Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) brings eaters in closer touch with their food. By offering people the opportunity to purchase shares of a harvest, farmers benefit by developing an advance market for their products, and eaters not only gain better knowledge of how and where their food is grown and raised, but also get to purchase very fresh, and nutritious food.

In this short video, Laura Masterson of 47th Avenue Farm explains the benefits of work parties, a further extension of the CSA, it offers eaters the chance to work directly with the land in harvesting food, strengthening further the bond between the farmer, the land, and the eater.

Who knew it could be this hard?

You guys know the expression that “Time is of the essence”. Well I’m starting to think that maybe time isn’t on my side with this venture. I’m not sure if it’s because the summer season is now in full swing and people would much rather be at the beach than discussing business but I can’t seem to connect with my local officials about establishing a community Farmers Market. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way giving up. If I can’t get things up and running for a late summer start you better believe in summer 2010 the Farmers Market will be on the map. I received my planning packet from the State Dept of Agriculture and reviewed the guidelines as previously discussed with them over the phone about what is needed in order to have a successful Community Farmers Market:

1. Community Attitude – desires, needs, and needed support
2. Interested Produce Growers
3. Site Selection – One that is accessible to Farmers and Consumers, Ample parking, sufficient room for adequate display, security, of course.
4. Potential consumers – The total population of the community, county, and surrounding area. Making sure you have adequate publicity to inform the public.

Having researched and put together a presentation covering all of these bases I am ready to move forward and meet with the Mayor and Municipal council so that I can form my committee, touch base with the Dept of Ag and get rolling on this thing. But I can’t get to the Mayor.

Technically I don’t have to go through the Mayor I could just have myself put on the Borough Council agenda for their next monthly meeting and present to them directly (after all I do have an uncle who is a councilman) but in my small town and like so many small towns across the country the council won’t go for anything if the Mayor hasn’t already been informed and is on board with it. It’s just so frustrating because I know this is going to be a great thing for my community and this final step in preparation was supposed to be the easy part, a sure thing. I am on a first name basis with this man; he went to High School with Mom (and had a massive crush on her). I went to elementary school with his son; he came to my wedding for God sakes. But every time I call his office to schedule an appointment, his secretary who reminds of but is not as friendly as Aunt Bea from Andy Griffith informs me that he is “UNAVAILABLE”.

Last time I spoke with Aunt Bea she told me that he is very anxious to discuss my “great idea” with me but probably won’t be able to fit me in until after the 4th of July Holiday. I’m trying not to take it personally and truly want to believe that he is getting these messages but sometimes I got to wonder. So there you have it folks, I’m stuck…by small town bureaucracy. But as soon as I have my “Big” meeting you guys will be the first to know. In the meantime I am thoroughly enjoying all of the other Farmers Markets available to me in relatively close proximity to my home (over 20 miles away but under 50) and I hope you are too. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS!

See Related Post: Starting a Community Farmers Market

Next week: : Gardening Failures! This years Victory Garden is not so victorious – Find out what happened and learn from my mistakes.

Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown, and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla. Heather resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.

Farmer, and local food activist, Laura Masterson shares her concerns for the future protection of urban farmlands. Oregon has done a good job in protecting its urban farms, and providing balance against the forces of unrestrained development. Today, those ongoing efforts spanning decades past, the vision of politicians and the will of citizens in Oregon to protect urban farms has placed our State well above the fold.

Still, as Masterson ponders the continued long-term viability of urban agriculture in Oregon, the future is less than rosy. As the competing pressures from commercial and residential use of land within the metro areas continue to increase, without a renewed and coordinated effort in land use preservation, according to Masterson, urban farms will largely disappear over the next 50 years.

How important is preserving urban farmland as a source of local foods for the future citizens, and farmers of Oregon?

As foodies, a trip to the grocery store or market is a delight to the senses. So much so that little luxuries seem to jump right in the basket. . .a fine aged cheese, a bottle of wine, flowers. Ah, the flowers. . .what represents the “the good life” more than a home filled with cut flowers?

For us, a good price meant the flowers would end up in the basket. We have been buying small farm meat and fair trade coffee for quite some time, but it took us a while to apply the same standards to flowers. Like food, cut flowers are subject to political issues.

Flowers are rarely local—with the exception of California and Florida, the US imports nearly 90% of its cut flowers from central and South America (Tulips still come from the Netherlands). Though the carbon footprint alone of a bouquet gives one pause, working conditions for growers is another issue, as is the pesticide-filled waste-water that is a negative by-product of most flower production. The FDA does not oversee flower crops, and since they are not foods, little attention is given to the types of chemicals used to treat them. The US has stringent policies against bringing pests into the country, which unwittingly encourages the use of harsh pesticides. Check out this article, Cut the Toxins, Buy Organic on the downside of store bought cut flowers for some more detailed information. If you look for Fair Trade or Veriflora Certified flowers, you can at least be certain that sustainability is a priority. But what about local? Farmer’s markets are great sources for local cut flowers, and if you have neither the time nor inclination to make a flower garden, a wonderful alternative, although not cheap.

We decided that since we love to garden anyway, creating an old-fashioned cutting garden would be the best way to satisfy both our senses and our budget. We may supplement here and there with annuals, like sunflowers and zinnias and petunias, but the backbone of the garden consists of perennial flowers and shrubs. The creation of our cutting garden did require an initial investment (picking up end of the season plants for next year’s blooming season and dividing rootbound, pitiful looking nursery plants are great moneysavers!), but everything comes back, year after year. Our cutting garden is now about 2 years old, created from the ground up in a former scraggly side yard. As it continues to mature, it will only become more and more lush: many plants will be divided and many will self-seed. Not only is the garden beautiful from the street and our windows, we have bouquets to gather just out the door. In addition, it attracts bees galore, butterflies and hummingbirds. Check out the slide show of our early summer garden.

Spring to very early summer brings hellebores, tulips, daffodils, crocus, hyacinths, ranuculus, lungwort, Jacob’s ladder, bleeding heart, dianthus, peonies, lilac, hardy geranium and poppies. Summer proper sees the advent of cosmos, calla lilies, lupine, clematis, loosestrife, yarrow, iris, euphorbia, foxglove, calla lilies and roses. Midsummer brings acanthus, allium, coreopsis, heuchera, gaura, gaillardia, gladiolus, echinacia, phlox, rudebeckia, delphinium, cannas, begonias, hibiscus, jasmine, honeysuckle and passionflower. The herb garden flowers on and off through spring and summer—and mint, oregano, sage, rosemary and chives are beautiful additions to bouquets. (Although once Lisa added flat-leaf parsley to a bouquet, only to find that Nicole eventually nibbled away the greenery on multiple walk-bys!) Asters, dahlias, lilies, heathers, crocosmia, butterfly bushes and Japanese anemones peak in late summer and continue well into the fall here in Portland. Have a cutting garden changes your vision—you’re on the lookout for any interesting plant, and suddenly you appreciate your shrubs more than before. The burgundy hues of our smokebush and its misty blooms provide contrast to pale yellow and pink roses in bouquets. As winter approaches, we started finding beauty in the winter landscape as well. Camellia and photinia foliage provided green in the dead of winter and red and yellow twig dogwood stems added vibrant color. Dried grass seed heads and thistles add interesting form. In the late winter and very early spring we bring in witch hazel and daphne, not only beautiful but wonderfully fragrant.

