Locavore News from Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: July 20, 2009
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario
Perspectives on good food and farming
July 20, 2009
Dear President and Mrs. Obama
We, the undersigned chefs and food professionals of Chefs Collaborative, thank you for beginning the critical work of steering our country onto a more sustainable course. We have read with great pleasure and pride that you are giving much-needed attention to sustainable food issues; we write now with a renewed sense of hope that together we can change the way we think about food in this country. Chefs Collaborative letter to the Obamas posted on the website of the Chefs Collaborative. The letter was signed by hundreds of American chefs and food authorities, including Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Rick Bayless from Topolobampo (one of the Obamas’ favourite restaurants in Chicago).
Food Service Chefs Gone Local, Sustainably
Bon Appétit Management Company might be called the Whole Foods of the foodservice world. This is their take on local, sustainable: “Our first choice would certainly be local and organic, but if there’s a question about local vs. organic, we’d always go with local. We’re equally interested in local products that are grown with organic practices as opposed to being USDA certified organic. That’s not a big issue for us. Within our commitment to local we focus on small and medium sized producers. We actually have a cap on the size of the operations and they have to be owner operated. For example, here I am in Palo Alto, and I’m within 150 miles of some of the biggest agribusiness in the world, but that doesn’t count as local, even though physically it is, it’s not what the heart of our Farm to Fork program is about. It’s about owner-operated small and medium-sized production.â€Â From an interview with Maisie Greenawalt, Vice President, on the website of the Hartman Group, a research and consulting firm.
The offerings at bureaucratically elected food carts wilt under scrutiny
When I heard that the city was expanding its street food program beyond hot dogs, I was delighted. I happen to like Toronto’s hot dogs and think they are some of the best anywhere, but there’s much more to the world of street food than wieners, and I figured this would open the flood gates for cool, affordable and delicious new flavours. With the first six of a proposed 13 carts now on the street, I made it my goal to visit all of them. What I found didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Globe and Mail story.
Local fare gets top billing in ‘locavore’ food trend
This west coast Canadian city is a mecca for so-called “locavores” who eat seasonal, locally-sourced fare rather than industrially-farmed meat and produce, which sometimes can be shipped from thousands of miles away. They do it because they believe that eating local cuts down on carbon emissions, is healthier, and supports the local economy. AFP story from Vancouver.
Slow Food of South Jersey’s apprentice farmer program
Slow Food of South Jersey is accepting applications for 15 “apprentice farmer†slots at Beach Plum Farm located in West Cape May. Volunteers must commit to work 2-4 hours a week and in exchange will receive whatever fruits and vegetables are being harvested.South Jersey locavore announcement.
Locavore Nation
Locavore Nation was a year-long effort in 2008 to see what it takes to live by a regionally based diet. 15 individuals from around the country shared their experiences as they try to get 80 percent of their food from local, organic, seasonal sources and then incorporate it into tasty, healthy meals. Did they do it? Read through the archives for the West, Central, and Eastern region archives to find out. Posted on the website of the Splendid Table, American Public Radio.
Congress Introduces Community Garden Bills!
Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the goals and ideals of National Community Gardening Awareness Month, including– (1) raising awareness about the importance of community gardens and urban agriculture; (2) improving access to public land for the creation of sustainable food projects; (3) encouraging further growth of community gardens and other opportunities that increase food self-reliance, improve fitness, contribute to a cleaner environment, and enhance community development; and (4) supporting cooperative efforts among Federal, State, and local governments and nonprofit organizations to promote the development and expansion of community gardens and to increase their accessibility to disadvantaged population groups. Provided by Jill Richardson on the La Vida Locavore website.
The Dacha: Russia’s Retreat, Soul Saver and Key Food Supplier
It is the dacha that keeps Russians fed during the country’s perennial crises -and curiously serves as the major indicator of the current state of the economic crisis. “The more potatoes people grow at their dachas, the worse things are becoming in Russia,” Andrei Tumanov, editor of Vashi 6 Sotok (“Your 600 Square Meters,” Russia’s most popular gardening magazine) told Moscow’s TV 3 channel on May 16. “That is a law of statistics,” he continued. Tumanov explained that the sales of vegetable seeds had increased by 40 percent from last year, and potatoes by a staggering 200 percent. Eurasia Daily Monitor story on the website of the Jamestown Foundation, Washington, DC.
Urban garden scheme is flourishing
You’ve heard of “guerrilla gardeners” hijacking unloved land and turning it into vegetable plots, but now everyone is getting in on the act. Across London, kitchen gardens are springing up outside GPs’ surgeries, in prisons, on council estates, rooftops and atop barges. It’s all part of a scheme launched six months ago by Boris Johnson and Rosie Boycott, which aims to open up 2,012 new places to grow fruit and veg by 2012. The London (UK) Paper picks the best sites.
The dirty tricks behind local-washing
HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself “the world’s local bank.” Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched a new ad campaign under the tagline “Local flavor since 1956.” The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring millions of dollars into television ads urging people to “Shop Local”—at their nearest mall. Even Walmart is getting in on the act, hanging bright green banners over its produce aisles that simply say “Local.” Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance writes Indyweek.com