Sustainable Agriculture Videos
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A field of shimmering sunflowers; a flock of hungry birds feeding , and a farmer who shares some of his stories about his sunflower fields. Director’s Journal I have a soft spot for flowers. Years ago I took some painting classes from a great watercolorist, Susan St. Thomas. The subject I always picked to paint was flowers. Gladiolas, stargazer lilies, Johnny jump-ups. They are all my favorites, for various reasons. Near to where I live there are many farms and nurseries. Out driving one day, looking for fresh berries to pick, I stumbled upon a field of sunflowers in full bloom. There were acres of them, which translated into thousands of perky yellow and black heads craning upwards. Which also translated into millions of seeds for birds, and, perhaps, for people. Aha! There might be a story here after all. I pulled over into the fruit stand, and asked for the owner. His name was Don and he was great. I just had to ask him one question—Tell me about your field—and he took off. Sometimes you never know where the next story will pop up.

Carlo Petrini, in this final installment, argues for economic respect, and fairness to the small farmers of the world. Economy and ecology, he reminds us, share the same roots, and that it is local economies that will save our society, and it’s the global economy that threatens to destroy it. For those who may think of Slow Food in terms of being an organization striving to promote better conditions for farmers, and better awareness for people about the food they eat—while true—the ideas laid out by this founding visionary are a trumpet call for an entirely new world order.

Tons of tomatoes, and over 70 different varieties are represented at this tomato fest. These farm fresh tomatoes have character, beauty, and yes, even charm. Director’s Journal It was back in May. Or maybe it was June. I passed by a group of folks selling plants for a community fundraiser. It was a good cause and I was looking for some geraniums to plant out back, which they had. There were also a handful of tomato starters. Should I give this a try? I love homegrown tomatoes. I knew I didn’t have the time for a whole garden, but maybe one tomato plant would work. There wasn’t a varietal name attached to it, or the others. I took the nameless home along with a small geranium, and planted both. It was wise of me not to plant a whole bunch of tomatoes. With my schedule, I was happy to coerce the few I got from the plant. There was one surprise. I expected it to be red. And it is definitely orange [see photo]. I have no idea it’s namesake. Does anyone out there know? Hello? My one plant (with one ripe tomato) was not going to satiate my taste for tomatoes—especially when my inner clock said—HEY! It’s time for tomatoes! So what a great opportunity it was to go visit the local farmer’s market and experience a Tomato Tasting. I got there about 8:30am, as the plates were being filled with cut samples. The morning light filtered through the tall leafy trees and buildings surrounding the market. The light was beautiful and so were the colors of all the different kinds of tomatoes. Colors and types I had never seen before. Soon folks were lining up, equipped with toothpicks and pencils. Poke, taste, rate. Jab, taste, exclaim. Pick, taste, pick, taste, oooh, pick, taste, hmmm, move on. There was a quiet symphony of sounds stirring in the background as I filmed the activity and lushness of colors. What a great way to celebrate one of my favorites of summer.

Follow along as we travel from the field to the factory to learn how some of the best and freshest green beans get picked, processed, and canned all within a few short hours of time. Director’s Journal For those of you who have been following, I like to see how things are made, how they work. Take me to a factory and it’s like putting a kid in a candy store. I eat it up. So when I learned that one of the first processing plants to become Food Alliance certified was in my backyard, I thought this is one I’d like to see. And to learn how sustainable practices were crossing over from grower to processor. It sounded like a logical progression. We started where the green beans are grown, out in a bean field. A very large bean field. They had 4 pickers going at once. And I don’t mean 4 people bending, sifting, and picking. These pickers were closer to the size of a Hummer on steroids. Who invented these things? They attacked 4 rows at time, bristly brushes lowered into the bean bushes (yes, I’m having fun). And out popped scratch-free green beans. Beautiful beans. Then they got dumped into a waiting hauler, which dumped them into a waiting bin at Truitt Brothers. And then the fun began. Conveyor belts galore. It was dizzying. From one to another, to another, to another, almost into infinity. I think you will get a sense of it from the film. I’m not sure why they had to travel such a distance in such a way, but I’m sure each step had its purpose. Those beans were washed, jiggled, and tumbled so many times, I can’t imagine any leaf, rock, or piece of dirt that made it to the can. Only beans, just a few hours old. As Sue Root said, you can’t get much fresher than that.

