† 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.
Can one little produce market save the world?
Eat at Bill's is a video documentary about the phenomenon that is the Monterey Market, a small family-owned produce market in Berkeley, California that has served as crossroads and wellspring, an oasis that sustains a small army of customers, artisans and farmers. What are the characteristics that sustain this successful small enterprise?
Some people (who were there) insist that the birthplace of California's food revolution was in the market's stock room back in the 70s.
Over the last 30 years owner Bill Fujimoto has been a tireless supporter, mentor, and Customer #1 for the hundreds of small (and formerly small) farms the market supports. Bill's enthusiasm and experience fuel the enterprise and illuminate the Market's wide world of small growers and diverse customers, which include a small army of well known chefs and food thinkers such as Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Judy Rodgers. This movie is a celebration of the Monterey Market's colorful network of customers and suppliers, and a valentine to small enterprises everywhere.
Documentary director and tangerine grower Lisa Brenneis, "Eat at Bill's" star Bill Fujimoto, and Slow Food Los Angeles leader Jordan Vannini will attend the screening and lead a post-screening discussion on the peril and promise of sustaining successful small enterprises in the Land of the Big Box.
When: Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 4:30pm
Where: Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Boulevard, Venice 90291
Cost: Free admission (donations supporting Beyond Baroque gratefully accepted; suggested donation is $5). Admission will be on a first-come basis until we reach capacity. No reservations are required.
About Director/Producer Lisa Brenneis:
Lisa Brenneis grows organic citrus with her husband Jim Churchill in Ojai, California, and recently finished her first feature-length video documentary, "Eat at Bill's". She is also the author of Final Cut Pro: Visual QuickPro Guide, now in its seventh edition.
Churchill Orchard is a longtime supporter of the Slow Food community, and first commercial growers of the Pixie tangerine (introduced to the world by Bill Fujimoto at Monterey Market!). The Pixie was inducted into the Slow Food Ark of Taste in 2003. Slow Food Los Angeles and Slow Food Ojai members toured Churchill Orchard after the January 2007 citrus freeze.
For more information, visit the film's website at:
http://tangerineman.com/eab.htm
You can also watch a clip at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6750096205385977686&pr=goog-sl
Reviews:
"A non-fictional look at the history and 'backstage' stories behind California's Monterey Market and its second-generation owner Bill Fujimoto, this engaging film goes right to the heart of how individual buying decisions really have made a difference in local food communities."
-- Bruce Cole, Editor, Edible San Francisco on ediblenation.com
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/ediblenation/?p=53
"What the film does is show how simple it could be to build a local, sustainable food system. I wish every produce manager in the world could see it. … I think it comes across that Bill is "making" farmers. I mean he's selecting them, encouraging them, carrying them, promoting them, and playing a pivotal role in helping them to achieve economic viability. But he's also "making" shoppers. It's clear that he introduces new foods and tastes, and supports his customer base to be adventurous and alert to pleasure. He does it in part by sharing his own great adventurous spirit and pleasure connected to food, and by purchasing and presenting the best food he can find."
-- Janet Brown, Center for Ecoliteracy
http://www.ecoliteracy.org/
"Bill was doing specialty produce before it was chic or popular, and proves it doesn't need to be expensive or out-of-reach to anyone who wants it (save for the ride to North Berkeley and dodging all the Volvos.) ...This is a loving, insider's look at one of the most unique characters who with good cheer and the best of intentions, built a strong community and strengthened the bonds between farmers, chefs, and customers"
--David Lebovitz "…living the sweet life in Paris" blog
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/eat_at_bills.html
The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities has announced another program in its ongoing series about food access and security:
What: Deserted: How to Solve the Crisis of Poor Access to Healthy Food
When: Thursday, May 1, 2008 beginning at 7:00pm
Where: The California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles 90012
Cost: Free admission and parking, but reservations are required. (See below.)
In 2005, California had more than four times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as it did produce vendors and grocery stores. Such a dearth of eating options has turned many places in the state—-namely low-income communities and communities of color—-into "food deserts."
This public program will explore the problems surrounding the lack of access to healthy food, how that affects the obesity epidemic, and what we can do to ensure that all California communities have fresh and healthy food available.
The format will be a panel discussion moderated by Jerry Hirsch, a food industry staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. The panelists will be Duane Perry, founder of The Food Trust, Jan Perry, Los Angeles City Councilmember, and Amanda Shaffer, director of communications and researcher at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College.
Light refreshments will be served. The event will last approximately an hour and a half.
Reservations should be made online. Questions should be directed to rsvpchc@calendow.org.
For more information about The California Endowment's programming on this subject, visit their website.
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.
Tomatomania!TM, the country's largest tomato seedling sale, will be celebrating its 18th year with several events in southern California starting in late March.
More information about Tomatomania's offerings and schedule are available on the Tomatomania web site. As in the past, locations will include the Tapia Brothers Farm Stand, San Diego, Beverly Hills, and Arcadia:
March 29-30, 2008: San Diego (Encinitas), Quail Botanic GardenTomatomania is again offering online seedlings, so even those who can't attend one of the weekend events can indulge in Tomatomania! and look forward to a bounty of home-grown tomatoes this summer.
April 4-6, 2008: Encino, Tapia Brothers Farm Stand
April 12-13, 2008: Sonoma, Cornerstone Place
April 20, 2008: Beverly Hills, Paper Party Life
May 2-4, 2008: Arcadia, Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, LA Flower Show; and for our friends further afield,
May 16-18, 2008: Litchfield, Connecticut, White Flower Farm
Author and photographer Rick Nahmias has alerted us that the traveling exhibit for his work, "The Migrant Project: California Farm Workers," is now at the Museum of Tolerance and will be displayed until April 25. As Rick describes it:
"The Migrant Project" merges art, humanities and education, and uses the California farm worker experience as a microcosm to explore issues surrounding the human cost of eating as well as we do in the U.S. Several prints from this body of work are now part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian's Photographic Collection at the National Museum of American History, among other collections. It has toured to over 20 national venues.An opening reception and book signing will be held on Sunday, March 16, 2008 from 2:00pm until 4:00pm at the Museum, located at 9786 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Contact the Museum at 310.772.2527 to reserve your place.Rather than being an overly political or hopeless expose of farm workers, it is an artful multi-dimensional portrait of this often unseen community (which supplies the U.S. with over half its produce) focusing on all aspects of their story: personal life, culture, family, health, immigration as well as the sense of pride they bring to their work and lives. It deals with an array of issues (from Latin American heritage, to fair food, to immigration, to human rights).
More information about the book and the project is available on its website. Published by the University of New Mexico Press and featuring a foreword by Dolores Huerta, 50% of the author's royalties from sales of the book will be donated directly to farm worker charities and to nonprofit organizations serving farm worker communities.
