Wonder what a dairy riot looks like.
“Think of it this way. If a gallon of milk costs $2.79. Out of the gallon, farmers like Bill will get $0.49.”
So Kettlekamp is pouring out milk - lots of milk to protest the impact feed costs, imports and retailers have on his share. And he’s asking other farmers to join his protest. “Maybe we all want to dump milk together. What else can we do?”
We had a really horrible event happen at the Bancroft Community Garden this week. My garden bed neighbor has an amazing jungle of vegetables that puts the rest of us to shame. Her bed is overflowing with tomatoes and basil and peas, and up until yesterday, hot peppers. In fact the peppers were just on the verge of being ripe and ready for harvest. Yet, when she visited the garden this morning they were gone. Not gone in a the-rats-got-them kinda way either. These peppers were perfectly clipped an cultivated by who she calls the “Midnight Gardner”.
This is my first experience witnessing garden theft. So being the good internet geek that I am, I went a-googling. And I found out that community garden drama is not a rare thing:
This weekend I visited the garden because I had been told new plots were being marked and dug for new garden members. I had not been there since last weekend. When I walked over to admire my own plot I immediately noticed the sun glinting off hundreds of pieces of broken glass all over the surface of the ground. Then I noticed lumps of red clay, and deep impressions everywhere that looked like shovel holes. I walked around and around my plot, not understanding what I was seeing, and frankly not believing my eyes.
Then I walked over to the area where new plots had been broken. I noticed one rectangular area where the soil had barely been broken, and next to it another similar rectangular area where the soil had been finely worked. Very finely worked. So finely worked that it had the appearance of potting soil. Not a shard of glass in sight, not a clod of clay in sight.
I then looked at a series of raised beds, plastic forms where the garden manager raises vegetables as a youth project. During the summer and fall and all winter long these plastic raised bed forms had been full of clay soil, loaded with glass and weeds, which I knew because I had tried to help weed them from time to time. On this day I reached down into one of them and my hand sunk into soil fine and black and clean. My soil, in fact. I recognized it as soon as I touched it.
I walked back over to my own plot and could see what had happened. My soil had been removed from my plot. The soil from the new bed and the raised forms had been removed from those places and carried over to my bed. The soils were switched.
THEY STOLE HER DIRT. Who does that? So stay strong, garden neighbor, at least you still have your soil.
It’s true. I’m in love.
One good chip
Sure, I always had a little crush on that cute little root. I think it goes back to my Jitterbug Perfume days. But although I had some naughty thoughts and sultry dreams, I’d still never…well, eaten the damn thing.
That all changed today. As part of this week’s CSA delivery, we received about 10 tiny little baby beets. At a loss of what to do, I sliced them thin, tossed them in olive oil and kosher salt, and put them in the oven to bake.
I made the most wonderful chips. The sweet of the beet and is set off by the salt, and with the light oil coating, there’s almost no greasy feel or taste.
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to eat. I didn’t realize how much smaller my sliced beauties were than what the recipe assumed. I burnt almost all of them. But the 6 or 7 that survived? So tasty! I can’t wait until I get another batch so I can try again — this time paying attention to them as they roast.
But the best part? I discovered beet greens. My tiny little veggies came with humongous leafy plumes, which I roughly chopped, wilted for about 2 minutes in a little olive oil and lemon juice, and sprinkled with a small dash of salt. Better than red chard, my previous favorite green, with a flavor much like spinach but with an additional, unidentifiable tang to it.
I need more. I crave more. I just need to figure out how to get more without my husband finding out. There’s no way I’m sharing.
Coolest job ever: teacher for U.S. Agency for International Development Farmer to Farmer Program. Travel the world and teach farmers how to be more sustainable.
Windmills on farms make a crazy amount of sense, and if you’ve ever driven down I-80 in Iowa you can see them already sprouting up like giant mechanical sunflowers. With the right incentives, they are also insanely affordable. Like this farmer in Massachusetts who cobbled together multiple sources to pay for 90% of his wind turbine:
The Red Apple Farm wind generator was paid for through a combination of money from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, federal and state agricultural grants and a federal income tax credit. The combination paid for 90 percent of the cost of installing the wind turbine.
