Good Food is Everybody's Business
Perched just 180 feet above sea level, Port Townsend WA (Jefferson County Seat) is a quaint Victorian town with a permanent population just over 9,000 people. It’s also the location of the 40-year old Port Townsend Food Co-op. The Food Co-op was officially launched in 1972 as a food-buying club; as were so many of the “second wave” of food co-ops during the 1970s.
Foodopoly is a text book for anyone who wants to take a crash course in today’s food system: how we got where we are, who are the biggest players, and how today’s food system is jeopardizing the health of consumers – from junk food to poor food safety – and the health of food workers.
The story of an environmental activist (Dr. Vandana Shiva) and a farmer (Bija Devi) and their fight to preserve heirloom seeds in India amidst great opposition.
There are winter markets going on in Missoula – two of them! That might not seem like a big deal to someone from California or our states in the south, but in Mondana where the growing season is short, it’s exciting news.
Written by well-known plant breeder and organic seed expert John Navazio, The Organic Seed Grower is the most up-to-date and useful guide to best practices in this exciting and important field. (Ed. Note: And – best of all – John is an all ’round really nice guy!)
Without organic seed, we won’t have organic vegetables; it’s as simple as that. And because the “Big Seed” companies like Monsanto and Syngenta are buying up seed producers – AND organic seed producers – we will see fewer and fewer heirloom, locally developed, and “open pollinated” organic seeds for growers and gardeners.
There are so many creative good food growers and processors putting their hearts into bringing back wholesome and healthy food. We’ve been so lucky to meet a few of them! Last weekend, we spent the day cooking, baking, and eating grain-based foods that connect us to good friends and their hard work.
Food safety is an issue that is on the minds of farmers, grocers, and chefs a lot these days. Outbreaks of food-borne illnesses seem to be happening more often and affecting more and more people. According to the FDA, there are more than 3 million food-borne illnesses every year attributable to consumption of produce. What to do? Simple, says the FDA, we will implement new rules on the basis of the Food Safety Management Act, signed into office January 4, 2011.
