Topic: Food Conversations

Lively and relevant information on sustainable living from a variety of contributors.

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of following the farm-to-market process with one of the “successful” upstart organic farms. Laura and Adam from Loon Organics let me film and work through their Friday-Saturday operation. I had been idealizing the idea of starting a farm: seeing the beautiful produce stacked up at the market made me want to take out a loan, buy 50 acres and start my own little operation. But after a day with the folks at Loon Organics, reality comes into play.

For more information about the details of starting a small organic farm, check out this resource page containing a list of (PDF) documents from the Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture featuring Loon Organics.

After learning to cook at his mother’s bed and breakfast, Daniel Klein (The Perennial Plate) went on to work and train at many of the world’s top restaurants. His culinary education brought him to Spain, France, England, India and New York, where he has worked and trained at top Michelin starred restaurants. After graduating from NYU, Daniel also pursued a career in film. Daniel’s most recent film “What are we doing here?” has aired on TV, in theaters and at numerous festivals around the world.

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Posted in Food Conversations | Tagged farm to table, farmers market, fresh grown food, loon organics, organic farms, sustainable agriculture | Post a comment

Joel Salatin Polyface Farm

By Joya Parsons

Joya Parsons, Quite Contrary Gardens

There is probably no one left in the food and farming community who hasn’t heard the name Polyface, the Shenandoah Valley super-farm famous for its lush pastures, happy animals and natural husbandry overseen by self described “lunatic farmer” Joel Salatin. The farm has been featured in books and films, including Food, Inc. and Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. The farmer himself travels the US spreading the word about sustainable agriculture. As a small farmer seeking to build a sustainable farming system, it’s no great leap to imagine that Polyface and Salatin rank among my top “farming heroes.” And since the farm is here in the Mid-Atlantic, I made it my mission to visit the place and see for myself the foremost face of sustainable, local, ecologically-sound, community-driven farming in America.

The trip from Sussex County, Delaware to Swoope, Virginia, home of Polyface, takes almost five and a half hours and more than 275 miles. It involves crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a feat which invokes in me the kind of raw terror usually reserved for giant, hairy spiders, public speaking or the threat of a zombie invasion, so I have to have a really, really good reason to cross. And a dear friend, and sustainable foodie herself, who lives outside of Baltimore suggested we go together and make it a girls’ weekend, sweetening the deal even further. A chance to visit the farm of my dreams and spend a weekend free from home/child/farm obligations? Calgon, take me away! Read More »

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Posted in Food Conversations | Tagged chesapeake bay bridge, chickens, cornish hens, grass-fed meat, great pyrenees, joel salatin, joya parsons, michael pollan, pasture fed, pasture fed animals, pigs, polyface, shenandoah valley, sustainable agriculture | 1 Comment

Farmers Look for Justice in the Poultry Industry: Met with Fear, Threats, Intimidation and Hope in Alabama

By Dave Murphy

[Editor's Note: The Department of Justice and the USDA are jointly conducting five public workshops in different regions of the country, to investigate anti-competitive business practices throughout the entire agriculture sector. Food activist Dave Murphy, drove 1800 miles round-trip to this second workshop, that focuses on alleged monopolistic practices by the large poultry producers. What you are about to read, and will see in this video taken at the event, are shocking allegations of coercion, intimidation, and other possible criminal misconduct upon contract poultry growers.]

June 2, 2010, Normal, Alabama; For America’s remaining 30,000 poultry growers, the Department of Justice and USDA’s joint workshop on competition in the poultry industry held last Friday in Normal, Alabama has been a long time coming. For some, it arrived too late. As the second of five DOJ/USDA hearings to be held across the country this year, many attendees felt this hearing was more balanced than the previous hearing in Iowa, but still left many wondering what the overall impact these hearings would have in such a highly consolidated industry which continues to force so many family farmers out of business.

Here’s a clip from the DOJ/USDA hearings with a portion of [former poultry grower] Kay Doby’s testimony:

Of the seven chicken producers that opened the session’s morning Roundtable Discussion on Poultry Grower Issues, four of the farmers, were “former producers”, which was a foreshadowing of the theme of the day; that poultry farmers daily face fear, uncertainty and intimidation from those companies they contract with, otherwise known as “integrators”. Read More »

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Posted in Food Conversations | Tagged agriculture consolidation, anticompetitive practices, chickens, contract growers, department of justice, integrators, joint workshops, monopolies, poutry industry, purdue, tyson, usda | 1 Comment

Planting Beets

By Cooking Up a Story

Beets have a sweet, earthy flavor that is unlike any other vegetable I have tasted. And the gorgeous deep ruby red color inspires me to search for new ways to incorporate them in my lunch and dinner plans.

Unfortunately, most people have only experienced beets as purple pickled pieces of a stodgy salad. Truthfully, I happen to love pickled beets, but there are so many wonderful ways to eat them.

How to Grow Beets

(adapted from Jean Ann Van Krevelen’s Book Growing Food: A Guide for Beginners.) Read More »

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Also posted in ☕growing fresh food | Tagged beets, Growing & Raising Food, growing vegetables, Jean Ann Van Krevelen, pickled beets | 1 Comment

Topic: Food Conversations

Farm To Market (video)

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Joel Salatin Polyface Farm

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Farmers Look for Justice in the Poultry Industry: Met with Fear, Threats, Intimidation and Hope in Alabama

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Planting Beets

How to Grow Beets

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