Farm Aid: Around the Kitchen Table

Ethan's Farm and Food Roundup

2012-02-09T10:50:00.001-05:00

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has changed its planting and gardening temperature map of the United States for the first time in over two decades, to reflect a warming climate that allows gardeners to grow previously vulnerable plants in new areas. The new map is based on recent warmer average temperatures and is completely interactive in an online database.

Do you know where your chickens and eggs are coming from? Do you know the difference between terms like cage free, free range, and pastured poultry? This Grist article seeks to clear up some of the confusion about the true origin of your food, and give you a better idea of what you are buying at the supermarket. And learn lots more about food labels on our site.

Supporting local food could be a jump-start to our economy, and pending plans all around the country are helping to make this possible. The “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative seeks to connect consumers with local farmers growing their food, and other markets are helping small farming operations to find central markets to sell their products. If these plans gain strength, we could see noticeable effects on both our economy and the agricultural system, says Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan.

The debate about the sale of raw unpasteurized milk to the public goes on, even as a recent campylobacter outbreak is investigated at a Pennsylvania dairy farm. The outbreak illustrates the popularity of raw, unpasteurized milk despite strong warnings from public health officials about the potential danger. Do you, or would you, drink raw milk?

Large factory farms threaten more than just the food market for local family farmers. Factory farm waste that is deposited into lagoons and streams on site can have a very serious impact on surrounding operations, and some small farms have seen increased stillborn births as a result of contaminated water. Darvin Bentlage, a cattle and wheat farmer in Missouri, has seen this first hand.

In an effort to battle the rising age of farmers, Rogue Community College in southeastern Oregon is offering for-credit internships for students that work on local farms. Working in partnership with the Rogue Farm Corps, the program hopes to reintroduce young farmers back into the local agriculture scene in the Rogue Valley.

The rise of urban farming means the size of your garden may become a bigger factor in the overall cost of your home. With the potential for fresh organic produce right out of your own backyard, city-dwellers may soon consider small yards for gardening a luxury.

Go Rural – Local food study surveys farmers in the Midwest

2012-02-08T11:50:00.002-05:00

The Local Food Linkages Project is surveying producers in rural Missouri and Nebraska to identify opportunities for marketing food closer to home. This collaborative study between the University of Missouri Extension and the University of Nebraska will assess the potential of local/regional food systems, targeting eight Missouri counties in the northern Ozarks, five Missouri counties in the Old Trails Region, and five counties in Southeast Nebraska. For farmers and consumers in this area, check out the project details to learn how you can be involved.

According to the USDA Economic Research Service, average farm-direct sales are lower in rural areas than in urban areas. One goal of the Food Linkages Project is to determine the economic benefits of local/regional food systems in rural areas. As highlighted in Farm Aid’s Rebuilding America’s Economy with Family-Farm Centered Food Systems, local/regional food systems support economies, communities and farmers. In this report, stories from around the country demonstrate the power of local/regional spending and investing.

The Principle Investigator of the Local Food Linkages Project is Dr. Mary Hendrickson, Extension Associate Professor in the University of Missouri Department of Rural Sociology and Director of University of Missouri Extension’s Food Circles Networking Project. Mary was featured as Farm Aid’s Farmer Hero in January 2010 for her critical work highlighting corporate concentration and market abuses in the agricultural sector.

For more information about how the University of Missouri Extension is working to develop local food systems in rural areas, see the full story.

Posted by Kat.

Factory farms still threaten family farmers

2012-02-07T10:22:00.001-05:00

With the rise of the Good Food Movement, it's sometimes easy to forget that family farmers still face tremendous pressure from industrial, corporate-controlled agriculture. Having just returned from a trip to the middle of the country, I can tell you that large-scale, confined animal production agriculture is still going strong. A recent TV news report from Missouri tells a family farmer's story about what it's like to have a large-scale pork operation as your neighbor. Click here to watch Darvin Bentlage, who raises wheat and cattle in Golden City, Missouri, tell his story. As Darvin says, unless these operations are regulated, family farmers will suffer. So too will our natural resources.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring John Mellencamp

2012-02-06T13:08:00.004-05:00

Music Monday today features Farm Aid board artist John Mellencamp. We're very excited that our HOMEGROWN Chili was served at yesterday's Super Bowl, bringing hungry football fans family farmer food (and the first organic concessions item sold at a Super Bowl). In honor of that, and since the Super Bowl was in Indianapolis, I thought celebrating with proud Hoosier John Mellencamp was in order.

The video playlist below includes John's entire performance from Farm Aid 2011:

Find more Farm Aid videos on our YouTube channel.

Ethan's Farm and Food Roundup

2012-02-01T16:04:00.003-05:00

A man-made cross plant that grows both tomatoes and potatoes has given Kenyan farmers something to smile about. The plant allows farmers to maximize their land use and cut down on input costs for raising both tomatoes and potatoes on different plots of land. Farmers say the cross plant doesn't hinder the quality of the produce in any way.

