I hate being sick. When my daughter was a baby, my doctor had me undergo a pulmonary function test to determine whether or not I had asthma. The test ruled asthma out, so her conclusion was that I just happen to be very susceptible to respiratory infections. And once more, my daughter was sick for only a week, and I, three weeks later, am still coughing!
It's a pain in the keister, because sometimes I cough so much it induces vomiting or stress incontinence. I also was hoping to serve at my town's Thanksgiving dinner, but I waited until this week to call so that I felt more confident I would be well by Thanksgiving, and they already had enough volunteers.* And my great plans to do more walking and use of public transportation rather than driving are shot--neither is a good idea until I am fully healed.
I think I just have to remember a revelation I had during that really bad, three-month long respiratory infection I had when my daughter was a baby. As I wrote earlier, she caught it from me and was sick for a month. When I found myself in the emergency room of Boston Children's Hospital for the third time in as many weeks when her fever spiked above 101, I was feeling rather depressed about it. I picked up a copy of the hospital's magazine to read while we waited. The magazine described the many efforts they were making to treat children with cancer... sickle cell anemia... cystic fibrosis... spinal bifida... etc. Meanwhile, my otherwise healthy daughter had merely a fever and a bad cough. How could I then feel sorry for myself?
Anyway, on to some happier thoughts. This week I was able to share some of my hair care product recipes with a friend who is white but has biracial grandchildren. She is struggling, as I used to, with finding good products to use on her grandkid's hair. I talked about the fact that so many products designed for black hair have petroleum jelly or mineral oil (a byproduct of petroleum) as their base, and in addition to not being good for anyone's hair, is much too heavy for children's hair. I look forward to hearing about how some of my products work for her grandchildren.
Last night I cooked salmon, mashed potatoes and kale for dinner. All local foods, including potatoes that my husband dug up from our farmer friend's farm, and kale he picked from the garden planted by Johnny and Michelle and the local teens. For the first time, I tried a water-saving idea I've read about: the same water I used to cook the potatoes, I reused to steam the kale, and then reused again to cook spaghetti for later in the week.
The best part about last night's dinner is my daughter. She wanted to help make a sauce for the salmon, and since I hadn't decided what I wanted to top it with, I let her have at it. She gathered a bunch of ingredients from the pantry and mixed them together, tasting as she went along. She made the most phenomenal sauce for the salmon! It included water, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, lentils, dried parsley, dried rosemary, bay leaves, a little canola oil, and parmesan cheese. Most amazing? My child is four years old. When we told my brother-in-law this story today, he's predicting she'll have her own cooking show in a few years!
***************
* One of the reflections of No Impact Week I didn't discuss is "giving back." We did do some of that on Saturday of that week. My husband and daughter joined a group of about 60 teens from a local high school, who went with Johnny and Michelle to our friend's farm to help him harvest his crops. Meanwhile, I was cleaning our yard and house (collecting yard waste and hazardous waste) for my town's annual Cleanup and Recycling Day, and also canned goods for the local food bank. At the event, I received a flyer of local volunteer opportunities and that's where I learned they were looking for volunteers for Thanksgiving. Oh, well. When I'm better, I will explore other ways to get more involved in our community.
Showing posts with label farming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farming. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
In praise of local food
Two days ago, hubby and Johnny (one of our new friends from the Tacoma Food Policy Council) spent the day working at our elderly gentleman friend's farm, and returned with a 30-gallon trash bag of newly picked collard greens.
I am used to eating collard greens that need to be cooked for hours in order to be tender enough to eat, and that need lots of additional stuff added (hamhocks, vinegar, hot sauce) in order to taste good.
Not these! First, my daughter sampled one of the raw leaves, and then the rest of us (hubby and I, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Johnny and his wife Michelle) followed suit. The leaves were delicious as is. Then hubby cooked a pot, with just a turkey neckbone added, for just an hour. These were the tenderest, sweetest collard greens that any of us had ever eaten!
