Showing posts with label Local food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local food. Show all posts

Thursday, April 09, 2020

FREE Baking Education Classes and Resources

Hello,

I hope that you and yours are well and handling self-isolation well.


This amazing man/chef Jose Andres On Why Food is a National Security Issue

 

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Baking education resources from Local Food Bloomington's Baking/Bakery page. 
 


I/Local Food am still here.  It seems really ironic that Local Food/Green Dove went offline at a time when local food as a resource  has become extreamly important.  Folks will have to turn now to the farmers and gardeners who have been working steadily to  bring local foods to communities.  Many are waking up to the idea that local food security is a real issue and that this basic need is threatened in a way only imagined in science fiction.  Speaking of sci-fi, I have been asked if this virus is a possible result of the chemical soup of gmo agri-business or who knows what.  I only know that we are here at this crossroads, and that many have become or are becoming really aware of what foods are important to them and how they regularly access those foods. 

Many have turned, (using store shelves as as my basis) to traditional staples of dried fruits, nuts, grains, legumes, seeds, oils, pastas, canned goods; simple foods of high nutritional value that can be easily stored for periods of time and useful in a variety of cooking styles. 

I am grateful to every food store that is open.  I wish for everyone to be safe.  Wear a mask when out in the world even if you don't believe it necessary because it may save your or another person's life.  I do not like wearing the mast, but when I need to shop, I wear one.  Do this little thing that seems to have a huge impact.

Though not food, I am wondering why the building trades in my town are still working?  I could see if they were rushing to get homes for the needy citizens, but that is not the case.     


FOOD IS A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE

POTABLE WATER AND SHELTER ARE NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES





Saturday, December 29, 2018

Growing for Seed, N.A. Sustainable Foods Summit 2019 & 39th EcoFarm Conference

 Growing for Seed: Small Scale Production & Seed Saving

January 15, 2019, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m - FREE | Viva Farms Ag Park | 16470 Washington 20 | Mount Vernon, Washington - Join OSA’s Micaela Colley and hosts Viva Farms for an evening workshop on small scale seed production and seed saving. Gain the tools you need to start growing and saving seed with a focus on work with culturally significant varieties. Spanish translation will be available. 

The workshop will be held on January 15, 2019, and is being offered free of charge thanks to support from the New Field Foundation Seeds, Soil and Culture Fund. Pre-registration is requested.  https://seedalliance.org/events/seed-production-mt-vernon/




The North American Sustainable Foods Summit will be hosted in San Francisco on 16-17th January 2019. Other editions in this international series will take place in Latin America (São Paulo, 29-30th November), Europe (Amsterdam, 13-14th June 2019) and the Asia-Pacific. Each edition will bring together some of the most influential organizations involved in sustainability and eco-labels in the food industry. 

The aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues. 
  • How do organic, fairtrade and other eco-labeling schemes further sustainability? 
  • With growing proliferation in labels, what are the prospects for a single sustainability standard for food products? 
  • What are the practical application of sustainability metrics? 
  • What advances are occurring in sustainable ingredients? 
  • What developments are happening in formulation, production and marketing of sustainable food and beverages? 
Such questions are regularly addressed at this international series of summits.
The Sustainable Foods Summit is devised for key stake-holders in the food industry that include:

  • Food & beverage companies
  • Packaging companies
  • Academics & researchers

  • Ingredient & raw material suppliers
  • Industry organizations & NGOs
  • Investors & financiers

  • Retailers & distributors
  • Certification agencies
  • Other stake-holders
Please contact us for more details. http://www.sustainablefoodssummit.com/northamerica/contact-us/





Organized by Ecovia Intelligence (formerly Organic Monitor), the Sustainable Foods Summit is a climate-neutral event. The carbon footprint of each edition is determined by calculating the carbon and greenhouses gases. These emissions are offset by investing in soil composting and / or related projects.


------------------------


39th Annual EcoFarm Conference

 

January 23, 2019 - January 26, 2019 


The Ecological Farming Association (EcoFarm) presents the 39th annual EcoFarm Conference January 23-26, 2019 in Pacific Grove, CA. 

The event features 70+ workshops, intensives, keynote sessions, an exhibitor marketplace, and special events including an annual awards banquet, tastings, seed swap, live entertainment, and organic culinary fare. Workshops offer practical and cutting-edge information on crop production, livestock, soil health, marketing, distribution, and food systems. 


As the oldest and largest organic farming conference in the West, EcoFarm is a prime networking and educational hub for farmers, ranchers, distributors, retailers, activists, researchers, and educators.  https://eco-farm.org/conference

Monday, September 03, 2018

A Few Good Things about Bloomingfoods Coop And Why It Matters in Community



A Few Good Things about Bloomingfoods Coop And Why It Matters in Community


Apples at Bloomingfoods Fall 18 by Patricia C. Coleman
Local Apples Bloomingfoods Fall 18 by Patricia C. Coleman.  Apples are from Apple Works Orchard


Bloomingfoods matters.  I’ve asked a few people to tell me a few good things about Bloomingfoods.  Most of these folks have decades of experience with the Coop and are also member-owners of the store.  I encourage you to share your own reasons why Bloomingfoods matters. 