Food prices in Europe, and The United States, have gone down markedly since 1970; when the average family spent 32% of their earnings on food, now that figure is 13%. What’s wrong with cheap prices for food? It promotes mass food production, increases the risk of Mad Cow Disease, and creates more pollution directly related to food production.

According to Carlo Petrini, one of the great challenges we will face in the next few years is to create a sustainable community. Technology and economy should work together in harmony with nature, not interfere with it.

Out of a personal sense that something was missing, began a journey through America, one cheese at a time. Director’s Journal Have you ever come up with an idea or scheme to do something you really wanted to do, ached to do? Then that voice of reason/doubt/practicality pops in and bursts the bubble. No, no, I better not. If everyone listened to that voice some great adventures and discoveries would have been left to someone else. Or maybe to no one. When I read about Sasha and Michael and their project, Cheese By Hand, in the Pacific Northwest Cheese blog, I thought, now there’s a road trip! Taking four months off from work, traveling the country, and visiting artisan cheesemakers. And they came up with the cool idea to share their adventures, as they happened, through the blog created just for the trip! Cozy, in front of my computer I could read, look, and listen as they discovered each farm and learned first-hand from the cheesemaker what it was like for them to create their product. What was cooler yet, they were coming to town for the American Cheese Society’s yearly conference (sold out, BTW!). I wanted to meet these people. They would be staying several days in Portland, and were very interested in exploring the Portland Farmer’s Market, where they were hoping to discover more cheesemakers. There we met, and I was able to join them briefly as they continued their journey of discovery.

Somewhere on the evolutionary path of life, man came to think of himself as detached from nature. And even more, that nature must be controlled for the benefit of man. Our continued journey down this dark road brings us an inevitable step closer to oblivion. Our dilemma, is how to change our values, and beliefs about nature in order to avert engineering our own demise.

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. Director’s Journal 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. 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 week we have created a new segment, Starting a Conversation. In this piece, Laura raises unsettling questions about the long-term future of small farms near urban areas in Oregon. But these are issues that extend beyond Oregon; similar concerns face many local communities across America, and other areas of the world. 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.

Agriculture has by its very nature a system of built-in limitations. But, we have figured out how to bypass many of those limits, and as a result, we pay a terrible cost. In this segment, Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food International, outlines the serious problems we face from food production throughout the world. We have increased the quantity of the food we produce, but not the quality. Though there are 6 billion people living on this planet, we produce enough food to feed a population of 12 billion people. So why then, are there 800 million people suffering from hunger? Why are our farms more polluted than our cities? This is a wake-up call for the need for radical change.

Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food International shares his views about food, politics, and American culture on the road to a sustainable food nation. Part one explores the meaning of gastronomy, the current impact of food production upon the environment, and the pressing need for fundamental change. From Fast Food Nation to Slow Food Nation sponsored by Kaiser Permanente’s Center For Health Research.

Learn about how local beef farmers have organized together to survive the global market for beef by marketing to the local community. Response has been great so far, which is no surprise - local, organic meat is going to taste far better than anything trucked in to the grocery store. There is also something attractive about knowing where your food has come from, and knowing it isn't full of harmful hormones, pesticides and other chemicals. Alicia Mills, marketing intern with Penokean Farms shares more with me on this new venture. To order beef for your table, visit their web site.

