In the News... Thursday, May 15, 2008

† The Farm Bill passed the House and the Senate: After passing the House by a vote of 318 to 106, the Farm Bill passed the Senate today by a vote of 81 to 15. Although President Bush has threatened to veto the bill, the Congressional votes indicate sufficient support to override such a veto. An overview of the final bill is available on the New York Times website in a piece by David Herszenhorn and David Stout.

† Fields of Green in Manhattan Beach:The second Fields of Green event will be held Sunday, May 18, at 13th Street and Metlos Plaza in Manhattan Beach from 2:00pm until 5:00pm. Cooking and gardening workshops, food samples provided by local farmers' markets and restaurants in the Manhattan Beach area, and healthy lifestyle presentations will be among the features. More information about Growing Great, one of the cosponsors of the event, can be found on their website.

† The Case of the Missing Bees: Reservations are still available for a June 5 presentation and Q&A with Professor May Berenbaum, one of the leading researchers into colony collapse disorder and the dramatic decline in the honeybee population. Considered by some to be one of the most significant threats to our food system, the disorder is still a mystery, though some causes have been ruled out and others are the subject of new investigations. Shortages of bees to pollinate crops is also contributing to an increase in the cost to rent bees and in bee heists. Details of this event, which is open to all, are available here.

† Taste of the Nation 2008: A popular event among many Slow Food members and friends, Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation will be held at Media Park in Culver City on Sunday, June 1, 2008, from 1:00pm until 4:00pm. Information about participating chefs and event highlights is available on the TOTN website, and tickets are now available online. As one of 55 annual events, the goal of Taste of the Nation is to raise fund to combat hunger, and local organizations that will directly benefit include the Garden School Foundation, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, California Food Policy Advocates, the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness, and St. Joseph's Center.

Michael Pollan on "Nightline"

If you haven't read Omnivore's Dilemma or In Defense of Food or if you missed Michael Pollan's appearance last week on "Nightline," the segment is a straightforward introduction to some of the ideas that have contributed to the popularity of Pollan's writing on food, foodlike substances, and food choices. (Thanks to Serious Eats for the pointer.)

In the News... Thursday, May 8, 2008

† The Grim State of Bee Health: On the heels of yesterday's announcement of a Slow Food Los Angeles event featuring a presentation by Professor May Berenbaum, one of the nation's experts on the declining bee population, this article via the SFGate noting that bees are dying at a substantial rate, with losses estimated as high as 36.1% of the commercially managed beehives in the United States. The article is available online here; details of the Los Angeles event, which is open to Slow food members and nonmembers, are available here.

† Farm Bill Update: Carolyn Lochhead's update on the Farm Bill considers the seemingly odd position of the Bill's political players, who are divided over billions of dollars in subsidies. Among the interesting details, Lochhead notes: "To secure votes, negotiators added a $93 million write-off for thoroughbred racehorses at the behest of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln. That is nearly as much money a organic farmers will get for research, data collection, and certification help for small growers." [emphasis added] Read the full article online.

† From the Los Angeles Times: Several pieces, last week and this week, that may be of particular interest:

+ What happened to the farmers of the South Central Community Garden that was the subject of such controversy? They're now farming at Buttonwillow, west of Bakersfield, and are continuing to sell their produce at farmers' markets across Los Angeles. Steve Chawkins visited with them and wrote about their new--and growing--farm.

+ Russ Parsons looks at the next generation of farmers and the hurdles and rewards they face.

+ Charles Perry considers the history of farm stands and the role they might play in encouraging consumption of more local products.

+ As a general note, readers may wish to bookmark the series page for "The Food Chain," the NYT's series about food production around the world. Articles in the series, and others of interest:

+ The Environmental Cost of Shipping Groceries Around the World: How else do we see kiwis, strawberries, tomatoes, and other produce month after month in grocery store bins and on menus? Because somewhere, someone is growing it, and shipping it.

+ The term RAFT may be familiar to Slow Food members, but to many others, the food context is not clear. Kim Severson writes about Gary Paul Nabhan and his new book, Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods. In a nutshell, the philosophy of RAFT is "eat it to save it," an idea that inspired Heritage Foods (founded by Patrick Martins, a founder of Slow Food USA) and continues to be a focus of Slow Food USA's efforts.

+ Tracie McMillan spotlights urban farmers and the benefits of urban agriculture in Brooklyn and other cities across the country, citing examples from Detroit, Oakland, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.

+ Last, but not least, Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, considers the real cost of cheap food. The report to which he refers, "Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America," has been released by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production and is available online. In sum: "The current industrial farm animal production (IFAP) system often poses unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves."

Marion Nestle, a member of the Commission, notes in her blog post that the two big issues are antibiotics and waste, and includes links to related pieces in the Washington Post and Kansas City Star. (If you've not bookmarked Dr Nestle's "What to Eat" blog or added it to your RSS/newsreader, we encourage you to do so. It's a great source for timely information, and Dr Nestle's brief but incisive commentary provides helpful context.)

In the News... Monday, April 21, 2008

† The cost of food: Lots of news in the last week about rising food prices, their current effects, and likely future effects:

++ Marion Nestle cites several articles, including pieces in The Economist and The Washington Post in her blog entry, "Food Price Misery".

++ Andrew Martin and Kim Severson of the New York Times consider the effect on organic food in their April 18 article, "Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles." (Thanks to Arthur Greenwald and others who forwarded a link to this piece.)

++ Meanwhile, UNESCO has issued a report on the state of world food resources (the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, also known by the acronym IAASTD) and has called for a range of changes in agricultural practices. The BBC News website summarizes the report and provides a link to download the report's executive summary in pdf form. The summary looks at issues linked closely to food production concerns including poverty, environmental sustainability, food security, health and nutrition, and bioenergy.

++ And in today's New York Times, Andrew Pollack examines whether tough economic times and rising food costs signal the start of greater acceptance of genetically modified foods.

++ Michael Pollan asks, "Why Bother?" going green: Is buying locally grown products better? Are local efforts just a drop in the proverbial bucket?

++ And this roundup of carbon-footprint and food-related tidbits

† Sustainable Eating in the Palisades: Palisades Cares is presenting an "environmental evening" on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, from 7:00pm until 8:30pm at Kehillat Israel, 16019 West Sunset Boulevard, in Pacific Palisades. Evan Kleiman (the founder of Slow Food Los Angeles, owner of Angeli Caffe, and host of "Good Food" on KCRW), Amelia Saltsman (author of The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook), and Molly Gean of Harry's Berries in Oxnard will discuss what it means to eat sustainably and why we should choose to do so. The event is free but reservations are required: Contact Palisades Cares by email to info@palisadescares.org or by phone to 310.459.1614.

King Corn on PBS

We've just learned that King Corn, the documentary about which we've written before, will air on the "Independent Lens" program on PBS stations beginning this evening, April 15. Visit pbs.org for broadcast dates and times.

In the News... Friday, April 11, 2008

Digging out from a few busy weeks and catching up on news of interest to Slow Food members and friends...

† Bill Moyers' Journal and food policy: Tune in or set the recorder: Bill Moyers will turn his attention to food policy:

As food prices go sky high and millions go hungry in America, why are tax dollars being spent on farmers who don't farm? Bill Moyers' Journal teams up with the PBS series Exposé: America's Investigative Reports to follow the trail of Washington Post reporters who uncovered more than $15 billion in "wasteful, unnecessary, or redundant expenditures" that have flowed from Washington to America's farmers. Then, the Journal looks at shortages in America's food banks, and Bill Moyers talks with David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, about challenges of combating hunger and the new farm bill being negotiated in Congress.