Members and friends of Slow Food and readers of Michael Pollan's recent works have had their eyes opened to the staggeringly large role of corn in our economy. Recent estimates from 2007 suggest that in the United States alone, 92.9 million acres of farmland are planted with corn, most of which is used in sweeteners, starches, oils, fuel, and animal feed. Only a small percentage is grown for direct human consumption.
King Corn is a revealing documentary about "two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation." As described on the film's website:
Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. Eighty years ago, Ian and Curt’s great-grandfathers lived just a few miles apart, in the same rural county in northern Iowa. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, nitrogen fertilizers, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America's most productive, most subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat--and how we farm.The California Endowment is hosting a screening of King Corn followed by a discussion with Aaron Woolf, the film's director:
When: Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 6:00pm
Where: The California Endowment, 1000 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles
Cost: The event and parking are free, but reservations are required. To reserve your place, visit the California Endowment website.
For more information on the film and on the issues it examines, visit the King Corn website.
Longtime Slow Food Los Angeles member Amelia Saltsman is the author of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, a great resource whether or not the Santa Monica market is one of your weekly destinations. Amelia spotlights local farmers and ranchers whose products form the basis for shopping--and eating--that is good, clean, and fair.
Amelia will be signing copies of the cookbook and participating in a discussion with Greenopia founder Gay Browne this Wednesday, 27 February, at the Whole Foods at 2201 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. The discussion and signing will take place between 7:00pm and 8:00pm.
If you're one of our members or friends who are downtown denizens during the day, Gay and Amelia will also conduct a booksigning and discussion at the Library Store of the Los Angeles Central Library, located at 630 West 5th Street, from noon until 2:00pm on Wednesday, 19 March.
With food and energy prices rising steadily and humanity straining Earth's resources and systems, landscaping with edibles is more important than ever for personal, community, and global sustainability.
In this six-part course suitable for both landscape professionals and homeowners, Ecological Landscape Designer Darren Butler will cover the basics of designing, planning, and installing edible landscapes.
Topics are expected to include introduction to sustainable landscaping; landscape design principles; aesthetics of edible-landscape design; practicalities of edible-landscape design; site analysis; soil, testing soil, and preparations for planting; planning; watering methods; installing drip watering systems; planting and seeding methods; suitable species for Southern California; annuals in the edible landscape; innovative approaches to maximizing food production in perennial plantings; sources for materials, seeds, and plants; managing weeds and pests; maintaining the edible landscape and its fertility; and permaculture approaches to managing edible landscapes. Some hands-on work preparing a landscape, seeding, and installing plants is expected. The course will not include information on aspects of running a landscape-design business.
When: Course dates: Six Sundays 9:30 AM to 12:45 PM with short breaks only, Mar 2, 9, 16, 30, Apr 6, 13 (arrival encouraged by 9:00 AM). No class on Mar 23 (Easter).
Where: In Pasadena near North Allen and the 210 freeway. Details provided with class confirmation.
Cost: $220 for early registration through Feb 22; $245 thereafter or on the day of. There will be an additional $50 fee for certification. Space permitting, attendance will be allowed to single classes for $50 per class.
To register or for more information: Call or email Darren Butler (818.271.0963) or allnet [at] pobox [dot] com.
Darren Butler is a consulting arborist, ecological designer, and landscape specialist. He has appeared on several episodes of "Weekend Gardening" for a large international television audience as an expert horticulturist and landscaper, on NPR radio, and in local newspapers. He has taught Sustainable Landscape Design and Diagnosing Plant Problems for the University of California Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles, and holds many landscape- and plant-related certifications and licenses. He currently serves on a statewide advisory committee for all University of California Master Gardener programs, and is a speaker at the upcoming 2008 University of California Master Gardener Conference. He has been gardening since childhood, and developing expertise in Southern California gardening since 1996.
Enrollment, payment, and refund policy: Half tuition must be sent to reserve enrollment, with the remaining half due by the first day of class. If full tuition is not paid by the third class, attendance is expected to stop until payment is completed. Full refunds less $50 will be available until seven days before the first session. No refunds thereafter except for cancellation by the instructor. If tentative details change after enrollment has been paid, full refund is available until three days before the first class if cancellation is based upon the change(s).
Payment is by check, cash, or money order and should be sent to Darren Butler, PO Box 920434, Sylmar CA 91392-0434. Contact Darren directly if you prefer to pay with a credit card via the internet.
Courses not guaranteed to carry. Some courses fill up quickly. To avoid disappointment, please do not delay.
A certificate in Edible Landscaping is available. Specific requirements for completion will include required reading, minimum attendance of four of the six sessions with makeup for missed sessions, a project, and additional fee of $50.
This course provides approximately 18 to 20 hours of continuing education. It is not affiliated with University of California or LA County Cooperative Extension.
Reading List (required for a certificate only) will be announced by mid-February.
Course difficulty: 3 to 4 out of 10. This course will be moderately challenging. Gardening experience, basic understanding of organic gardening methods, and basic knowledge of biology and ecology are recommended but not required. Attendees without organic gardening experience should expect difficulty.
Assistance is needed for video or audio recording of the sessions. Free tuition available in trade.
Thanks to Frank Tamborello of Hunger Action Los Angeles for alerting us to an upcoming event.
Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, Safe Food, and What to Eat, will be the principal speaker at the California Endowment's Center Scene Public Program on Food Politics:
When: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 5:30pm
Where: The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities, 1000 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles 90012
Cost: Free of charge, reservations requested
The American food system is set up for mass production and mass consumption, and we are paying the price: Obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years, and one in three American children eat fast food every day. How did we get here?
Professor Nestle will answer this question and talk about how to reverse the devastating health effects of a food system that often makes the healthier choices the harder choices. In this food policy primer and the first event in Hungry for Change: Food, Politics and Community Health, a series of Center Scene Public Programs, Nestle will discuss the challenges the public health community faces from the food system and solutions for change.
Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is a member of the Slow Food USA advisory board, and speaks and writes about issues related to food politics, nutrition, and food marketing. Her research focuses on analysis of the scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development, implementation, and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies. Professor Nestle's "What to Eat" blog is informative, entertaining, and updated frequently. If you haven't already bookmarked it, you'll find it here.
Laura Avery, supervisor of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market and a correspondent for KCRW's "Good Food," will moderate the conversation and lead a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Information and online reservations are available on the California Endowment's website.