Farmstead cheese is made only from milk that comes from the animals raised on that particular farm. Distinctive in taste, and quality, one such cheesemaker gives us a glimpse of what it is like to be a cheesemaker on a small farm. Director’s Journal When Rebecca suggested we do a story revolving around cheese, I think she was surprised with my (over) enthusiasm. Years ago as a college student living in France, I developed a real taste for great cheeses. Every evening after dinner, the cheese plate would arrive with what I thought were the most delectable morsels in the world. The light bulb went on! Since then, I have learned that other great cheeses grace the planet. And more and more of them are here in our own backyard. And I also now realize that cheeseheads exist beyond the confines of Green Bay, Wisconsin. So when I “had” to go to the featured cheese shop, Curds and Whey, to scout this story, it took no arm-twisting. And once I met David Schiffelbein and heard his story, I knew I’d found a mecca for this cheese lover. David happily turned me on to Pat Morford’s cheeses and again, no arm-twisting necessary to see how she created these great little cheesy gems. She was, as David promised, open, friendly, and very generous with her time and her product. Before her interview, she fed us an olive tapenade chèvre on a rustic piece of toasted bread and another little number that went well with avocado. Nirvana. I am clearly impressed by what I ate, but I am even more impressed by how hard Pat works at making her product and how hard David works at getting products like hers to the public. These creators and purveyors add a dimension to our lives that wasn’t there, say, 40 years ago when individually-wrapped orange-y cheese singles dominated American lunch boxes. I say, thank you! —Beth Harrington