Is it fair to say that urban farming is the future of our food system? Maybe not the whole solution for the future, but there is certainly a role to be played by high-rise greenhouses and rooftop gardens. If food prices continue to increase, buying local in an urban setting might mean a short walk across the street. What do you think about vertical farms popping up in our future cities?

Washington State is endorsing a bill that will require that all GE foods are labeled appropriately by 2014. "People have the right to know what they're eating," explained Senator Maralyn Chase. As the bill unfolds and comes to light, it may be combined with a GMO labeling bill and presented as a package.

Concern about the origin of meat is growing. People are willing to pay more for meat that was grown eating organic food, had ample living space, sufficient time outdoors, and was not fed antibiotics or growth hormones. Over time, we may see a growing trend of butchers and restaurants displaying close relationships with the farms and farmers that raised their food.

Who says sleeping in comfort is just something for humans? Cows in Ohio were given dual chamber waterbeds to sleep in at night. Since the instillation, the cow's milk quality has greatly increased and the waterbeds have helped to reduce somatic cell count that can lead to a painful utter disease called mastitis. The end result? Happy cows and even happier farmers.

And a final bit of farm and food news: Farm Aid's headed to the Super Bowl! Visit our site for more information on the farmers that are making it possible for us to serve HOMEGROWN Chili and for recipes to make your own if you're not headed to Indianapolis yourself.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Neil Young

2012-01-30T11:38:00.004-05:00

Today's Music Monday features Farm Aid board artist Neil Young. Over the past forty-plus years, Neil has played with a variety of amazing artists, but what has his fans (including those of us in the office) buzzing right now is new music he's making with Crazy Horse. As I write this, if you go to NeilYoung.com, you'll see a 37-minute video featuring shots of audio gear while new music by Neil Young and Crazy Horse plays.

It got us thinking back to 2003, which is the last time Neil Young and Crazy Horse played at a Farm Aid concert. Here's a video of them playing, "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)":

And since I've technically posted that video before, here's a bonus Neil Young video from Farm Aid 2005 where he performed "When God Made Me" off his Prairie Wind album:

Will we see Neil Young and Crazy Horse at Farm Aid 2012? Only time will tell — stay tuned.

Find more Farm Aid videos on our YouTube channel and get the above videos on DVD at FarmAid.org/shop.

Introducing a new generation of food and farm leaders!

2012-01-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

FoodCorps, an offshoot of the AmeriCorps program, was launched in 2011 with the goals of addressing childhood obesity in limited-resource communities while training the next generation of food and farm leaders.

The 50 inaugural service members have been hard at work over the past six months, providing hands-on nutrition education, establishing and tending school gardens and making farm to school connections in public school cafeterias across the country.

In just a short time, these young leaders have already reached 20,000 children in 10 states – a huge accomplishment as FoodCorps begins its second round of recruitment this month, with hopes of expanding the number of service members involved and the number of children and states reached through the program.

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Erika VanDyke, one of the first class of FoodCorps members, working in her hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Erika and I met as part of the FoodCorps mentorship program, and we’ll continue to have monthly phone calls for the remainder of her term, swapping stories about our work and gaining a new friend in the food system in the process. I was instantly impressed by Erika’s positive energy and by her commitment to food justice and her community.

I asked Erika to share a bit about her experience so far, and here’s what she had to say:

“FoodCorps has given me a chance to make tangible change in the community I grew up in. It's incredibly rewarding to watch kids get excited about healthy food. Hearing "Miss Erika, look! I ate my celery and carrots today!" makes this an experience I wish everyone could have. I can't wait until the ground thaws and we can start getting kids' hands dirty in their own school gardens. By giving students the opportunity to learn about where their food comes from by helping it grow, we make them part of the good food movement. Maybe school gardens will inspire the kids to become farmers someday, but at the very least, they will instill a new appreciation for the work of those who grow our food.”

We couldn’t agree more about the transformational power of getting your hands dirty, and are so thrilled to know so many children will find deeper value in the work of family farmers and a deeper connection to good food through the FoodCorps effort. We are proud to be connected to such a fantastic program and a stellar young leader like Erika!

To learn more about the FoodCorps program, check out their website or watch their video (produced by Ian Cheney, co-creator of King Corn) on YouTube here.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Dave Matthews Band

2012-01-23T11:26:00.004-05:00

Before Dave Matthews joined the board of directors in 2001, he played at Farm Aid concerts three times with the Dave Matthews Band. Since then, he's played at the show every year (often accompanied by Tim Reynolds), but today for Music Monday we're going back to 1995 for his very first appearance. We're starting to post some videos from that 10th anniversary show, held in Louisville, Kentucky, so I thought the Dave Matthews Band would be a great place to start.