- Bloomingfoods and Coop was founded in 1975 and laid the foundation for the mega organics and bulk foods now being sold and consumed in Bloomington, Indiana and in most other communities across the nation.  Everyone realizes that Bfoods is in a major shift time.  What happens to the foundation of healthier foods truly depends upon the community of its members.  Even if you have been hurt by some past experience, that is just it, a past experience.  Let’s all grow on and up otherwise we step aside and allow mega corporation dollars to roll over the foundations of local foods in communities as it forces its way across the nation. 

Those very same corporations that now have their own organic brands previously spent huge sums of money working to deflect  and destroy coops, organic standards and GMO regulations for the healthy foods markets here and in other countries. 

The Coop is a store that has played a role in supporting some local growers and farmers and vendors and made the welfare of growers everywhere a priority.  Bloomingfoods created educational and community opportunities fostering the understanding of healthy food for healthy people and healthy community.  For decades Bloomingfoods has nurtured the seeds of sustainable community.  

I asked a few folks to tell me a couple of good things and here is some of what was offered. 

I appreciate Bloomingfoods because :
-- Bloomingfoods is locally owned, by its members.  This is just one thing, or maybe two,
-- it's the one that matters most, and that no big chain can match
--it is earthy and offers community and a sense of belonging
-- there is so much for shoppers and members to like:
---I can buy favorite foods, even kombu from Japan!
--It is a store where you LOVE to run into friends
--of the fact that Bfoods is of the community, for the community
--the staff for whom this is more than a job
--the comforting scale of the buildings
-- I have seen little children grown up shopping with their parents and then take their
   first jobs there
--of the bulk foods section
-- if I don't like something about Bloomingfoods, I have the power to try to change it
    through the democratic process.  How much power you have depends on whether
   others agree with me, and how involved I'm willing to get. The decisions in national  
  chains are made who-knows-where, to profit the owners or shareholders; if it's
  profitable to close a community's only natural-foods store, for instance, they'll do it. 
--It matters that Bloomingfoods is owned and run by members of our community.
--that it is a welcoming place
--it is ours
--it is a welcoming safe place for my children
--the big variety of local and organic foods
--the affordable and delicious deli
 --good food equals good health which equals longer life expectancy
--co-op is an opportunity to guide our youth in cooperative principles they may not   
   receive elsewhere in their education
--It is a place that has supported local growers and producers educating the larger
   community regarding health and community benefits of locally grown food.
--that it helped educate this city to the amazing health benefits of food.
--  it has helped the community to develop an infrastructure toward sustainability. 
-- it has the good old co-op feeling!
--of the fact that it connects personally to so many peoples’ story and a gem that you
   can still come home to, though very different, you can still come home.

Bloomingfoods Coop has offered and continues to create employment opportunities that connects community through owner membership and education and this has been part of the national muscle that works to educate and obtain protective regulations regarding organics, GMO’s, Monsanto’s pesticides and food labeling.  Our Coop has been invaluable in community building and local foods education in particular and the organization worked diligently with local groups and individuals to develop and strengthen our local Farmers Market, Tuesday and Wednesday Farmers Market as well as the Winter Farmers Market. 

Bloomingfoods Coop is here because a small group of local people received a loan from, I think Cathy Canada, a then local because they valued having healthy organic and bulk foods available in the community.  Cooperative membership has grown to more than twelve thousand member owners.  These members and the community at large will decide what happens to the mother and father of organics, bulk and whole foods in Bloomington. 

I hope that every small business is paying attention because this pattern of destroying or neglecting locally owned small businesses in favor of those with large purses is truly death to communities.  Check out what membership means at Bloomingfoods Coop https://www.bloomingfoods.coop/members/

I want to believe that people in this and other community’s want more connections with their foods than a faceless corporation can ever give.  I hope that the people here want stores that nurture and ultimately will try to stay within our community when times are tough. 

I hope that you will share into the larger community your reasons for why Bloomingfoods matters. 

I am member #244 and I think that the Coop matters.

Local Food Fairy

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

The Beauty of Bees And Self-Reliance: A Conversation with Author Susan Brackney

Hello Local Food Readers,

Local Food Bloomington is delighted to introduce our readers to Becky Holtzman.  



The Beauty of Bees And Self-Reliance: 
A Conversation with Author Susan Brackney


At the very start of her funny and fact-packed 2009 book, PlanBee: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About theHardest-Working Creatures on the Planet, Bloomington author Susan Brackney asserts her interest in self reliance. It was this desire for self-reliance that led to home ownership and fueled a hankering for chickens, which in turn became a path to beekeeping.