† What's going on with the Farm Bill?: Dan Imhoff updates us in Thursday's Los Angeles Times.

† Food policy and the presidential candidates: Thanks to Marion Nestle for sharing a link to Alexandra Lewin's summary of the candidates' positions on food policy issues. Food policy questions might rank below climate change on the priority list of candidate questions this election year, so we're grateful to Ms. Lewin (and to Dr. Nestle) for the information, and we'll continue to post such summaries or Q&As as they come to our attention.

† "How to be a foodie without breaking the bank": Novella Carpenter describes one person who demonstrates that how and what we eat is largely a matter of choice and not dependent solely on the size of our bank account.

† "As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation Program": It's no secret that the federal government pays many farmers not to farm. In the current economic climate, however, some are finding less benefit in such guaranteed payments. The New York Times considers the effects.

† "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear": Food policy in Vanity Fair? Yes, at least in the May 2008 issue, where Donald Barlett and James Steele turn a bright light on a dark side of mega-agribiz:

Monsanto already dominates America's food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation's tactics--ruthless legal battles against small farmers--is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.

† Speaking of toxic contamination...: The testing of samples of Italian buffalo mozzarella has shown elevated levels of dioxin, possibly the result of illegal trash dumping in and near Naples. News such as this underscores the need for environmental approaches to food safety and quality.

† Ending this list on a brighter note...: Thanks to Judi Bikel for reminding us to look at "When Push Comes to Chèvre" in the New York Times' T Magazine online.

In the News... Monday, February 25, 2008

† Cloned Food and Consumer Choice: Bernadette Tansey of the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at how consumers--and therefore how the businesses who sell directly to consumers--might respond to products from clones. The debate continues...

† Fritz Haeg and Edible Estates: Los Angeles-based Fritz Haeg, whom many Slow Food members and friends may know from his work on the Edible Estates projects, will be exhibiting at the Whitney Biennial, and the New York Times caught up with him to discuss his work.

While in NYC, Fritz is also promoting the publication of his new book, Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn. Advance praise from Slow Food supporters is already coming in:

The best ideas are usually the simplest ones. Fritz Haeg deserves a genius award for his wonderfully subversive plan. Instead of mowing your lawn, you should eat it." - Eric Schlosser, author, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

Wherever I am, I'm always looking to see what's edible in the landscape. Every time I see the median strip in the street in front of Chez Panisse, I can't help but imagine it planted with waving rows of corn. Edible Estates describes wonderfully how a garden in front of every house can transform a neighborhood, sprouting the seeds not just of zucchini and tomatoes but of biodiversity, sustainability, and community. - Alice Waters, founder, Chez Panisse

† Speaking of blogs, check out "Fresh Mouth": Thanks to Marion Nestle for the pointer to a new blog titled "Fresh Mouth." Its description: "A family of 5, 1 mission to eat only fresh food or processed food with 5 ingredients or less for 30 days. How we survived without McNuggets, Cheerios, and even organic cookies." In the kick-off post, Eileen Dolbeare explained:

We've decided to do an experiment and teach the kids about healthy eating and real, whole food as a way of life and not as a means to scoring sugar. Our 10-month old son is motivation, too. He's on the cusp of eating real foods, and we want to sustain his untainted palate for as long as possible.

So, we start Fresh Mouth - our 30-day bender on all things fresh, whole and reasonably unprocessed. We're not as hard core as the locavores of late. We admire Barbra Kingsolver and her crew, but we'll still eat chicken from the plants of Perdue. We can't go all organic all the time because we can't afford it. So, we'll make compromises here and there. Organic milk one week, organic beef the next. We'll sow our seeds and grow our own herbs and veggies in the spring.

We'll take the lead from food studies prof Marion Nestle and writer Michael Pollan. We'll eat only fresh foods and processed foods with five ingredients or less. If we can't pronounce the names of the ingredients, we won't buy or eat them.

We're an average American family trying to eat better and enjoy it more. We'll convince our three little kids that fresh food is about pleasure, rituals and family - and not about red dye #40, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.

In the News... Friday, February 8, 2008

† An Urban Farm as an Outdoor Social Space: Our Generation's Symbol? That, in a nutshell, is the proposal by Don Wood and Amale Andraos of Work Architecture for a courtyard in Queens, New York:

. . . the architects’ creative process started with the more traditional P.S. 1 courtyard concept of an urban beach, focusing on themes like the striped bathing costumes of a 1928 photograph called "La Plage." They moved from there to contemplating “Sous les pavés, la plage" (roughly, "under the paving stones, a better life"), a slogan dating from the 1968 student riots in Paris. Finally they arrived at the notion of "Sur les paves la ferme," meaning, "Over the pavement, the farm."

"We wanted to find what our generation's symbol would be," Ms. Andraos said, "embodying our preoccupations, our hopes for the world."

In working out their design, the architects also kept in mind the movement from industrialization to postindustrialization, from global to local, from the free market to the farmer’s market, and from sand to hay.

† Competing Views of Cloning: Slow Food has taken a position squarely against cloning and GMOs, largely based on concerns about biodiversity and the sometimes delicate balances that keep ecosystems operating efficiently. Not everyone shares this view, as expressed by James McWilliams in an op-ed piece in the February 5 New York Times, available online. On the Gristmill blog, Tom Philpott finds many faults in McWilliams' arguments.

† GOOD magazine's Food Issue: GOOD magazine is good for Slow Food and a good read. If you've waited to check it out, consider taking a look at the food-focused March/April issue about to hit newsstands. Several articles consider food consumption, food politics, and food-as-business as well as Los Angeles-specific topics.

In November 2007, Slow Food USA announced a partnership with GOOD, joining eleven other nonprofit organizations that benefit directly from GOOD's growth. GOOD focuses on social, political, and environmental issues, and will donate 100% of its subscription revenue to nonprofit groups. If you sign up for a subscription to GOOD you can designate your $20 subscription fee to Slow Food USA, a win-win situation. Visit the subscription page and consider adding GOOD to your monthly reading list.

† On the Road: Many Slow Food members and friends make their food choices an important part of their travel plans, and the travel section of the February 4 Los Angeles Times offered a selection of California food festivals for 2008, including dates, descriptions, and links to local websites.

In the News... Friday, February 1, 2008

† "Friday Five: Dan Barber's Five Things to Give Up for Mother Earth": Chez Pim, the blog of Pim Techamuanvivit, has garnered loads of praise over the years for its gastronomic meanderings and enthusiasm for food, wine and related people and producers. As part of her Friday Five series, Pim's latest post considers Dan Barber's list of "five things to give up for mother earth." Dan Barber is the chef and proprietor of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, and in Pim's words, "Dan's commitment to the environment is well known, but he is hardly a die-hard radical. He is a businessman determined to find a way to be both environmentally and economically sustainable - now that's the way of the future." Read the complete post for the five things at Chez Pim. It's food for thought.

† "The Slow Life Picks Up Speed": Writing for the New York Times, Penelope Green puts the spotlight on how other trades and disciplines are heeding the Slow call:

Alabama Chanin is run on the tenets of the Slow Food movement, which essentially challenges one to use local ingredients harvested and put together in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Above all it emphasizes slowness in the creation and consumption of products as a corrective to the frenetic pace of 21st-century life. "Good, clean and fair" is the Slow Food credo, and it has — rather slowly — begun to make its way out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house. . . .