I wonder how much we miss in terms of flavor and texture, because so few of us today really get to eat truly fresh, local food?
I am used to eating collard greens that need to be cooked for hours in order to be tender enough to eat, and that need lots of additional stuff added (hamhocks, vinegar, hot sauce) in order to taste good.
Not these! First, my daughter sampled one of the raw leaves, and then the rest of us (hubby and I, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Johnny and his wife Michelle) followed suit. The leaves were delicious as is. Then hubby cooked a pot, with just a turkey neckbone added, for just an hour. These were the tenderest, sweetest collard greens that any of us had ever eaten!
I wonder how much we miss in terms of flavor and texture, because so few of us today really get to eat truly fresh, local food?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The parable of the butterfly
There's an old story about a man who comes across a cocoon, and before his very eyes, the butterfly inside starts trying to break out. He notices that the butterfly seems to be struggling, and decides to help it by breaking open the cocoon. The butterfly emerges, dragging its wings along the ground. It attempts to lift itself into the air several times, but is unable to do so. A short while later, the butterfly dies.
The moral of the story is that we need adversity in order to thrive. The very attempt of struggling to emerge from the cocoon strengthens the wings of the butterfly, so that it can fly.
On Sunday, we had dinner with some of the folks from the Tacoma Food Policy Council who are very interested in the Hilltop Farms idea.* I took the opportunity while I was there to ask about my lettuce seedlings, which have died. When they were becoming limp and tangled, I asked a gardener at a local nursery, and she told me they needed more light. So I added an additional grow light. Later, I spoke to someone at the Lowe's garden department, and he said that I used too much light--seedlings, he said, are delicate and too much light can fry them.
Stephen, one of the folks at dinner, had a different take on it, however. "Plants need adversity to thrive. If you're planting seedlings indoors, they don't get the adversity they need. I blow on my seedlings every day and sometimes run my hands over them lightly, to give them a little challenge."
I think he's right--my plants are just like with the butterfly. Shortly before my lettuce seedlings died altogether, I replanted some in a container and placed it on our terrace, just to see what would happen. For about two weeks, they continued to look as pathetic as the ones indoors. But today I took a look at them, and some of them seem to be rebounding!
I hope this works for all my seedlings. I replanted the herbs in a container outdoors last week because they had outgrown their little pots. Today I replanted the sunflower (and I'll probably need to do so later in the ground, given how big they can grow) because although it looked strong, the leaves were starting to yellow. Maybe the sun, rain and wind will toughen it up!
==========================
* We learned from them that the Tacoma Urban League ran a community garden in the Hilltop area back in the 90s, but later lost the funding. The garden lots, now fallow, still exist, however. Our hope is that we can make the Hilltop Farms sustainable, perhaps even using those same lots.
The moral of the story is that we need adversity in order to thrive. The very attempt of struggling to emerge from the cocoon strengthens the wings of the butterfly, so that it can fly.
On Sunday, we had dinner with some of the folks from the Tacoma Food Policy Council who are very interested in the Hilltop Farms idea.* I took the opportunity while I was there to ask about my lettuce seedlings, which have died. When they were becoming limp and tangled, I asked a gardener at a local nursery, and she told me they needed more light. So I added an additional grow light. Later, I spoke to someone at the Lowe's garden department, and he said that I used too much light--seedlings, he said, are delicate and too much light can fry them.
Stephen, one of the folks at dinner, had a different take on it, however. "Plants need adversity to thrive. If you're planting seedlings indoors, they don't get the adversity they need. I blow on my seedlings every day and sometimes run my hands over them lightly, to give them a little challenge."
I think he's right--my plants are just like with the butterfly. Shortly before my lettuce seedlings died altogether, I replanted some in a container and placed it on our terrace, just to see what would happen. For about two weeks, they continued to look as pathetic as the ones indoors. But today I took a look at them, and some of them seem to be rebounding!
