Good Food is Everybody's Business
Everybody’s going organic! But where did this craze for organic food come from and how did it manage to win a seat at the nation’s table? What is organic food? Is it really better for you? And why are so many of us buying it?
Gardening not only provides a connection with nature, it connects us to our food. As more and more people are concerned about the provenance of their food – where it comes from and how it is grown – gardening has given “local” a new meaning: “Zero Food Miles.”
How many times have you heard this question, “With all the scientific information we now know about nutrition, how come Americans are heavier and unhealthier now than ever before?” The answer is the same as it ever was: because we overeat, we eat a ton of crap food, and don’t sufficiently exercise. We know it and we’ve known it for a long time.
In this piece we connect Gary Paul Nabhan’s Terroir-ists Manifesto and the Lexicon of Sustainability – both focused on knowing your connection to the earth and to your food.
“Taste our meats?” was an invitation I gladly accepted. I was at the Milwaukie Farmers Market, being offered locally made sausages. Sous chef Colin Stafford of Olympic Provisions was staffing the booth and as I tasted the sausages I was hooked.
In Agriculture and Food in Crisis, Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar have assembled an exceptional collection of scholars from around the world who share a focus on investigating how agricultural production is shaped by a system that is oriented around the creation of profit above all else, with food as nothing but an afterthought.
Guy Clark singing “Homegrown Tomatoes,” a summer ballad and love song. Lyrics are provided so you can join right in!
Jerry Pipitone, Pipitone Farm, Rock Island WA, talks about his part in the local food economy. He dries tons of fruit, for his own farm and for other farmers. And with the odd weather we’ve been having the last couple of years, farming is a little tougher than usual.