There’s a new Generation O in town and the O doesn’t stand for Obama - meet Generation Organic. Spear-headed my the organic dairy co-operative group, Organic Valley. Full disclosure: when possible, I buiy all my dairy from Organic Valley. The reasoning is, I am more confident that a dairy co-operative will hold itself to the highest standards than a national dairy company, like Horizon, which is owned by mega-milk-corporation Dean. Quite simply their members have a vested interest in holcing all their farmers accountable, whereas a for a corporation it is much easier to start cutting corners for the bottom line.
But its not just the accountability that makes Organic Valley the better choice. They are also working to build a community of dairy farmers for the future. Enter Generation Organic. Gen-O was launched in 2005, as the “Endangered Species Act for the American Farmer” in response to the ever aging demographics of the American farmer. Their agenda is comprised of 5 points:
1. Save the family farmer, an endangered species—Five million family farmers have been lost since 1935 and most of those remaining are 55 years or older. Gen-O will bring new farmers into the fold and plant the seed for future generations of organic farmers.
2. Keep diversity in agriculture—Do we want all our food from factory farms? Gen-O will educate about the risks of allowing our food to be sourced from chemically-intensive factory farms where profit is the goal, and work to promote a sustainable and diverse organic agriculture that works in harmony with nature to produce healthy food.
3. Preserve farmer wisdom and knowledge—Farming is a time-honored craft whose technical and intuitive knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. The Gen-O movement will not let this vital treasure become extinct.
4. Unify rural and urban communities—Fostering the connection between city and country dwellers will increase our appreciation for the people who grow our food as well as the people who eat it. Gen-O will tell the story of America’s family farmers.
5. Offer hope for a safe and healthy future—By supporting farming methods that work in harmony with nature, Generation Organic promises to deliver food that is safe and healthy, protects the environment and nurtures a sustainable way of life.
This month, Gen-O continued on their path to save the small family farm by gathering a group of young 20-something wanna-be farmers for a meeting of the minds.
Organic Valley’s next generation of organic farmers, came together on June 13 at the Holm Girls Dairy farm in Elk Mound for a day of learning, sharing and connecting through activities, including presentations by organic industry leaders, small group strategy sessions, a farm tour and locally-grown, organic meals.
…
The day continued with a farm tour and presentation on the importance of holistic animal care by Dr. Sarah Slaby, a practicing large animal veterinarian who specializes in organic and sustainable agriculture. Dr. Slaby walked the attendees through a quick check-up with Autumn, one of the Holm’s Jersey cows, and answered questions.
Now they just need a facebook page and a twitter feed. Welcome to the future, dairy farmers. Organic Produce farmers - you’re on notice, the bar has been raised.
What in the world could they be implying?
The fetishization of meat continues…
Be sure to follow the flowchart:
photo courtesy of flickr user fd
But it makes sense that professional atheletes would use it, too. In the wacky world of sports, it seems like people will eat just about anything for a win. Some of the interesting performance enhancers:
Steve Pearlstein has a scathing column in the WaPo today on what he calls the most selfish lobby in the world:
But, for farmers, it wasn’t enough to get a free pass on carbon emissions. They are unhappy that the effect of the caps and pollution permits will be to raise the price of their fuel, fertilizer and electricity. No matter that other Americans will suffer similar effects. In the mind of the entitled American farmer, any increase in costs or reduction in revenue — whether from natural causes, market forces or government regulation — must be compensated for by the government.
Steve has a point - there is no other industry in our country that expects, or in most cases, demands, that the goverment hands them massive checks year after year for no other reason than because they exist. They get money whether its a good year, a bad year, or a great year. Regardless if they are producing nutrients or disease. The American farmer is entitled.
Elmer’s support for the climate-change bill, however, could not be had for merely a few billion dollars a year in offsets. There was also an ethanol boondoggle to protect.
It seems those pesky scientists over at the EPA had done a preliminary analysis showing that if you considered the indirect effects of producing a lot of additional corn-based ethanol — like the need to make up for the lost food production somewhere else — then ethanol might not qualify as a carbon-reducing “renewable fuel” under the 2007 energy bill, potentially jeopardizing ethanol’s guaranteed market of 15 billion gallons a year. To rectify this gross injustice, Elmer demanded — and won — a five-year moratorium on any final determination while a study is conducted on how the EPA was conducting its study.