For ten years, from the mid-90s to mid-2000s, Brackney moved every single year. As a student earning her Bachelors in English at IU, the annual moves were not so unusual. But after graduating, she still found herself moving from one awful rental to another. Landlords aren’t typically amenable to allowing renters to dig garden plots, so she had abundant—but unsatisfying—container gardens; her spare time was spent reading about homesteading. As Brackney says, she was “pining for land.” Her first homestead was an 850 square foot house on a half-acre inside the city limits.

“My realtor explained that a property like this was only a step above camping, but there were these huge old walnut trees….” (You can hear affection for those trees in her voice.) Family helped build a 144 square foot greenhouse, which was cozy on snowy winter days. Brackney started growing much of her own food, canning, and cultivating loofah gourds.

“Because,” she says, “why not?”

Brackney really wanted chickens, but a civic battle was raging at the time: chickens were personae non gratae inside the city limits. Honeybees, however, were considered to be “invertebrate livestock.” When a friend gifted her the beekeeping equipment he found at a yard sale, a beekeeper was born.

Brackney has an  of her great-grandfather and grandfather peering into a hive, knee-deep in summer grass. She’s not sure that any beekeeping skills were passed down to her, though. In fact, she ruefully laughs about being beehive-less this winter, following major bee challenges last autumn.

“Have you ever experienced laying workers?” she asks, laughing. “That was a hot mess of a hive.” Laying workers are an unholy disaster, in which the female worker bees decide the queen is no longer up to the job of laying eggs, and start laying their own—unfertilized—eggs. This results in a bunch of (mostly) useless drones, and spells the demise of the hive. Brackney tried the “shake out and forget” trick, dumping the laying workers away from the hive, but to no avail. February 2016 finds Brackney bee-less, but planning for spring.

“My beekeeping mentor was very old school—he had many, many tricks up his sleeve for ‘working the girls,’ as he put it, to maximize honey production. I’m more hands-off.” Brackney says she’s not in it for the honey, and that she’s more likely to put her ear up to one of her hives and give a it a gentle knock, listening for the bees inside, than she is to open it and start poking around.

“Opening a hive is like cracking open a chest for heart surgery. I really don’t want to, unless absolutely necessary.”

Bees boast a social structure that’s both fluid and organized, with most bees having the chance to work at different jobs during different life stages. The youngest bees care for brood, graduate to housekeeping, serve a stint as an undertaker hauling out dead bees, and then move on to foraging in the wider world. Some bees become entrance guards. A honeybee sting means death for the insect, and it’s their last resort when feeling threatened; a honeybee will typically buzz an intruder several times before stinging.

Brackney maintains that discretion is an important skill in beekeeping: while immediate neighbors absolutely should know there’s a beekeeper at work, ideally the bees are managed so efficiently that nobody even knows it’s happening. Checking bees during the week, when neighbors are at work, is a great way to stay on the down low. If one diligently keeps the hive from swarming, and gives away plenty of honey, chances are good that bees will be welcome in the neighborhood.

The pollination of local gardens and orchards is an added benefit of keeping bees. Large commercial orchards—think the acres of almond trees in California, or the orange groves in Florida—truck in mass quantities of beehives seasonally, paying thousands of dollars for pollination services. In fact, this is how many larger-scale beekeepers make their primary income; honey and beeswax are secondary products.

I once heard an older beekeeper, one of the gentlest men I’ve ever met, insist that the way to restore the honeybee is to train thousands more hobby beekeepers, and not have so many giant commercial beekeepers. Who knows if that would do the trick, but many scientists do think that large-scale commercial beekeeping has helped contribute to honeybee decline, by encouraging the spread of disease to already-stressed-by-travel colonies.

Small is sweet.

The more we can do for ourselves and our communities (human and ecological), the better, and everyone benefits when we invest in our local foodshed Brackney points out that the expensive spinach trucked in from California has lost some of its nutritional value by the time it gets to our plates. Paying a bit more for locally grown food that is in the prime of its nutrient-rich life might save us more in the long run, from the fossil fuels used for transport, tothe value of keeping our dollars in local circulation, to the personal well-being we support when we eat the freshest food possible.

As for the honeybees: you don’t have to keep a hive to support these hard-working pollinators. You can plant blossoms that bees love, in large swaths of your yard. Honeybees practice flower constancy, which means that once a bee finds a flower variety she likes, she’ll work it until there’s nothing left, to the exclusion of other plants. Make it worth her while to visit your yard. Susan created this awesome garden map to give you ideas, and it’s great for welcoming pollinators of all




kinds, including native bees and even hummingbirds. You can also provide a water dish – a shallow saucer with small pebbles for bees to perch on will do. And naturally, you’ll want to stay away from herbicides and insecticides that can harm bees.