Slow is also an idea, it seems, whose time has come. "When I was researching the book," [author Carl Honoré] continued, "if you Googled slow movement, there wasn’t anything. As a growing cultural quake it just wasn’t there. Now, of course, there are hundreds of sites, and every week I get an e-mail from a student wanting to write his or her thesis on slow cities or slow design."

"The time is now ripe for trying to formalize this slow revolution," Mr. Berthelsen, the founder of the World Institute of Slowness, an advocacy group based in Kristiansand, Norway, said slowly last week. . . . In his lectures to corporate Europe, Mr. Berthelsen, urges workers to work smarter, not faster or harder, and to become more aware of the process than the product. "I always lived under the mantra that the fast will beat the big ... but the slow will beat the fast."

Read the complete article online.

Slow Food Los Angeles had helped spread the word about Carl Honoré's In Praise of Slowness in 2004. The book, now available in paperback, is a wide-ranging introduction to Slow movements and how Slow Food can translate to other aspects of life.

In the News... Monday, January 28, 2008

† "Closing the Barn Door After the Cows Have Gotten Out": Verlyn Klinkenborg looks at the cloning debate from the perspective of both diversity and market power:

. . . I will not be eating cloned meat. The reason has nothing to do with my personal health or safety. I think the clearest way to understand the problem with cloning is to consider a broader question: Who benefits from it? Proponents will say that the consumer does, because we will get higher quality, more consistent foods from cloned animals. But the real beneficiaries are the nation's large meatpacking companies--the kind that would like it best if chickens grew in the shape of nuggets. Anyone who really cares about food--its different tastes, textures and delights--is more interested in diversity than uniformity. As it happens, the same is true for anyone who cares about farmers and their animals. An agricultural system that favors cloned animals has no room for farmers who farm in different ways. Cloning, you will hear advocates say, is just another way of making cows. But every other way — even using embryo transplants and artificial insemination — allows nature to shuffle the genetic deck. A clone does not.

† Considering "Good, Clean, and Fair" from another perspective: The Ethicurean provides a summary of Eric Schlosser's remarks at the EcoFarm conference:

How we treat people at the bottom of our food chain is a reflection of our society's values. "If there are organic tomatoes being picked by indentured servants, I'd rather not have the organic tomato," he told the audience. "It doesn't matter how you’re treating the soil if you're mistreating the worker. 'Organic' is wonderful, but a whole set of interconnected values is more wonderful still."

Tom Philpott also comments on Eric Schlosser's presentation in his Gristmill post and the debate over genetically modified foods.

† Slow Food at Ojai's Topa Topa School: Steve Fields and Sims Brannon, leaders of Slow Food Ojai/Ventura, shared with us news of an after-school program at the Topa Topa elementary school that the Ojai/Ventura convivium is supporting:

Rachel Sanchez made it through her first 11 years without ever tasting a slice of red pepper or a cauliflower floret.

But that changed this fall, when the fifth-grader signed up for a new after-school program at Ojai's Topa Topa School. The program is designed to promote healthy living, and Tuesdays are dedicated to cooking and nutrition--sessions that included a raw vegetable tasting.

"They were all right," Rachel said of the unfamiliar snacks. Students agreed that yogurt parfaits were the best of their afternoon creations, but they liked it all, from making cranberry-orange bread to squeezing locally grown oranges for juice.

Sims and I taught the kids how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. It was great to see that kids really could tell the difference between real food and processed packaged food. Another of our members, Gillian McManus, is doing a class on avocados and allowing the kids to make their own guacamole.

In the News... Saturday, January 19, 2008

† A postscript to Thursday's summary: As is often the case, The Ethicurean has an informative overview, this one about cloning.

On his Chews Wise blog, Sam Fromartz not only points to the Ethicurean summary but adds his own perspective, suggesting that adoption of cloning will not be the slam-dunk some think it will be.

† "Looking Dinner in the Eye": Julia Moskin writes in the New York Times about chefs who demonstrate "empathy and respect" for the animals they use. Michael Ruhlman points out that although this may be garnering more media attention lately, it's not a new trend, or necessarily a marketing ploy. It's certainly not new to Slow Food, which has long advocated diversity, supported animal husbandry programs that protect and help revive neglected species, and has worked to promote food that is good, clean, and fair.

† More from Michael Pollan: Another Q&A, this time with Christy Harrison of Gourmet magazine's new website, in which the two discuss breakfast options, quality in culinary practices, and a possible reason for our country's nutritionism.

In the News... Thursday, January 17, 2008

† Cloned Food in the Spotlight: News of the FDA's announcement that food from cloned animals and their offspring is safe for consumption has spurred discussion and concern from several quarters. Andrew Martin's article in the New York Times summarizes the FDA's statement; Jerry Hirsch in the Los Angeles Times explains why many retailers, restauranteurs, chefs, and supporters of food diversity may stand in the way of widespread adoption of cloned products. Putting aside the "Frankenfood" specter of years past, long-term safety issues and the role of diversity in the health and well-being of animals and plants are at the top of the list of concerns, as is the likelihood that products from clones or their offspring will not be labeled as such, making consumer choice much more difficult.

† Then there's "genetically fortified" food: When is a carrot not just a carrot? When it has been genetically altered to increase calcium absorption in the person who eats it? Alexis Madrigal writes about the biotech industry's focus on food that does double duty--or more--and why some people believe this might be a key to winning over consumers who want more for their money.

† Is this another sign of "nutritionism"?: Michael Pollan talks about "nutritionism"--focusing on food as the sum of its nutrients--in his new work, In Defense of Food. Pollan talked with Tara Parker-Pope (of the New York Times' "Well" blog) about this and related issues in today's Q&A post. A taste:

Americans are a people so obsessed with nutrition yet whose dietary health is so poor. That strikes me as a paradox. We worry more about nutritional health, and we see food in terms of health. Yet we’re the world champs in terms of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and the cancers linked to diet. I think it’s odd. It suggests that worrying about your dietary health is not necessarily good for your dietary health.

think the bigger concern with cloned animals is not personal health. It’s what will it take to keep a herd of genetically identical chickens, horses or pigs alive? Sex and variation is what keeps us from getting wiped out by microbes. If everything is genetically identical, one disease can come along and wipe out the entire group. You will need so many antibiotics and so much sanitation to keep a herd of these creatures going. The bigger concern should be antibiotic resistance.

† But on a lighter topic...: Yesterday's Los Angeles Times featured "the lemon list" compiled by Amy Scattergood: "101 Things To Do With a Meyer Lemon." A delightful reading companion is Charles Antin's story, "My Little Lime-Green Lie," recently published in Food & Wine and now available online.

Edward Espe Brown on "Good Food"

This Saturday, Evan Kleiman's "Good Food" broadcast on KCRW will include Evan's conversation with Edward Espe Brown: chef, Zen practitioner, cookbook author, and the subject of the recently released documentary, How to Cook Your Life. Tune in to the conversation this Saturday (November 10) at 11:00am on KCRW (89.9 FM) or listen after the broadcast at your leisure via KCRW.com.

Tickets are still available for the screening of How to Cook Your Life on Friday, November 16, which will be followed by a Q&A with Edward Espe Brown at the Laemmle Sunset 5 theatre. (For more information about the screening, review our previous posts here and here.)