Here the band plays "Recently," after being introduced by John Mellencamp, who notes that all the musicians who play at Farm Aid do so at their own expense, so that Farm Aid's money can go towards its mission of helping family farmers stay on the land.

Find more Farm Aid videos on our YouTube channel.

Ethan's Farm and Food Roundup

2012-01-19T16:00:00.002-05:00

They say when in doubt; take a walk in a farmer’s shoes (or something like that). That is exactly what local chef David Sundeen Jr. and wife Susan Dumeyer did for a year at Windrose Farm. Working with farmers Bill and Barbara Spencer, they helped better equip the farm for producing delicious ingredients restaurants are in need of, boosting sales and improving both the farm and the local restaurants involved.

Bee populations in the U.S. have declined drastically in recent years, and new research from Purdue University may have found one of the culprits. Their explanation involves commercial insecticides used to coat corn and soybean seeds.

Pecan thieves should be cautious of their potential targets in New Mexico, as farmers are beginning to take serious precautions to prevent the theft of their precious crops. Whether it is security cameras or guards, they want robbers to know that stealing pecans will not be accepted.

Have nothing to do with that leftover milk? Have an extra half hour on your hands? Why not try making some homemade mozzarella, ricotta, or paneer cheese? Although it is somewhat of an art, DIY cheesemaking is getting popular. And savvy food entrepreneurs are selling very affordable kits across the market to help you with your project.

The USDA has announced that they will provide $308 Million to disaster-stricken states that suffered agricultural losses in 2011. The majority of the money will be focused around Missouri and Utah, but 33 states and Puerto Rico will also be given money for natural disaster relief. The funding will help cover agricultural losses beyond what is covered by crop insurance.

2012 means it's time for a new Farm Bill, the giant piece of legislation that gets pushed through Washington every five years or so and governs our federal agricultural policy. But Washington insiders are saying “don’t hold your breath," holding forth little hope that a divided Congress will get anything accomplished before the 2012 election.

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring The Doobie Brothers

2012-01-16T11:35:00.003-05:00

For today's Music Monday, we're going back to 2001. The Farm Aid concert that year was held on September 29 in Noblesville, Indiana and among the acts that came together and donated their talents were The Doobie Brothers. Formed in 1970, they are still performing today. Check out three songs they performed in 2001 below (or on YouTube here), including "China Grove," "Black Water," and "Long Train."

You can get these songs and more on the Farm Aid 2001 DVD by clicking here. And you can find more Farm Aid videos on our YouTube channel.

Ethan's Farm and Food Roundup

2012-01-12T16:37:00.002-05:00

Here’s a look at the new Vermont Food Venture Center (in my home state!), which gives local farmers and entrepreneurs access to an industrial kitchen, refrigeration and baking units, and provides help with marketing and packaging of locally made products. The 15,000 square foot facility was designed to promote locally owned food and to give startup businesses the space and utilities they need to grow their companies.

A dairy farmer in Glenn County, California, got a big surprise when one of his cows gave birth to four identical heifer cows! Normally, in the case of baby twin cows, the mother has a slim chance of surviving. But this amazing mom and her four calves are doing well, making the healthy birth of quadruplets that much more impressive, and maybe even destined for the record books!

A new ad campaign from McDonald’s features several family farmers who supply the chain. McDonald’s wants to portray the journey of its food from “farm to fork,” like so many restaurants these days. But the ads have come under heavy criticism as deceptive and misrepresentative of the entire process by which McDonald’s sources and makes its food. What do you think?

A newly launched website allows rural farmers to connect with restaurants that will pay top dollar for their products. Aglocal, founded by Naithan Jones, is an online database that allows farmers and local restaurants to connect with one another. It also allows rural farmers to find customers in more urban areas, a problem that has bothered local farmers without a large enough market. A beta version will be released in March with resources for farmers in more than 30 cities.

Here's an article that tells the story of so many farms today: many farmers are growing older (the average age of a farmer is 57) and their children are not interested or cannot afford to take over the family farm.

A New York Times editorial says Haiti hasn’t always been the “poorest nation in the western hemisphere,” and the key to the resurrection of Haiti lies in its agricultural roots. “The return on the investment in the rural economy would be self-reliance, the alleviation of dangerous overcrowding in cities and, most important, a path toward ending Haiti’s now chronic problems of malnutrition and food insecurity.”

And finally, here's how Montana Senator (and organic farmer) Jon Tester eats at home, even when he's in Washington. Hint: He travels with pounds of Montana beef! What we want to know is: How does it get it through airport security?

Introducing our new co-op, Ethan Edson!