I hope this works for all my seedlings. I replanted the herbs in a container outdoors last week because they had outgrown their little pots. Today I replanted the sunflower (and I'll probably need to do so later in the ground, given how big they can grow) because although it looked strong, the leaves were starting to yellow. Maybe the sun, rain and wind will toughen it up!
==========================
* We learned from them that the Tacoma Urban League ran a community garden in the Hilltop area back in the 90s, but later lost the funding. The garden lots, now fallow, still exist, however. Our hope is that we can make the Hilltop Farms sustainable, perhaps even using those same lots.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Good stuff!
We got hubby's nuclear stress test results back and his heart is doing well (yay!); our little one turns four this week; and we attended a meeting of the Tacoma Food Policy Council and they're very interested in our Hilltop Farms idea.
Hubby is really getting into the container gardening thing, as well as being the driving force behind Hilltop Farms. I think that the second heart scare five years after his surgery has lit a fire under him. And when he gets passionate about something, watch out!
Oh, one more thing: I googled "natural yard care," because we have little clue what we're doing (beyond mowing and raking). Everything that came up to the top of the search (the first two pages!) were sites here in Washington state. I guess that we're in the right place for learning, being the state with the nation's first Master Gardener program. Add that to our experiences in Boston--the folks at the meeting last night had heard of The Food Project, which one called "one of the oldest and best youth-oriented sustainable food movements in the country." We are in a good place, information-wise! In any case, I had made a mental note to download at some point the documents on natural yard care I found on the web, but I no longer need to. The Food Policy Council meeting was held at the Tacoma Nature Center, and almost all the docs I found online were available there as free hand-outs.
Hubby is really getting into the container gardening thing, as well as being the driving force behind Hilltop Farms. I think that the second heart scare five years after his surgery has lit a fire under him. And when he gets passionate about something, watch out!
Oh, one more thing: I googled "natural yard care," because we have little clue what we're doing (beyond mowing and raking). Everything that came up to the top of the search (the first two pages!) were sites here in Washington state. I guess that we're in the right place for learning, being the state with the nation's first Master Gardener program. Add that to our experiences in Boston--the folks at the meeting last night had heard of The Food Project, which one called "one of the oldest and best youth-oriented sustainable food movements in the country." We are in a good place, information-wise! In any case, I had made a mental note to download at some point the documents on natural yard care I found on the web, but I no longer need to. The Food Policy Council meeting was held at the Tacoma Nature Center, and almost all the docs I found online were available there as free hand-outs.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Swine flu and pig farming
You've all heard about the current swine flu going around, and the possibility it could become pandemic. It's making me nervous for several reason, many due to flying: hubby is to fly to LA for a few days in late May for job training; and in June, my mom and sister are coming to visit from Ohio and New York, respectively; a week later, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are coming from Boston and New Jersey. My sister-in-law is especially at risk, because she had a kidney transplant four years ago, and so is immuno-compromised.
My other fear has to do with pig farming. The farmer my hubby wants to help owns pigs. Now, chances are, because theirs is a small, organic family farm and their pigs and chickens are raised humanely, their farm is unlikely to be affected by swine flu. (Large factory farms are more likely the culprit. Read this 2006 article titled "Boss Hogs" from Rolling Stone--it will make you never want to eat pork again). But still, there's the perception, and we want to try to bring young people out there to help on the farm.
Anyway, read the article. I can't help thinking about Joseph Luter, the CEO of Smithfield Foods, the nation's largest pork producer, as described by Rolling Stone. He is pretty upfront that he's about his own wealth and power, and to hell with the environment. But, I have to wonder, doesn't he care about his grandchildren? Money can only protect you so much--environmental degradation affects us all.
My other fear has to do with pig farming. The farmer my hubby wants to help owns pigs. Now, chances are, because theirs is a small, organic family farm and their pigs and chickens are raised humanely, their farm is unlikely to be affected by swine flu. (Large factory farms are more likely the culprit. Read this 2006 article titled "Boss Hogs" from Rolling Stone--it will make you never want to eat pork again). But still, there's the perception, and we want to try to bring young people out there to help on the farm.