The Santa Monica Public Library is sponsoring two public presentations and discussions that may be of interest to Slow Food members and friends:
When: Saturday, January 26, 2008, beginning at 2:00pm
Where: Santa Monica Public Library (Ocean Park Branch), 2601 Main Street, Santa Monica
Cost: Free
At 2:00pm, Judith Gerber will lead a discussion of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
This field-—local food and sustainable agriculture—-is crowded with books in increasingly predictable flavors: the earnest manual, diary of an epicure, the environmental battle cry, the accidental gardener. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is all of these, and much smarter. Kingsolver takes the genre to a new literary level; a well-paced narrative and the apparent ease of the beautiful prose makes the pages fly. Her tale is both classy and disarming, substantive and entertaining, earnest and funny. Kingsolver is a moralist ("the conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners"), but more often wry than pious. Another hazard of the genre is snobbery. You won't find it here. Seldom do paeans to heirloom tomatoes include equal respect for outstanding modern hybrids like Early Girl. Kingsolver has the ear of a journalist and the accuracy of a naturalist.
Thanks to Julia Carnahan for alerting us to an opportunity at the Los Angeles Music Center that may be of interest to Slow Food members and friends.
L.A. Storytellers is accepting submissions for its program, "What's Your Recipe?". As noted in the program description:
Food is often at the heart of a memorable occasion. It can reflect cultural and family traditions creating fond experiences and unforgettable stories. From a recipe passed down through generations, to a whipped-together meal that becomes the family favorite, or a special treat rarely indulged upon but always savored, there are stories behind each and every cherished delicacy. L.A. Storytellers invite you to indulge in food non-fiction and share your tasty tales.The program is intended for non-professional/recreational storytellers, and no prior experience is necessary. There is no submission fee, but participants must be at least 18 years old.
For more information, submission guidelines, and the submission form, visit the L.A. Storytellers page on the Music Center's website. Submissions are due February 4, 2008.
Many members and friends of Slow Food count The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan as one of their favorite food-related books. A member of the Slow Food USA advisory board and a frequent commentator on issues related to food production and food quality, Pollan's books and articles have been a wake-up call and a source of inspiration.
We're therefore pleased to alert you to Pollan's latest book, In Defense of Food. Subtitled "An Eater's Manifesto," the work expands on many of the points Pollan raised in his New York Times article, "Unhappy Meals," published in January 2007.
As Pollan notes in his introduction:
Most of my suggestions come down to strategies for escaping the Western diet, but before the resurgence of farmers’ markets, the rise of the organic movement, and the renaissance of local agriculture now under way across the country, stepping outside the conventional food system simply was not a realistic option for most people. Now it is. We are entering a postindustrial era of food; for the first time in a generation it is possible to leave behind the Western diet without having also to leave behind civilization. And the more eaters who vote with their forks for a different kind of food, the more commonplace and accessible such food will become. Among other things, this book is an eater’s manifesto, an invitation to join the movement that is renovating our food system in the name of health—health in the very broadest sense of that word.I doubt the last third of this book could have been written forty years ago, if only because there would have been no way to eat the way I propose without going back to the land and growing all your own food. It would have been the manifesto of a crackpot. There was really only one kind of food on the national menu, and that was whatever industry and nutritionism happened to be serving. Not anymore. Eaters have real choices now, and those choices have real consequences, for our health and the health of the land and the health of our food culture—all of which, as we will see, are inextricably linked.
++ "The Jury is In" by Bonnie Powell on The Ethicurean;
++ "Obsessed with Nutrition? That's an Eating Disorder" by Janet Maslin in The New York Times;
++ "What Would Michael Pollan Eat?" by Carol Ness in the San Francisco Chronicle (an interesting article about what's next on Pollan's writing horizon, how his emergence as a food movement leader has made him uncomfortable at times, and yes, what he eats);
++ "The Holy Church of Food" by Laura Shapiro for Slate.com; and
++ Susan Salter Reynolds' review for the Los Angeles Times.
Thanks to LAist for news that TreePeople and SEE-LA are combining forces to offer free fruit trees at several Los Angeles-area farmers' markets.
If you've been longing to grow your own apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, or plums, or if you made a new year's resolution to grow something, this is a great opportunity to exercise your green thumb.
Locations where the trees will be distributed:
The Hollywood Sears Farmers' Market
5601 Santa Monica Boulevard
January 16 from noon until 5:30pmThe Central Avenue Farmers' Market
Washington Carver Middle School
4410 McKinley Avenue
January 12 from 8:00am until 12:30pmThe Echo Park Farmers' Market
(in the public parking lot, on Logan Street south of Sunset)
Today until 7:00pm and January 18 from 3:00pm until 7:00pmThe Watts Healthy Farmers' Market
103rd and Central Avenue
January 12 and January 19 from 10:00am until 2:00pm
In the spirit of Slow Food's manifesto of "good, clean, fair" we pass along information about an event at Intelligentsia Coffee in Los Angeles:
Intelligentsia Coffee's Tres Santos, Colombia is created by assembling individual lots from many small-holder farmers. Since 2004, Intelligentsia has shaped the selection process into a competition of sorts where each farmers' coffee was tasted separately and graded individually. The result for farmers is that the prices they pay are tied directly to quality and the result for Intelligentsia's customers is a spectacular cup of coffee.For more information about Intelligentsia's direct trade program, visit their website.Intelligentsia has invited Slow Food members and friends to join them in celebrating the hard work and accomplishment of two award-winning farmers. Jair Garcia (First Place) and Javier Ladino (Second Place) will be visiting the Los Angeles coffeebar to taste the fruits of their labor and discuss coffee farming and working with Intelligentsia Coffee's Direct Trade program.
The event will include samples of the Tres Santos, Colombia brewed on the Clover Machine and presentations from Geoff Watts and KC O'Keefe (Intelligentsia Coffee Buyers) and Jair Garcia and Javier Ladino (Colombian coffee farmers and winners of Intelligentsia's Tres Santos competition). Wine and hors d'oeuvres will also be provided.
When: Monday, December 10, 2007, at 7:00pm
Where: Intelligentsia's Silver Lake Coffeebar, 3922 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles
Cost: Free; no reservations required.
Although we did not promote particular sources for Heritage and locally-raised turkeys this year, we have recently received inquiries regarding the availability of such turkeys as we approach the holiday.
Two California sources have been brought to our attention, so if you're still seeking a special bird, you may wish to contact one or both to confirm availability:
++ Steve Fields and Sims Brannon, coleaders of Slow Food Ojai, have alerted us that Sharon Ann Palmer of Healthy Family Farms has locally raised turkeys available for Thanksgiving. The turkeys will range from 16-20 lbs, 20-24 lbs and 24 lbs and over. They will be processed fresh and will delivered to farmers' markets in Ventura and Ojai this weekend (November 17 and 18). Vacuum packed, they will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 7 days. The price will be $3.50/lb and orders will be taken this week by calling Sharon at 805.421.3301. They can be delivered either to the Saturday Ventura market or Sunday Ojai market. (Additional note: Greta Dunlap of the Beverly Hills Farmers' Market emailed to let us know that Sharon is also a regular at the Beverly Hills Market, so if Ojai or Ventura seem too far to go for your turkey, don't hesitate to contact Sharon and ask if turkeys will be available on the west side this weekend.)