Yep, FIVE YEARS. The farm lobby is out of control. They are hurting themselves and all of us who have to consume their products.And they certainly aren’t willing to come to a reasonable consensus on their impact on the environment. So why negotiate with terrorists?
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation and the self-proclaimed “voice of agriculture,” yesterday urged all House members to vote against the climate-change bill, claiming it would “result in a net economic cost to farmers with little or no environmental benefit.”
Monsters.
I don’t know if defending elitism is the best strategy for dealing with people who attack organics and locavores. Yet, Marion Nestle does just that in the SF Chronicle by pointing out that other important social movements started with elites.
I once heard Eric Schlosser answer a similar question aimed at his book, “Fast Food Nation.” He pointed out that social movements have to begin somewhere and that several began with elites but ended up helping the poor and disenfranchised - the civil rights, environmental and women’s movements, for example.
I would add the organic movement to this list. It has already forced mainstream food producers to start cutting down on pesticides and to raise farm animals more humanely. As the supply of organic foods increases, and the Wal-Marts of the world sell more of them, organics should become more democratic.
This isn’t the most helpful narrative to be pushing. If the food movement wants to escape from this line of attack, they need to focus on access and education. Marion, please see: Bittman, Mark. The sooner that people like Ms. Nestle realize they need to work towards getting real food into the hands of the working poor and teaching them how to cook and enjoy produce, the naysayers will continue to cry “Elitist!”. And they are not totally wrong. We all need to home in on how to make good food more affordable, getting them to eat organic comes second.
Rhea Kennedy from the Examiner comes in for the assist:
Sure, you could drop $5 on a loaf of bread and $6 on a quart of cucumbers at one of DC’s farmers markets, but there is another side. Markets now serve low-income residents of Ward 8, H Street, Mount Pleasant, and the Dupont Circle area by accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program coupons, commonly known as food stamps. Several markets also give extra produce to corner stores and nonprofits.
Yay! More fun with recalls! This time its 41,000 pounds of beef from Greely, CO. The E. Coli contaminated meat came from the JBs USA meat packing plant. Here’s where it went:
According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, the products were produced on April 21 and 22, and were shipped to distributors and retail establishments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
Anyone up for grilling this weekend?
Milepost 5 Community Garden
I love Portland, the coffee, the music, the sustainability. I could write poems about the amazing utopia that is that city. And now I have one more reason to be in awe. The Milepost 5 apartment complex has a new selling point: their own community garden.
They boast:
The community garden began taking shape April, ‘09. Dan Blavin of POP Farming is managing our community garden-micro-farm. Four beds will be built at the beginning of this year’s growing season. Milepost 5 is also installing a worm composter, the Worm Wigwam, to help produce fertilized dirt. Initial plantings cover about 1200 square feet with plenty of room to expand. Plantings include arugula, garlic, kale, lettuces, onions, and more.
The garden is 100% organic.
Forget the granite countertops and heated pools - next time you’re apartment hunting, ask them how many garden beds they have.
Food safety is moving briskly along.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed legislation yesterday that would increase government oversight of the U.S. food supply and, if the measure passes in the House, it will be the most sweeping reform of the food safety system in nearly 50 years. The House of Representatives is expected to decide on the bill before the July 4 recess.
The bill is not perfect, but at least it will increase inspections significantly.
The Monsanto death march of GMOs has been halted in its tracks. The Ninth Court of Appeals stands up to the seed giant and barred Monsanto from seeling its Round Up Ready Alfalfa on the grounds that is has the potential of wiping out organic alfalfa.
This is huge news. For those of you who haven’t been following this fight, the problem with Monsanto’s genetically modified crops is that they end up polinating crops from neighboring farms, in effect turning the unsuspecting farmer’s goods into GM food without his/her consent. Already, 90% of all corn is genetically modified, to the point where it is difficult for farmers to find non-GM seed.
The saddest part is that the USDA weighed in on the case - for Monsanto. Just goes to show that even with a supposed foodie in the White House, Big Ag still runs our government agencies.