Anyway, read the article. I can't help thinking about Joseph Luter, the CEO of Smithfield Foods, the nation's largest pork producer, as described by Rolling Stone. He is pretty upfront that he's about his own wealth and power, and to hell with the environment. But, I have to wonder, doesn't he care about his grandchildren? Money can only protect you so much--environmental degradation affects us all.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
My Boston inspirations
I want to give credit to the organizations in Boston that have inspired some of our vision for Hilltop Farms. The first is "Food in the Neighborhood," led by the Bowdoin Street Health Center, which was where my family received our health care. We were part of the start-up of that group, which aims to bring information and access to good nutrition and healthy, affordable food to the community.
The second is The Food Project, a youth leadership and sustainable agriculture program that, in addition to being one of the "Food in the Neighborhood" partners, engages youth in urban and rural sustainable agriculture, provides food to the homeless, and offers an affordable, twice-weekly farmer's market in the neighborhood where we used to live. A lot of their curriculum materials are available online for free downloads, so I am reading through them to help with the Hilltop Farms planning.
The second is The Food Project, a youth leadership and sustainable agriculture program that, in addition to being one of the "Food in the Neighborhood" partners, engages youth in urban and rural sustainable agriculture, provides food to the homeless, and offers an affordable, twice-weekly farmer's market in the neighborhood where we used to live. A lot of their curriculum materials are available online for free downloads, so I am reading through them to help with the Hilltop Farms planning.
The environment and health in communities of color
So much of this stuff ties together... good health, universal health care, the environment, justice issues, etc., etc....
My family and childhood were fairly stable, and yet my siblings and I, and several of my cousins, spent much of our childhoods without our fathers. Not because they abandoned us or ended up in prison--but because they died. Like many African-American families, my family suffered and continues to suffer greatly from such things as diabetes, strokes, heart disease and cancer.
The same is true of my husband's family, and he himself has diabetes and had open heart surgery five years ago. Back in Massachusetts (which now has a state-wide system of universal health care), he was monitored monthly. Here in Washington state, we pay higher health care premiums, higher co-pays and for the first time ever, have had to pay deductibles. All while earning less than we did in Massachusetts and paying more for virtually everything (except auto insurance).
As a result, my husband isn't getting the level or quality of care he got back in Massachusetts. He had a stress test today, and it was worrisome to his doctor. We don't yet know what it means, but it scares me. I think of my daughter, possibly becoming yet another child in my family to not grow up with her father--again, not because of abandonment or imprisonment, but because of health issues.
My organization and several local churches are working with Amy B and the health department on a new initiative to try to reduce the shockingly high infant mortality rates here in Tacoma, especially among communities of color. We met today and Amy B showed us a segment of a documentary called, "Unnatural Causes." This segment was about infant and maternal health in the African-American community, and how low-birth weight and infant mortality are more than twice as high among blacks than whites, at all socioeconomic levels. One major cause: stress. The film points out that a lifetime of cumulative stress for a mother can affect her babies in utero, already putting the children at risk. Like almost everyone Amy B has shown this film to, those of us in the room were stunned and almost in tears by the end of it.
It's because of things like this that I've become so invested in environmental issues. I nursed my daughter for a long time (longer than I wanted to, LOL!), because I wanted to help her have the best start in life I could, given that she already had strikes against her in her family background. It's why I want to provide her and other children from communities of color with access to healthier, affordable foods. It's why I want to prevent their exposure to toxins.