2012-01-10T14:55:00.002-05:00

I grew up in a touristy ski town in Vermont that is virtually run on three seasons: the summer getaway, fall foliage and ski season. We bring in people from all over, and without them, the local businesses that make up Manchester would be gasping for air.

For us, supporting local business has just always been the norm, and the farming towns that surround Manchester have always been very grateful for that. Thursday farmers markets brought the whole town to the local green, and samosas from the Samosa Man or Grandma’s Apple Pies were always on the shopping list. And it isn’t just food that keeps our tight knit community loyal. I sometimes have a hard time finding cell phone service in the middle of Boston, but seem to have a consistent five bars the deeper I hike into the Green Mountains. Perhaps it’s the obscure Vermont phone company that I have, but it happens that the owner of the company branch is a very good family friend, and supporting them over Verizon or AT&T seemed like a no-brainer to my dad. Although it can be frustrating, I guess in an emergency I would rather have service in the middle of nowhere than on the corner of Columbus and Mass Ave.

Sometimes we get lost in the modern day, and it is really refreshing to return to Vermont and see the simplicity of things. Farming there is truly an art, devoted completely to the betterment of those around, and meant to be a source from which everyone can benefit. Supporting local farms puts the profit back in the hands of the people who work so hard, and it is sad to see farms today shut down because of small margins and skyrocketing overhead costs. Perhaps I am biased because I have seen it happen to those around me, but for a lot of people here in the city, there is little connection to or understanding of the struggles our farmers face.

That was what got me so interested when I saw Farm Aid as an option for a co-op placement through my university. Along with the ability to bring awareness about local farms to both Boston and Vermont, I could also be part of a greater initiative that involved some of my favorite musicians of all time. For me, this was an incredible experience that I just couldn’t pass up. I have been a musician for all of my life, and some of my biggest influences have appeared dozens of times on the set list for these concerts. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to work alongside names like Dave Matthews and Neil Young, and to be part of a growing awareness that is way more important than me.

As for my dad, I think he is even happier, having this vicarious connection through me to his favorite bands of all time. This year I found the DVD pack of the Farm Aid concerts under the Christmas tree, but they mysteriously disappeared just hours before I left for school… I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my dad had no idea where they went.

So here I am now, working alongside people who are truly passionate about supporting family farmers. I am confident that I am going to meet some really awesome people while working here, and am very excited to expand my knowledge of local agriculture and of course the musicians who founded this organization. Hopefully with some of my experience in supporting sustainability and local farming efforts, I can make a lasting impact on this organization and make its founders proud. And maybe, if I am really lucky, get a quick autograph for my dad so he will stop nagging me every day.

I really look forward to writing more for the blog; thanks to everyone for reading!

Farm Aid Music Monday: Happy Birthday to Dave Matthews

2012-01-09T11:19:00.004-05:00

Can you guess who will be featured in today's Music Monday post? Farm Aid board member Dave Matthews, of course! Dave joined our board of directors in 2001, but played at Farm Aid concerts with the Dave Matthews Band going back to our 10th anniversary show in 1995.

Please join us in wishing him a very happy birthday today! And celebrate by checking out his full performance, with Tim Reynolds, at Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City below (or watch it on YouTube here).

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

The Farm and Food News Roundup

2012-01-05T12:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the FDA took a step to reduce antibiotic use in farm animals, by restricting the use of a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins, which are used to treat common infections like strep throat and bronchitis in humans. It is estimated that 80% of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are administered to farm animals, in most cases to speed growth and keep non-sick animals healthy in factory farm conditions that breed disease. This is the first step--of hopefully many--that the FDA will take to end the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture, which has been implicated in the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria that kill an estimated 100,000 Americans each year.

With crop prices up, farmers are putting more and more land into production, including land previously thought to be inadequate for farming and land in conservation. But land prices are so high, many farmers, especially new farmers, can’t afford it.

A Silicon Valley technology company decided not to have their annual holiday party in favor of a volunteer work day on a local farm! Employees constructed a new farm stand for selling produce, large swathes of land were primed for spring planting, irrigation was added to the farm’s orchard and they created an outdoor teaching facility where students can learn about the science of food and how to prepare healthy meals. They also improved the food storage and packing area, building and furnished an entirely new facility.

A NYT article tells a truth many of us probably don’t want to hear: Organic agriculture is outgrowing its ideals. As demand for organic food grows, organic farms are more and more often huge monocultures. As a result, the association of organic with small-scale and sustainability can no longer be assumed. That's why it's so important to know your farmer!

Luckily knowing your farmer is becoming easier and easier throughout the year as winter farmers markets grow in number!

We’re entering 2012 with an organic milk shortage. The main reason for the shortage is that the cost of organic grain and hay to feed cows has gone up sharply while the price that farmers receive for their milk has not. That means that farmers feed their cows less, resulting in lower milk production. At the same time, fewer farmers have been converting from conventional dairying to organic.