We have found that our cutting garden feeds the senses and the soul with beauty, perhaps as important as feeding the body with nutritious whole foods from the vegetable garden.

Next week, TwoJunes explore the hidden cost of “keeping house”—the constant struggle against the complete and utter return to nature that occupies “civilized” folks.

Lisa Bell is a freelance producer, writer and editor. She spent the first fifteen years of her working life as a pastry chef, recipe developer, test kitchen director, food stylist and print editor. She has also taught cooking classes, run a small cooking school, and worked as a food scientist. Nicole Rees currently works as a baking scientist. She is also a food writer and cookbook author specializing in baking science. Her most recent book Baking Unplugged, is filled with simple, scratch recipes that require no electric gadgets beyond an oven.

Ingredients

• 4 medium to large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• olive oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped mint
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red chili pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3-4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Instructions

1. Thickly slice regular eggplant or cut Japanese eggplant in half lengthwise. Spread on an oiled baking sheet and brush with some olive oil.
2. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 until soft, about 20 minutes. Let eggplant cool, then cut into cubes.
3. Place in salad bowl.
4. Whisk some olive oil with the chopped ingredients.
5. Add vinegar to taste and pour over the eggplant. Toss to coat evenly. Let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.
6. You can make a day ahead and marinate in the fridge overnight.

Serves 4-6 people as a side dish.

Recipe courtesy of Laura Masterson, 47th Avenue Farm

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offers a holistic approach to the production of sustainable food grown in urban areas. In this story, we learn of one urban farmer who successfully uses the CSA model to produce long-term sustainable crops that are fresh, cost efficient to produce, environmentally friendly, and that offers local members a stake in the harvest crops.

Have you gone to your local farmer’s market lately and tried to make your way through the bustle? Have you noticed at the grocery store they sometimes highlight items from a local grower? Ever notice in growing numbers the restaurants offering dishes made from ingredients grown locally? I have. And it seems to be a growing trend.

I grew up in farm country (Iowa). Summers were great. I remember going to a nearby corner where a local farmer always sold grocery bags full of corn just picked that morning. I also remember the great taste of tomatoes in the summer. In fact, I only remember eating freshly sliced tomatoes in the summer. This was before food was imported from around the world or grown primarily in hothouses. Now it seems there never is a specific season for any certain fruit or vegetable. You can practically get anything any time of the year. But the flavor isn’t always quite the way I remember it. That’s part of the reason I became interested in buying locally, and buying by season.

It was a natural fit for me to meet Laura Masterson, who runs a small local farm. It was fascinating to watch her zoom from restaurant, to farm, and back home where members pick up the weekly harvest. And she is not alone. I know there are thousands of small farmers across the country (and many around the world) who are facing great odds day to day, producing and selling through a Community Supported Agriculture program (to find a local CSA in your area, check out LocalHarvest.org). Laura brings up many important points to think about. Is there a future for the small farmer near urban areas? If Oregon leads the nation in slowing urban land development, how well are other areas handling these issues? How important is it to preserve a direct connection between the land, and the food that we eat?

This Wednesday, July 1st, Laura Masterson raises unsettling questions about the long-term future of small farms near urban areas in Oregon. These are issues that extend beyond Oregon; similar concerns face many local communities across America. The ultimate survival of the small farmer in urban areas will be up to the people to decide through their government representatives. Land use policies can either protect the urban farm or allow for its demise. Friday, we visit Masterson’s CSA farm to see volunteers working in the field harvesting potatoes.

—Rebecca

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of oregano, thyme, chives or basil chopped
• lotsa chopped garlic
• olive oil
• tomatoes cut in half (see note below)

Instructions

1. Mix chopped herbs and garlic with enough olive oil to create a pesto like consistency.
2. Spread the herb-oil mixture on the bottom of a jelly roll pan or baking dish.
3. Set tomatoes cut side down on top of the herb mixture on pan.
4. Roast at 375 for around 30 min, or until tomato skins are crispy.
5. Let pan cool for a few minutes, then pick off the tomato skins.
6. Pour sauce over pasta, spread on bruchetta, puree as a base for tomato soup or freeze for later use.

Notes on tomato types: Romas are the best to use for this recipe since they are meaty and have thick skins that are easier to remove after baking, but it will work with other kinds of tomatoes too.

Yield: Serves 4-6 people as a side dish.

Recipe courtesy of Laura Masterson, 47th Avenue Farm

Ingredients

• 6 Japanese or 2 large eggplants
• 6 to 8 roma tomatoes (we use the red and yellow varieties)
• 2 young walla walla onions
• 1/2 cup chopped basil leaves
• 1/4 cup olives (kalamatas)
• 1/4 cup capers
• 1 tbsp chilis
• 2 tbsp garlic
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 lb. cooked pasta (we use fresh bucatini but you can use any tube pasta)

Instructions to make the Caponata:

1. Chop eggplant into cubes. Place on sheet tray and drizzle with tbsp olive oil and salt.
2. Slice romas and onions in half lengthwise.
3. Place onions and romas (onions cut face down, romas cut face up) on sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil and salt also.
4. Put into oven at 375-400 degrees and roast til color develops (30 to 45 minutes).
5. Remove from oven and slide into bowl still warm. Add the rest of the ingredients along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix but try to not break up tomatoes too much.
6. Let sit while pasta is cooking and when the pasta is done add to the caponata with a tbsp of butter.
7. Toss and serve with pecorino cheese.

Yield: Serves 2-4 people

Recipe courtesy of Wesley Berger, Gino’s Restaurant

Cooking Up a Story: Food News

In this final installment, Ken Meter expresses optimism for the future of local food economies, but also a healthy respect for the challenges that lie ahead. As Meter points out, 10% of Americans are food insecure, and an additional 20% may be close to facing that kind of situation. The U.S. annually exports billions of dollars of food to the world, but overall we are a net importer of food. By building and strengthening local food economies, it will also help reduce our nation’s food insecurity, providing an increased supply of fresh, wholesome food for local consumption.

How does this local food economy begin? For Ken Meter, It begins with us, as consumers, asking ourselves if we want to eat healthier foods and remain as healthy as we can. For those who do, the next step is to find out more about where our food comes from, and seek out local sources where we understand how the food is grown and produced. Becoming more connected to our food supply is an active process that will help us to become not only healthier eaters, it will also help us to eat foods that are more pleasurable to eat.