++ Jim Reichardt of Sonoma County Poultry may also have turkeys available. A Slow Food member and fourth-generation duck farmer, Jim has informed us that he has a limited number of turkeys that will be available for shipment in the coming days to individuals. For information about availability and cost, please contact Jim directly by email to scpducks [at] aol [dot] com or by phone at 800.953.8257.
The Culinary Historians of Southern California are presenting a panel discussion and have extended an invitation to Slow Food members and friends to attend:
"When SoCal Went Ag: Past and Present Stories of Farming and Farmers' Markets in Southern California"When: Saturday, October 13, 2007, at 10:30am
Where: Los Angeles Public Library, Central Branch (630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles)
Cost: Free and open to the publicBack in the day when southern California was prime agricultural land and The Los Angeles Times printed crop reports, Angelenos had local access to a wide array of fresh produce. We lost our way for awhile, but now there is renewed passion for crop diversity and connecting to the source, most often, for us city dwellers, by purchasing directly from the grower at farmers’ markets. What was available here one hundred and more years ago? What was, and is it like to be a farmer in southern California, and why and how did the current and booming certified farmers’ market system develop?
Join Amelia Saltsman, author of The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook; Molly Iwamoto Gean, a third-generation California farmer and co-owner of Harry's Berries farm in Oxnard; and Laura Avery, Market Supervisor of the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets, for a lively presentation followed by a reception and book signing including tastes from Molly’s farm and Amelia’s book.
Amelia Saltsman is the author of The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm and editor of The Food Journal, the newsletter of the Culinary Historians of Southern California. Amelia serves on the California Certified Farmers’ Market Advisory Committee.
Molly Iwamoto Gean is a third-generation California farmer who comes from a long line of farmers in southern Japan. She is co-owner of Harry's Berries farm in Oxnard, which sells exclusively at southern California farmers’ markets, and is president of the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers' Market Association.
Laura Avery, Market Supervisor of the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets, has overseen the growth of the city’s market program since she began as the downtown market manager in 1982. She also serves as president of the Southland Farmers’ Market Association Board.
The Culinary Historians of Southern California is a not-for-profit organization that supports the culinary collections at the Los Angeles Public Library. For more information on the Culinary Historians of Southern California visit their website.
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
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Also available in paperback, Marion Nestle's What to Eat
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.
Our friends at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market have alerted us that they will host their annual Peak of Summer Tomato Festival on Sunday, September 2, 2007 during the normal market hours (8:00am-1:00pm). This annual event celebrates the incredible bounty of tomatoes available during the summer season at the market. It is free and open to the public.
The quintessential summertime fruit (or vegetable depending on your school of thought) in the market is the tomato. Available in a rainbow of colors far beyond the stereotypical red, the 30-plus varieties of tomatoes color the market with their pink, orange, yellow, green, purple, and even black and white hues. Each summer, the market’s farmers grow old favorites and new varieties of tomatoes, each with their own unique flavor and texture. In 2007, customers can expect to see varieties including Cherokee, Jubilee, Evergreen, Early Girls, Better Boy, Gold Medal, Persimmon, Black Krim, Great White, White Beauty, Marianna’s Peace, Earl of Edgecombe, Pineapple, and Green Zebra.
As an educational opportunity for Hollywood Farmers' Market customers, free samples of each of the tomato varieties will be available for sampling from 9:00am until noon. Food justice activist Bryant Terry will prepare a tomato-based recipe from 9:00am until 11:00am, and will sign copies of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen
From 11:00am until 1:00pm, Chris Tunnell, Executive Chef of Ketchup, will present a cooking demonstration. Recipes and information on the art of preserving and canning tomatoes will also be readily available.
The Hollywood Farmers’ Market is located on Ivar and Selma Avenues between Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards every Sunday from 8:00am until 1:00pm. Limited free parking is available at 1623 N. Vine Street in the Doolittle Theatre parking lot. Parking is also available at the Arclight/Cinerama Dome parking structure at Sunset & Ivar (first hour is free with market validation).
The Market is operated by Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) as a nonprofit community activity.
For more information on heirloom tomatoes, including what makes an heirloom an heirloom, you might also enjoy this article on the San Francisco Gate.
The Culinary Historians of Southern California (CHSC) have reminded us that their annual used cookbook sale is just around the corner, on Sunday, August 26, 2007.
The CHSC Annual Used Cookbook Sale is held at the Hollywood Farmers' Market. It begins at 8:00am and lasts until 1:00pm (or until books are sold out). Individuals or organizations wishing to volunteer and/or donate books, culinary ephemera, menus, etc. may call Billie Connor-Dominguez at 213.228.7201.
The CHSC is accepting book donations until August 20. You can arrange for drop off of books, etc. by calling in advance and staff can bring up boxes from the garage at 524 South Flower. Please do not drop off at the Hollywood Library in advance of the sale.
For additional information, please call 213.228.7201.
Thanks to Greta Dunlap, Market Manager in Beverly Hills, for alerting us to the opening of another Los Angeles farmers' market.
A second Westchester Farmers' Market opened last Saturday. The location of the new market is at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center (6081 Center Drive, Los Angeles); hours are Saturdays from 8:30am until 1:00pm.
The market features a separate certified organic section including eggs, goat cheese, chicken, vegetables, fruit, citrus, avocadoes, stonefruit, strawberries, and more.
The Westchester Farmers’ Market is sponsored by Westchester Vitalization Corporation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the community of Westchester.
CAVU Pictures, the distributor of The Real Dirt on Farmer John, has confirmed that the film is on the schedule of the Laemmle Music Box Theatre:
When: Beginning Friday, July 27, 2007. Screenings are anticipated at 5:00pm, 7:20pm, and 9:55pm on Friday and on the following Monday through Thursday evenings; on Saturday and Sunday, anticipated screenings at 12:20pm, 2:40pm, 5:00pm, 7:20pm, and 9:55pm.
Where: Laemmle Music Hall 3, 9036 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills
Cost: Visit the Laemmle website for ticket information and availability on/after July 27.
AND...Farmer John will participate in Q&A sessions after the 7:20pm and the 9:55pm screenings on Friday and Saturday. Update: July 23, 2007: Farmer John is also scheduled to participate in a Q&A following the 7:20pm screening on Sunday, July 29.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John is a film by Taggart Siegel that follows John Peterson’s astonishing journey from Illinois farm boy to counter-culture rebel to the third-generation farmer who almost lost the family farm. Today, his farm, Angelic Organics, is a beacon in the organic and biodynamic farming movements and is one of the largest CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms in the country.