As suspected, the Japanese tsunami, and the resulting Fukushima nuclear meltdown, has caused long-term damage to family farmers. Farmers in the area, a center for agriculture for 2,500 years, are afraid to farm their own fields and eat the food they produce due to possible radiation contamination. And now new trade agreements being considered could further decimate farm markets in the country.

Women farmers keep Italy farming!

2012-01-04T11:32:00.006-05:00

An inspiring article in the New York Times today profiles women farmers in Italy who are keeping small-scale agriculture alive in the country. The romantic notion that Italy is filled with small farms , it seems, is just that—a romantic notion. The truth is, just like here in the States and elsewhere as multinational corporations work to dominate agriculture across the globe, small-scale, family farmers have a tough row to hoe.

Echoing what many farmers in the U.S. say, one of the Italian woman farmers profiled in the article said, “I couldn’t make a living only by selling strawberries and plums. Either you have a large farm, or you diversify, like we did.”

Italian women farmers are diversifying--not just their crops, but what it means to be a farmer in Italy, practicing what they call “multifunctional agriculture." Women farmers are finding opportunities in agricultural tourism, farmers’ markets, organic farming and direct sales. But they’re also expanding to offer daycare at their farms, providing a much needed service in rural areas and enabling other women to join the workforce.

These opportunities are giving rise to the good news that agricultural schools across Italy have seen an increase in enrollment, particularly among women. “The agriculture of the future is very much female, as it has always been,” said Andrea Segrè, dean of the faculty of agriculture at the University of Bologna. Preliminary 2010 census data, issued in July, showed that the number of Italian farms had decreased by 32.2 percent in the previous decade, but fewer women than men had decided to throw in the towel.

The 2010 census found that there are 1.3 million women farmers in Italy, slightly higher than the number of women farmers in the U.S. (1,008,943 as of the last agricultural census of 2007). Mara Longhin, president of Donne in Campo, or Women in the Field, part of the Italian Farmers’ Confederation, said women “are way ahead of the curve” in diversifying, noting that most small farms cannot sustain themselves through crops or livestock. The involvement of women in multifunctional agriculture has helped society in important ways “like food security, rural development and the safeguarding of the natural landscape,” she said.

Nonetheless, women farmers in Italy face major challenges. Like farmers in the U.S, they rely on credit to run their businesses. Credit, particularly recently, is hard to come by--both in Italy and here in the U.S. But women farmers in Italy face additional challenges to accessing credit in the form of discrimination and sexism. Last season, Ms. Lauretti went to the bank for a loan to expand her business and was told that her husband would have to guarantee the loan, despite the fact that she owns the farm land and the house!

But she perseveres, farming with her 91-year-old grandmother, her mother and her 16-year-old daughter, who is studying teaching so that she can open a daycare on the farm. Asked how they've succeeded thus far, with four generations of women on the farm, Ms. Lauretti's mother answers, “Sacrifices, many, many sacrifices.”

Are you a woman farmer? What challenges have you faced? Share your story with us!

A New Year's Resolution

2012-01-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

Back around Thanksgiving time, a terrific op-ed was published in the New York Times that I saved, knowing that living up to it would be my New Year’s Resolution.

Titled Thanksgiving Thrift: The Holiday as a Model for Sustainable Cooking, the author, Tamar Adler, declared, “Talk about sustainability on the farm is popular these days. This is sustainability in the kitchen.” Elaborating, she writes, “Most of the year, we cook only for the one meal directly ahead, and we dispose of what’s left neatly in the trash — we budget- and time-conscious Americans throw out 40 percent of our food, worth over $50 billion (not to mention all the wasted time).”

This is perhaps the thing I feel most guilty about. I am a terrible meal planner, and despite my good intentions, too much of my local, fresh-from-the-farm produce ends up as a fermenting mess in the crisper.

Yet, at Thanksgiving I succeeded in cooking the way I’d like to, the way my grandparents probably did. The 16 pound turkey that fed us on Thanksgiving became so many meals—leftover roast turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey tacos, and finally, with the carcass boiled down for stock, a delicious turkey noodle soup. That bird lasted a week, and knowing that there was a good meal nearly ready to go in the fridge each lunch and dinner was a welcome break from daily stops at the grocery store for the next hastily planned meal.

So for my New Year’s Resolution, I am taking the advice (or actually, accepting the challenge) put forth in Ms. Adler’s op-ed: “How much easier and more affordable eating would be if we looked at January’s chicken, February’s bread and March’s broccoli with the intelligence we do November’s turkey.”