See related videos: Ken Meter: Building A Local Food Economy: Part 1; Ken Meter: Building A Local Food Economy—Part-2

But the following year having re-painted every single room in the interior of the house I was now ready to focus on some gardening tasks. By the time I gave it any real thought it was too late for seedlings or to dig up a vegetable patch in the backyard but I have always been a fan of container vegetable gardening. It’s not super time consuming, it’s great for first time gardeners and besides who wants a boring old fern (no offense to all you Fern lovers out there) when you can grow your own sweet potatoes in containers. There are many container gardening books on the market as interest in the art has soared over the years but what a delight it was to stumble across Don’t Throw it, Grow It. I had mastered growing container herbs, tomatoes, and lettuce in galvanized metal tubs I was looking for another challenge, something different, and something fun.

In this book, author Deborah Peterson not only tells you how to grow more common food items like carrots, beets, or beans indoors but also exotic fruits and vegetables like Avocado and Chinese Star Apple. For instance, did you know that Sweet potatoes have small purple flowers that resemble morning glories, or that Chickpeas make great looking hanging baskets? With this book you will find indispensable little tidbits of information like that and so much more. So the next time you take a look around your living room and think I could probably use a nice potted plant in that corner of the room, think about growing your own little Pomegranate or Avocado tree for a change of pace.

I don’t know about you but when it comes to gardening I’m constantly trying to challenge myself to do more and this book is chock full of great ideas to help you do just that.

Next week: Who knew Starting a Farmers Market could be so hard? Updates on starting a community Farmers Market in my town.

Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown, and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla. Heather resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.

Cooking Up a Story: Food News

Building a local food economy also depends upon retaining local farms, and encouraging the development of new ones. In part 2, Ken Meter outlines the problem with the diminishing availability of affordable farmland. He also shares a couple of stories about two enterprising community efforts: one that makes land more accessible for farming; the other, that helps farmers and local businesses benefit by partnering together.

See also: Ken Meter: Building A Local Food Economy-Part 1

Related Information: Real Wealth Nations: Creating A Caring Economics (book);
Farmland Information Center (find out about farmlands in your State);
Leopold Center For Sustainable Agriculture—Buying Food Grown In And Around Black Hawk County Keeps Millions Of Dollars In Local Economy

University Of Northern Iowa Local Food Project

Bringing knowledge to the surface of public awareness is an essential function of any political movement that wants to change the system. Over the past decade, the Local, Green, Sustainable and Slow Food movements have brought a shift in public thinking about food. For us, the hope is that this shift is analogous with the social justice movements of the 1960’s that dared dream of inclusiveness, fairness, and equal rights for all. Looking out into the world today it is a great comfort to see that Sustainable is no longer a fringe movement.

Indeed, local, green, and sustainable are words that have migrated far beyond the arenas of food and agriculture. Just two weeks ago we read about slow and free-range parenting in a NYTimes Sunday Magazine piece by Lisa Belkin, Let the Kid Be. Reading the terms in this new context really got us to thinking. In this instance, the nomenclature of one movement is being used to fuel another. The fit between the words , philosophy, and practice seem here to be a good fit.

However, Green and Sustainable as descriptors are very close to reaching a saturation point in media. They are ubiquitous: try to find a product or corporate website that doesn’t use them as part of their marketing. Television ads by Exxon feature earnest employees talking about their commitment to the planet. Though we are thrilled that many businesses truly care enough about the values of their consumers to join the movement, we also feel uncomfortable and have a good degree of skepticism, perhaps even cynicism.

How many of these overtures toward more environmentally sound practices are merely token gestures intended to create the illusion of change and defuse the current sense of outrage and urgency? The current system of industrial food production, although in the long term not sustainable in its farming practices and environmental degradation, remains a remarkably resilient self-perpetuating system.

The current cachet attached to the movement is now being used to “sell.” How we spend our money is a political act, and we are certainly more apt to choose an item that we believe to be sustainable. For us, these words carry an emotional and moral load. We worry that the marketing of goods as ‘green’ or ‘organic’ may also serve to de-fang the sustainable movement. If those products are convenient, plentiful, and cheap, the same habits of consumption that created the current system may be perpetuated along with the associated abuses. Check out this white paper from the Cornucopia Institute titled: Wal-Mart Declares War on Organic Farmers (PDF), for a close look at how “organic” may become problematic when adopted by an enormous, profit-making machine. Or this passionate and angry piece from Jamey Lionette for the National Expositor, Mass Production of Food is Ruining Our Health local on why he feels mass-market organic is an oxymoron.

Our fear is that finding Sustainable and Green on every company website and product brochure makes it appear that the movement has succeeded in achieving its goals. We can now just relax, right? But we’re not done. The soil is malnourished, our water supply is in jeopardy, landfills are still growing at rapid rate, the American diet is a killer and hunger remains a real problem.

Sustainable has to be more than a criterion for buying. Otherwise, the marketing of Green serves to lull us into a “happy consciousness”. Going green takes a remarkable amount of education and willingness to examine one’s lifestyle on an on-going basis. It can be tedious to determine the “best” choice in many situations and time-consuming to parse all that information. In a culture where we are constantly bombarded by competing messages, it’s all too easy to tune out. For the movement to be successful, it has to be a way of life and not just a marketing message.

Next week: the cutting garden: the other reason to garden. Cut flowers in the house are truly a joy, but purchased bouquets are in many cases neither sustainable nor ethical. TwoJunes have a created a space in the yard dedicated to flowers for the house, an old tradition that really deserves a revival. We’d love to know your thoughts on the matter.

Lisa Bell is a freelance producer, writer and editor. She spent the first fifteen years of her working life as a pastry chef, recipe developer, test kitchen director, food stylist and print editor. She has also taught cooking classes, run a small cooking school, and worked as a food scientist. Nicole Rees currently works as a baking scientist. She is also a food writer and cookbook author specializing in baking science. Her most recent book Baking Unplugged, is filled with simple, scratch recipes that require no electric gadgets beyond an oven.

In part 1, Ken Meter, of Crossroads Resource Center, defines what constitutes a strong local food economy, and how farming has evolved since the 1930’s. Meter, a consultant who specializes in helping strengthen local communities, says more people want to know where their food comes from, and how it’s produced. Industrialization of the food system, and the problems of food safety, and a long list of other problems has reinvigorated communities across America to evaluate how they may build and promote their own local food economies. The benefits can be substantial to the local environment, local economy, and culture.

Next Wednesday, and Friday, June 24; and 26, join us for parts, two and three; we explore more of what is involved in the building of local food economies, and why Meter is optimistic for their future.

Related Information: Kitchen Literacy- 1; Community Alliance with family Farmers; Deep Economy by Bill McKibben

But, for those who want to cook barbecue that is consistently extraordinary, there is an art, a science, and an incredible body of knowledge to acquire in order to become a true master. Mike “Sarge” Davis, head cook of the Whole Hog Café, in Little Rock, Arkansas is one of those true masters of barbecue.

Check out the following related barbecue stories, and recipes: Going Whole Hog: Going whole hog for world champion BBQer Mike Davis is an every day experience. A cancer survivor, Davis has made barbecue not only his life’s passion, he has made it into a highly successful career; Journey of a Barbecue Champion: It’s a long road, and it’s not easy, a personal look at a barbecue world champion.