I'm taking steps to start the Hilltop Farms, identifying partners and looking for funding, but it's going to be a lot of work. And the group that Amy B is trying to pull together is trying to create a web of support for low-income pregnant women and new mothers. The link between the two is that we want to provide women in the group with coupons to shop at the Hilltop Farms farmer's market, as well as recipes and meal ideas. WIC provides $10 worth of farmer's market coupons to recipients for the entire season (June-October). That, of course, doesn't go far at all (and yet, I still saw a long line of women lined up for WIC coupons at the Tacoma Farmer's Market last summer, so there IS a demand). Our plan would be to provide a $10 coupon every time a woman attends a workshop, or something like that.
When we met this morning, we talked about how easy it is to get overwhelmed by all the issues. For me, they're personal as well as professional. Trying not to--since now I know more about how damaging stress is...
And please let Obama be able to put in place some form of universal health care! The lack of it is literally killing our country.
My family and childhood were fairly stable, and yet my siblings and I, and several of my cousins, spent much of our childhoods without our fathers. Not because they abandoned us or ended up in prison--but because they died. Like many African-American families, my family suffered and continues to suffer greatly from such things as diabetes, strokes, heart disease and cancer.
The same is true of my husband's family, and he himself has diabetes and had open heart surgery five years ago. Back in Massachusetts (which now has a state-wide system of universal health care), he was monitored monthly. Here in Washington state, we pay higher health care premiums, higher co-pays and for the first time ever, have had to pay deductibles. All while earning less than we did in Massachusetts and paying more for virtually everything (except auto insurance).
As a result, my husband isn't getting the level or quality of care he got back in Massachusetts. He had a stress test today, and it was worrisome to his doctor. We don't yet know what it means, but it scares me. I think of my daughter, possibly becoming yet another child in my family to not grow up with her father--again, not because of abandonment or imprisonment, but because of health issues.
My organization and several local churches are working with Amy B and the health department on a new initiative to try to reduce the shockingly high infant mortality rates here in Tacoma, especially among communities of color. We met today and Amy B showed us a segment of a documentary called, "Unnatural Causes." This segment was about infant and maternal health in the African-American community, and how low-birth weight and infant mortality are more than twice as high among blacks than whites, at all socioeconomic levels. One major cause: stress. The film points out that a lifetime of cumulative stress for a mother can affect her babies in utero, already putting the children at risk. Like almost everyone Amy B has shown this film to, those of us in the room were stunned and almost in tears by the end of it.
It's because of things like this that I've become so invested in environmental issues. I nursed my daughter for a long time (longer than I wanted to, LOL!), because I wanted to help her have the best start in life I could, given that she already had strikes against her in her family background. It's why I want to provide her and other children from communities of color with access to healthier, affordable foods. It's why I want to prevent their exposure to toxins.
I'm taking steps to start the Hilltop Farms, identifying partners and looking for funding, but it's going to be a lot of work. And the group that Amy B is trying to pull together is trying to create a web of support for low-income pregnant women and new mothers. The link between the two is that we want to provide women in the group with coupons to shop at the Hilltop Farms farmer's market, as well as recipes and meal ideas. WIC provides $10 worth of farmer's market coupons to recipients for the entire season (June-October). That, of course, doesn't go far at all (and yet, I still saw a long line of women lined up for WIC coupons at the Tacoma Farmer's Market last summer, so there IS a demand). Our plan would be to provide a $10 coupon every time a woman attends a workshop, or something like that.
When we met this morning, we talked about how easy it is to get overwhelmed by all the issues. For me, they're personal as well as professional. Trying not to--since now I know more about how damaging stress is...
And please let Obama be able to put in place some form of universal health care! The lack of it is literally killing our country.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Weekend Update
On Saturday, Amy A (me) and Amy B did a workshop on the environment during the youth session of the Washington Alliance of Black School Educators annual conference. Amy B talked about environmental justice, and I talked about individual and collective action and opportunities in the green economy. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. We spoke in the mid-afternoon, and the young people, who had been very engaged in the morning, were tired by then. Also, I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked. But it was a start.
It was also great to get to know Amy B better. In addition to her work in public health, she founded a nonprofit with some of her graduate school classmates that focuses on environmental justice issues locally and tries to make sure that people of color and low-income communities are represented when environmental issues are being addressed here in the state. She also has a cornucopia of animals at home, and invited me to bring my little one over sometime to see them.