Beekeeping is a humbling art—the “right” answers are sometimes elusive, and often you just do the best you can, that moment. Brackney confesses she’s not religious, but when she looks inside a beehive, with its order and systems, she feels awe.

“It’s hard not to believe something powerful is at work,” she sighs. By supporting the bees in their efforts, we all can participate in that “something powerful.”


Find Susan Brackney:

Other Great Books about Bees:
HoneybeeDemocracy, Thomas D. Seeley (Princeton University Press, 2010)
Top-BarBeekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health, Les Crowder andHeather Harrell (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012)

Becky Holtzman is a painter and Reiki practitioner in Bloomington, Indiana. A keeper-of-bees from 2011-2015, she hopes to have a beehive or two in the near future. You can find her art at beckytomato.com and her Reiki practice at orangeflowerhealing.com.

*NOTE:  Read More about bees in the Food News

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Dear Local Food Reader,

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016.

I began the year mostly disconnected to technology which has me a few weeks off my to do calendar.  As previously mentioned, Local Food and Food News are being updated at this moment and as much as hands can handle is being done to get it up online.  Local Food is excited about this forthcoming issue.  Yes, I admit to being excited with every update.  And yes, again, I am hopeful that there will be more frequent postings.

Upcoming food events that you may find of interest.

The Indiana Cooperative Develoment Center is fortunate to have received funds from the Howard Bowers Fund and the Ralph K Morris Foundation for scholarships to Up & Coming 2016.  Deadline for applications is 1/20/16 with notification by 1/31/16. Go to the Resources Page for more information.



*SUSTAINABLE FOODS SUMMIT
San Francisco, January 20 - 22, 2016
 
*Compost & Soil Health: 2016 EcoFarm Pre-Conference  - Wednesday, January 20, 2016 with Bruno Follador, director of the Living Soils initiative at The Nature Institute.  A pre-conference workshop at the 36th annual EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove, CA

 *Annual Ecological Farming Conference January 20 - 23rd, 2016


*The Soil and Nutrition Conference, organized by the Bionutrient Food Association/Real Food Campaign will take place from 8th February to the 9th February 2016 at the Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, United States. The conference will cover areas like nutritionists and food system advocates for a multidisciplinary conversation exploring the potential to improve food quality through regenerative agriculture that builds soil, crop and ecosystem health, xplore how soil health and crop quality are interrelated, and how a renewed focus on the food qualities that industrial agriculture forgot, flavor and nutrition – can help drive transformation with important societal benefits.


 The annual Just Food Conference will bring together over 700 organizers, community leaders, CSA members, local food advocates, urban and rural farmers, food professionals, entrepreneurs, and members of the press to participate in a full day of trainings, panels, policy discussions, and good food. Just Food's Conference programming covers national farm and food policy issues, approaches to urban agriculture, culinary and food preservation techniques, and strategies to mobilize communities in order to increase access to fresh, locally grown food.


 *Water for Food Global Conference -  organized by the will take place from 24th April to the 26th April 2016 at the in Lincoln, United States. The conference will cover areas like We are committed to ensuring a water and food secure world without compromising the use of water for other human and environmental needs. Our approach is to extend the University of Nebraska’s expertise through strong partnerships with other universities and public and private sector organizations.


*The Milk and Cultured Dairy Products Conference, organized by the will take place from 24th May to the 25th May 2016 at the Omni Severin Hotel in Indianapolis, USA. The conference will cover areas like IDFA’s Milk and Cultured Dairy Products Conference is a dynamic, information-rich meeting focused exclusively on the information that milk and cultured dairy product professionals need. Learn about the most recent developments in the category and the science behind them. Be inspired by new ideas as you network with industry peers and respected experts. Find out what’s new in ingredients, processing technology and packaging. And experience new flavors, textures and products.

 Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium (01/13-14/16 – Concord, CA)
Winter Fancy Food Show (01/17-19/16 – San Francisco, CA)
NOFA-NY Conference (01/22-24/16 – Saratoga Springs, NY) - Northeast Organic Farming Assn.


MOSES Organic Farming Conference (02/25-27/16 – La Crosse, WI)
Distillers Convention and Vendor Trade Show (03/02-03/16 – Chicago, IL)


USA Trade Tasting – Wine, Spirits, Beer (03/21-22/16 – New York, NY)
International Association of Culinary Professionals (04/01-03/16 – Los Angeles, CA)
Women of the Vine Global Symposium (04/04-06/16 – Napa, CA)

46th Annual Food and Beverage Environmental Conference (FBEC) (04/10-14/16 – Coeur d’Alene, ID)


2016 Craft Brewers Conference BrewExpo America (05/03-06/16 – Philadelphia, PA)
NYC Vegetarian Food Festival (05/07-08/16 – New York, NY)

Summer Fancy Food Show (06/26-28/16 – New York, NY)
Beer Bloggers Writers Conference (07/08-10/16 – Tampa Bay, FL)
Oxford Symposium on Food Cookery: Offal – Rejected & Reclaimed Foods (07/08-10/16 – St Catherine’s College, Oxford, UK)
* Check back for more listings on the Experimental Gourmand 

AND.....

