October 2011

Farmageddon: The Raw Milk Controversy Continues

It’s been a while since Food, Inc. and FRESH, and their cousins King Corn and Fast Food Nation, came on the scene – hailing from a family of films that have delved into the complexities of our modern food system, tackled the interconnected web that includes corn subsidies, industrial farming, obesity and environmental degradation, and lauded various solutions including agricultural policy reform, sustainable farming methods, community gardening, and eating, as Michael Pollan and many others have recommended, “real food.” If you’ve been jonesing for your food movie fix, you’re in luck.

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Local Beer Lessons, the Advanced Course

Recently, I was a grateful attendee at the second annual Brew Master’s Dinner, hosted at the Republic in Seven Corners. Several craft brewers were in town for the Autumn Brew Review Craft Beer Festival and the dinner was a chance to indulge in offerings from limited edition kegs showcasing regional ingredients. Matty O’Reilly and Chef George Finn of the Republic created five courses sourced from local farm produce to match the distinct beer choices that ranged from a light, Egyptian hop-less to heavy black smoke in a glass. Savoring the offerings, it was apparent that these brewers’ talents if redirected, could rival a chef at Chez Pannisse. Let me introduce five craft beers made by some really talented artisans that have made it hard for beer to not be on my list of all things food+art+local.

 

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Celebrating Squash at Prairie Garden Farm

My trek from suburbanite to flower farmer extends over two decades, dozens of how-to books and magazine subscriptions, and the practical (read “backbreaking”) experience of digging in dirt and watching things grow. My friends and family sometimes question my sanity, but walking to the barn in the early morning, hearing the turkeys call from the wetlands below and watching a bald eagle soar above assures me that I made the right choice. Part of seeking an “idyllic” country life stemmed from the wish to produce and preserve much of the food I eat. From chickens to grass fed beef to chemical free garden produce, I have tried it all and have been rewarded with healthy, abundant food for going on ten years.

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The Code of the Mason Jar. A Canner's Manifesto, Part II

It’s beautiful to me to have traditions that tie me to the seasons. Progress has gone to great lengths to insulate us from the natural rise and fall of the year; air conditioning and gas furnaces keep us the same temperature all year; car trips extend that same homogeneity to travel; it doesn’t much matter when the days get shorter because the lights are always on. The cumulative effect is that we feel we can effectively ignore the sun, the moon, and the weather almost all of the time--except as the subject of light conversation. The year grows flat and featureless. 

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The Code of the Mason Jar. A Canner's Manifesto, Part I

Making homemade pickles has been a whimsical annual tradition in my family since I was a boy, and when I first lived with my bride-to-be out West, we thought it would be nice to carry on the tradition despite being far from home. The enthusiasm that produced those first few jars of pickles soon begat small batches of jams and jellies, experiments with dilly beans, a few stewed tomatoes, some apple sauce, and so on and so forth. 

We have always cooked and gardened together, and soon found out that canning is very much a logical, aesthetic, and creative extension of those activities. Each year we have done a little more of each, and each year the three pastimes have fed one another, producing always more abundant, delicious, and inventive results. This trend has continued happily and unabated into our marriage and through our move home to Minnesota, but recently I’m growing concerned about its proportions.

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The Healthy Taste of Sour Foods

Like bitter flavors, sourness is Nature’s way of waving a red flag over a substance that is unripe, spoiled or otherwise inedible. But for those of us who don’t mind a bit of tartness on the tongue, this warning signal may actually be the first sign of some healthy benefits.

Tip of the Tongue

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Take Action- Your Food Dollars Build Just Communities

A typical pre-dinner conversation in our household might go something like this:

  Me: What do cows eat?

Four year old: Grass!

Me: Are you sure it’s not corn?  

Four year old: No!  Cows eat grass!

  Father: Where does this meat come from?

Four year old son: It was a cow

Father: Where did we get it?

Four year old son: The farmer grew it and then the butcher killed it

 

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