Meanwhile, said little one and hubby were visiting a farm here in Pierce County, run by an older black gentleman. My daughter got to see chickens and goats, and pet a baby pig. This farmer is interested in partnering with us for the Hilltop Farms idea by providing produce for a farmer's market that we would like to start up here. Hubby bought two dozen organic eggs from him. I wasn't sure I could taste a difference, but I could definitely see a difference. The yolks are much firmer, and a much brighter golden yellow than non-organic eggs.
It was also great to get to know Amy B better. In addition to her work in public health, she founded a nonprofit with some of her graduate school classmates that focuses on environmental justice issues locally and tries to make sure that people of color and low-income communities are represented when environmental issues are being addressed here in the state. She also has a cornucopia of animals at home, and invited me to bring my little one over sometime to see them.
Meanwhile, said little one and hubby were visiting a farm here in Pierce County, run by an older black gentleman. My daughter got to see chickens and goats, and pet a baby pig. This farmer is interested in partnering with us for the Hilltop Farms idea by providing produce for a farmer's market that we would like to start up here. Hubby bought two dozen organic eggs from him. I wasn't sure I could taste a difference, but I could definitely see a difference. The yolks are much firmer, and a much brighter golden yellow than non-organic eggs.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Gotta love the Web: even stories about tasteless, racist cartoons can have an upside
I do love the Web! The best part is the access to information, which is a major reason I started my blog: I want to share what I learn.
So the latest story on the Web about Republicans making tasteless, racist jokes/ cartoons/whatevers about Obama has an upside (for me), via the Web. Apparently, right on the heels of the NY Post chimp shooting cartoon, a Republican mayor of a California town sent out an email with a cartoon of the White House surrounded by a watermelon patch. As usual, when called on it, he claimed he had no idea it was racist. (Seriously?? And even apart from the racist angle, why don't these guys realize that sharing this type of stuff is inappropriate in a professional setting?).
On the web site where I read about this, a commenter wrote: "I love how these guys always say they didn't intend anything racist. So what did they intend? Is there any way to interpret this cartoon that doesn't play into racial stereotypes?"
Someone snarkily responded: "Hey, he's just promoting Michael Pollan's 'White House Farmer' plan!" (and the person included a link*).
Now, I've heard of Michael Pollan, but not of the White House Farmer. Pollan is the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma." I haven't read the book, but I've read articles by him, and I know his creed is, "Eat food. Mostly plants." By eating food, he means things that our grandparents would recognize as food: bread and eggs and fruit, for example, rather than say, Pop Tarts. By "mostly plants," he advocates eating low on the food chain, consuming a lot more grains, fruits and veggies than meats and dairy.
I clicked on the link provided by the snarky commenter. The "White House Farmer" is a plan to convert much of the land surrounding the White House to farm land, in order to grow produce for the White House. It would allow the White House to set an example for the nation in producing its own sustainable, organic, local food.
Pollan asked for "White House Farmer" nominees from around the country, and had visitors to the site vote. The three top vote getters have been selected, and Pollan will soon forward their names and more information about the plan to Obama's staff. I looked at the three winners, and stopped at #2. Carrie Ann Little (who received about 50 votes less than the #1 vote-getter, and about 3,000 more than #3) is from Puyallup, WA! Right outside of Tacoma!
Ms. Little runs the Mother Earth Farm, which provides food for Pierce County's Emergency Food Network. Part of the reason this excites me is because she is farming for the needy here. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were shocked when we arrived to see how expensive everything was at the local farmer's markets. (I seem to find organic goods cheaper here than in Boston. Locally produced food, not so much). So it's great to learn about people producing local, organic food for those in need.