Try out some of Mike “Sarge Davis’s recipes: BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp; Por-Qué BBQ Beans.

It’s a long road, and it’s not easy, a personal look at a barbecue world champion.

If you haven’t noticed yet, I have a soft spot for barbecue. It all started when I was going to school in Memphis and a bunch of us would descend upon the local BBQ joint for a quick and cheap (and may I add, good) meal. I eventually moved away but always looked forward to having real barbecue in Memphis on trips back to visit family.

Years passed and things changed, but I still loved barbecue. I began researching a film project about barbecue competitions to learn what they were all about, and that is when I met Larry Mayes. He is the head cook (and only remaining Larry) of 2 Fat Larrys, a veteran competition team on the BBQ circuit. Through him, and many others I met at the American Royal BBQ Competition, I learned what it took to be a champion. Now champions come in all kinds of packages. From my own observations, no 2 look alike. But there is a recognizable thread running through: Hard work, attention to detail, openness to sharing (to a point!), a personal approach to making it their own, and a passion to win.

Larry isn’t competing nearly as much as he had been when I first met him. He is now part owner of a BBQ restaurant in Memphis. Anyone in the restaurant business knows it takes up a good part of your life. But I do know he’s making some really good barbecue and the passion is still there.

—Rebecca

Watch CBS Videos Online

Tomatoes that don’t taste like a tomato (but hey, they also don’t bruise), cloned animal meats (really?), and a look behind the curtain of food production in America; this film presents a grim view inside our present food system. Michael Pollan has been a guest on our show before, and continues to draw the important connections between the cheap abundance of food, the increase in diet-related chronic diseases, and corporate mistreatment of food industry workers, and livestock.

This is an interesting interview; especially troubling, the meat industry would wish to prevent labeling of food that originates from cloned animals because that’s information consumers don’t need to know. Oh, really? Equally troubling, according to Mr. Kenner, much of the disturbing behind-the-scenes footage was intentionally edited out of the film. On a more optimistic note, it was encouraging to hear how these issues are not going away, and that as more consumers become aware, more people will speak out for change. If nothing else, Food Inc. demonstrates, when it comes to food, ignorance is not bliss.

For Father’s Day, order BBQ Secrets: The Master Guide to Extraordinary Barbecue Cookin’. This Award-Winning DVD features 3 world champion barbecue cooks and restaurateur’s (including Mike “Sarge” Davis), who share their extraordinary barbecue secrets!

Going whole hog for world champion BBQer Mike Davis is an every day experience. A cancer survivor, Davis has made barbecue not only his life’s passion, he has made it into a highly successful career.

I did a little cheating for this weeks episode. I created Going Whole Hog from footage I shot of Mike Davis (most call him Sarge, as I did after spending a day with him) a couple of years ago. I was looking for a world champion barbecuer who had gone on to become a successful restaurateur (Whole Hog Cafe). With all the barbecue restaurants out there, I thought it would be an easy task. But it wasn’t. I learned of Sarge through longtime bbq circuit judge, Wayne Lohman. He had high praise for him, both on the circuit and off. I initially talked to Ron, his partner, and explained my project. He said, you need to talk to Sarge.

Sarge was not too excited about being on camera, it just didn’t fit his nature. I understood. I’m much more comfortable behind the camera. But he was full of a lot of good information and was willing to share, so he said come on down. It took him awhile to warm up to us, the lights, and the lens. But he did. I found that his uneasiness disappeared when he started talking about barbecue. This was a subject he was very comfortable in.

I wanted to retell Sarge’s story because I think it’s worth sharing. The original was not told at the depth it is here. The cards he was dealt in his life were not always pretty ones, but he managed in a way that was true to himself. With a career in the army, Sarge got the big C, which led to his early retirement. In remission, and working odd jobs, he was recruited by his daughter’s orthodontist to help build a welcome shack for a local barbecue competition. In addition, the crew entered ribs in the event. And Sarge got hooked.

Barbecue was his new mission in life. He loved barbecue, his friends loved to eat his barbecue, and the rest played out as if in a fairy tale, good ending and all…

—Rebecca Gerendasy

It’s that time of year to get your buckets ready and go pick your own fruit and/or vegetables. There’s nothing tastier than a fresh picked strawberry. In fact, I have to say, it’s almost like eating a different fruit— ones that are fresh picked versus the standard fare in the supermarket. The biggest secret of all, at least in my area around Portland, the u-pick strawberries are less than half the price of the store bought ones: $1.25 per pound compared with $3 per pound!

I urge you to find what is available in your region and have a go at it. I took 2 of my boys last weekend and returned with over 13 pounds of strawberries! There are lots of varieties, Hood being one of my favorite. We snacked on them first, then I made a pie, and, last, I put the rest in the freezer for future enjoyment. Or you could make small batch strawberry jam – just enough for a couple of jars and easy enough to do in an hour. Here’s a link for finding u-pick strawberries in your local area.

“I don’t know how you do it” is a common phrase I hear and sometimes I don’t even know how I do it. I have a tendency to really burn the candle at both ends, I’m not happy unless I’m involved in a number of things and I’m always coming up with ten million more things to work on. Not to mention I’m a pretty nice person and I hate to tell people no. Right at this moment I’m writing this post instead of working on my presentation for an upcoming women’s retreat, upcoming as in two days away. So needless to say when I announced that I was going to try and bring a community farmers market to my small hometown it shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone especially me.

So why is a beyond busy wife and mother of two opting to take on such a big project, well quite simply I can’t not do this. I live in a small rural town (pop. 2800) smack in the middle of Cape May County New Jersey which boasts the most beaches in the entire state. Basically I have to drive at least ten minutes to get anywhere and that includes a farmers market (20 miles) and the store where I purchase my local dairy and beef (40 miles, it’s under 100 miles so I consider it local). Basically I’m doing it for purely selfish reasons, but not only that it would be a wonderful thing for my community, a way to put my town back on the map and get families to see the importance of supporting local agriculture and local businesses. My hometown like many small towns was a bustling little hub for a long time; we had our own bank, butcher, corner market, gas station, hotel, Movie Theater, etc. Then like many towns during the 70s and 80s we had a crime wave that brought drugs in and ripped the town and many families apart. The local business owners packed up what they had left and moved away, the school district fell apart, the town became one that many people became ashamed of living in.

Fast forward 30 years later and the town along with local political figures are searching for redemption, we are going through a bit of a renaissance, and therefore a perfect time to bring a community farmers market in.

The first thing I did was contact my local State Department of Agriculture. The gentleman I spoke with commented about the unusual amount of phone calls he received this year about people wanting to set up Farmers markets and how he was thrilled that so many communities were finally getting on board with this initiative. He would mail to me a packet of information to review but while on the phone he briefly explained to me that I needed to set-up a market committee, meet with local political officials in order to secure a location and to ask permission to start a farmers market, and along with assistance from the department of agriculture contact farmers in hopes that they would want to come. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with my new friend from the department of agriculture including a brief conversation about Chef Dan Barber and President Obama’s recent trip to Blue Hill I hung up the phone ready to get to work.