January 22-27, 2016 International Life Sciences Institute Annual Meeting 

February 7-8, 2016  XIV International
Conference on Food Security and Nutrition





UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Symposium:




February 29 - March 3, 2016 The Consumer Goods Forum – Global Food Safety Conference

 March 7-8, 2016 International Conference on Global Food Security





March 10-12, 2016 World Congress of Public Health Nutrition

April 21-22, 2016 2016 International Climate Conference on Climate

Change: Impacts and Responses – A Common Ground Conference






October 12-13, 20162016 International Conference on Food Studies - A Common Ground Conference


























































































Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Food for the Holidays!



Hello,

 It is the time of year when roots rise to the top of my grocery list, though some roots, I admit, never leave.  Oven roasting is quick and the results are delicious.  I have been pleased each time I simply coat the skins of sweets, onions and garlic then bake.  First the sweets and onions,  adding the oiled garlic bulb and loose cloves during the last 15 minutes. 

A roasted roots dinner of sweets potato, onion, garlic, a little local chicken and lancinato kale seasoned with
Quilter's Comfort's L.A.O. Seasoning.  Kale is steamed in a small amount of water.
 

This busy season is full of food!  Cooking, sharing, eating and appreciating!  Yes, I love food and am inspired by it and sharing it with love.   As Local Food Bloomington closes out 2015 an update to Food News and Local Food Bloomington is underway.  We hope it is up by early January 2016.

We are excited about some local food articles and interviews that will grave the update.

And a shout out to Quilter's Comfort and the range of jellies, herbal, fruit, wine and the beer jelly made from locally crafted beer (exception is the Chocolate Raspberry Stout organic) and to Wheat Ale HipHop.  More about why I mention this particular beer will appear in Food News.





If we don't make it back here before year's end, THANK YOU, and may this end of year and the NEW BE VERY WONDERFUL!

Food Fairy



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

HAPPY EARTH DAY! TALK ABOUT FOOD!!!!




In a few hours a small group of friends will gather in Patricia's Wellness Cafe & Quilter's Comfort Teas, to share an Earth Dinner.  Each person has been asked to bring a dish containing at least one food ingredient from our local community and be willing to share something about the food.  During the evening, we plan on sharing thoughts about local food, and how we see our selves supporting local food today and any ideas for future involvement.

I've prepared a soup featuring O'Henry Sweet Potatoes, an heirloom grown by Sun Circle Farm and purchased at the local coop.  To accompany this, I have roasted garlic stuffed muffins made using a variety of organic grains, including local Agape cornmeal; flours of barley, brown rice and whole wheat pastry.  The garlic came from my friend Glenda's garden in Owen county.  I picked up commercial gmo-free corn chips for the Everything Dip made using plain yogurt and my locally made certified organic Quilter's Comfort L.A.O. EVERYTHING Plus Popcorn seasoning to make a delicious dip everyone loves!  I will also be serving Quilter's Comfort's Gingery Mint (other teas will be available as requested) and a wine from the Butler Vineyard.

Where ever you are, thank you for reading and have a great Earth Day everyday!

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Food News Updated

A new issue of Food News is now live!  Since it is spring the focus is on seeds and their importance to sustainable communities.  I appreciate all who are out there supporting and promoting real food that can be accessible and maintained by any gardener or farmer.

~In this issue we offer Shout Outs to some small businesses and some really large organizations and mention a few things that seem to pop up regularly in conversations
~We look at what is happening to the Family Farm and the real cost of big agriculture as we know it
~Chemicals in the water, cost to our land and children
~Bees
~Urban Agriculture
~Green Schools
~Why Say No to GMO and Ask for labeling
~Fraking
~Seafood update
And more

Thank you for your interest and may you plant some open-pollinated seeds.  And may you hold onto good gardening and husbandry practices.

Regards

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Good Food Festival and Conference

 


If you have the opportunity to attend this festival, it promises to be amazing and informative. 

March 13-15 at UIC ForumThe Good Food Festival and Conference celebrates its 10 Year Anniversary with a family-friendly day of inspiring speakers, DIY workshops, chef demos featuring Rick Bayless, an interactive Kids Corner, and the trade show floor, all designed to grow the Good Food Movement!

 
Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival


 
 Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival


  Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival


  Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival



  Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival


Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival

Catch our Good Food Master Class with author Michael Ruhlman and chef Brian Polcyn. Learn to make your own bar infusions and bitters; get a start on home brewing; gather gardening advice and seeds, or take the Urban Farm Bus Tour to see the city’s innovative urban agriculture in action. Bring the kids for lots of tasty samples on the trade show floor and food-related activities in the Kids Corner. Sit down for lunch in the Good Food Court and cruise the Good Food Commons for micro-workshops on everything from backyard chickens to composting tips. It’s a fun, Good Food day for the whole family!