I'm also excited because she is very local, for me. I'd like to learn more about the farm, and perhaps volunteer there. And she's not from Seattle! That's significant, because Tacoma is considered the unsophisticated, somewhat hickish little brother of Seattle, and so much of the cutting edge environmental stuff seems to come from our older sibling. (Like ads on the radio informing Seattle residents that they can now put their food scraps in a separate bin on garbage day, and it will get picked up for composting).
In addition, the nonprofit community development organization I work for has "providing the community with access to healthy, affordable organic food" as one of its goals somewhere down the line, and the not-yet up and running Tacoma Food Co-op, of which my husband and I are members, has that as its primary goal as well. Thus, it's great for me to learn about others in the area already doing what we're hoping to do.
So Mr. Mayor, grow up. Attend a workshop on diversity, while you're at it. And indirectly, thanks.
* Here's the White House Farmer web site url: http://whitehousefarmer.com/
So the latest story on the Web about Republicans making tasteless, racist jokes/ cartoons/whatevers about Obama has an upside (for me), via the Web. Apparently, right on the heels of the NY Post chimp shooting cartoon, a Republican mayor of a California town sent out an email with a cartoon of the White House surrounded by a watermelon patch. As usual, when called on it, he claimed he had no idea it was racist. (Seriously?? And even apart from the racist angle, why don't these guys realize that sharing this type of stuff is inappropriate in a professional setting?).
On the web site where I read about this, a commenter wrote: "I love how these guys always say they didn't intend anything racist. So what did they intend? Is there any way to interpret this cartoon that doesn't play into racial stereotypes?"
Someone snarkily responded: "Hey, he's just promoting Michael Pollan's 'White House Farmer' plan!" (and the person included a link*).
Now, I've heard of Michael Pollan, but not of the White House Farmer. Pollan is the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma." I haven't read the book, but I've read articles by him, and I know his creed is, "Eat food. Mostly plants." By eating food, he means things that our grandparents would recognize as food: bread and eggs and fruit, for example, rather than say, Pop Tarts. By "mostly plants," he advocates eating low on the food chain, consuming a lot more grains, fruits and veggies than meats and dairy.
I clicked on the link provided by the snarky commenter. The "White House Farmer" is a plan to convert much of the land surrounding the White House to farm land, in order to grow produce for the White House. It would allow the White House to set an example for the nation in producing its own sustainable, organic, local food.
Pollan asked for "White House Farmer" nominees from around the country, and had visitors to the site vote. The three top vote getters have been selected, and Pollan will soon forward their names and more information about the plan to Obama's staff. I looked at the three winners, and stopped at #2. Carrie Ann Little (who received about 50 votes less than the #1 vote-getter, and about 3,000 more than #3) is from Puyallup, WA! Right outside of Tacoma!
Ms. Little runs the Mother Earth Farm, which provides food for Pierce County's Emergency Food Network. Part of the reason this excites me is because she is farming for the needy here. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were shocked when we arrived to see how expensive everything was at the local farmer's markets. (I seem to find organic goods cheaper here than in Boston. Locally produced food, not so much). So it's great to learn about people producing local, organic food for those in need.
I'm also excited because she is very local, for me. I'd like to learn more about the farm, and perhaps volunteer there. And she's not from Seattle! That's significant, because Tacoma is considered the unsophisticated, somewhat hickish little brother of Seattle, and so much of the cutting edge environmental stuff seems to come from our older sibling. (Like ads on the radio informing Seattle residents that they can now put their food scraps in a separate bin on garbage day, and it will get picked up for composting).
In addition, the nonprofit community development organization I work for has "providing the community with access to healthy, affordable organic food" as one of its goals somewhere down the line, and the not-yet up and running Tacoma Food Co-op, of which my husband and I are members, has that as its primary goal as well. Thus, it's great for me to learn about others in the area already doing what we're hoping to do.
So Mr. Mayor, grow up. Attend a workshop on diversity, while you're at it. And indirectly, thanks.
* Here's the White House Farmer web site url: http://whitehousefarmer.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