I already have a location in mind. One thing you need to know about my town is that although we aren’t a destination spot according to my local county engineer’s office, over 50,000 cars travel through my town on their way to the shore points between the months of June and August. And that is my plan, to entice those out of towners to stop and pick up some of our fabulous locally grown produce on their way to their million dollar beach houses.

As for the Market committee, I have a few people in mind to assist me with this but I haven’t approached them yet. My plan is to review the information, inform the DOA that I will be moving forward with the project (The DOA informed me that out of all the applications filed to set up a community farmers market only a third actually get up and running), and then meet with the town mayor. Once I get a feeling of whether or not he’s going to go for it and I don’t see any reason why not then I will get a committee together and prepare to present the project to the town council.

So this is where my newest journey begins, I’m saying my prayers and keeping my fingers crossed that I may be able to possibly have it up and running for the month of August but if not this summer than all systems will ago for next year.

To be continued: My follow-up conversations with the Department of Agriculture and my meeting with the mayor. Next week: I review the book, “Don’t throw it, Grow it!”, 68 windowsill plants grown from kitchen scraps.

Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown, and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla. Heather resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.

Portland Fruit Tree Project provides a valuable service that helps communities benefit directly from local resources. Fresh fruit that grows on neighborhood trees is collected by volunteers, and dropped off at local Food Banks for distribution to those in need. The great thing about this program is that in large part, the fruit would not be harvested or eaten by anyone—if not for fruit gleaning. Everyone involved benefits, including the trees, as harvesting is beneficial to their health!

Hominy Waffles

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature*
• 1 ½ cups packed hominy, drained & rinsed (about half of a 29 ounce can)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature*
• 4 Tbs. butter, melted
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• optional: ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

*The milk and eggs need to be at room temperature to prevent the butter from instantly solidifying in the batter. If oil is used instead of butter, the ingredients may be cold.

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
2. Place the remaining ingredients in medium bowl, or even better, a 2 qt. Pyrex measure.
3. Using an immersion blender, pulse until hominy is finely chopped but not pulverized, 1/8-inch to 3/16-inch pieces. If using a blender or food processor, blend with only 1 cup milk to make the mixture less messy, then stir in the remaining milk at the end.

Follow the manufacturer’s directions for your waffle iron to cook the batter. Standard waffle irons (not Belgian) will hold a scant 2/3 cup of batter and work best if thoroughly preheated. Even nonstick irons benefit from light coat of oil (I use a pastry brush) now and then. Most waffle irons have a ‘ready’ light, but the old rule of thumb is to wait until most of the steam subsides, about two minutes. I transfer each waffle to a hot oven to keep them crisp while I cook the remaining waffles.

Yield: Makes about 10 waffles

Recipe courtesy of TwoJunes, Lisa Bell and Nicole Rees

But…I’ll just confess right now. I‘ve had corn on the cob already this summer—not local, not even Oregon, but, gasp, California corn. I usually acquire my corn at a farm stand or the farmer’s market, but early in the season, with temps in the high nineties and a BBQ planned, that big pile of plump ears at the local supermarket was just too hard to resist. I will also admit to having grown corn only once. I do not think it is a particularly rewarding crop for a small garden: it takes a lot of space, you have to plant a fair amount of it for it to be worthwhile, and every other critter in the neighborhood wants it as much, if not more than you—especially my own personal garden tormentors, a gang of thuggish raccoons that I swear have followed me all the way from New Jersey.

It has become a bit of a joke in our house how many different types of corn products I can actually consume in a day. Fresh corn, of course, is wonderful any number of ways, a nice corn chowder, or shaved off the cob into a salad or slaw, it’s all good in the summertime. But it’s really not quite summer yet, and I need corn frequently, like every other day, maybe it’s a Southern thing. Frozen corn is okay, it has its uses. But canned corn? And creamed corn is simply an abomination. But, there are other options, actually probably my favorites, ways of preserving and enjoying corn out of season that are nearly as old as the long story of humans and corn.

Hominy, sautéed in bacon fat with scallions, and served with cornmeal-dusted fried okra, sliced garden tomatoes, and a big mess of wild greens. Hushpuppies and cornmeal-battered tiny perch or crappie fillets. A big pot of pinto beans with a ham hock and cornbread made in a cast iron skillet. That homespun cousin to the elegant soufflé, spoon bread. Fluffy cornmeal dumplings atop chicken soup. Just typing out the list makes me homesick for the Ozarks.

For my birthday dinner last year, I requested Hominy Waffles from June #1 (aka Nicole), a recipe she has developed just for me and then graciously shared with readers of the Oregonian. Crisp browned exteriors and creamy, corny goodness on the inside—these waffles are perhaps my favorite thing she has ever made, and that’s saying a lot.

Finally, of course, I can’t forget to mention . . . grits! This weekend, the skies having reverted to overcast gray and with collard greens piling up in the garden, I made Cheese Grits and Collard Greens. Like many of the other foods TwoJunes love, it’s not a fast meal. You have time to think about things as you stand there stirring while the grits make their comforting “bloop, bloop” noises as they soak up liquid. Some people have ideas in the shower; I have ideas when I stir.

Grits terminology can be a little complicated. There are hominy grits and old-fashioned grits. Hominy grits are the classic Southern starchy side, bland, creamy, a blank sop to whatever sauce or meat juice they’re soaking up. To make hominy, a harder variety of corn, usually flint or dent, is dried on the cob, removed and soaked in an alkali solution, traditionally either lye water (in the old days from wood ash), baking soda, or in Mesoamerica, lime, to soften the hull which is then removed along with endosperm by friction. For hominy grits or for the masa harina used in making tortilla and tamales, those dried kernels are then ground. (Interestingly, this process, called nixtamilization, used in Mesoamerica and in Native American cultures, makes the otherwise bound niacin and some of protein in the corn more available. The early South and other impoverished cultures that adopted corn as the primary food source in the absence of adequate sources of protein tended to suffer from pellagra, a vitamin deficiency, which is addressed by the traditional means of preparation. ) Working for many years in NYC with primarily Latin American co-workers, the beneficiary of homemade tortillas (and tortilla chips) and tamales, I became even more of a maize addict than before. I became fan not only of corn, but even of the fungus that grows on corn—the deliciously truffly, mushroomy, earthy huitlacoche. And TwoJunes have in this very column already spoken of our love for Pozole, a brothy pork soup made with dried or canned hominy.

Now, back to grits: although I love hominy, and hominy grits are good, I actually prefer plain stone-ground yellow grits. Hominy grits are whiter, a little smoother and gloppier—I find the nubbier texture and the flavor of the old-fashioned straight corn grits (and this is what the Italians dub polenta) far more appealing. Since the whole kernel is ground including the husk and the germ, the flavor is far more complex.