 Photo by Amanda Areias for Good Food Festival

The Localicious Party Friday evening pairs Chicago’s premier chefs who value local food sourcing with farmers for an evening of delicious food and drink and a live Bluegrass band!
http://goodfoodfestivals.com

Friday, February 08, 2013


Dear Readers,


Thank you for being out there. I hope that 2013 brings you much happiness, joy and great food!


I just posted an update to Local Food News. Following my brief note is an article written by a new local about a great organization, Food NOT BOMBS!


Patricia's Wellness Arts Cafe & Quilter's Comfort Teas is almost ready to announce the winner of the 2nd Annual "Name the Tea Contest". The selection of jellies, herbal, coffee, beer and wine has increased. Currently all are made using Certified Organic or locally sourced herbs from growers using organic and sustainable practices.


Visit Food News at for lots of articles and information concerning food, gardening, and food in the news.


May your gardens be abundant.



FOOD NOT BOMBS!


Bloomington, as most readers would agree, has a notable, functional, people-powered food security infrastructure to address hunger resulting from poverty. The product of decades of continuous hard work, the folks of these community organizations provide the town with a peace of mind that would otherwise not be available, and is (unfortunately) seldom found on this scale in towns throughout the US.


Most of these folks come together with a pretty straightforward goal: provide a consistent source of wholesome nutrition for every member of the community. Food security, like physical and health security, is considered by many a basic human right, and with it comes a collective responsibility. These issues are handled in many ways, from neighbors providing mutual aid, to centralized services provided by local, state and federal government. Some believe that food security can and should be kept without encouraging the exploitation of those providing and receiving these vital services(a constant risk when the solutions to such basic human rights issues are made into commodities). One group of Bloomington residents respond to this concern by not only providing free, nutritious food, but by sourcing it outside any monetary system. Free food, made free.


With the slogan 'Solidarity, not Charity!', B-Town Food Not Bombs has been a fixture in the local community, on and off, for nearly ten years and FNB has been around globally since 1980. As the group's name indicates, they can trace their roots to the Nuclear Disarmament movement of the '80s and are committed against violence and state aggression. The central difference between FNB and other groups/collectives is their penchant for sourcing their delicious (as the author and many residents can attest) vegan or vegetarian meals from no-cost, local sources. These are often vendors such as grocery stores, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) groups, local farmers and backyardeners whose donated food would have gone to waste for one reason or another, but is otherwise perfectly good and ready for our and our neighbor's plate.


The 'feeding frenzies' are free to all and take place in public spaces (here at Peoples Park most Sunday evenings) as a way to combat hunger but to also encourage real, meaningful discussion and action against poverty and homelessness...an issue that, even here, is kept more silent than it can and should be. That said, the folks are genuine, friendly and encourage a sense of community with all who attend. Cliquish-ness is discouraged by a common ground; fixing hunger.


So, as a member's invitation went one Sunday, 'B-Town Food Not Bombs presents a real, tasty meal! Come one, come all at 5:45 p.m. to People's Park. Bring the whole household, even pets! Tell a friend, tell a foe.' I'll see you there, in hunger and solidarity.


Kyle F is a recently transplanted Bloomington resident interested in food security and community-powered projects in general.'

Thursday, January 12, 2012

HOT TEA MONTH IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO EACH OF YOU! MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE POTABLE WATER AND DELICIOUS .HEALTHY FOOD AND GOOD COMPANY TO SHARE IT WITH!

January is HOT Tea Month and PATRICIA’S WELLNESS ARTS CAFÉ & Quilter’s Comfort Teas is celebrating with a "Name a Tea Contest"! Tea Blender, or more aptly, tisane blender, Patricia C. Coleman of Quilter's Comfort is settling in at 725 West Kirkwood Avenue with the introduction of 14 new certified organic Quilter's Comfort proprietary blends, as soon as possible, there will be an introduction of locally sourced blends!

One of the new teas being released does not have a name! Everyone making a purchase during the month of January can submit a name suggestion for the unnamed tea. Current teas include Patricia's Delicious, Cold Thyme, Orange Earl Green, Chamomile HipHop, Owl and Pussy Cat's Berry Green (now a staple at the Runcible Spoon) All Ears and others. The person submitting the name selected by our panel of judges, Ash Burgess, Noah Dadds and Betty Irvine, will receive one bag of tea each month through 2012!

Stop in and enjoy self-serve sampling of the new nameless tea, another tea; tea syrup and tea jelly. I know, some of you are saying "tea jelly?" I have never heard of such a thing. Patricia creates what she calls a "tea essence" from one of her blends and works that into jelly. Yes, every certified organic artisan tea blend is mirrored in jelly and syrup. One taster described the jelly and syrup as subtle, complex and layered. Another expressed how there is a long pleasant mid range of delicate flavors.