This is a story about a community egg cooperative formed by a group of volunteers, bringing chickens to a working urban farm, and managing the production of eggs for themselves and a local CSA. View the video here. Download Show: MP4 | WMV | iPhone [sniplet commentlink] [sniplet recipelinker] Director s Journal Don t miss the complementary story (below the journal) published by our friends at Edible Portland Magazine: Eastside Egg Co-operative I’ve been wanting to do a story on eggs for quite awhile, so when Deborah Kane, of Ecotrust Food Farms, told me about the Eastside Egg project, I almost became giddy. Yay! Chickens and eggs! It’s very cool how serendipity played into this coming together. Patrick and Holly, previous chicken owners themselves, belong to a local CSA which had recently lost its egg supplier. Patrick suggested the idea of a cooperative to Laura Masterson who knew of a local urban farm which had a Heifer International grant for small livestock. And voilá, the Eastside Egg Cooperative of Zenger Farm was hatched, er, born. There are so many benefits to raising chickens. They are a great addition to any garden, they clear out whatever area of land defines their boundary, and they also leave their nitrogen rich manure for the next round of plantings. The eggs from these naturally raised chickens are higher in the good omega-3 fatty acids than eggs produced from factory farms, not to mention being fresher. Typically, eggs from the supermarket are at least 2 weeks old before they even reach the shelf. Craig Clark, another co-op member and one who also raises his own chickens at home, said taking care of chickens run somewhere between a cat and a dog. If you have the right set up, and as long as they have access to quality food and fresh water, he says they can be left for up to 3 days. Please note: this is only on occasion, if you have to leave home for a few days. I recently discovered a website put together by another filmmaker, Patti Moreno, whose passion is living in a sustainable way. She shares her knowledge of gardening, cooking, crafting, and more, on her website GardenGirlTV. The one that tied in beautifully with “Community Egg Co-op” is her upcoming 6 part series “How to Build a Chicken Tractor”. If you’re interested in building a coop for a raised bed, check out Patti’s video here, and check out her website too! If this is something you think you’d like to try, find out if chickens are allowed where you live, and if yes, like Patrick says, make it happen! —Rebecca EASTSIDE EGG CO-OPERATIVE Fifty Chickens and a Grand Idea By Angela Sanders For Spring 2008 Eastside Egg Co-operative member and two Barred Rock hens. Photo by John Valls Edible Portland Magazine: Spring 2008 Issue Early on a November morning when it was still dark, fourteen members of the Eastside Egg Co-operative braved the driving rain to gather at Zenger Farm. They had come to move a chicken coop. The coop movers, the smarter of them wearing rubber boots, walked past a field of leeks to a coop smaller than an upended outhouse. The 50 hens shut in the coop started to cluck as they heard people approach. As the coop was lifted, the hens’ cackling jumped to a fevered pitch. Once the coop was set down in its new home in an adjoining field and the coop’s door opened, the hens shot out like cannonballs, quickly scattering to peck at chickweed. A glance back showed the chickens’ old field pecked clean down to the dirt. The Eastside Egg Co-operative is a group of Portlanders who take care of a flock of Barred Rock hens in exchange for eggs. Zenger Farm, a nonprofit educational farm in east Portland, provides supplies, land for the hens and coop, and room in the barn to store eggs and supplies. In return, Zenger Farm receives free fertilizer for its fields and an educational opportunity for visiting school children. Patrick Barber and Holly McGuire run the co-op. They manage volunteers and work with Laura Masterson, who farms at Zenger, to coordinate where to move the chickens so that they forage from finished crops and fertilize fallow fields in preparation for the next crop. The chicken coop on Zenger Farm and the bounty shared by Eastside Egg Co-operative members. Photos by John Valls Last April, Barber idly mentioned to Masterson that it might be interesting to start an egg co-operative. Instead of selling eggs as a business, a group of people could tend the chickens together, sharing labor but also sharing eggs. He and McGuire had worked for a car co-op in Oakland and liked the idea of co-operative agriculture. As it happened, Masterson had thought about keeping chickens at Zenger Farm. She had drawn up a crop and chicken coop rotation schedule and even bought an electric fence to keep chickens in and predators out. Right away she offered to put Barber in touch with a farmer who was getting rid of his hens. Helping to move the process along, Zenger Farm had just received a two-year grant from Heifer International to raise livestock, including chickens, worms, and bees. If Barber and McGuire could find enough volunteers for two daily shifts of chicken duty, the grant would pay for chicken feed, bedding, and building materials for the coop. It would be, as McGuire said, “a thought experiment come to life.” Barber and McGuire put out the word for volunteers. They hung notices at cafés around town and posted on a listserv. In the end, almost twice as many people applied for the co-op as there were shifts available. “We didn’t even think we’d get enough volunteers to cover all the shifts,” Barber said. The Eastside Egg Co-op’s members draw from a wide swath of Portlanders. One member is a school teacher, another is a firefighter, and yet another is a “polysomnographic technologist” (someone who measures sleep patterns) at Oregon Health Science University. One member looks forward to bringing her grandchildren to feed the chickens, and another member plans to track the yield of eggs by the phases of the moon. The co-op’s first task was to build a chicken coop that could be moved between fields. It turned out that many of the members of the co-op had definite opinions about what sort of coop should be built, and soon ideas floated for a five-star hen paradise on wheels. Sacha White, the owner of Vanilla Bicycles, a custom bicycle frame builder, agreed to make armatures for the coop’s wheels. After friendly discussion and White’s practical suggestions, the coop’s original grand design became a simple 4 x 4 x 8 coop with nesting boxes that open to the outside. By the summer solstice, the coop was up and the hens were in residence. Since then, the egg co-operative has had a few minor setbacks: One hen died of natural causes, the barn door froze shut, the coop blew over in a windstorm, and the coop’s wheels still haven’t been mounted. Perhaps the most visible problem has been that a handful of hens peck at lower status hens to the point that they’ve yanked out all their tail feathers and drawn blood. In a large chicken operation, chicks are often de-beaked to prevent this problem. The co-op’s consensus was that 50 beakless chickens roaming the field might put visiting children off agriculture for good. Other options deemed impractical were purchasing headgear for each hen to prevent her from seeing hens nearby, and painting each hen’s hind end daily with a sour liquid. Finally, the co-op gave away the five meanest hens. For the most part, the co-op has run smoothly. Co-op members have faithfully made their shifts, unlatching the coop’s door as the sun rises or watching the chickens go to roost as the sun sets. The hens have steadily laid eggs with latte-colored shells and firm orange yolks. The next step will be to determine how to make the co-op financially self-sustaining. Since hens lay fewer eggs as they age, the co-op will need to give away some hens and buy or hatch chicks. (At one co-op meeting members briefly discussed getting a noise variance to bring in a gigolo rooster.) The co-op may also start to charge a low monthly fee to its members or offer chicken husbandry classes. Ultimately, Barber and McGuire would like to see egg cooperatives spread throughout the city. Families could save money and labor by linking backyards and sharing chickens. As McGuire said, “People need to work together. We’re stronger and we get more done collectively.” Angela Sanders writes about Pacific Northwest history and culture. For more stories, please visit Edible Portland Magazine. Additional Resources Henwaller (Patrick and Holly’s blog) Chicken Feed: The World of Chickens Greener Eggs and Ham (PDF) ATTRA – Pastured Poultry, an Introduction Subscribe To Us By RSS Subscribe By Email