And would you like to guess my favorite late night snack or meal alternate? Made the old-fashioned way in a pot on the stove, you guessed it, popcorn. That grandpapa of corn, teosinte, is so hard the archeologists theorize that perhaps it was first consumed popped.

Next week: TwoJunes tackle semantics: what does it mean for a movement when its terminology is co-opted by other movements? Does this mean the green, the sustainable, the organic, the slow food movements are passé and overexposed? Can you really raise a “free-range” child and what does it mean that we are choosing to use those words? Until then, happy eating.

Lisa Bell is a freelance producer, writer and editor. She spent the first fifteen years of her working life as a pastry chef, recipe developer, test kitchen director, food stylist and print editor. She has also taught cooking classes, run a small cooking school, and worked as a food scientist. Nicole Rees currently works as a baking scientist. She is also a food writer and cookbook author specializing in baking science. Her most recent book Baking Unplugged, is filled with simple, scratch recipes that require no electric gadgets beyond an oven.

Related Post: Two June’s Corn-Fed Girl

Cheese Grits and Collard Greens

For the Cheese Grits:

• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter or olive oil
• 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 6 cups Homemade Chicken Stock
  or Many Mushroom Stock
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups stone-ground yellow corn grits
• 2 Tbs. minced fresh thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 oz. finely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, cook the shallots in the butter over medium heat until very soft, about 10 minute.
2. Add the stock and the garlic; cover and bring to a boil.
3. Add the grits and the thyme and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, until the grits have absorbed all the liquid and are tender and creamy, but with a bit of tooth left.
5. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions for the Collard Greens:

1. 2-3 big bunches of collard greens, center ribs removed, sliced across into ribbon, about 24 cups
2. 5 pieces of bacon, cut in 1” pieces
3. 1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
4. 10 oz. mushrooms, sliced
5. 2 cloves garlic, minced
6. ¾ cup stock or water
7. 2 tsp. sugar
8. Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot with at least 6” of water to a boil.
2. Add the collard green in batches, stirring to submerge and make room for them all.
3. Once they are all in, set timer for 5 minutes. Drain well in large colander.
4. Meanwhile, in a very large skillet or wok, fry bacon until just crisp. Remove pieces and drain.
5. Remove all but 3 tablespoons bacon fat from the pan.
6. Add the onion and cook on medium heat until softened and just beginning to brown, about 6 minutes.
7. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes.
8. Add stock and scrape up any browned bits.
9. Add the collard greens, half the reserved bacon pieces, the sugar and season with salt and pepper.
10. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the collards have absorbed most of the liquid. Sprinkle with remaining bacons after plating.

Yield: Serves 8 to 10

Recipe courtesy of TwoJunes, Lisa Bell and Nicole Rees

When’s the last time you canned something? Or, bought a lot of berries, peaches or beans, got the pots out, prepped the food, rolled up your sleeves, and got to it? Awhile, I bet.

I live in an area that has an abundance of fresh food growing, and when I have a chance I take one of my boys and we go U-Picking. Berries are our favorite, I come home with pounds of them. I make a pie, maybe a crumble, and then freeze the rest. But I’d like to put them up, can them. Share the goodness with family and friends. But it’s been years, I needed a refresher.

Harriet Fasenfest and Marge Braker from Preserve, are two long time friends who got together to start teaching the lost art of preserving. Braker taught home economics for many years, and was on the faculty at Oregon State University Extension Service. Fasenfest is a writer, gardener, and food preserver. Both fit in with today’s path toward sustainable living: Buying local, growing your own, and preserving the abundance season by season.

Watch the How to Make Small Batch Jam and give it a shot, also check out the recipe: Small Batch Fresh Strawberry Jam Recipe It’s fun to make fresh strawberry jam, I brought home some fresh picked strawberries, made my own small batch, kept one jar for us, and gave the other to a neighbor. You can even invite some friends over and make it a happening!

—Rebecca

See the related video demonstrating how to make small batch strawberry jam;
Also, watch the companion video story: Preserving Food and Friendship.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced (about 1½ pint baskets or 4 cups whole berries or 1 pound)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Option: Add a tablespoon or two of diced candied ginger

Directions:

1. Chill a small plate or bowl in the freezer or over ice water.
2. In a 10 or 12-inch wide skillet, bring fruit, sugar, and lemon juice to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam as necessary. Cook about 8-10 minutes, until mixture begins to look syrupy and thickens slightly.
3. Spoon ½ teaspoon of the hot fruit onto the cold plate and let it rest for 30 seconds. Tip plate to one side; jam should be a soft gel that moves slightly. If mixture is thin and runs down side of plate, the gel is too soft. Return skillet to heat and cook jam 1 to 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and repeat test.
4. Cool jam to room temperature before serving. Because a minimum amount of sugar is used, the jam needs to be refrigerated to prevent mold from forming. Refrigerate 2-3 weeks.
5. For longer storage, freeze or process hot jam in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.**
6. **Option: If jars are sterilized (heated in boiling water for 10 minutes) it’s possible to use the inverted method to preserve jam: Pour hot jam into hot sterile jar leaving 1/8 inch head space. Wipe rim and apply prepared lid and ring. Screw ring on firmly. Invert jar and leave for 5 minutes. Turn jar right side up and let cool 12-24 hours. The heat from the jam will destroy mold spores. This method is not foolproof, so if you are preparing a lot of jam, process the jam in a boiling water canner.

Yield: Makes 1-1/2 cups

Recipe by Marjorie Braker, PRESERVE

This ocean series is dedicated to the celebration and reflection of World’s Ocean Day, on Monday, June 8, 2009.

It would not be hard to imagine the impact on the land’s ecosystems, if humans mostly hunted wolves, and other predators for food at the top of the food chain. As Alison Barratt, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program informs us, that is precisely what we do when we fish for tuna, salmon and other top predators of the sea. Artificially disrupting the mix of predator to prey (in this case, through industrial fishing practices on a massive, global scale), damages the built-in mechanisms that keep animal populations in proper balance, and harms natural ecosystems that support life.

Here is a partial list of sustainable fish choices that are environmentally friendly to harvest, abundant, and well managed from the Seafood Watch Pocket Guides:

All Regions

Some Best Choices

Arctic Char (farmed)
Catfish (U.S. farmed)
Crab, Dungeness
Halibut, Pacific
Mackerel, King
Mackerel, Spanish
Mahi Mahi / Dolphinfish (U.S. Atlantic troll/pole)
Sardine (U.S. Pacific)
Shrimp, Pink (Oregon)
Whitefish, Lake (Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan trap-net)

Some Good Alternatives

Basa (Imported farmed)
Black Sea Bass
Dogfish, Spiny (British Columbia)
Halibut, California (hook-and-line or bottom trawl)
Halibut, Greenland
Herring, Atlantic
Herring, Lake
Lobster, American/Maine
Salmon (Washington wild-caught)
Smelt, Rainbow (Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie)

Some Seafood to Avoid: Overfished, and/or fished or farmed in ways that hurt other marine life, or harm the environment.