Peterson’s dramatic saga has its taproot in difficult economic issues facing many American farmers over the last few decades. Over-extended in debt, Peterson faced the crushing reality that he was going to have to sell off nearly all of his family’s land to pay bills. Retreating to Mexico, the soul-searching that followed led him to new, more creative ways of farming. This highly personal telling of Peterson’s story is ultimately one of redemption and healing that uplifts and inspires, leaving one’s heart wide open, while Peterson’s eccentric antics entertain throughout.
The film was a winner at more than 30 film festivals, and was the recipient of the first ever Reel Current Al Gore Award at the Nashville Film Festival.
Reviews, the film's trailer, and additional information are available on the film's website.
† Thanks to LAist for the tip that Westwood (near UCLA) once again has a farmers' market. The new market is Sundays from 10:00am until 3:00pm on Broxton, across from the Fox Village Theatre.
† Many of our readers will recall that the former market was given the boot because of conflicts with local construction. That market--still known as the Westwood Farmers' Market--is ongoing at the Vets Garden at the VA, every Thursday from noon until 7:00pm. More information is available on their website.
† Betty Hallock reports in the Daily Dish blog on latimes.com that the downtown farmers' market, which had been at Weller Court on Tuesdays, is now next to City Hall at 1st and Spring Streets, on Thursdays from 10:00am until 2:00pm.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, The City of Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente Foundation, L.A. Children's Hospital, California Community Foundation, Network for a Healthy California, LA Opportunity Movement, Success "A New Beginning" Inc., City of LA Youth Opportunity Program, Watts Healthcare Corporation, State Representative Mark Ridley Thomas, Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and SEE-LA cordially invite members and friends of Slow Food Los Angeles to the grand opening of the Watts Healthy Farmers Market on Saturday, July 21, 2007 from 10:00am until 2:00pm.
The Watts Healthy Farmers Market will be located at Ted Watkins Memorial Park, 103rd and Central Avenue, Los Angeles.
The festivities start at 10:00am with music, a carrot breaking ceremony, cooking demonstrations with free samples, free trees and gardening advice, magic, face painting and balloons for children, a market produce basket raffle, free carrot cake, delicious food from local vendors, and--of course--farm fresh produce!
The Watts Market is operated by SEE-LA (Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles). For more information, contact Pompea Smith or Jared Call at SEE-LA by telephone at 323.463.3171 or by email to pompea [at] see-la [dot] org or jared [at] see-la [dot] org.
The announcement of local screenings of The Real Dirt on Farmer John is no longer accurate: The movie's own website has been changed to reflect that dates/times are "to be determined," so tomorrow's screenings may have been rescheduled or cancelled entirely.
We have a request in to the distribution company to get the real dirt on the screening schedule; we'll share news as soon as we have it.
Our Slow Food colleagues in the Ojai convivium have shared with us news about the early summer bounty in the Ojai/Ventura area:
K.B. Hall's 100-year-old apricot orchard in the Upper Ojai Valley is packed with apricots with this year. The farm stand on Hwy 150 between Santa Paula and Ojai (near the Summit) should be open this weekend. There hasn't been a crop for several years, so don't miss out.Also in the Upper Ojai all summer is your opportunity to visit a lavender farm and pick your own lavender at the New Oak Ranch. Throughout the lavender season (most likely through mid-September), New Oak Ranch will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Other days and times can be arranged by calling 805.640.1189. Check out their website at newoakranch.com for the whole story and directions.
Update: July 21, 2007: Screenings have been confirmed at the Laemmle Music Hall theatre; more information has now been posted.
Update: July 5, 2007: Los Angeles-area screenings have been rescheduled or cancelled: We're not sure which, but have requested additional information from the film's distributor.
In addition to the Ojai screenings, Q&A, and dinner in connection with The Real Dirt on Farmer John, Michael Sieverts, a friend of Slow Food and reader of our site, alerted us to several additional screenings in the Los Angeles area, if you can't make it to Ojai. All the screenings will be on July 6th, at a variety of locations: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, West Hills, Pasadena, and Irvine. Theatre information can be found on the Farmer John website.
The New York Times ran a review of the film, and also prominently featured Farmer John in an article by Dana Bowen entitled "Old MacDonald Now Has a Book Contract." Read the complete article on the Times' website.
This weekend's gathering for cherry picking in Leona Valley has been cancelled because many of the cherry farms have announced that their trees have not borne as much fruit as anticipated. From Charles Rosenberg:
The cherry picking season was strange this year. It started early and has ended early. There were fewer cherries this year because of a frost in April that ruined the crop for a number of orchards. Leona Valley will still be having the cherry parade on Saturday the 9th but ironically none of the orchards will be open. One of the farms posted the following message on their website: "All our fruit is gone. Farming is so unpredictable and frustrating. We are so sorry if we misled our dear friends and customers. We know many of you were planning to come this weekend."Thanks to those of our members and friends who wrote to express their interest in this event; we'll share more news about fruit picking opportunities, and continue to keep you informed about the fall-out from this spring's storms.Please let Slow Food members know that our cherry picking trip is cancelled. I will be organizing a peach picking excursion later in the summer and I will let you know when that happens.
Update: June 6, 2007: This gathering has been cancelled due to closure of participating farms.
Cherry picking season is upon us! Charles Rosenberg, a friend of Slow Food Los Angeles, makes an annual excursion to the Leona Valley, near Palmdale, to pick cherries, and you are invited along!
When: Sunday, June 10, 2007 beginning at 10:00am
Where: Bring-your-own brunch at the schoolyard located at 90th and Leona in Palmdale, and continuing on to the orchards (see below)
Cost: Varies, depending on the orchard. See link below for more information.
From Charles:
The member farmers of the Leona Valley Cherry Growers (http://www.cherriesupic.com/) do not use pesticides, cherries are easy to pick, the price is considerably less than at many commercial food markets and the setting is lovely. Leona Valley has a microclimate that allows cherries to grow there, and that means that it is not too hot, even though it is high desert adjacent. It may be very warm, but sometimes breezes make it cool. Prepare with a light jacket. Wear messy clothes in case of cherry stains.A great way to spend a Sunday; many thanks to Charles for sharing this with us.We will meet on Sunday, June 10th at 10 in the morning for a picnic brunch in the schoolyard at the corner of 90th and Leona in Leona Valley. Bring your own brunch and a blanket to sit on. In the event the schoolyard location isn't available to us we will meet at Windy Ridge cherry orchard.
After brunch you are on your own to choose whichever orchard you like. I usually go to Hobart's but may check out another depending on price and availability. See the "directions" link for general directions out there and the "orchards" link for a local map. It takes about an hour to get out there. I will have some cherry recipes to hand out. I usually do three things with my cherries: dry them in my dehydrator freeze some and turn some into cherry liqueur. The vintage mechanical cherry pitter I got on e-bay helps make the job easier. Hobart's also sells cherry pitters.