The author gives her readers a blueprint, one that I’m excited to follow:

On Sunday we’d roast a chicken whole, then have its meat, its bones, its drippings. The rest of the chicken would mean fast, homemade, spicy tacos later in the week, lunches already made, the start of a soup. We’d save the ends of bread and freeze it as it staled. We’d buy and roast a lot of broccoli at once. The end of the broccoli would be combined with toasted stale bread croutons and the thinly sliced, quickly pickled, judiciously reserved end of an onion. What was left from that lively broccoli salad might then be put into a baked frittata for the next meal, which we might accompany with chicken broth.

I’m looking forward to working to get my cooking in line with my philosophy about where my food comes from. I’m looking forward to giving full respect to both the farmer who grew or raised my food, and the animals from which it comes. A former co-worker of mine would “rescue” any coffee beans he inadvertently dropped when making the morning coffee. I’d laugh in mock disgust as he picked up coffee beans from the floor and dusted them off before dropping them in the grinder. But he’d wag a finger and say, “That bean came all the way from South America!”

It made me think about the voyage our food takes. Imported from another part of the world or grown in our own backyards, food is a miracle and should command our respect and our every effort to use it well and completely to sustain ourselves and our families.

Plus, doesn’t this just sound like fun?

To cook sustainably, we need meat and vegetables to come in their own skins and on their bones and covered in their leaves, because they’re more economical and will leave us more to turn into future meals. We need to cook a bit more at once, and then do little cooking, and more adjusting during the week, which is often all we have time for, anyway. We need to follow the food-loving cultures of the world, and make versions of their simple, resourceful, sustainable dishes. For the curious-palated among us, it means a chance to cook like the Italians, the Thais or the French. For the more conservative, it means cooking like our practical grandmothers.

I’m pretty excited about my resolution—I think it will be easier to keep than the usual “I’m going to eat better or less or whatever” resolution I usually don’t stick with! What about you? Do you have a food or farm-related resolution? Let us know!

The National Parks Go Local!

2011-12-30T09:50:00.000-05:00

This past spring, I took a big step. Several big steps, actually.

I embarked on my first solo hiking adventure, giant backpack strapped on and hiking boots in toe, at Yosemite National Park in California.

Not a bad place to go it alone in the great outdoors. The natural features of the park are epic, whether you’re straining your neck staring up at El Capitan, breaking a sweat on Half Dome or exploring the astounding wonder that is the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.

Personally, the visual wonders did not stop there—they continued along every inch of the trails I roamed, every step of the Giant Staircase that took me to Nevada Falls (which was in all its glory following a rainy winter in California), and even the occasional bear sighting.

But of course, this isn’t a travel review. Yosemite is amazing—a fantastic park with a treasured history that is profoundly American. But the food? Well…the food left much to be desired.

I mean it was a bit of a let down after completing a day on the trail, with a lunch of GORP and Clif bars, to come back down—ravenous, mind you—find my way to a cafeteria or food vendor and realize I could choose between pizza and fried chicken. Or, in the mornings, to start my day with a breakfast of oozing egg concoction and stale muffins. Yuck.

More than ever, all my body wanted was some food. Some good food. I wanted a big salad, or maybe a grass-fed beef burger with some quality cheese and not a cheese-like substance. I wanted a southwestern chicken wrap, not cheesy nachos. I made due, of course, but it stuck with me. This was California, after all. The state is not lacking for good food.

So when Yosemite sent me a post-trip survey to reflect on my experience, I left rave reviews. Except for the food. I implored the National Park Service to do what it can to buy from local family farmers and get some good food to the hikers who need nourishment on the trail!

Perhaps they heard me? Recently, the parks went public with their efforts to leverage their impressive purchasing power to bring local, healthy fresh food to visitors. While there’s still a long way to go, the announcement is a critical step in bringing a better park experience to Americans exploring our national treasures. And that’s sweet music to my ears!

I’m already itching for my next trip to a park. I’m thinking Glacier National Park this time. Who’s with me?

Chipotle Mexican Grill supports America's family farmers

2011-12-23T12:13:00.000-05:00

In 2011, Chipotle Mexican Grill delivered outstanding support to America's family farmers.

Willie Nelson's rendition of "Back to the Start" zipped around the web in September to reveal (and reverse) the horror of factory farms. And then the video moved into movie theaters.

In August, Chipotle Mexican Grill joined Farm Aid 2011 in Kansas City, with the local Kansas City stores participating in the concert event.

Chipotle's Boo-rito campaign on Halloween launched with another video, this time the dark and spooky "Abandoned" which explored what's left in an empty farmhouse. Nearly 250,000 people in farm-y costumes poured into the restaurants on Halloween! Farmer wannabes and farm animals mingled for $2 burritos, all to benefit Farm Aid and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. And almost 1,300 folks sent their photos into Chipotle to vie for the awards for best costume.

Farm Aid staff in their family farmer costumes for Boo-rito!

It's deeply gratifying to share the mission of Good Food from Family farms with Chipotle.

