknown number of times (if you'd like to try it, or give helpful pointers, <a href="http://www.matrogers.com/files/Lebkucken.pdf">here is a copy</a>). The instructions say to start before Thanksgiving, but due to other commitments I put off the baking experiment until after the new year, which fortuitously is when Buddha's Hand Citron is available locally. I candied it per the instructions in the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4U4YP0xcLKAC&lpg=PA1&ots=Ng4dabFNS-&dq=tartine%20cookbook&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=tartine%20cookbook&f=false">Tartine cookbook</a> to delicious results and used it in the recipe. The notes added to the typed version of the recipe call for molasses and brown sugar, which I tried this year, resulting in a cake-like gingerbreadish cookie, which were tasty, but not what my dad remembers. I suspect Great Granny Annie's recipe really did use only honey and I'll try again with this adjustment next holiday.<br /><br />Also at the beginning of the year, when apples from cold storage were still crisp and fresh-tasting, Jennifer and I made apple butter. We know a few families back home who still have apple butter making days, where they set a huge kettle over an oak and hickory fire to boil, stirring great amounts of apples into the brown spice-infused spread, and we have fond memories of gifted quarts. Some 10 or 15 pounds of "cosmetically challenged" apples were procured from the farmer's market for an extremely reasonable price. The first step is to wash, core and chop the apples, then make applesauce on the stovetop. The rest of the conversion to apple butter occurs in a wide crock pot. The low even heat slowly drives away moisture and concentrates sugars until the sugars eventually caramelize. Only a few pints made it into long term storage, so I think the effort will have to be redoubled next year.<br /><br />For Saint Patrick's Day I corned brisket of beef, a food full of American history and ingredient in many fine dishes. I took inspiration from <a href="http://www.rivercottage.net/">Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall</a>, but ultimately more closely followed a recipe of Martha Stewart's because Fearnley-Wittingstall called for what seemd at the time to be an impertinently large piece of meat for only two people. I bought a beautiful piece of meat from <a href="http://prmeatco.com/mission.html">Prather Ranch</a>, boiled and cooled the brine and set it to pickle in the refrigerator for a week. The result was exactly what you would want from a piece of corned beef. Tender, not stringy, and deeply infused with brine flavor and melting fat when cooked. But after only one meal of corned beef and cabbage, a couple orders of corned beef hash with eggs, and a round of Rueben sandwiches, the corned beef was gone. I've learned my lesson that there can never be too much corned beef and will never doubt the wise words from the River Cottage again.<br /><br />It is always a great thing to retrieve food cached away at the peak of its flavor, and it's even more enjoyable when you can do it twice. In February, just as the earliest dafodils were blooming here in the Bay Area, I pulled out blueberries and blackberries quick frozen on trays in the freezer during the height of the last summer, when I was too busy to do canning, and converted them to a deep, dark jam. It was incredibly nice to be able to add a new jam flavor at the end of winter to remember the quintessential taste of summer and enjoy the harvest in a second format.<br /><br />The projects described are a great way to stay involved with your food when winter has driven you inside from the garden. These projects cultivate lost and subtly nuanced flavors you can't find with "quick and easy" recipes. But they are suprisingly easy in an markedly earnest and homespun way. These foods require patience, which builds anticipation, and heightens the joy of remembering recent seasons or family gatherings of many years past. They bubble slowly in the kitchen while you play a game or watch a movie while a rainstorm batters the windows, and that is about as comfortable as food can get.Mathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07533158292065231913noreply@blogger.com0