Food as an Un-Moving Center

Looking through some favorite blogs on the state of food in the world, I came across this post on Desertification about work to establish family gardens in refugee camps:

http://desertification.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/unicefs-seed-has-germinated-in-the-saharawi-refugee-camps-taleb-brahim-willem-van-cotthem/

The presence of family gardens in an Algerian refugee camp is one of the clearest incarnations of food I've seen in some time, despite its unfortunate circumstances. No hype and no frills; just a group of people taking stock in the land they live on, and truly working to understand it for the sake of their own sustenance. It's a reminder that beyond all of the debates and popularity battles around GMO, organic, free range and 15 different kinds of peanut butter ("natural" or not), food is essentially and ultimately something that should build community and nourish, not tear down or detract from common health.

That only comes into sharper relief for families who have to make a new home together in a strange land, the unforgiving desert no less.

I try - and hope for all us - to remember that base nature of food at every meal.

Garden RANT

Just found this blog... and I think their manifesto is spot on:

We Are:

Convinced that gardening MATTERS.

Bored with perfect magazine gardens.

In love with real, rambling, chaotic, dirty, bug-ridden gardens.

Suspicious of the "horticultural industry."

Delighted by people with a passion for plants.

Appalled by chemical warfare in the garden.

Turned off by any activities that involve "landscaping" with "plant materials."

Flabbergasted at the idea of a "no maintenance garden."

Gardening our asses off.

Having a hell of a time doing it.

so check it out: Garden Rant

Mollie Katzen's Coming!

In case you haven't heard, Mollie Katzen, the creator of the original Moosewood Cookbook ( and other wonderful vegetarian cookbooks) is making an appearance right here at Wash U, in just a few weeks on October 6th.

She has a full day of events, opportunities for YOU (and you and you and you) to hear her speak/ get a book signed/ yes even meet her. So here it is...

Presentation: “How her cuisine has evolved and how the center of the plate has changed”

Time: 10:00 - 11:00am (with a booksigning to follow in the bookstore)

Place: Washington University Campus Store (campus bookstore)

Book Signing & Farmer's Market

Time: 12:30 - 2:30pm

Place: Edison Courtyard (bookstore will be selling books next to her)

and to top it all off....

The Burning Kumquat Farm Party with Mollie with casual meet & greet, farm tours, bluegrass music throughout the event

Time: 4:00 – 8:00pm (Mollie present until 6pm only)

5:00pm – Iron Chef Raw Food Competition with the Burning Kumquats!

Place: The Burning Kumquat!!

So come on down, and learn about the food you eat. Music, food, and good times to follow!

reading!

Here's an article about the importance of urban gardens in the current economy.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/208702

Picnic!

Picnic at the garden!
when: tomorrow (8/20, Thursday), around 11:30 am
where: The Burning Kumquat (Southeast corner)
what: picnic, bring food, blankets, musical instruments, and flyers if you've printed any
why: to make the garden more visible for the incoming freshman!

Talking bout Food

I went to see Food, Inc. today, and I thought about a lot. Even though the movie paints a grim picture (pigs squealing in fear, etc.) as well as positive actions (Joel Salatin being awesome), I thought it was an important thing for people to see, think about the issues, and act upon it as they see fit. Some people will buy organic yogurt from Walmart, and some people will start gardening. You can start shopping at farmers' markets more, or work to organize healthier lunches in schools.
Whatever I might do, I feel that I need to keep talking to people about it. Food is too precious to not talk about, and this movie at least prompts people to break the silence.
Go go go!

surprise gardening

Maybe it's just another urban garden featured by the New York Times,

but I find it particularly charming.

look here

markets world wide

Focused as we are in the St. Louis farmers' market scene, it's easy to forget how widespread they are. Some are thriving here, others aren't doing so hot. Halfway across the globe, community residents and artists are collaborating to turn their vision of what a market should be into a reality:



http://culiblog.org/2009/06/speaking-of-the-future-how-bout-the-market/

Free kitchens where community entrepreneurs can try out their own value-added products? How awesome is that?

hello again

KUMQAUTS! It's been so long, but I've stumbled across more garden-related internet love and wanted to disseminate the info...

the urban field guide : a good blog with some simple garden inspiration. growing potatoes in shopping carts? radical gardening? yes, please.

another interesting but less logical site is yes we can food
it's based in san francisco, and you can buy seasonal fruits and vegetables that they can, but REALLY, everyone should just can their own... 

The Magic of Time-Keeping Bees

I just thought this article was oddly interesting...

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/guest-column-lets-hear-it-for-the-bees/?em

Out of the Wild, SF Weekly

This article is about collecting and selling wild edibles by creating a CSF -- community supported foraging boxes. The Bay Area is rich with edibles such as miners lettuce, sour grass, and mushrooms, and you'd probably be looking for a different set out around StL. Horrah for gathering, a basic human skill.

http://sfweekly.com/2009-03-18/news/out-of-the-wild/

Frontrunners

The Kumquat was featured in the Spring 2009 issue of the Washington University Magazine.

The State of our Fellow Farmers

The February release of the 2007 USDA Agricultural Census has some tasty little statistics about the state of food and farming in American agriculture. Here are some of the highlights from the data.


Some cheerful trends in U.S. agriculture show:

• There was a net increase of in the number of small farms from 2002 - 2007 and new (young) farmers too.
  
• There was a 17% increase in the number of direct to consumer sales and a 335% increase in organic sales in the country since 2002. (Like the Kumquat!)
• Both the ethnic and gender diversity of farmers has increased significantly. 30% more women now act as primary farm operators, compared to 2002.

On the flip side:

• U.S. lost 16.2 million acres of farmland during this period.
• The concentration of agriculture increased during the years in question. Whereas farms with net sales of more than $1 million in annual sales accounted for 47 percent of U.S. agricultural production in 2002, farms in this sales class were responsible for 59 percent all production in 2007.

If you want more than this taste, the full census results can be found here.

-Lucy