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

Monday, April 17, 2017

Local Food News Update



 Image from Wikicommons

Hello and thank you for coming to this page.  I hope that you will visit Local Food and read some of the news.  We've titled this year as the year of Food Heritage - Opportunities and Choices.  Because you are paying attention, you are aware of the importance of seeds, bees, water and other factors that directly impact the quality of our health and the environment.  Yes, there is something every one can do to say YES to what remains of of our local, national and global food resources.  We have the opportunity to support, develop and enrich regenerative and sustainable food systems.  As eaters, it is our job to expect the healthiest food for everyone, because to be a great community or nation recquires healthy minds and bodies at every stage of life.  Healthy food, air, soil  and water systems are necessary because what is in the water, air and soil is in every bite we consume.

Since 2001 LOCAL FOOD BLOOMINGTON has been offering information 
on where we eat; community resources, regenerative gardening and food news
  that directly applies to the how, and the why of what we have available on our
tables and how it connects each of us to our national and global food systems.
 Baking, Coffee Shops, Breweries, Wineries, Restaurants, Food News, Blog,    
 Community Food Resources for those in need, Food Education, Food Words,
 Food Books, Recipes, Farmers Markets, Gardening Resources, Wildcrafting  

 You will find articles or connections to these topics and more!

~The Difference Between Open Pollinated Seeds, Hybrids and GMO's
~What is a Seed Bank?
~Community Seed Libraries
~Bees
~States and Counties Can Ban GMO Crops Despite Federal Laws
~Milwaukee County To Be Home To Largest Urban Organic Fruit Orchard In US
~Franklin Electric Acquires US Groundwater Distribution Companies in Indiana
~Fraking
~Chef Interview with Chris Swartzenruber Upland’s Executive Chef
~Swanton Strawberry Farm
~Cuba's Organic Honey Exports Create Buzzas Bees Die off Elsewhere
~Indian Traders Boycott Coca-Cola for
Straining Water Resources'
~Lemongrass
~Free Food Education



Read the updated Food News at http://www.greendove.net/foodnews.htm
Visit the updated Local Food site at http://www.greendove.net/localfood.htm

Thank you,
LOCAL FOOD Fairy

“The nation’s fiscal health is dependent upon the health of the next generation. When we consider the cost of inaction in a matter of national security, lives are at stake.” Debra Eschmeyer, Co-Founder of Food Corps

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


























































































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

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

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Officials Dedicate Middle Way House and Food Works Business

-This is a great boon to the citizens of Monroe County! I wasn't able to be there in body, but was present in spirit! I am looking forward to seeing how things settle down and what businesses come through the Incubator Kitchen (see previous note about Incubator Projects). I also send a congratulations to everyone who worked on this project, and a special thanks to Donna Storm for the amazing balancing act she has been performing for years to facilitate the workings of Food Works and this move to the Coke Building!




Officials Dedicate Middle Way House and Food Works Business

By Thomas Conti
Published: Jun 24, 2010
http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/middle-house-dedication/

Early Wednesday night, the old Coca-Cola building in downtown Bloomington officially opened its doors for the dedication of the new Middle Way House and Food Works business.

For five years, the New Wings Community Partnership collected over 6 million dollars – 3 million from private donors alone – to complete the project. In 2005, the Middle Way House purchased the old Coca-Cola building with the hopes of increasing accessibility as well as expanding the opportunities for the women of Middle Way.

In response to holding the dedication of the New Wings Project, Chair of the New Wings Community Partnership Laurie McRobbie said, “It means we did it. I mean we found the support in a lot of different ways. Like every non-profit we look for sources of support everywhere we can find them.”

Donations from local government, businesses, organizations, and community members made it possible for the new Middle Way House to be finished.

“I think the power of the vision for this building, the power of what Middle Way is and what it can continue to be and become really drew supporters to this so it means of all that. It means we’re doing something important for the women who get the services from Middle Way, it also means we’re doing something important for Bloomington,” said McRobbie.

The new Middle Way House also means a new location for Food Works, a full service catering business owned and operated by Middle Way. Donna Storm is the Business and Operations Manager for Food Works for Middle Way House.

“We’re getting together with a lot of people in the community that have a lot of the same interests and we have a lot of the same goals and at the same time we can provide additional jobs to women to help them transition away from situations that have been hurtful to them in the past,” Storm said.

Food Works has benefited from the donations and volunteers in the community as it is a branch of the Middle Way House.

“It’s been pretty exciting, meeting all the people in the community that have a real interest in local food, local businesses, helping the Middle Way House.”

Over the next few weeks Food Works, the New Wings Community Partnership, and the Middle Way House will work together to move slowly into the new building.

Monday, June 28, 2010

IN FOOD News

Hello,

I hope you are embracing the beauty of this season and the increased opportunities to go-local! Take a walk through the Farmers Market, and not only will you be subjected to a visual feast, you will also have the opportunity to enjoy seeing so many people enjoying one another, as much as they are enjoying the produce surrounding them.

At the Great Unleashing back in April, interest groups were formed by people interested in pursuing the transition of our local food system. Click here for connections to Transition Bloomington and other Community Building resources

Local Food News, (#3 in a recent Google Search) of Local Food Bloomington (#1 search for a few years) has recently been updated on the web. Local Food Fairy looks forward to your comments, and appreciates your tax deductible donations in support of the oldest local food resource in Bloomington, Indiana.

In the current update, you will find something about Farmers and their fight against Monsanto, Dairy Labels, the Food Supply Chain, water, organic wines and much more.


As always, there is a lot happening in the area of local food. The Bloomington, Indiana Farmers markets are bustling with diverse beauty and delectable abundance.

For information about
Bloomington, IN Farmers Markets, CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture
Indiana Farmers Markets
Gardening Resources
Community Food Resources

Are you a market gardener, local food shopper, observer of local foods growth in the area? We want to hear from you. Send us pictures, reviews, stories, and other information about going local with food and all things connected to share.

Also, our sister, Indiana Holistic Health Network - http://www.indianaholistichealth.net, recently published a new Healing CRANE Newsletter which you may find of interest. http://www.indianaholistichealth.net/newsletter3-3.htm.

Bloomington, Indiana is a city going-local in many areas! Let us know what you are interested in and share what you know because it may be an inspiration to others.