Cultivation, Cuisine and Climate Change: Wasting Food is a Waste of Energy
Conservation is the cheapest (actually it saves you money) and easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint. Most people think to turn off the lights when leaving a room to not waste electricity, or combine errands to reduce car trips. But many do not think about the items we throw out in terms of energy. Some trash will go to a landfill, some will be recycled. Best case scenario for food scraps is that they are composted and converted into a reusable product, right? Not necessarily. Best case scenario is that you at least eat all the edible parts.
Food that spoils in the fridge or on the counter, composted or not, is a waste of energy. Energy goes into the production (farming), processing and/or packaging, and transportation of every food item before it even gets to the kitchen. When that food gets thrown out, all that use of energy was for naught. More…
Finally, a Great Cracker Recipe!
For months I have been trying out different cracker recipes in an effort to find a truly good one. I want to get away from buying food that comes with a lot of packaging and the idea of paying five dollars for about fifty cents worth of ingredients just seems plain ridiculous. (Plus, I need to come up with more ways to eat goat cheese.)
At last the search is over, and the winner is Panzanella Croccatini:
1.5 cups of flour
.5 cup very cold water
1 tsp salt, play with this so it is to your taste, I am using less salt
dash sugar
1/8 c rosemary chopped
1/8 c olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and put a pan for water in the bottom of the oven. More…
Financiers Seeking Sustainable Farms
A conscientious finance firm is taking a look at agriculture, and telling its investors to do the same. RSF Social Finance believes that investing in sustainable farms or food groups focused on community have a lot to offer and will be around in the long run.
This is a good omen for farmers who are putting their heart and soul into working the land now, who may not be seeing frequent paydays.
Here’s some more information from the Civil Eats blog:
RSF Social Finance, a non-profit financial firm focused on using money as a force for good in the world, has announced the launch of a new Food & Agriculture Program-Related Investing (PRI) Fund. The idea is to encourage investors to support elements of the agricultural and food sectors that look beyond the bottom line to take the health of our environment and communities into account. More…
Goat Hill Giving Garden is Growing Like Crazy
Tomatoes almost as tall as the Columbia Tower.
Have you gotten a chance to stop by King County’s Goat Hill Giving Garden? It was supposed to be the site of the new jail but with plans on hold, county employees decided the time was right to put in a garden. With wonderful soil and great sun, the plants are growing like crazy.
All the work is done by volunteers before or after work or on break times. There is a planting, watering and harvesting crew. So far 34 pounds of produce have been donated to the Pike Market Senior Center with lots more to come.
Recently new beds were put in by a team from King County’s GroCo to show the difference between plants grown in compost and those grown in GroCo. Check out the difference:
GroCo compost + sandy loam
Sandy loam + organic fertilizer
Children’s Garden Funding Opportunities
Here are funding opportunities from the American Gardening Association:
2010 Golden Carrot Awards
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is seeking nominations for its Golden Carrot Awards for outstanding school food service professionals who have developed and implemented a healthful and successful school lunch program. The grand prize winner will receive $1,500 and a $3,500 check made out to her or his school or school district. Up to four additional awards will be given, with $500 going to the food service professional and $500 to benefit the school food service program. Click here, to nominate school food service professionals and their school lunch programs for the Golden Carrot Awards. More…
Convince Parks to Let Atlantic City Nursery Get One Step Closer
Atlantic City Nursery Concept Plan
When you think of Rainier Beach, urban farming is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. A group of local community members organized as the Friends of Atlantic City Nursery (FACN) have been working for months to change that perception by advocating that Seattle Parks and Recreation convert the closed Atlantic City Nursery on S. Cloverdale Street north of Beer Sheva Park into the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands Restoration Project.
The core idea of this project is transforming the existing horticulture buildings for productive and sustainable food-growing to provide healthy food for local food banks and school programs along with job training and youth education opportunities. Just as importantly, the project calls for restoring the acres of wetlands on the site and making them come alive again with native flora and fauna. Social justice, urban agriculture and environmental stewardship all combined in a single project!
More…
Don’t Leave Kids with an Empty Plate
Thirty million kids eat school lunch every day. For some children this is their only meal of the day but the bill that funds these programs is set to expire on September 30. From the Community Food Security Coalition, here is how you can help:
This is the home stretch for Child Nutrition Reauthorization! NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT!
This week, the Community Food Security Coalition joined 127 other national organizations urging Congress to pass a strong child nutrition bill [PDF]. This legislation would strengthen programs like school meals, WIC, and summer and afterschool feeding programs, and PROVIDE MANDATORY FUNDING FOR FARM TO SCHOOL PROGRAMS. With 1 in 4 children in our nation struggling with hunger and 1 in 3 obese or overweight, the Child Nutrition Reauthorization could not come at a more critical time. More…
New Resource for Volunteer Recruitment
Do you have a community project that needs more volunteers? Maybe a garden clean up or building a new community shed is in order? Then this new resource may be just the ticket. Here’s more from Eva Ringstrom:
Flash Volunteer is a non-profit, volunteer-run website in Seattle that posts neighborhood volunteer opportunities.The events are publicized on the website and also on Twitter, Facebook, and through the free Flash Volunteer iPhone application. More…
Edible Flowers
Many of the flowers that grace our yards are edible. They can be used as accents in a salad or as garnish on a main dish.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Purple chive
Comments on Urban Ag Code Amendments
Marra Farm, Photo by Steve Tracy
Dozens signed up to have their turn to speak to members of Seattle City Council during Wednesday’s public hearing on the urban agriculture code amendments. (To learn more about what was on the table, see this earlier UFH post or listen to the first six minutes of the hearing.)
Generally speaking, public comments fell into one of two camps:
1) in favor of the code amendments as written
2) not in favor of domestic fowl
Since increasing the number of fowl from three to eight was just one of many far-reaching code changes, I think it’s safe to say that the proposed amendments are overwhelmingly supported by Seattle residents. More…
Categories
News Aggregator
- Old School Food Infographic July 24, 2010 Andrew Price
- New Livestock Rules Cause House Ag Committee, Industry to Blow a Fuse July 22, 2010 pcrossfield
- Insatiable: How Forward-thinking Cities are Feeding Themselves Now and in the Future – forthcoming book in 2011 July 21, 2010 Michael Levenston
- Cattle Burps and Climate Change: What About Bison? A Response to Joel Salatin July 20, 2010 Bkim
- The Huntington Urban Farm designed by New Zealand architect Tim Stephens July 19, 2010 Michael Levenston
- Urban farming is catching on in New Orleans July 18, 2010 Michael Levenston
- Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association National Conference July 17, 2010 Taylor
- Gardening for the Next Generation July 16, 2010 deschmeyer
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