In Slow Food Nation
Instead of consumers, Petrini persuasively proposes that we should become co-producers, active participants in the production of our food. As the Manifesto states, "everyone can contribute to Good, Clean and Fair quality through their choices and individual behavior."
With publication of Slow Food Nation
"A worthy successor to Brillat-Savarin, Carlo Petrini has reinvented the idea of gastronomy for the twenty-first century. An important book."
-Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire
"Carlo Petrini is one of the most important thinkers of our time, not only about what to eat, but also about how to live. This book is essential reading for anyone who cares about social justice, the environment, and the fundamentals of a good meal."
-Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
"This is the argument I have been waiting for-—an irrefutable demonstration that making the right decision about food can change the world."
-Alice Waters, from the foreword
Slow Food Nation
Inspired by the underground clubinos of Italy, Jennie Cook is creating a catered community event, The Sustainable Supper Club. Cook's Double Dutch will open its doors on Tuesday nights-–March 27th, April 24th, and May 29th--for an evening repast of locally grown foods from the Culver City farmers market.
Accentuated with lively dialogue, libations, and delicious desserts, the spirit of the event is in creating community conviviality. A dedicated omnivore, Jennie hopes to encourage awareness of the benefits of moderation and incorporating locally grown meals into our daily practices. The meal will be a celebration of all things vegan.
When: Three Tuesdays: March 27, April 24, and May 29, 2007, beginning at 6:00pm
Where: Cook's Double Dutch, 9806 Washington Boulevard, Culver City 90232
Cost: $25.00 per person; Cook's Double Dutch is offering a $5.00 to card-carrying Slow Food members
Whether you’re experimenting for the first time or dedicated to an animal-free diet, prepare for a different dining experience. Community seating will be arranged to encourage discussion and query regarding our food systems, and where we are in the big picture.
The meal will be served party style, featuring a bountiful plant-based buffet. The evening will include a selection of 4 seasonal offerings and dessert. A gracious amount of warm crusty bread and olive oil will be on every table. Mambo punch and Organic wine will be available for purchase through the honor system.
Please feel free to bring a guitar. Dogs allowed on the patio.
For more information, please contact the restaurant at 310.280.0991.
Tomatomania!TM, the country's largest tomato seedling sale, will be celebrating its 17th year with several events in southern California.
The team at Tomatomania has just posted their 2007 schedule and related information on the Tomatomania web site. As in years past, the Tapia Brothers Farm Stand will be the site of the kick-off, and new locations have been added:
March 23-25, 2007: Encino, Tapia Brothers Farm StandTomatomania is again offering online seedlings when the crop is ready, so even those who can't attend one of the weekend events can indulge in Tomatomania!
March 30–April 1, 2007: San Diego (Encinitas), Quail Botanic Garden
April 14-15, 2007: Sonoma (new location), Cornerstone Gardens
April 21-22, 2007: Beverly Hills, Party On LaCienega
April 26–29, 2007: Costa Mesa , SoCal Flower & Garden Show
May 5–6, 2007: Arcadia, LA Flower Show
May 18–20, 2007: Litchfield, Connecticut, White Flower Farm
Also note:
Scott Daigre will be presenting "How to Grow Tomatoes Successfully in Southern California" on Saturday, March 10, at CSU Northridge as part of its Gardening Series (sponsored by the Botanic Garden at CSU-Northridge). The event is free but registration is required and seating is limited.
Two classes will be offered, one at 9:00am and another at 11:00am. Each class runs approximately 90 minutes.
For more information or to register, email botanicgarden [at] csun [dot] edu or call 818.677.3496.
Beginning with a screening today and continuing through late March, the American Cinematheque is presenting Our Daily Bread.
As noted in Manohla Dargis's review in The New York Times:
Late in his indispensable book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Michael Pollan suggests that one way to change America’s lamentable eating habits is to build slaughterhouses and egg factories with glass walls. “If there’s any new right we need to establish,” he writes, “maybe this is the one: The right, I mean, to look.”Directed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter and filmed in several locations throughout Europe, Our Daily Bread does just that. It gives us a look into the places where much of our daily food is produced: amidst surreal landscapes plasticized and optimized for tractors and agricultural machinery, in clean rooms in cool industrial buildings designed to ensure logistic efficiency, and by machines that require uniform materials for smooth processing. Our Daily Bread shows the industrial production of food as a reflection of our society's values: plenty of everything, made quickly and simply by a specialized few.
Without commentary or explanatory interviews the film unfolds on the screen like a disturbing dream. It's a detailed feast of images, an insistent gaze, accompanied only by the whirring, clattering, booming, and slurping of machinery. The film's duration is 92 minutes. It was originally released in 2005 (First Run/Icarus Films).
Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Avenue (at 14th Street), Santa Monica
When: Several dates, beginning today:
Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 7:30pm
Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 5:00pm
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 7:30pm
Sunday, March 4, 2007 at 5:00pm
Sunday, March 11, 2007 at 5:00pm
Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 5:00pm
Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 5:00pm
Critics around the country have been raving about the film:
"Superb! The film's formal elegance, moral underpinning and intellectually stimulating point of view also make it essential. Takes us inside worlds of wonder and of terror." -- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times [full review here]
"Devastating! A Must-See!" --The New York Times
"Outstanding! Provocative! Eccentrically lovely and frequently horrifying." --Premiere
"The '2001: A Space Odyssey' of modern food production." --Stuart Klawans, The Nation
"An invigoratingly subtle form of political cinema." --Richard Porton, Cinema Scope
Update, 2:56pm: Also note the review by Kenneth Turan in today's Los Angeles Times, available here.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so it's not too early to order your turkey.
As in recent years, you can order a heritage bird from Heritage Foods, who will ship your turkey directly to your home. Or visit Mary's Turkeys for a list of locations carrying their heritage, free-range, and free-range organic birds. Several Bristol Farms markets in the Los Angeles area carry Mary's Turkeys, but you may wish to call your local store to confirm. Mary's also delivers, too.
For information about independent farmers who raise heritage turkeys, visit the information page on Slow Food USA's site. Also be sure to take note of the specific turkey breeds that have been added to Slow Food's Ark of Taste (scroll down to find the turkeys under "meat and poultry" on the list of Ark products).
If we learn of more local sources in the coming days we'll share the information here.
Since the controversial closing of their neighborhood's only local chain grocery store in 2004, Echo Park residents have been trying to secure a local source for quality fresh fruits and vegetables. Long known as a hotbed of community activism and civic involvement, Echo Park has succeeded and will open its first certified farmers' market.