Tracking the Farm Bill

† Dan Owens is live-blogging the Senate debates on the Farm bill on the Blog for Rural America.

† C-SPAN.org carries House and Senate sessions on their website for those interested in the debates who have the time and bandwidth to tune in. (If so, you may wish to check out Dan's blog, noted above, for a sense of whether the Farm Bill debate is ongoing, or whether the Senate is discussing other matters.)

† Nicole Gaouette writes in today's Los Angeles Times about murmurs of a Farm Bill veto. Seems no one's happy with the Farm Bill's current state.

† Carolyn Lochhead of the San Francisco Chronicle also covers the debate, noting that

California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both Democrats, have not yet taken positions on the bill. "I think it's real clear that Boxer and Feinstein are really crucial swing votes," said Mark Lipson, policy program director for the Organic Farming Research Foundation in Santa Cruz. "It could really come down to them making the difference."

In the News... Sunday, November 4, 2007

† The Week of the Farm Bill: This week represents a crucial time in the Farm Bill debate. Whether you contacted your representative or senators earlier in the debate or postponed making a call or sending a fax, now is the time to do so, or to do so again.

† "Weed It and Reap": Today's New York Times features an op-ed by Michael Pollan and it's a must-read:

On Capitol Hill, hearings on the farm bill have been packed, and newspapers like The San Francisco Chronicle are covering the legislation as closely as The Des Moines Register, bringing an unprecedented level of attention to what has long been one of the most obscure and least sexy pieces of legislation in Congress. Sensing the winds of reform at his back, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told a reporter in July: "This is not just a farm bill. It's a food bill, and Americans who eat want a stake in it."

Right now, that stake is looking more like a toothpick. Americans who eat have little to celebrate in the bill that Mr. Harkin is expected to bring to the floor this week. Like the House bill passed in July, the Senate product is very much a farm bill in the traditional let-them-eat-high-fructose-corn-syrup mold.

† "Calling Your Senators About the Farm Bill Can Have Unexpected Results": Janet Majure, a resident of Kansas and a contributor to The Ethicurean (an excellent source of Farm Bill information if you haven't already bookmarked it), writes about the experience telephoning her senators about the Farm Bill:

I think I was wrong, though, about the power of the phone call. In fact, it may be the best way to make an impression for those of us who don’t have money to gain access through contributions. Think about it. Emails are easy to ignore; how many do you delete a day? I suspect email drives by various organizations are interesting by not hugely persuasive because they’re relatively easy to accomplish.

But not that many people are willing to make the phone calls. It’s uncomfortable. It's intimidating. And the politicians and their staff know it. That means that your voice, unless you're ranting, makes a significantly bigger impression. Try it. Ask the name of the staff person in charge of the topic, and then ask to speak to that person. You might get through. It’s our best chance right now.

† Making Those Calls: For Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends in California:

Senator Feinstein: 202.224.3841
Senator Boxer: 202.224.3553

For our readers outside California, telephone and other contact information for your senators is available here.

† "Cost of Cheap Food on the Nation's Health": The cost of food is often a subject of debate, and Slow Food has been criticized for promoting food choices that are deemed by some to be expensive, elite, or otherwise out of the reach of the "average" consumer. One effect of the Farm Bill debate has been to bring into sharper focus how much it costs to bring such "cheap" food to the market, and how the real price--in terms of the health of our citizens, the health of our environment, and the health of our social network--is far higher than supermarket prices suggest. For one view of the cost of food and the proportion of our income we allot to it, the San Francisco Chronicle featured a contribution by Barb Stuckey, a v.p. of marketing with a food product development company. (As noted in the article, you can also listen to an audio interview with Barb Stuckey and Michael Pollan here.

In the News... Thursday, September 27, 2007

† Slow Food Nation fundraising dinner: Thanks to all who were able to attend last Sunday's fundraising dinner for Slow Food Nation at Campanile, and special thanks to Mark Peel, Jay Perrin, Caroline Allain, and the staff at Campanile for their generous, above-and-beyond cooperation, assistance, and unflagging energy. The gathering of (approximately) 175 Slow Food members and friends raised over $85,000, a great contribution toward Slow Food Nation and its goals: to change the way America produces and eats food; to demonstrate how everyday choices affect our well being, our culture, and the health of the planet; and to combine pleasure with responsibility to inspire a new activism with food at its core.

Among the attendees was Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times, who shared his comments in "Going Slow," on the L.A. Times website.

† And more from Russ Parsons on a perennial topic: Check out the interesting exchange between Russ Parsons and Michael Ruhlman (author of The Making of a Chef and other engaging reads and a contributor to The French Laundry Cookbook) about the affordability of farmers' markets. Lively comments from Parsons and Ruhlman, with some thoughtful input by commenters.

† An exchange about "Our Biotech Future": Thanks to The Ethicurean for pointing out that Freeman Dyson's essay for The New York Review of Books, "Our Biotech Future," is available online, as are comments by Wendell Berry, James P. Herman, and Christopher B. Michael, and Dyson's response.

† "Help Wanted: Young Farmers": Zoë Bradbury writes for Edible Portland about the Agricultural Census, the aging of American farmers, and the need to swell a new generation of farmers:

But for reasons cultural, ecological, gastronomic, and economic, there are plenty among us who balk at the notion that agriculture should ever disappear from our landscapes, or farmers from our ranks. Given America's roots in agriculture, it's fair to wonder how we've moved from the Jeffersonian ideal of independent family farmers forming the backbone of our society, to a time when federal prison inmates outnumber farmers—-an occupation that has now been removed as a category from the U.S. Population Census.

† Who's Helped by the Farm Bill?: With the Farm Bill before the U.S. Senate this autumn, debate resumes about the bill's current incarnation, who it helps, who it hurts, and what it accomplishes. Carolyn Lochhead writes for the San Francisco Chronicle about these very questions.

† and a calendar note: Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena will host a discussion and book signing with Alice Waters to mark the publication of The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution on Thursday, October 25, at 7:00pm at All Saints Church in Pasadena. For more information on purchasing copies of the book from Vroman's, or about the event, please contact Vroman's directly at 626.449.5320.

In the News... Wednesday, September 19, 2007

† "Lunch with Alice Waters, Food Revolutionary": Today's New York Times includes several pieces related to Alice Waters and the spirit of "good, clean, and fair" in food choices: Read the profile by Kim Severson, view the video of her shopping trip at NYC's Union Square Greenmarket, and read more about her reaction to the food at Farm Aid.

Some tickets are still available for this Sunday's Slow Food Nation fundraising dinner at Campanile; information and reservation information is available in our original post. Alice Waters, Mark Peel, and Lisa Kring of Slow Food Los Angeles will be hosting the event; proceeds will contribute to the development of Slow Food Nation.

† Slow Food's "Recipe for Success": Don't miss Renee Ciulla's thoughtful piece on Slow Food's contributions, its development as an international organization, and the challenges that Slow Food faces in the United States.

† The Diluting Effect of More Farmers' Markets?: In today's San Francisco Chronicle, Carol Ness considers whether more farmers' markets are better, and talks with several farmers about the effect more markets (and more publicity) have had on their business plans.

† Still Debating "Chocolate": In May we had posted about the debate over what will constitute "chocolate", and the debate continues: This week, Mars, Inc. announced that it will continue to use 100% cocoa butter, a position at odds with many of the largest chocolate manufacturers. More information from the Associated Press (via the SFGate).