Keeping agriculture sustainable increasingly means keeping it local. Besides the environmental benefit of reducing reliance on fossil-fuel guzzling transportation, eating local food is a more seasonal and often healthier experience. With concern about food security growing, it might turn out to be safer, too. The folks in charge of the Science Barge, a new urban farming experiment in New York, are bringing local food production closer than ever. In this video we take a tour of the floating greenhouse facility, which is designed as a demonstration of how urban space, especially rooftop space in big cities like New York, can be used to efficiently produce food. Self-powered by solar panels, wind turbines, and a biodiesel generator, the Science Barge uses state of the art computer technology and an agricultural technique called hydroponics to grow fruits and veggies using much less water and space than field farming. Watch out, city slickers. Farm country is coming to your neighborhood.

Did you know accomplished actress Marsha Mason is also an accomplished biodynamic herb farmer? GreenDiva Meg had the opportunity to speak to Ms. Mason in her Manhattan apartment recently. See what she says about 'spiritual agriculture', spilanthes, and Shirley Maclaine!

Farming today is not what we may imagine it to be. It s become largely an industrial process, and corn epitomizes this shift in production methods. In Part 3, King Corn filmmaker Curt Ellis shares his experience growing an acre of corn in Iowa, and what it was like for him and his partner. Surprisingly, the growing of 10,000 pounds of corn in one season was the easiest part of the whole farming experience. The other parts were more mundane, and more disappointing. A present look at Corn Futures.

Sheep cheese tastes distinctive, characteristically strong, and very different from cow or goat cheese. On this family sheep farm, the making of cheese reflects a slower pace of life along with a direct connection to the land. Consuming this cheese requires a careful eating pace. View the video here. Download Show: MP4 | WMV | iPhone [sniplet commentlink] [sniplet recipelinker] Director s Journal One of the great pleasures doing these stories is getting to go where the story is actually located. In this case it was the foothills of the Cascade Range of Oregon: Pines, firs, windy roads, and hills growing into mountains. As Lynn and I pulled into the dairy, I was first greeted by yaps from Bonnie, their herding dog. From around the corner appeared a smiling Kathy Obringer. She hopped into the car and we drove straight away over to the cheese room where she showed us the results of her family’s hard work. As always, it was educational. Every cheese has its timeline, and it’s all marked down on the calendar. Kathy and Elle, her daughter, checked it a couple of times during the short time we spent in there. The small rounds aging in the standing fridge. The larger rounds hibernating in the walk-in. My favorite part of the process that I got to witness (and film) was Elle adding dry cocoa to the outside rind of the all sheep’s milk ‘Scio Heritage’ cheese. It was rubbed, brushed, and oiled. An antique bronze color emerged. I asked if it changed the taste of it, and Kathy didn’t think so, but it did make it so beautiful. It was time to bring in the sheep for their second milking of the day. Hank rode his bike out to the part of the pasture where they were grazing, as Bonnie charged ahead. Next thing I knew the sheep were filing in through the gate, with Hank and Bonnie on their heels. Well, really, it was Bonnie. Hank was making sure the slowpokes didn’t stay behind nibbling their way back. Inside the milking parlour, Elle herded them into the milking stall where they happily ate the grain mixture (made especially for them!) as they were milked. Afterwards that group would be led outside, waiting for a new pasture area, as another round of sheep were milked. It was a cycle that seemed so natural. One growing into another: the cheese cycle, the farming cycle, the cycle of work in harmony with nature. As I packed up to leave, I took a moment to soak it all in. One more time to smell the trees, feel the wind on my face, and to hear the chirps, yaps, and baaaas. —Rebecca Additional Resources Ancient Heritage Dairy Dairy Sheep Association of North America Facts about Sheep’s Milk Learn more about Sheep Subscribe To Us By RSS Subscribe By Email

5 million family farms have been lost since the 1930 s, and most of the surviving farms are not small family operations. As the population of family farmers continues to age, there is a critical shortage of young farmers to take their place. Michael Paine is a rare breed, not only does he come into farming without a prior farming background, he s also relatively young.