The funds raised for Farm Aid ($285,000!) go right to work keeping family farmers on the land growing good food for all.

Thanks to the lively, good spirited people at Chipotle, we had lots of fun working together.

Onward!

On-Farm Food Safety Project has launched!

2011-12-21T10:17:00.001-05:00

We are happy to announce the official launch of the On-Farm Food Safety Project. The new online tool, developed by Farm Aid partner FamilyFarmed.org, helps produce growers create food safety plans that are specific to their farms.

The free tool offers an effective way for farmers to assess food safety risks and suggests customized improvements for the farm. To come up with a plan, a user is guided through a series of questions based on eleven food safety risk areas, covering topics from worker health and hygiene to animals and pest control. The tool also offers templates for record keeping and other food safety resources.

“Wholesale buyers are increasingly requiring that farms adopt and quantify best practices in food safety,” says Jim Slama, President of FamilyFarmed.org. “We created this tool in order to give farmers access to a system that allows them to meet the needs of these buyers, while minimizing risk.”

FamilyFarmed.org enlisted a broad range of stakeholders and technical advisors in the development of the tool, to ensure it works for both small and large growers. Farm Aid is proud to have sponsored the tool.

To start exploring the site, go to www.onfarmfoodsafety.org. We’d love to hear feedback about your experience!

Answering the Call

2011-12-20T16:44:00.004-05:00

For 26 years, Farm Aid's Hotline has answered calls from farmers in need. Family farmers call 1-800-FARM-AID because they know we're here for them — whether they're trying to rebuild after a weather disaster or they're looking for resources to make their farms thrive for generations to come.

But we can't keep up our work without your support — please consider making a year-end gift to Farm Aid today. If you give now, your donation will be doubled, thanks to a generous supporter. Your gift will deliver a helping hand at just the right time for farmers in need.

This year was a busy one on Farm Aid's hotline:

As prolonged drought devastated farms and ranches in Oklahoma and Texas, Farm Aid coordinated farmer-to-farmer hay lifts. Working with farm advocates, church groups and social service organizations in both states, Farm Aid helped deliver donated hay to farms and ranches in need.
When spring flooding damaged farms throughout the Missouri River watershed region, Farm Aid provided disaster funding to affected farm families.
And, with small and mid-sized farms hit by the ongoing credit crunch, Farm Aid organized a National Meeting of Farm Advocates to coordinate financial, disaster and emergency response for farm families facing crisis. These are the folks who deliver one-on-one financial expertise to the farmers who need it.

I grew up in farm country and family farmers are some of the most resourceful and independent people I know. If they're asking for help, I know they really need it. With your support, Farm Aid is determined to see them succeed.

Farmers of all kinds contact the hotline for help. In recent months, I've spoken with:

A dairy farmer in Wisconsin whose husband died suddenly this year and whose teenage son is hoping to continue the family tradition of milking cows;
A contract poultry farmer in Georgia seeking to transition his farm to a grass-based operation;
A young farming couple in Iowa looking for sustainable alternatives to chemical-intensive production of corn and soybeans.

The support Farm Aid provides means that family farmers can stay on the land, caring for the environment and providing us all with good food. For 26 years, Farm Aid has been there for farmers who count on us. Can we count on your support to ensure that family farmers will thrive?

Farm Aid Music Monday, Starring Willie Nelson

2011-12-19T16:09:00.001-05:00

Today's Music Monday features a Farm Aid 2011 video from Willie Nelson. Earlier this month, we were saddened to learn of the sudden death of Willie's longtime bass player, Bee Spears. This performance of "Still is Still Moving to Me" is a good example of Bee's playing along with Willie's guitar work and also has some excellent harmonica by Mickey Raphael.

Looking for more Farm Aid videos? Find them on Farm Aid's YouTube channel.

What’s new at HOMEGROWN.org

2011-12-17T12:12:00.001-05:00

We’ve put the gardens to rest and are cozily giving our kitchens a workout with baking, braising and stewing.

You can find terrific recipes in the member blogs. Like Aliza’s Morning Glory Muffins, Simona’s Roasted Apple Sauce and a fiery flu-fighter from The From Scratch Club!

The HOMEGROWN Fair wrapped up with an inspiring assortment of submissions. Check out the winners!

Finally, the best kind of gift is one that has meaning, and that usually is something hand made, home made or family farmer-made. Check out the HOMEGROWN Gift Guide for ten meaningful gifts for the holidays.

Occupy the Food System

2011-12-16T16:34:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement, there's a deeper understanding about the power that corporations wield over the great majority of us. It's not just in the financial sector, but in all facets of our lives. The disparity between the top 1 percent and everyone else has been laid bare — there's no more denying that those at the top get their share at the expense of the 99 percent. Lobbyists, loopholes, tax breaks... how can ordinary folks expect a fair shake?