† Heirloom Apples!: If you missed Russ Parsons' piece in last week's Los Angeles Times, don't miss it online: tempting information about locally grown heirloom apple varieties that spotlights several members and friends of Slow Food Los Angeles, including Bill and Barbara Spencer of Windrose Farm. (And do check out the Windrose website, which includes information about Windrose's 2007 Apple Tasting on Sunday, October 21.)

† Food (Growing) in Schools: The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at how the school gardens at Crawford High School and Morse High School are contributing to students' lives in many ways, and how gardening and cooking classes at the schools are helping students plan home-cooked meals for themselves and their families.

Slow Food Conversations

Alice Waters and Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, spoke with Leonard Lopate on his WNYC show about Slow Food, the principles that animate it, the Slow Food motto of "good, clean, fair", Slow Food Nation, and other related issues in this broadcast from June 12, 2007. (33:56 duration; available for listening online or for download at the link noted above).

Also for your listening pleasure... Mark Peel of Campanile recently talked with Evan Kleiman on KCRW's Good Food broadcast about the tap water/bottled water debate and about his support of Slow Food Nation, including the fast-approaching fundraiser at Campanile on September 23. Tickets are still available; details can be found in our original post.

Food for Thought: What We're Reading

In the back-to-school spirit we thought we'd share some of the food- (and Slow Food-) related reading that's recently caught our attention:

Gastronomica: Published quarterly by the University of California Press, Gastronomica is a beautifully produced journal of food and culture, considering, investigating, and celebrating many facets of food production and consumption. The Summer 2007 issue focuses on the politics of food, from production methods to farmers' markets to the obesity debate. Available from the University of California Press, by subscription from amazon.com, or at many local newsstands.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan: The paperback edition of Omnivore's Dilemma has just been issued, so if you held off purchasing the hardcover edition, or are thinking about gift books for upcoming birthdays and holidays, consider this. Named one of 2006's top ten books by both The New York Times and The Washington Post, it also won several prominent book awards and has been credited with improving the debate about the food we eat and the manner in which it's produced.

Also available in paperback, Marion Nestle's What to Eat, required reading for navigating supermarket aisles. In tandem with the book or on its own we also recommend Dr. Nestle's "What to Eat" blog. Regularly updated with news about food production and food marketing, the What to Eat blog is a worthwhile supplement to your daily news. Don't miss the list of topics in the blog's right-hand column (including Dr. Nestle's own book recommendations).

The New Yorker: Specifically, the annual food issue (3/10 September), which features Adam Gopnik's "New York Local;" Calvin Trillin on Singapore's street food; several writers on the theme of "family dinner;" Jane Kramer on Claudia Roden and how food can reconstruct a world... all that, and more, and cartoons, too. Essays from the "family dinner" series are also available online.

In the News... Wednesday, August 29, 2007

† "Organic Almond Supporters Roast Pasteurization Plan": George Raine writes in the San Francisco Chronicle about the imminent rule requiring pasteurization of almonds. The Department of Agriculture is moving to implement the rule; organic and raw-food advocates have been crying foul and questioning the rush.

† How the Farm Bill Affects What We Eat: For those who didn't catch Science Friday on the August 10th episode of NPR's "Talk of the Nation," here's a link, and it's a good episode whether you've been keeping up with Farm Bill news or whether you've put off learning about it. Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle, and Sandor Ellix Katz talk about the Farm Bill, how to make food choices, and the benefits of local food.

Also, Dan Barber of Blue Hill (New York) participated in a Q&A with Eli Rosenberg on salon.com about the Farm Bill, and what increased attention on this year's legislation may mean for the future.

† "My church is a farm..." writes Kim Severson, and although her essay in the New York Times focuses on her experiences in Connecticut markets, her sentiments will be familiar to members and friends of Slow Food Los Angeles who support their local farmers and farmers' markets.

† Spreading Slow Food via Edible Schoolyards: Today's Los Angeles Times looks at the difference an Edible Schoolyard can make to a New Orleans school in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

In the News... Tuesday, August 21, 2007

SlowFoodLA.com has taken a bit of a break from the news these last few weeks, but we're back, energized, and ready to share more items of interest with our friends and members:

† The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Bill and it was a disappointment to many, with several significant concessions being made. Our friends at The Ethicurean posted a great summary that bears reading before the Senate takes up the matter this autumn.

† "How to Add Oomph to 'Organic'": The New York Times looks at the Department of Agriculture's bottom line for the organic industry:

Despite year after year of double-digit growth, organics receive a pittance in financing and staff attention at the department, which is responsible for writing regulations about organics and making sure that they are upheld.

The National Organic Program, which regulates the industry, has just nine staff members and an annual budget of $1.5 million. A Florida real estate developer named Maurice Wilder received more than that in farm subsidies in 2005, some $1,754,916, to be exact, according to a subsidy database maintained by the Environmental Working Group.

Other parts of the Department of Agriculture spend roughly $28 million or so a year on organic research, data collection and farmer assistance. It may sound significant, but the department spent far more than that, $37 million, subsidizing farmers who grew dry peas in 2005. (The farm value of dry peas is about $83 million a year. Consumers spend more than $14 billion a year on organic food, up from $3.6 billion in 1997.)

† "Pastured Eggs Catching On": Carol Ness, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, focuses on the growing demand for pastured eggs. Although she talks with farmers in northern California, the benefits she notes apply to similarly farmed southern California eggs, too! Some of our local markets, including the Hollywood and Santa Monica markets, feature farmers who offer pastured eggs, and if you haven't tried these, make a point of asking about them during your next market visit.

† "Steak Without Guilt": Another product locally available is buffalo, and the New York Times recently considered its growing popularity among restaurants and home cooks. In tandem with the article, Marian Burros also offers several tips for cooking different cuts of buffalo at home.

Alice Waters on the Importance of the Farm Bill

Alice Waters contributed her thoughts the subject of the Farm Bill in Sunday's Sacramento Bee: "Farm Bill Should Focus on Healthful Foods":

The farm bill emerged originally to support farmers during the Great Depression. But over time, it has turned into a system of subsidies heavily favoring five crops: corn, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat. Between 1995 and 2003, farmers who grew these commodity crops received an average of $14.5 billion in subsidies each year, half of which goes to a handful of states. By contrast, the farm bill offers little, if any, support to the California farmers who produce nearly half of our nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutritional guidelines calling for a diet rich in all three. . . .

Many public school districts operate on a shoestring budget, and the cheaper, unhealthful foods laden with sugar and hydrogenated fats have become staples of school lunch programs. For many low-income children school lunches offer the only meal some kids eat all day. As we know, a diet heavy with saturated fats and refined sugars has helped create a national pandemic of childhood obesity and diabetes. If previous farm bills had been healthful food bills, we would have subsidized nutritious foods instead of junk foods, and made nutritious foods more affordable and more available in schools.

The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to take action on the Farm Bill this week, from July 17-19, so don't delay.

In the News... Friday, July 13, 2007

† The Two Americas of Food?: Are there two Americas for food, one for the well-off and well-located, and the another for the rest (i.e., the most)? This is the question posted by Anna Lappé in her essay, "Reflections on the 2007 Farm Bill." Lappé asks:

. . . [H]ow do we close this food gap? One answer is immediately before us, embodied in two little words: the Farm Bill, and Congress is debating it right now.