When: Every Friday, 3:00pm-7:00 pm, beginning October 13, 2006
Where: Parking Lot #663 on Logan Street south of Sunset Boulevard
Who: Operated by SEE-LA, nonprofit operator of the Hollywood Farmers' Market
The farmers' market is particularly close to the heart of Council President Eric Garcetti of City District 13, who acknowledges the market would literally be in his backyard: "I can’t wait to pick up some produce at our brand-new farmers' market.” said the councilman. “It's a privilege to welcome SEE-LA to yet another market location in the 13th council district. In addition to providing Echo Park residents with space to meet each other and adding a nutritious and affordable dimension to their families' diets, SEE-LA continues to offer outstanding programs and classes. I join my neighbors in extending them a hearty welcome." Council District 13 sponsors the market and is home to the Hollywood Farmers' Market, the Atwater Village Farmers' Market, and the Hollywood-Sears Farmers' Market.
"SEE-LA is pleased to be part of the Echo Park Farmers' Market. Everyone will have the opportunity to shop for tasty, California-grown fruits and vegetables, all the while supporting small local farmers," said Pompea Smith, Executive Director of Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles, the nonprofit that operates the market. Featuring the products of more than fifteen local farmers, the Echo Park Farmers' Market will highlight quality locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables, some of which are organic.
Among those participating is Jimmy Williams of HayGround Organic Gardening, a local Hancock Park grower known for his glorious edible landscapes, heirloom vegetable seedlings, and other rare species. The luscious greens and lettuces from John and Naomi Sweredoski of Sweredoski Farms in Long Beach are known throughout the Los Angeles County farmers' market circuit. The market's customers can expect to find John Tenerelli's last peaches, pears and plums. Maggie's Farms will be attending with mesclun, herbs, and other specialty greens. Zuckerman's, famous for their varieties of potatoes at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, will also be on hand. Other specialty products will include flowers, cheese and honey.
Local food vendors will offer a selection of tasty ethnic foods to eat on site or to take home, including pastas and sauces, French pastries and other specialty breads, rotisserie chicken, tamales, and more. Six local artisans will offer for sale their hand-wrought creative works: antique beads necklaces from Jim; miniature flowers imbedded in silver jewelry from Raphael; hand-carved wooden utensils from Kitapaszyan; and clothing from local designers Mei Ling Seward of Soundweave and Crybaby Clothing.
As with all SEE-LA's markets, WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program checks and EBT/Food Stamps will be accepted.
For more information about SEE-LA and its markets, please visit their web site, Farmernet.com.
Heritage Foods USA has sent us an update regarding this year's Turkey Project:
The final days of the Turkey Project are upon us. While individually our Thanksgiving birds will have lost that skip in their step, collectively as a species the Bourbon Red and American Bronze are thriving. Over 10,000 previously endangered turkeys were raised this year and next year, with the breeding birds that have stayed behind the numbers will increase even more.We want to congratulate the farmers who have worked over a year to make this project successful. Frank Reese and his team of Larry Sorell, Doug Metzger, and Danny Williamson have done more to promote genetic diversity in the poultry world that anyone in years. And Jeff May helped oversee a successful feed program that ensured that everyone will get the weights they ordered and that all turkeys were treated ethically during processing.
You will be happy to know that out of 10,000 birds, all except 200 have been sold! On behalf of everyone, thank you for helping in the only way that matters: by actually using your consumer dollar to effect small family farms and promote genetic diversity.
As we still have a few to sell, please order below if you have not already. Sunday [November 20] is the final day to order for this Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Patrick and Todd
If you're interested in securing a turkey from Heritage Foods USA, email them at heritageturkey2005 [at] gmail [dot] com or go to the Heritage Foods website.
You may have read in the New York Times last week about the excess numbers of turkeys that farmer Frank Reese has this year. If you need a turkey or would like to help read on...
Through a very generous offer from Heritage Foods USA, we're once again able to offer some incredible turkeys to you for Thanksgiving from Good Shepherd Ranch in Kansas. Frank Reese, a fourth generation farmer, produces historically natural, free range, healthy birds. Frank's Bourbon Reds and Standard Bronze turkeys are the oldest continuous flock of Standard bred turkeys in the United States.We are able to offer these to you for $5 per pound, including shipping. You can specify the weight off your bird and we'll come as close as we can. Birds are in three weight groupings: 11-14 lbs; 15-18 lbs; 19+ lbs. All birds will be delivered fresh to a central location in Los Angeles, one week before Thanksgiving.
If you're interested, please drop a line to heritageturkey2005 [at] gmail [dot] com. We will be asking for a $50 deposit, with the remainder payable when you pick up your bird. Please drop us a line by November 5th and we'll take it from there!
It's not too early to think about Thanksgiving...
Turkey season is just about upon us, so it's time to give you an update on where you might be able to get a great heritage bird this year.
Our wonderful Peter Schaner is taking a year off from growing the birds, so here are a few other options. You can order a heritage bird from Heritage Foods. They'll ship your bird directly to your home. Or check out Mary's Turkeys for a list of locations carrying their heritage, free-range, and free-range organic birds. It looks like they'll be at just about every Bristol Farms market 'round Los Angeles, but Mary said they were just putting their orders together, so it might be a good idea to call. Oh, and for the ultimate in convenience... Mary's delivers as well!
Wherever you find the perfect bird, have a scrumptious Thanksgiving.
A reminder that Deborah Koons Garcia's documentary, The Future of Food, will be screened at the Laemmle Monica Theater in Santa Monica beginning this Friday, September 16. More details from our post, and note, too, this review in today's New York Times (and here if the link has expired).
Deborah Koons Garcia's film, The Future of Food, will premier in Los Angeles on September 16 at the Laemmle Monica Theater in Santa Monica. Information on film screenings and additional events in each city, including Santa Monica, is available on the film's web site, which will be updated frequently in the coming weeks as the fall screening schedule is finalized.
Many members of Slow Food LA learned about the film last summer, when it was screened as part of the Infact Documentary Showcase. We hope many more of you will take advantage of its opening in Santa Monica to see this important and timely film.
In addition to the film's web site, you might also find the following articles of interest: Wired magazine's "GMO-Food Foes Turn to Film" and "Fighting for the Future of Food" on SFGate.
Our friends at the International Documentary Association have alerted us to two films that will be screened at the 9th annual DocuWeek (Friday, 19 August, through Thursday, 25 August) at the ArcLight. The complete schedule is available here, and additional information about these and other films screened during DocuWeek are here.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John, directed by Taggart Siegel, will be screened daily during DocuWeek. The film is the epic tale of a maverick midwestern farmer. Branded a pariah in his community, Farmer John bravely transforms his farm amidst a failing economy, vicious rumors, and arson. He succeeds in creating a bastion of free expression and a revolutionary form of agriculture in rural America. The film was the winner of the Slamdance "Audience Sparky Award" for Best Feature Documentary, 2005.