Chilean Seabass
Cod, Atlantic
Crab, King (Imported)
Flounder (Atlantic)
Halibut, Atlantic
Halibut, California (set gillnet)
Rockfish (trawl-caught)
Salmon (farmed)
Swordfish (Imported)
Shrimp (Imported farmed)
Shrimp (Imported wild-caught)

Check out these related videos from this series: State of the Oceans Health: In Crisis (Part 1) Alison Barratt, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program discusses the health of the oceans in relation to native fish populations, and the decline of their ecosystems. Sardines: Sustainable Food to Feed the World Dr. Geoff Shester, the Senior Science Manager, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sustainable Seafood Initiative describes a sustainably managed fish, high in protein and healthy nutrients, abundant, inexpensive to produce, that could feed a large number of people, affordably. So, what’s the problem?

This week I had planned on waxing poetic about my little victory garden. The Brandywine and Mr. Stripey tomatoes whose arrival I’m anxiously awaiting, the sweet peas that are eagerly climbing up their stakes and it looks as if this year there will be cantaloupe. But after seeing how last week’s post (Are you Local or Organic?), on my declaration of choosing local over organic in most purchasing situations generated a bit of talk I decided to answer those who responded to my previous post.

So let’s start with TreeMama who had this to say:

I find it impossible to be 100% organic anyway, so like you said, I weigh the options of most heavily polluted foods and get whatever I can here locally.

TreeMama, I couldn’t have said it better myself and that was exactly the premise of my post. It is pretty difficult trying to be 100% organic especially if you live in an area where organic food isn’t always readily available but when given the choice I will always choose local first.

Next up was Ed Bruske, The Slow Cook (I love your website, loads of great information), and this was his response:

We don’t go out of our way looking for tomatoes in January (in the District of Columbia), but we’ve had some off-season, hot house tomatoes that were pretty darned good. Someone is getting better at breeding and raising them. And does local mean only “seasonal?” What if the hot house tomatoes are being grown in your neighborhood and are really good? And in temperate areas where the normal growing season ends in September or October, if everyone goes local won’t they necessarily need to grow things in hothouses?

Ed, I have no doubt that the flavor and quality of hothouse tomatoes is improving, clearly there is a demand for fresh tomatoes year round and someone is trying to answer the call by making them as close in taste to seasonal ones as possible. Local obviously doesn’t mean seasonal but most local produce that is readily available to me is seasonal and it’s my personal belief that everything tastes better when it’s grown during its “true” season, regardless of whether it’s local or organic. I live in New Jersey so I have a real thing for tomatoes and to me there’s nothing like pulling one off the vine in the middle of July. Hothouses will only be needed if people chose to try and grow things outside of the normal growing seasons for their area.

And finally my most impressive comment to date comes from the Organic Trade Association…talk about keeping me on my toes. This was their comment:

Thank you for this thoughtful article. The Organic Trade Association would like to offer a different perspective on the issue of local vs. organic. In fact, local and organic are not in competition with one another. On the contrary, they embrace many of the same values. They both emphasize support for the farmers involved in food production. And they both encourage people to consider the environmental impacts of their purchasing decisions. Plus, as more and more local farms make the shift to organic, the choice between local and organic disappears: to buy one is to support and reap the benefits of both.

What should you do, then, if you are in the grocery store and the option to purchase locally grown, organic products does not exist? Which type of product should you choose?

When faced with such a choice, consider the following: organic offers a range of benefits that non-organic local products do not. Because they are regulated by the federal government, products bearing the organic label must meet a strict set of production/handling guidelines. They must be made without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic engineering. Additionally, they must not undergo irradiation or contain ingredients made from cloned animals. Local products are not held to any such standards, and therefore cannot be counted on to meet any of the aforementioned criteria. And, because the term “local” is itself undefined, no guarantees can be made about whether a product is, indeed, local!

Organic products are also distinct with respect to traceability. In order to meet federal regulations, careful records must be kept about every phase of organic production. This means that everything from the source of the seeds to the way the products are placed on store shelves must be documented. Moreover, each of these steps must be verifiable by a third party. Local products, by contrast, are neither required to provide such documentation nor to undergo third-party review. As such, no guarantees can be made about where local products come from or how they are handled.

Does this mean you should abandon buying locally made products? Not at all. Instead, it means you should be thoughtful about the local products you choose to buy. If they are labeled organic, you can feel confident that they have been produced in a manner that not only supports personal and environmental health, but also helps to ensure product integrity from the farm to your family.

I do realize that local and organic are not in competition with one another although sometimes it can certainly seem that way. And I do sincerely hope that more local farmers are able to become certified organic just so that gap and confusion between the two choices can close. I will not deny the health benefits that organic foods can have and as I stated in the first post more often than not local farmers practice sustainable/organic farming methods so their food is equally healthful. As far as federal regulations, documentation, and third party reviews it is my understanding that the steps needed to become certified organic are quite costly and for a local farmer who’s trying to make ends meet that’s not always a viable option. In my opinion we just need to get back to basics and for me that means supporting my local agriculture. I’d rather buy free range farm fresh eggs from the guy 20 minutes away versus buying the supermarket free range eggs that were shipped from 200 miles away. It just makes more sense. And when talking about distance that whole carbon footprint and emissions topic always pops up but that’s a conversation for another day. Bottom line I always encourage friends and family to talk to their local farmers, find out the farming methods and ask why if relevant they choose to use pesticides/herbicides but ultimately they need to make the choice that’s right for them. I’m not delusional when it comes to the whole seasonal, local, thing. I realize that things like Bananas, lemons, limes will never be seasonal or local in the state of New Jersey and if my 3 year old wants a banana in January well then by all means she’s gonna get one. For me its seasonal first, local, and then organic and since I have no idea when Bananas are in season and they are the farthest thing from local then by all means it will be organic.

I know there’s more opinions out there so let em rip.

Next Time: I’m taking the show on the road through the local political process to try and bring a community farmer’s market to my town. I’ve already spoken with the New Jersey State Department of Agriculture, and my next step is getting a meeting with the mayor and the city council members. Through the next upcoming posts, I will document these efforts, and share my results. Wish me luck!

Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown, and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla. Heather resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.

The oceans remain a relatively unexplored frontier, as only 5 percent of the ocean floor has been investigated. Put into context, more than 1,500 people have climbed Mount Everest, more than 300 have journeyed into space, 12 have walked on the moon, but only 2 people have descended and returned in a single dive to the deepest part of the ocean. —2009 Joint Oceans Commission Initiative

According to the results of two major scientific reports, the just released Joint Ocean Commission Initiative: Changing Oceans, Changing World (PDF); and the 2003 report by the Pew Oceans Commission entitled America’s Living Oceans (PDF), the health of the world’s oceans are in crisis from overfishing, pollution, climate change, and destruction of native habitat.