Policies set in the Farm Bill largely determine what food we produce, who has access to it, and whose health we prioritize as a nation. Renegotiated every five years, the Farm Bill shapes much about food system, determining how $90 billion in taxpayers’ money is spent every year. . . .

With Farm Bill renegotiations in full swing, we have a small window – shutting fast – to bring the fairness we expect from our economy into the food chain. Hundreds of organizations – from big environmental players to community food groups – have been working on strategies to do just that.

† Speaking of the Farm Bill...: Another article by Carol Ness in the San Francisco Chronicle on "the new food crusade" and why the Farm Bill is really the "Food, Health, and Farm Bill" that affects everyone--farmer or not--who cares about the food they consume. The article includes a series of links to online resources, and highlights the helpfulness of Dan Imhoff's book, Food Fight, which we've previously spotlighted for Slow Food members and friends.

† The $20 Challenge: Local blog LAist underscores that you can enjoy a bounty of fresh produce from local farmers' markets for $20 or less. A nice illustration of why farmers' markets are a great resource for people across the economic spectrum.

† Concerns about GMOs, here and abroad: The Ethicurean shared interesting information from the USDA about transgenic crops in the United States. The numbers--and the prevalence of transgenic material in the food supply--may surprise you.

In related news thousands of Italian farmers this week protested the lack of origin labeling on agricultural products. In light of news about contamination of food products (including the recent recalls of pet foods tainted with toxic chemicals that resulted in the deaths of thousands of dogs and cats in the U.S.), debates about the level of detail in food labeling are attracting more attention. More reasons for eating locally grown products and getting to know (and support) the people who produce it.

† Wendell Berry: Food and Consequence: The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune has a Q&A with Wendell Berry that touches on the benefits of supporting local economies, how buying out-of-season produce has consequences, and what individuals can do to reshape the food economy. (Thanks, again to The Ethicurean for the pointer.)

In the News... Friday, July 6, 2007

† "The Debate Over Subsidizing Snacks": That's the title of an article by Marian Burros published in the New York Times on the Fourth of July. If you've passed on reading other articles about the Farm Bill that seemed too wonky, this one may be a good introduction, explaining the issues and briefly outlining the positions of various groups involved in the debate.

† "Gilroy Garlic Growers Threatened by Chinese Imports": Slashfood picks up on last weekend's NPR piece on the "tsunami of Chinese garlic" hitting the produce departments of U.S. grocery stores. Food safety is one concern, but the benefits of supporting locally produced food and California garlic's superior taste are also noted. (Summary is at Slashfood; full story with audio and links to related NPR pieces on the NPR site. Links above.)

† Are Organically Grown Tomatoes More Nutritious? Maybe.: Sam Fromartz notes the results of studies regarding flavonoid content in conventional vs organically grown tomatoes. Is higher flavonoid content how tomatoes respond in the absence of chemical fertilizers? Nothing conclusive, but interesting results.

And while you're visiting the Chews Wise site, don't miss Sam Fromartz's post on the role of the organic community in the Farm Bill debate.

† Environmental Working Group (EWG) Petition: Signatures are still needed for the EWG to make its goal. Help the EWG reach its goal of 30,000 signatures by 15 July and add your voice to the chorus of those interested in the quality of organic food. Signing the petition takes less than a minute, and very little information (name, email, zipcode) is required.

In the News... Friday, June 29, 2007

† EWG Farm Bill Petition: The Environmental Working Group is collecting signatures online and has asked that Slow Food Los Angeles and other organizations concerned with the Farm Bill debate spread the word to our members and friends. The text of the petition, along with the online signup form, is available at:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/ewgroup/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=630.

The EWG's website has information about the Farm Bill, the Campaign to Grow Organics, and other initiatives. Along with Mulch it's a great source of information about these issues.

† Scenes from the [farmers'] market: Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle featured an article by Karola Saekel on the history of farmers' markets in the Bay area and how markets are thriving and expanding. Several interesting recipes round off the reading. Those of our readers who regularly patronize local farmers' markets will recognize the sentiments expressed by many people who commented for the article, and for those of our readers who don't get to the market as often as they'd like, perhaps this article will inspire you to do some of your shopping at an area market this weekend.

† Avoiding GMOs: Also in the San Francisco Chronicle, a piece by Carol Ness on a new book, Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food by Andrew Kimbrell. As Carol Ness notes:

[A]nyone who has questions about genetically engineered foods, or is confused about the issue, might want to take a look at this book. Kimbrell and his staff lay out the complexities of the case against GE foods in bite-size pieces that manage to be thoroughly researched (220 footnotes!) and easily digestible.

In the News... Monday, June 25, 2007

† Fighting to Protect Chocolate: Today's New York Timesfeatured an op-ed piece by Mort Rosenblum, author of Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light, regarding the proposal to change what constitutes "chocolate":

In America, the Food and Drug Administration can act swiftly to change rules based on what it calls a citizen's petition. Last year, "citizens" like the Grocery Manufacturers Association added new guidelines for chocolate onto an omnibus petition covering more than 200 foods that called for, among other things, altering food standards to "permit maximum flexibility in the food technology used to prepare the standardized food" and to allow "any alternative process that accomplishes the desired effect."

This could have sweeping effects on food manufacturing overall; for chocolate in particular, the guidelines provide for no effective limit on how much cocoa butter can be substituted nor restrictions on what fats can be used. There is no attempt to mimic the real thing.

† Carlo Petrini on epicurious.com: Slow Food's fearless leader, Carlo Petrini, offers five ways "food lovers can join the culinary revolution in their own homes and communities." These suggestions are expanded upon in Slow Food Nation, Petrini's latest book and his most direct expression of how Slow Food members and friends can make a difference. If you've been on the fence about purchasing a copy of Slow Food Nation, the epicurious.com piece is a nice introduction to the book's principles.

† What's Happening to the Farm Bill?: Some days, we're afraid to ask. But we do, and as is often the case, our friends who edit The Ethicurean have the answers, or links to the answers. From recent posts:

++ "Give us a new New Deal: If you have Farm-Bill-coverage fatigue, buck up with this excellent, essay-length post by Tom Philpott about how a serious supply-management policy on the part of the U.S. government could fix our broken food system, support farmers big and small, open world markets — and seriously piss off Big Agribiz by taking their monopolistic power back away."

++ Farm Bill Runs Aground? Read the Ethicurean update (with links about the legislative debates and the real life consequences of Farm Bill provisions).

++ Today's Ethicurean digest, featuring information on a potential Farm Bill solution as well as troubling news about the consequences of pumping pigs full of antibiotics.

In the News... Tuesday, June 12, 2007

† Standards for "Organic" Foods: The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that changes in the stardards under which a food product can be labeled "organic" are moving through the USDA:

A deadline of midnight Friday to come up with a new list of nonorganic ingredients allowed in USDA-certified organic products passed without action from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, leaving uncertain whether some foods currently labeled "USDA organic" would continue to be produced.

The agency is considering a list of 38 nonorganic ingredients that will be permitted in organic foods. Because of the broad uses of these ingredients--as colorings and flavorings, for example--almost any type of manufactured organic food could be affected, including cereal, sausage, bread and beer.
. . .
"Adding 38 new ingredients is not just a concession by the USDA, it is a major blow to the organic movement in the U.S. because it would erode consumer confidence in organic standards," said Carl Chamberlain, a research assistant with the Pesticide Education Project in Raleigh, N.C.