Cooking garden fresh foods made with love, from mother to daughter, generations of family knowledge passed down through oral tradition trace a living legacy of Lebanese food. Recipes from the episode: Summer Squash With Rice; My Father s Tomato Salad

Five million family farms have been lost since the 1930 s, and most of the surviving farms are not small family operations. As the population of family farmers continues to age, there is a critical shortage of young farmers to take their place. Michael Paine is a rare breed, not only does he come into farming without a prior farming background, he s also relatively young. View the video here. Download Show: MP4 | WMV | iPhone [sniplet commentlink] [sniplet recipelinker] Director s Journal I read this in my local paper awhile back: “Oregon is one of the only bright spots in the country where we’ve got young farmers coming into the business ”. Hmmm, I knew most farmlands were industrialized, but I thought, with the growing interest in locally produced food, I would think the family farm would also be growing. I contacted Dianne Stefani-Ruff from Portland Farmers Market, who made the quote, to see who might just be one of those new young farmers. She gave me the names of 4 or 5, and I never got past the first one I called, Mike Paine of Gaining Ground Farm. I knew right away he was someone who was very passionate about farming. He wasn’t born to farming, like many are, but raised in the suburbs. He had a garden as a young adult, but that was about it. His drive to become a farmer really sprouted from his experience in Africa in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, and, finally from working on his Masters degree at UC-Davis in Agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is a growing field. Many farming methods that may have been lost to time are now returning. One that Michael puts to practice is using chickens to ready his fields. He puts them in portable coops that are moved along the field after the group of chickens scratch, peck the ground, and leave behind a rich manure. Recently he created a pond to catch the natural drainage of water from the hills. This water will be used to irrigate his crops. Using organic methods, some of the vegetables he grew this year were tomatoes, melons, squash, mixed green lettuces, eggplant, and beans. They were all beautiful. I really enjoyed his sharing all the different varieties he grew, many I never heard of. I think the people who come across his vegetables at the farmer’s market and who are shareholders in his CSA are very lucky indeed. If you’re not familiar with what a CSA is, check out the story I did on Laura Masterson’s farm, in Food Network: Community Supported Agriculture There is a lot of hard work involved in farming. I knew that. But what really surprised me is how hard it apparently is to get your first farm. It even surprised Mike. Does it surprise you? Here’s some alarming information about the state of family farms in America today, and the respective ages of these existing farmers. From Farm Aid: In the 1930s, there were close to seven million farms in the United States. Today, just over two million farms remain, and only about 25% of these are family farms.In 2004, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) predicts that 98 percent of total farm operator income will come from off farm sources and at last count only 7 percent of all farm families reported 100 percent on-farm income.More than half of today s farmers are between the ages of 45 and 64 and a quarter of the farmers in this age group plan to retire by 2005.Only six percent of our farmers are younger than 35. The complete Farm Aid article is titled, “Why Family Farmers Need Help” —Rebecca Additional Resources Food Routes Home Family Finance® Resource Center Edible Nation New Generation Takes Over Old Family Farm Subscribe To Us By RSS Subscribe By Email

Cooking garden fresh foods made with love, from mother to daughter, generations of family knowledge passed down through oral tradition trace a living legacy of Lebanese food. View the video here. Download Show: MP4 | WMV | iPhone [sniplet commentlink] [sniplet recipelinker] Director s Journal This was a story which found me. Linda is a neighbor of Ed, the story, and introduced herself. A cookbook author, gardener, and artist? Hmmm, I wanted to know more. We began to talk on the phone and I liked the idea of doing a story on someone with such a rich family history in which food played such a major role. Not just the making of a dish, but also in the growing of the ingredients (when possible), and the presentation of it; based on her Lebanese cooking traditions. It was so much fun to hang out with Linda! I was treated to my first cup of Arabic coffee (which definitely gave me an extra boost of energy!), got a tour of the biggest kitchen garden I’ve ever seen (which included tasting freshly plucked figs!), and I got to watch a new way to prepare squash. See for yourself in the video above, How to Make Summer Squash Stuffed with Rice. While the food was cooking, Linda took us into her Studio. She showed us the original cookbook draft, which had led to an article in the Saudi Aramco World magazine. Her illustrations were wonderful and oh-so-colorful. I came away feeling richer, fuller. Not only did I get to meet Linda, but through her, her mom, Alice. I am so glad Linda endeavored over the years to write down recipes that were typically handed down through only oral traditions. And to also share family stories with these recipes. In a sense, by reading the cookbook, her family becomes a part of your family. That’s a nice gift. —Rebecca Additional Resources Linda Dalal Sawaya, cookbook author, artist, and writer Ethnic Cuisine: Lebanon Kitchen Gardeners International Lebanese Cuisine Subscribe To Us By RSS Subscribe By Email