Both reports issue a call to arms; a need to comprehensively address the fundamental effects of human activity on the oceans, marine coastal areas, and estuaries. In addition to being a primary source of food for feeding growing populations of people (6 billion in the world today), the oceans moderate our climate; perform the essential role of absorbing excess carbon (half of all fossil carbon [dioxide] released into the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution has been absorbed in the ocean); through the creation of rain, the main source of our fresh water; and the largest generator of oxygen on the planet. Simply put, the fate of all life on Earth is thoroughly intertwined with the fate of the oceans.

Cooking Up a Story: Food News-Part 1

Alison Barratt, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program discusses the health of the oceans in relation to native fish populations, and the decline of their ecosystems. In the last 50 years, industrial fishing practices have severely lowered fish populations, altering the balance of species diversity within ecosystems. Fishing practices have also led to destruction of native habitats, and increased collateral damage to unintended fish caught by accident (bycatch). Nitrogen pollution from agricultural runoff, sewage, and automobile and factory emissions, have created more than 150 different “dead zones,” areas of water—under a one-mile square radius to as large as 45,000 square miles in size containing such depleted levels of oxygen—within each, no fish can survive.

Some highlights taken from the Pew Oceans Commission report on the health status of the oceans:

1. As of 2001, the government could only assure that 22% of fish stocks under federal management (211 of 959 stocks) were being fished sustainably.
2. By 1989, populations of New England cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder had reached historic lows. In US waters, Atlantic halibut are commercially extinct—too rare to justify a directed fishing effort. Populations of some rockfish species on the West Coast have dropped to less than 10 percent of their past levels.
3. A 2003 National Academy of Sciences study estimates that the oil running off our streets and driveways, and ultimately flowing into the oceans is equal to the Exxon Valdez oil spill-10.9 million gallons- every 8 months (NRC, 2002).
4. The amount of nitrogen released into coastal waters along the Atlantic seabord and the Gulf of Mexico frtom anthropogenic (human) sources has increased about fivefold since the Pre-industrial era, and may increase another 30% by 2030 if current practices continue (Howarth et al., 2000).
5. Over the past decade, nearly one million non-native Atlantic salmon have escaped from fish farms and established themselves in streams in the Pacific Northwest.
6. Coastal marshes, which trap floodwaters, filter out pollutants, and serve as “nurseries” for wildlife, are disappearing at a rate of 20,000 acres per year. Louisiana alone has lost half a million acres of wetlands since the 1950’s.
7. Bottom-dwelling invertebrates can take up to five years or more to recover from one pass of a (fishing trawler) dredge.
8. Climate change will modify the flow of energy and cycling of materials within ecosystems—in some cases, altering their ability to provide the ecosystem services we depend upon.
9. Just as the 20th century brought us into knowledgeable contact with outer space, the 21st will almost certainly connect us more intimately to our oceans. …As much as we love our oceans—our ignorance has been destroying them.

See related videos: Seafood Watch Discover how to find what fish are sustainably harvested, and how you can do your part to help improve the health of the oceans. Sardines: Sustainable Food to Feed the World Dr. Geoff Shester, the Senior Science Manager, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sustainable Seafood Initiative describes a sustainably managed fish, high in protein and healthy nutrients, abundant, inexpensive to produce, that could feed a large number of people, affordably. So what’s the problem?

From a talk at the recent Cooking For Solutions conference, Dr. Geoff Shester, the Senior Science Manager, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sustainable Seafood Initiative describes a sustainably managed fish, high in protein and healthy nutrients, abundant, inexpensive to produce, that could feed a large number of people, affordably. So, what’s the problem?

See related videos: Seafood Watch A program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium began about 10 years ago to help raise consumer awareness and promote business practices to protect the ocean’s fish populations from overfishing, pollution, and native habitat destruction. State of the Oceans Health: In Crisis Alison Barratt, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program discusses the health of the oceans in relation to native fish populations, and the decline of their ecosystems.

But I’ll tell you a secret—cooking seemed easy to me. Once I mastered a new technique, such as searing scallops without overcooking them, I felt free to improvise. I suppose this is why people say cooking is so creative—you can venture off the path of the original recipe and still get to a perfectly delightful destination. The flavor aspect almost always seems to work out. Meatloaf, lasagna, barbecue, and many beloved favorites can hold endless variety of ingredients and still taste like they are supposed to. Scratch cooking is by nature “sustainable”—using up what’s on hand in fun and inventive ways. I have this soup that I call “Cream of Spinach Soup” that a good fifty percent of the time doesn’t contain spinach. Rather, it’s a catch-all soup filled with greens at hand . . . be it lettuces, arugula, chard, kale, parsley, tat soi, watercress, even collard greens. But, and this is where learning some basic technique comes in handy, every variation is still delicious and recognizably the same dish, thanks to a stable base of onions, garlic, celery, green peas, stock, cream, and nutmeg.

Now, in baking, I can certainly make something that’ll use up a glut of ripe bananas or zucchini. Of course, I can, and have many times. Sustainable, yes, but in my heart of hearts, I bake for the most selfish of reasons, to satisfy my deep craving for that perfect something sweet that hits the spot right now. And, if I’m going consume the calories associated with real butter and sugar, it had better be worth it. So, once I’ve determined exactly what I’m in the mood for, I set off with a recipe in hand. Why a recipe, you ask?

Because baking is nothing like cooking

With just 4 primary ingredients –flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and butter— a good baker can achieve a staggering variety of textures and flavors by combining them in different ways. Crunchy, buttery shortbread to flaky puff pastry to moist, tender cake, such magic is possible only when you follow a recipe and, in most cases, follow it quite closely. It is not advisable to play fast and loose with ingredient ratios and specified techniques. Flour, for example: three tablespoons can transform a pint of thin sauce into thick gravy. Too much flour in your cake or bread or cookies, and you’ll not only miss the Platonic ideal, the recipe may actually fail miserably. In my search for that sublime union of flavor and texture, I am very careful about changing a good basic baking recipe. But, as a baker who just happens to be a recipe developer by trade, I’ll admit to some pretty serious tinkering over the years. My Holy Grail is the unending pursuit of the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, countless variations since the age of 8 and still going. Some days you want moist and chewy, some days you want thin and crisp on the edges. And speaking both professionally and personally let me tell you it is very important to record every change! Lisa swears version #4 of a pecan sandy was perfection, but I have never been able to replicate it exactly. Why? I didn’t write it down.

Next week: In Praise of Corn: TwoJunes examine the long and truly symbiotic relationships between an humble grain and its human protector, corn syrup is just the latest kink in an improbable shared history. A displaced southerner, Lisa, longs for the first corn of the summer, but in the meantime, shares some hominy and grits recipes, because a table without corn just doesn’t seem right.

Lisa Bell is a freelance producer, writer and editor. She spent the first fifteen years of her working life as a pastry chef, recipe developer, test kitchen director, food stylist and print editor. She has also taught cooking classes, run a small cooking school, and worked as a food scientist. Nicole Rees currently works as a baking scientist. She is also a food writer and cookbook author specializing in baking science. Her most recent book Baking Unplugged, is filled with simple, scratch recipes that require no electric gadgets beyond an oven.