In addition to hops, the list includes 19 food colorings, two starches, casings for sausages and hot dogs, fish oil, chipotle chili pepper, gelatin and a host of obscure ingredients (one, for instance, is a "bulking agent" and sweetener with the tongue-twisting name of fructooligosaccharides).

The New York Times also featured an article about the changes and the criticism that has been voiced:

More than 90 percent of the food/agricultural items on the proposed list of materials in this rule are items that can easily be grown organically,” said Merrill A. Clark, an organic farmer from Michigan and a former member of the organic advisory board, in comments to the Agriculture Department.

She said that allowing such nonorganic ingredients are “totally unhealthy for the organic industry down the road,” and are “opening the organic rules to ridicule and unflattering public exposure.”

† Do you know where your food comes from? The BBC shared the results of a study by the Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) organization that 22% of UK respondents "did not know bacon and sausages originate from farms" and "47% of people [polled] did not know farms produced porridge's main ingredient."

The survey also found four in 10 people did not know yoghurt is made using farm produce, nearly half were unaware the raw ingredients for beer start off in farmers' fields and 23% did not know bread's main ingredients came from the farm.

In the News... "Fresh Start" in Jeopardy?

An article by Carol Ness in today's San Francisco Chronicle spotlights the budget cuts in Sacramento that will affect children in public schools across California:

For just 10 cents a day per child, California public school kids are getting to eat fresh apples, oranges and strawberries along with their Pop-Tarts and doughnuts at school breakfast.

At least, that's been true for the last two years under the pilot Fresh Start program, designed to steer kids away from obesity and diabetes and toward healthy foods.

But Fresh Start is in jeopardy just as preliminary reports are showing its initial success. In an effort to cover a $366 million funding gap in the education part of the state budget, the Legislature recently cut the $11.1 million that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to keep Fresh Start going in the next school year and make it permanent.
. . .

"On the one hand, legislators are talking about the obesity crisis ... and then they're taking fruit and vegetable money away," said Ann Cooper, head of Berkeley's school lunch program.
California would spend around $145 billion in 2007-08 under the proposed budget being shaped into final form in legislative conference committee now, and Cooper pointed out that the $9 billion tab for prisons is more than the entire nation spends on school meals.

"It's not that we don't have enough money, it's that we are not making the health of our children our priority," she said.

In the News...Monday, June 4, 2007

† Is the honeybee problem greater than we thought? Salon.com convened a roundtable of honeybee experts to talk about what we know, what we don't know, and what amounts to urban myth in the matter of the dwindling honeybee population. [Registration or advertisement viewing may be required for access.]

† Is it more expensive to shop at a farmers' market? Maybe... or maybe not. Becks & Posh, a Bay-area based blog, recently published an interesting head-to-head (maybe we should say vegetable-to-vegetable) comparison of the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market and a local Safeway Foods. The verdict: approximately 30% saved at the farmers' market. Although there are ongoing debates about the out-of-pocket cost of farmers' market produce and a recent controversy involved a characterization of the Ferry Plaza market as notably expensive, a closer examination of this oft-repeated jab against the farmers' markets merits closer attention.

Carlo Petrini/Whole Foods Podcast

Along with in-person events, speeches, and booksignings in support of the publication of Slow Food Nation, Carlo Petrini participated in Whole Foods' series of podcasts about issues related to food, consumer choice, and sustainability. Listen to the podcast on Whole Foods' site (just over 17 minutes running time), during which Petrini talks about the United States' role in the international Slow Food movement, the important choices consumers can make, and the effect those choices can have, not only for individual health but also for social and environmental health.

For more information about Slow Food Nation, review our previous post. For more information about Slow Food Nation (1-4 May 2008 in San Francisco), visit the Slow Food Nation website where event news will be posted as it becomes available.

In the News...Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Items that may be of interest to Slow Food members and friends:

† Farm Bill News: Representative Collin Peterson of the House Agriculture Committee has announced that markups on at least three of the titles in the Farm Bill will begin next week. If you have waited to contact your representative and members of the Agriculture Committee, now is the time. California representatives are members of the Agriculture Committee; more information about how to contact your reps is available in our recent Farm Bill post.

The Ethicurean has a great post with information about the markups, Speaker Pelosi's role, and links to other sources of information. Also, Om Organics has an Action Guide that's worth checking out. Good links and good strategies for anyone interested in this issue.

† Also from The Ethicurean, Carlo Petrini visits San Francisco: As part of his book tour for Slow Food Nation, Carlo Petrini visited San Francisco and spoke about the "Good, Clean, and Fair" philosophy of Slow Food. Ethicurean contributors offer their play-by-play of the event.

† Alex Weiser: Green Giant: Or so says Jonathan Gold in L.A. Weekly's 2007 People issue. The tip of the hat to Weiser is welcome, and if you haven't sampled Weiser Family Farms produce, make this week the week to do so.

† Need More Farm Bill Information? For the policy wonks and the really interested readers who don't already know about it, check out FarmPolicy.com, a site devoted to farm policy news, and lots of it.

An encouraging Farm Bill proposal?

Tom Philpott at Grist posts news of a new Farm Bill proposal introduced yesterday by Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) and Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland). He notes:

First of all, it deals with commodity subsidies boldly: by eliminating them.

The farm bill is broken into ten "titles," each laying out funding mechanisms for various parts of agriculture and hunger policy. Title I is typically known as the commodity title; it contains the goodies that for years have allowed the agribusiness giants to buy commodities like corn and soy at prices below the cost of production.

DeLauro/Gilchrest would rename Title I the "marketing and economic development title." This title would provide much-needed investment cash to help farmers access the infrastructure they need to profitably produce food for people living nearby to eat. Among other things, it would provide funds, to be distributed at the state level:

++ To provide marketing or business development assistance to producers;
++ To promote product development or differentiation;
++ To encourage direct-to-consumer market opportunities, such as farmers markets; buy-local campaigns; agri-tourism; on-farm retail market opportunities;
++ To rebuild local and regional food systems and foster agricultural economic development through development of agricultural processing facilities or other infrastructure that enhances or adds value to agricultural products grown within the state.

In the News...More on Caltech Olive Oil, the Farm Bill, Eating Locally

† Caltech Olive Oil: An NPR interview with Caltech students who are producing olive oil from campus-grown olives.

† The Farm Bill: Fattening Waistlines and Pocketbooks: An op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun by Scott Kahan suggests that "farm policy is an ideal avenue to address the obesity epidemic at its roots":

A long-running contradiction in U.S. farm policy is fattening the waistlines of Americans and the profits of agribusiness at the same time. For the 30 years that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been issuing dietary guidelines, there has been a stark inconsistency between the federal government's advice and its food funding. . . .

This legislation began during the Depression to protect farmers against environmental disasters and plummeting crop prices but has evolved into a massive program of handouts, largely benefiting agribusinesses. Worse, it promotes vast overproduction of crops that are the building blocks of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor, processed junk foods. It has become a "food bill."

† Three pieces of interest in Mother Jones: And all are available online.

+ In "Seeing Red: Eating Locally and Debunking the Red-Blue Divide," Barbara Kingsolver considers the possibilities that eating locally provides, and talks about her own reliance on local produce.

+ In "Farmworkers to Farmers," Elizabeth Gettleman and Murk Murrmann look at the Salinas, California-based Agriculture and Land Based Training Association (ALBA), a program that teaches farm workers the business of organic gardening and while doing so supplies Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, and local chefs with organic produce.