No one knows this better than family farmers, whose struggle to make a living on the land has gotten far more difficult since corporations came to dominate our farm and food system. We saw signs of it when Farm Aid started in 1985, but corporate control of our food system has since exploded.

From seed to plate, our food system is now even more concentrated than our banking system. Most economic sectors have concentration ratios hovering around 40 percent, meaning that the top four firms in the industry control 40 percent of the market. Anything beyond this level is considered "highly concentrated," where experts believe competition is severely threatened and market abuses are likely to occur...

Continue reading the rest at The Huffington Post.

Lauren's Farm and Food Roundup

2011-12-15T13:00:00.003-05:00

Whether they’re selling raw milk at farmer’s markets or organic milk to cooperatives, Maine dairy farmers are thriving. The state has a tiered subsidy program for organic milk, giving these farmers an edge over conventional dairies and ensuring that they receive a fair price. However…

A Maine farmer is being sued by Agriculture Commissioner Walt Whitcomb for selling the excess milk from his family cow to a neighbor without a license to distribute milk and food products. At a rally held in support of the farmer, a speaker said, “By redefining farmers as milk distributors or food processors, the rules require facilities . . . that are entirely inappropriate to diversified, small, family-scale cottage operations. These rules threaten to quietly erase farmers and access to locally raised foods from our communities.”

Check out this infographic showing the concentration of factory farms in the U.S. How is YOUR state farming?

Michelle Obama has shifted the focus of her “Let’s Move” campaign away from healthier eating habits and will instead focus on more physical activity for the nation’s youth. Science has shown that with the balloon in calories in kids’ foods, healthier eating habits will have a more profound effect on childhood obesity than more physical activity. Looks like another one bites the dust in the face of the big food companies.

Hundreds of Bulgarian farmers, outraged by plans for subsidies next year, organized tractor caravans to the country’s capital on Tuesday demanding the resignation of the ministers of finance and agriculture. The protest hearkens back to the tractorcade of 1979, in which farmers drove their tractors to Washington, D.C. to demand fair prices for their crops. In true farmer spirit, while they were in D.C. a blizzard shut down the entire city. The farmers, using their tractors, helped to transport people and clear the roads.

In a study funded by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, USDA researchers found a tenfold reduction in Salmonella and E. coli in the intestines of cows that had been fed orange peels. What they don’t mention is that the unnatural diet of corn fed to cows in concentrated feeding operations is what leads to heightened levels of these bacteria in the first place. Does allowing cows to eat grass instead of feeding them corn and orange peels sound easier to anyone else?

Georgia farmers are making and selling olive oil for the first time in over a century!

Earlier this month, a group of computer programmers got together for a hackathon of the Farm Bill. What’s a hackathon, you ask? It’s essentially a gathering where participants lock themselves in a room and tackle projects of epic proportions with unrestrained creativity—in this case, deciphering the bureaucratic jargon of the Farm Bill. Check out the project that won first prize.

Norway is experiencing a butter shortage because of a combination of bad weather (that hurt the dairy industry) and high tariffs on the imported stuff to protect domestic production. The shortage may seem silly, but perhaps we have a thing or two to learn from the Norwegians about protecting our domestic industries.

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Editor's Note: Today is Lauren's last blog post for Farm Aid, as she is wrapping up her co-op at Farm Aid. Lauren, you have been a great addition to the Farm Aid team and we're going to miss you! Good luck with the rest of your college career! THANK YOU!

USDA releases watered down GIPSA rule

2011-12-13T10:34:00.001-05:00

After many long months of delay and debate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has finalized a weakened version of the GIPSA livestock rule, initially proposed in June 2010. This is the first antitrust action coming out of the USDA after a yearlong series examining antitrust issues in agriculture, co-hosted by the Department of Justice in 2010.

The final livestock rule is an important step in establishing fairness for farmers and ranchers in the highly concentrated livestock sector, but ultimately fell prey to the very corporate powers it was intended to harness.

In the long drawn out GIPSA rule saga, the fate of thousands of farmers and ranchers, and the future of our livestock sector, was compromised in last minute Congressional riders and pork barrel politics that bowed to the nation’s biggest meat companies.

“I think it’s unfortunate that Congress chose to intervene in the process and prevent us from going further,” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The outcome is a watered down rule, one that retains some critical and long overdue provisions for poultry and hog producers, but that falls far short for cattle producers, ultimately requiring their core issues in the rule to be revised, and starting the long rulemaking process over again from scratch.

For a more detailed run-down of the ins and outs of the final rule, I recommend checking out the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s blog post on the ruling.

To learn more about the threats of corporate concentration in the meat industry, check out our past Ask Farm Aid column on the topic and read a press release about Willie, John, Neil and Dave's call for fairness in livestock markets.