If you are in Bloomington, stop in Patricia's Wellness Arts Cafe and experience what BLOOM Mag calls "A Cafe Life No Other". Not in Bloomington, Indiana and would love to taste these delicious and nutritious teas, you can place an order by calling . Visit the Quilter's Comfort website at http://www.quilterscomfort.com. They hope to have it up to date as soon as possible.

Blessings of delicious food,

Friday, May 06, 2011

Morel Mushrom Haiku and Pictures

A week ago Tuesday, my son in law and daughter visited for his birthday. Before coming in to say hello, they spent about ten minutes walking around the house and these are the beautiful morels they found in that short time!

I wrote a few (very quick)Haiku's to accompany them.

*********************************************************************************

Blessings of mushrooms to all.

Abundant Morels
Look before you take a step
Mushrooms everywhere




Morels cooking with
onions and garlic cozy
along the pans edge





Look at the size of
These morels tall, full fleshed
Delicate of taste




I want to bite these
Morel mushrooms all up, NOW
even uncooked




I know I am ahead of the season, yet, I am wondering if the Chanterelle's will be as abundant. If so, yum yum yum!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Foods that Starve Cancer

Foods that Starve Cancer
MEDICINAL FOOD NEWS~ July 2010 No.233 ~

Sometimes, big break throughs happen when you look at a problem from a new perspective. Instead of asking why does a cancer grow, medical researchers asked how does a cancer grow. This led to the observation that, for a cancer to grow, it needs to be fed. Each cell in our body is in direct contact with a blood vessel that brings it nourishment and takes away waste products. The same is true for a cancer cell. As a cancer grows and spreads, as the number of cancer cells multiplies, the blood vessel system supplying these new cells also has to grow. The cancer can only grow if each of its new cells has a blood vessel next to it to give it food. This process of new blood vessel growth (either for normal or cancer cells) is called angiogenesis. If angiogenesis is stopped, cells cannot grow. There are now some cancer specialists who believe to stop cancers from growing, stop angiogenesis.

Scientists have developed cell models of angiogenesis in the lab. They can now study factors that inhibit or slow down angiogenesis. Their findings show that many food and food ingredients are anti-angiogenic, they stop the growth of new blood vessels.

Although there are currently few clinical trials which have shown that the introduction of such anti-angiogenic foods into the diet can effectively slow down or stop cancer growth, the initial reports are very encouraging. The foods and beverages which have been identified so far would be very easy to incorporate into a "normal diet. Cancer patients looking for ways to accompany more traditional cancer treatments may want to start by adding anti-angiogenic foods to their diet.

Table 1: Foods and Beverages with Anti-angiogenic properties

Fruits: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries oranges, lemons, apples, pineapples, cherries, red grapes

Vegetables:bok choy, soy beans, kale, artichokes, pumpkin, tomato

Sea food: tuna, sea cucumber
olive oil, grape seed oil

Spices:turmeric, nutmeg, parsley, garlic

Other:ginseng, dark chocolate

1. Additional reading
2. Dulak, L. 2005. Nutreaceuticals as anti-angiogenic agents: hopes and realities. J. Physiology Pharmacology, 56, Suppl 1, 51-691.

REPRINTED FROM Medicinal Food News - http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol14/foods-that-starve-cancer

Interesting video -

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Quilter's Comfort "Bluesy Green" tea at the Players Pub!

This St. Patrick's night "Wear the Green, Enjoy the Blues"at the Players Pub as they introduce their new special tea: Players Pub's Bluesy Green" a Certified Organic herbal tea blended specially for them in Bloomington by Quilters Comfort. Quilter's Comfort blends organic herbs and teas in small batches. Quilter's Comfort's Patricia C. Coleman, tea blender, has been crafting herbal brews since the mid 1970's.

So stop by the Pub wearing your green and enjoy a cup of Bluesy Green tea on the house and of course there will also be some really good Blues music to enjoy.

For more information about the Pub, check out the Players Pub's calendar - http://www.theplayerspub.com/calendar.php

For more information about Quilter's Comfort visit http://www.quilterscomfort.com/

Friday, December 31, 2010

Thank you Local Food Readers

May this brief end of the year note find you each well in every part of your life. Thank you for supporting Local Food Bloomington!

We hope to have new volunteers in 2011 and will continue to share local food information with you and improve on the Local Food Bloomington website, home to Local Food News, celebrating its 10th Anniversary!

Interested in supporting Local Food? Contact us with your ideas. Together we can share more about local food!