+ And in "No Bar Code," Michael Pollan shares the philosophy and business practices of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, a "beyond organic" farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

In the News: Why Change "Chocolate"?; a Slow Food prince

† Why change the definition of chocolate? We know it's a matter of dollars and cents, but why now? Tom Philpott at Grist posts some thoughts:

At the time, I didn't know why the industrial chocolate giants were agitating for this dubious cause. Now I think I know: cocoa-bean prices rose abruptly last year, pushed up by strong global demand and bad weather and political unrest in the Ivory Coast, the world's most prolific cocoa-producing nation. . . .

. . . Now, with cocoa prices up, the manufacturers are evidently seeking to maintain their profit margins by stretching the cocoa they buy as far as they can. Substituting cheap, heart-ruining hydrogenated fat for cocoa butter is one way to accomplish that. (Chocolate-making titans Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill are also among the world's dominant vegetable oil producers.)

† From last week, but of continuing interest: Last Wednesday's New York Times' food section featured an article about Prince Charles, his commitment to organic principles, and his Duchy Originals line of products. Slow Food members and friends who attended the 2004 Terra Madre gathering in Turin may recall Prince Charles' speech at the closing ceremony, in which he noted:

Slow food is traditional food. It is also local - and local cuisine is one of the most important ways we identify with the place and region where we live. It is the same with the buildings in our towns, cities and villages. Well-designed places and buildings that relate to locality and landscape and that put people before cars enhance a sense of community and rootedness. All these things are connected. We no more want to live in anonymous concrete blocks that are just like anywhere else in the world than we want to eat anonymous junk food which can be bought anywhere. At the end of the day, values such as sustainability, community, health and taste are more important than pure convenience. We need to have distinctive and varied places and distinctive and varied food in order to retain our sanity, if nothing else.

Catching up on the news: local olive oil, local partnerships, defining "chocolate"

Links to news that may be of interest to Slow Food members and friends:

> Students at Caltech are taking advantage of the wealth of established olive trees on the Pasadena campus and making their own olive oil. Great use of a local resource! [Los Angeles Times]

> Whole Foods seems to be making good on its plan to promote local producers: The San Francisco Chronicle talks with farmers and other producers who are benefiting from developing a relationship with Whole Foods that allows them to sell to area stores. [SFGate]

> Defining "Chocolate": Word has been spreading about a proposal to change the definition of chocolate, allowing manufacturers to replace all the cocoa butter with vegetable fat and to replace milk solids with whey, thereby reducing the materials cost by approximately 66%.

Chocolate lovers, artisanal chocolate producers, food security groups, and others are joining the chorus of complaint, and the FDA has extended the public comment period until May 25. For more information,

++ Cybele May's recent op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times;
++ a helpful overview of the proposed changes (with additional links) via The Ethicurean;
++ the site of "Don't Mess With Our Chocolate," a group of concerned producers and consumers of chocolate; and
++ a Don't Mess With Chocolate link to the FDA's public comments page (page includes helpful information about how to register your comment)

Posted to In Other Media by Lisa, April 30, 2007 11:40 AM

The Mystery of the Vanishing Bees

To find the cause of the dramatic and possibly devastating decline of bees across the country , scientists are gathering and analyzing data and testing many possible theories ranging from cell phone interference (less likely) to problems related to corn-syrup-based dietary supplements fed to bees.

“There are so many of our crops that require pollinators,” said Representative Dennis Cardoza, a California Democrat whose district includes that state’s central agricultural valley, and who presided last month at a Congressional hearing on the bee issue. “We need an urgent call to arms to try to ascertain what is really going on here with the bees, and bring as much science as we possibly can to bear on the problem.”

So far, colony collapse disorder has been found in 27 states, according to Bee Alert Technology Inc., a company monitoring the problem. A recent survey of 13 states by the Apiary Inspectors of America showed that 26 percent of beekeepers had lost half of their bee colonies between September and March.

Honeybees are arguably the insects that are most important to the human food chain. They are the principal pollinators of hundreds of fruits, vegetables, flowers and nuts. The number of bee colonies has been declining since the 1940s, even as the crops that rely on them, such as California almonds, have grown.

"You Are What You Grow"

This Sunday's (April 22, 2007) New York Times Magazine features an essay by Michael Pollan about the Farm Bill:

Compared with a bunch of carrots, a package of Twinkies, to take one iconic processed foodlike substance as an example, is a highly complicated, high-tech piece of manufacture, involving no fewer than 39 ingredients, many themselves elaborately manufactured, as well as the packaging and a hefty marketing budget. So how can the supermarket possibly sell a pair of these synthetic cream-filled pseudocakes for less than a bunch of roots?

For the answer, you need look no farther than the farm bill. This resolutely unglamorous and head-hurtingly complicated piece of legislation, which comes around roughly every five years and is about to do so again, sets the rules for the American food system—indeed, to a considerable extent, for the world’s food system. Among other things, it determines which crops will be subsidized and which will not, and in the case of the carrot and the Twinkie, the farm bill as currently written offers a lot more support to the cake than to the root. Like most processed foods, the Twinkie is basically a clever arrangement of carbohydrates and fats teased out of corn, soybeans and wheat — three of the five commodity crops that the farm bill supports, to the tune of some $25 billion a year. (Rice and cotton are the others.) For the last several decades — indeed, for about as long as the American waistline has been ballooning — U.S. agricultural policy has been designed in such a way as to promote the overproduction of these five commodities, especially corn and soy.

Check back here for more news on the Farm Bill in the coming days' posts.

California Bill Would Require Cloned Food Labels

From the April 17, 2007 New York Times:

Steaks, pork chops, milk and other products from cloned livestock would have to be clearly labeled on grocers' shelves under a bill pending in the California Legislature.

If passed, the requirement could be more stringent than federal rules. The Food and Drug Administration is poised to give final approval for manufacturers to sell meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs, and goats without any special labeling, although a bill introduced in Congress would require it.

Sen. Carole Migden, the San Francisco Democrat who authored the bill, said consumers deserve to know what they're buying and to be able to decide if they want to eat food from cloned animals. That is especially true because cloning isn't perfected and the long-term consequences of eating artificially produced animals cannot yet be studied, she said.

For information on SB 63 and Senator Migden's position, visit the senator's website or the bill information page for the California State Senate.

For updates and news releases from the FDA, visit their site.

Linking to The Ethicurean, Mulch, and Chews Wise

We've recently added three more sites to the list of links on our homepage. If you haven't taken a look recently or if these are new to you, we encourage you to check them out for news about a variety of issues and concerns shared by Slow Food:

The Ethicurean

. . . . is dedicated to thinking about food. Not just thinking about how to prepare it, or how it tastes — although those things are very important to us — but to pondering where and how it was grown and by whom, the distance that it traveled to our plate, and the less obvious effects of our consuming it.from The Ethicurean's "About this Blog" page

Mulch was started by Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group. Ken and other contributors to Mulch focus on food and farm policy, agricultural issues, and food safety issues. If your interest runs to agribiz, related legislation, and learning more about how the industry is regulated, Mulch is a great source of information and commentary.

Last, but certainly not least, is Chews Wise, Sam Fromartz's blog. The author of Organic, Inc., Fromartz offers links to and opinions about a wide range of news and issues, making his tagline--"Devouring the Food Chain One BIte at a Time--especially appropriate. Recent po