Taggart Siegel as been producing and directing award-winning documentaries and dramatic films for 20 years. Other documentaries include: The Split Horn: Life of A Hmong Shaman in America, a sweeping story of a Hmong shaman struggling to maintain his ancient traditions as his children embrace American culture; Between Two Worlds, Blue Collar and Buddha, Heart Broken in Half, and Bitter Harvest, have aired on PBS, cable television, and are distributed worldwide. Siegel produced and directed a theatrical feature film Shadow of the Pepper Tree and directed short dramatic films including Affliction, Ember Days, and Body Memories. In addition, Siegel has produced many films including Destroying Angel, The Beloved, and The Disenchanted Forest for National Geographic Television. He is the Executive Director of the Collective Eye, Inc. a non-profit media organization based in San Francisco.
I Like Killing Flies, directed by Matt Mahurin, will also be screened daily. With over 900 items on the menu, all conjured up from scratch in a Rube Goldberg kitchen the size of a walk-in closet, Kenny Shopsin, a self-taught chef in his tiny, family-owned, New York City-based restaurant, spends his days feeding his neighbors. And when there is a lull in the cooking, Kenny steps out from behind his Frankenstein stove and holds court, serving up morsels of wisdom and wit on life, death, sex, politics and even food. But after 32 years in the same sheltered workshop, the lease is lost and the family must now find a new place for Kenny to cook.
Matt Mahurin has spent twenty years as an illustrator, photographer, film director, and teacher. His political and social illustrations have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, Esquire, The London Observer, and New York Times Op-Ed pages. His photographic essays have focused on the homeless, people with AIDS, the Texas prison system, abortion clinics, mental hospitals, Nicaragua, Haiti, Belfast, Mexico, Japan, and France. He has published three books of personal fine-art photographs and has photographs in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
In addition to this bibliography, Matt Mahurin has directed music videos for Peter Gabriel, U2, REM, Tracy Chapman, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Ice-T, Metallica, David Byrne, and Joni Mitchell. In 1996, he wrote and directed the feature film, {Mugshot} which won best film at the 1996 Hamptons Film Festival. He has been awarded gold and silver medals from The Society of Illustrators, the MVPA Lifetime Achievement award for Directing, has 40 Time covers to his credit, and contributed political drawings to the Los Angeles Times Sunday Op-Ed page for 22 years. Mahurin continues to teach workshops and lectures on the craft of image making at schools and professional organizations. He lives in New York.
The ever productive SEE-LA, the nonprofit organization which operates the Hollywood Market as well as others in low economic areas of the city is proud to announce the opening of another market in a community that could really use one. The Leimert Park Village Farmers’ Market opens tomorrow, May 22, 2005. We share with you SEE-LA's announcement of this new resource:
Shoppers will find just-picked fruits and vegetables every Sunday at the new Leimert Park Village Farmers’ Market. Because local growers sell their products directly to the public, customers can count on high quality at a reasonable price. The market will feature seasonal crops such as tomatoes, citrus, corn, melons, peaches, berries and more at the peak of their ripeness and flavor.
Local health studies have shown that a frequent barrier to adequate consumption of fresh produce is a lack of availability. The Leimert Park market has been founded to help remedy this problem. Convenient to shopping, housing and transit stops, the market offers a variety of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. Food stamps/EBT and WIC coupons will be accepted. The Leimert Park site is an open air community market, certified by the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner.
When: The market will be open Sundays from 10:00am until 2:00pm, beginning May 22, 2005.
Where: The Vision Theatre Parking Lot, Degnan Blvd & 43rd Street.
The market is sponsored by Councilman Bernard Parks, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, with funding support from Los Angeles Community Development Department. It will be operated by Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA).
SEE-LA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting access to nutritious food for all and to supporting small farmers by connecting rural farms to urban tables. SEE-LA operates the Hollywood, Hollywood-Sears, and Central Avenue Farmers’ Markets, and will open the Atwater Village Farmers’ Market in June 2005. To learn more about SEE-LA’s markets, visit www.farmernet.com; to learn more about SEE-LA, visit their site.
It's being called "the Fahrenheit 9/11 of the genetically engineered food battle" and it will be screened in Los Angeles this month. We share with you an announcement from the producers of The Future of Food; information on where/when the film will be screened is below.
A new documentary film by Deborah Koons Garcia joins a recent crop of politically-oriented documentaries including Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, The Corporation, and Robert Greenwald's OutFoxed, whose directors are seeking to have a direct impact on how people understand and respond to today's pressing social issues.
The Future of Food is a feature-length documentary that sheds light on the controversy surrounding genetically modified food by offering an in-depth investigation into a revolution that is transforming everything about the food we eat, from the crop field to the dinner table.
The film will be playing August 20th through 26th at the Arclight Cinemas in Los Angeles during the International Documentary Association's premiere venue for documentary films, the Infact Documentary Showcase, and will qualify for Academy Award consideration.
Already The Future of Food has been credited with helping to pass a measure banning the growth of genetically altered crops and animals in Mendocino County, California. While still in production, the film was screened for local residents, who ultimately voted in favor of the GMO ban. Now, with four more California counties gearing up to debate similar measures this November and biotech companies headed to Sacramento to launch a major legislative defensive against these local efforts, the film could not be more timely.
"My goal was to make a film that clearly explained how genetic engineering works and impacts the agricultural industry," said award-winning filmmaker Koons Garcia. "It is meant as a call to action, and I'm glad that it is helping to change policy."
The widow of the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, Koons Garcia wrote, directed, and co-produced The Future of Food with Catherine Butler, whose credits include the Emmy-nominated The Science of HIV/AIDS (Discovery Channel). Koons Garcia's other films include All About Babies, narrated by Jane Alexander, which won a Cine Golden Eagle and a Gold Medal from the John Muir Medical Film Festival, among other awards.
The Future of Food, which has already won critical acclaim from audiences from Hawaii to Washington, D.C., takes the viewer from the vast wheat fields of Saskatchewan, Canada to a seed bank in Mexico where farmers and consumers are subjects in one of the most massive biological experiments in history. The film takes a powerful look at whether the food we eat is safe and how large, multinational companies are actively consolidating the control of food production and distribution worldwide.
For more information about the film, visit The Future of Food web site. Information about International Documentary Association screenings can be found on their site.
Colors and Natural Sources
Ground Cinnamon — light brown
Paprika — light orange
Tumeric — bright gold
Black tea — reddish tan
Ground coffee — creamy brown
Blueberries — deep blue
Blackberries — plum
Concord grape juice — lavender
Spinach — soft green
Carrot tops — pale gold
Yellow apple skins — lavender
Chopped beets — dark pink
Beet root — reddish brown
Red cabbage — midnight blue or teal
Onion skins — yellow or brown (the longer skins are simmered, the darker the color)
Instructions