Send your tax deductible donations to:

Local Food Bloomington
P.O. Box 8172
Bloomington, Indiana 47407

Food Safety Bill - from Natural News

NEW FOOD SAFETY BILL S.510
NaturalNews) Despite an incredible outpouring of public opposition to
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "Food Safety Modernization
Act", or S. 510, the Senate voted 73 to 25 to pass the bill anyway.
And data presented by Maplight.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research
organization, shows that big industry groups and large food producers
spent millions of dollars buying off Congressmen to garner support for
it. Senators that ended up supporting the bill received nearly $10
million in political contributions from interest groups.
http://www.naturalnews.com/030586_S_510_corruption.html

TOP TEN LIES ABOUT NEW FOOD BILL
Once again Mike Adams from Natural News has posted an article that
you should read outlining the top 10 lies (not the only ones) that
mainstream is spewing.
http://www.naturalnews.com/030587_Senate_Bill_510_Food_Safety.html

Friday, December 03, 2010

Call for Papers - Journal of Agriculture,Food Systems, and Community Development

Journal of Agriculture,Food Systems, and Community Development


ATTENTION: Professionals Researchers Graduate Students



CALL FOR PAPERS



The Essential Principles of Small- and Mid-Scale

Food Value Chain Development



Manuscripts due February 15, 2011



For details about JAFSCD and author guidelines, visit www.AgDevJournal.com/submissions.



JAFSCD invites researchers, ag/food system development professionals, and others to submit applied research papers, critical reflection essays, commentaries, and other manuscripts that provide critical insights into small- and mid-scale food value chain development.



Food value chains (FVCs) are a hot topic among agriculture and food systems development professionals. In FVCs, farmers and ranchers are treated as strategic partners, not as interchangeable — and exploitable — input suppliers. Values-based food supply chains (value chains) are strategic alliances between farms, ranches, and other supply-chain partners who distribute rewards equitably across the supply chain. They can include farm-to-institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons), multiproducer processors and wholesalers, multifarm CSAs, food hubs, food webs and networks, and the like. All partners in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration, and mutual support.[1]



Research suggests that successful mid-scale FVCs are built on three foundations:

* Appropriate volumes of high-quality, differentiated, market-engaging food products, coupled with value-adding stories of people, land, and practices;
* Strategic partnerships based on trusting, transparent, and win/win business relationships; and
* Effective, efficient supply-chain management and logistics, including product marketing, aggregation, processing, distribution, and record-keeping.

Papers can explore specific components within a chain (a farmer co-op or association), interactions of two or more links in a chain (farmers, wholesalers, processors, retailers, and eaters), or an entire chain. Examples include:

* Case studies of successful or failed FVC programs
* Research and education strategies that help build resilient FVCs
* How are FVCs playing a role in rural development?
* The role of FVCs in increasingly multifunctional rural landscapes
* Systematic analyses of key differences between FVCs and traditional food supply chains
* Local and global FVCs: influence of globalization on FVCs; should these be accepted or mediated?
* Overview analysis of the values chain sector (comparisons or outcomes across many cases)
* Implications of new food safety legislation on values chains
* Storage and transportation logistics
* Branding and geographical identity
* Performance and impact analysis
* Scaling up
* Building trust and transparency
* Business planning and/or record-keeping

The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development is a NEW online-only international, peer-reviewed journal focused on applied research and best practices in the development of thriving farming communities and sustainable food systems. Peer reviewers include development practitioners, organization and agency staff, faculty, graduate students, consultants, and farmers from around the world with expertise in a wide range of agriculture and food-systems issues as they relate to community, ecological sustainability, and economic development. JAFSCD is online at www.AgDevJournal.com.



[1] Adapted with permission from Stevenson, G. W. and Pirog, R. (2008). Values-based supply chains: Strategies for agrifood enterprises of the middle. In T. Lyson, G. W. Stevenson, and R. Welsh (Eds.), Food and the Mid-Level Farm: Renewing an Agriculture of the Middle. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.



OPEN CALL



The Journal welcomes papers at any time on any subject related to the development aspects of agriculture and food systems.



Content can focus specifically on conservation and farmland protection, value-adding, cooperative marketing, value chains, distribution, farm labor, market research, consumer decision-making drivers, and other topics. Authors are encouraged to submit applied research papers, commentary, and thought-provoking articles that inform the emerging field of agriculture and food systems development. Faculty and students, Extension and other educators, planners, consultants, staff with farm agencies and farm and community organizations, and farmers are invited to submit material.



For both calls, manuscripts should focus on the practical application of these innovations: the organization and mechanics of a program or strategy; engagement of stakeholders; challenges and unique solutions; impact analysis; and lessons learned. The Journal encourages "accessible scholarship" -- minimizing jargon, writing in the active voice, and addressing the interests of both practitioners and academics. These papers should inspire and inform new and existing community development efforts to establish and sustain farms. Papers that feature survey results with descriptive statistics, or case studies featuring best practices (or even post-mortem analyses), are highly encouraged.



The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
is published by New Leaf Publishing and Consulting (www.NewLeafNet.com).