Carlo Petrini, in this final installment, argues for economic respect, and fairness to the small farmers of the world. Economy and ecology, he reminds us, share the same roots, and that it is local economies that will save our society, and its the global economy that threatens to destroy it. For those who may think of Slow Food in terms of being an organization striving to promote better conditions for farmers, and better awareness for people about the food they eatwhile truethe ideas laid out by this founding visionary are a trumpet call for an entirely new world order.

Food prices in Europe, and The United States, have gone down markedly since 1970; when the average family spent 32% of their earnings on food, now that figure is 13%. Whats wrong with cheap prices for food? It promotes mass food production, increases the risk of Mad Cow Disease, and creates more pollution directly related to food production.

An inside look at a plant that freezes fresh, and locally produced fruits for use year round. Recipes from the episode: Blueberry Delight Pie; Blueberry Muffins Download Show: MP4 | WMV| iPhone Post a comment Director s Journal As many of you might already know, I’m a berry big fan of berries—all berries!! On top of that I love to see how things are done. So, going to visit where they freeze berries was a match for me. If you’re ever planning a trip to the Northwest (Oregon especially), I highly recommend the summer months. For that is the season for fresh berries. Berry picking time is so short compared to the enjoyment of them. I recently went out to pick one of my favorites: Marion berries. I found some that were just reaching their peak. Yum. I was picking at a good size berry farm, not too far from home, I walked around to see what else was ripening. I found a berry I had never heard of before: the Anne raspberry. It doesn’t look like your typical raspberry, y’know, that raspberry red color. This one was cream-colored, pale yellow. And the taste! Oooh! Melt in your mouth, almost like butter. I took them home and they were a hit with my boys, too. Fortunately I put some aside, washed them gently, spread them out on a cookie tray, and put them into the freezer for a few hours. When the Anne and Marion berries were frozen nuggets, I swooped them into a sealable bag to be put away for future use. A day down the road when the leaves have turned, and the chill has set in, I’ll reach into the berry bag and pull out a memory of hot days, dusty hillsides, and an orchestra of flavor. —Rebecca Additional Resources Willamette Valley Fruit Company US Highbush Blueberry Council Berry Growing All Year

It was once a common way to extend food beyond the immediate season. Two friends become involved in the ancient practice of preserving food, and in the process form a closer bond with nature and each other. Recipe from the episode: Small Batch Fresh Strawberry Jam Download Show: MP4 | WMV| iPhone Post a comment Director s Journal 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. Enter Harriet and Marge from Preserve, two long time friends who got together to start teaching the lost art of preserving. It fits in with today’s path toward sustainable living: Buying local, growing your own, and preserving the abundance season by season. Watch the ‘how2 make Small Batch Jam’ and give it a shot (the recipe is posted through the link above). It’s actually fun. 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! Let me know how yours turned out! On another note, there is a Farm Bill Update posted on the Slow Food Seacoast website stating “On July 17,the House Agriculture Committee will meet to debate two Farm Bill drafts. If they make it out of committee on time, the week of July 26 is reserved for floor debate in the House on Farm Bill content. The Senate schedule has not yet been released. Now is the right time to make our voices heard. “ They go on to add a link to an e-letter for your representative, courtesy of the Farm and Food Policy Project. It’s time to put healthy, affordable food on our tables. —Rebecca Additional Resources Preserve Canning Supplies Pick Your Own