Boulderites, take note!
Shanan Olson and Rich Pecoraro of Abbondanza Organic Seeds & Produce have just announced a special three-year, year-round CSA share that will help them finance ownership of their own farmland (already under contract!).
They write, "In order to realize the Abbondanza dream of establishing a farmstead within Boulder County, at which we may genuinely share the unique aspects of farm life, local food systems and seed saving, we have determined, after five years of renting, that we need a permanent home. Any other way is contrary to our vision and ultimately detrimental to our long-term sustainability. Dream Share will empower Abbondanza as a community farm to reach into the locale more deeply and establish programs of teaching and sharing for young and old."
The three-year Dream Share will include Abbondanza's very best in Veggie Share and Keeper Share, plus a Fruit Share from Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss (western slope).
There are only 50 Dream Shares available, providing subscribers year-round local food for three full years, and all are expected to sell out by the end of the month--so hurry if you want to support this important effort. Participation will empower Abbondanza "to become landowners, thus establishing a community stead for teaching and sharing the crafts of seed and food." This will be a tremendous breakthrough for local agriculture in Boulder County!
Click here for more details and a sign-up sheet.
Reprinted with permission from Boulder Valley Relocalization.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Breaking News for Small Farmers...
Looking for an inexpensive way to launch a Website? Check out the following press release from SPIN Farming and Small Farm Central:
SPIN-Farming™ Teams Up with Small Farm Central
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SPIN-Farming, ( www.spinfarming.com) has teamed up with Small Farm Central (http://www.smallfarmcewntral.com/) to provide ready-to-go websites that connect farmers with customers quickly, easily and inexpensively.
"SPIN-Farming calls for cultivating customers as well as crops, and that calls for a professional-looking web site," says Wally Satzewich, the developer of the SPIN-Farming system. "But most farmers would rather deal with buggy potato plants than buggy software. Small Farm Central frees farmers to be out working their plots instead of sitting behind a computer trying to program their web sites."
The SPIN-branded web sites can include everything "soup to nuts", from photo galleries to blogs to recipes to mailing lists, but farmers can start out simply and add features as they see the need. No technical experience is necessary to run their sites on Small Farm Central.
"SPIN-Farming is helping to eliminate the traditional hardships of farming and is redefining it as an entrepreneurially-driven profession," says Roxanne Christensen, Co-author of the SPIN-Farming online learning series. "It is only natural to be working with Small Farm Central to eliminate the complexities of web site development and help farmers harness the power of technology for direct marketing. Plus, Small Farm Central is in a great position to know what is working for farmers online, and they generously offer free tips and advice at their site."
"Whether they farm in the middle of an urban jungle, on the suburban fringe, or as part of a large acreage in the country, each SPIN farmer's story is a powerful online marketing tool. We at Small Farm Central understand their stories, and help them tell it, engage with their customers, and sell more through professional, active websites that promote the farmer-eater connection," says Simon Huntley, Lead Developer of Small Farm Central.
ABOUT SPIN-FARMING
S-mall P-lot IN-tensive (SPIN) Farming is a non-technical, easy-to-understand-and inexpensive-to-implement farming system that makes it possible to generate $50,000+ in gross sales from a half-acre by growing common vegetables. It is organic-based and can be practiced on a single plot or multi-sited on several residential backyards or front lawns in urban or peri-urban areas. It is available via an online learning series at http://www.spinfarming.com/.
ABOUT SMALL FARM CENTRAL
Small Farm Central provides inexpensive, professional web services to farmers across the country. An online control panel that farmers can access at any time takes the mystery out of farm websites and makes it a breeze to sell products, publish a blog, post photos, and more. Information about the Small Farm Central SPIN web service can be found at: http://www.smallfarmcentral.com/. Contact Roxanne Christensene-mail: rchristensen@infocommercegroup.com phone: 610-505-9189
Please note: I am passing this along as an FYI. This should not be seen as an endorsement or recommendation of the product.
SPIN-Farming™ Teams Up with Small Farm Central
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SPIN-Farming, ( www.spinfarming.com) has teamed up with Small Farm Central (http://www.smallfarmcewntral.com/) to provide ready-to-go websites that connect farmers with customers quickly, easily and inexpensively.
"SPIN-Farming calls for cultivating customers as well as crops, and that calls for a professional-looking web site," says Wally Satzewich, the developer of the SPIN-Farming system. "But most farmers would rather deal with buggy potato plants than buggy software. Small Farm Central frees farmers to be out working their plots instead of sitting behind a computer trying to program their web sites."
The SPIN-branded web sites can include everything "soup to nuts", from photo galleries to blogs to recipes to mailing lists, but farmers can start out simply and add features as they see the need. No technical experience is necessary to run their sites on Small Farm Central.
"SPIN-Farming is helping to eliminate the traditional hardships of farming and is redefining it as an entrepreneurially-driven profession," says Roxanne Christensen, Co-author of the SPIN-Farming online learning series. "It is only natural to be working with Small Farm Central to eliminate the complexities of web site development and help farmers harness the power of technology for direct marketing. Plus, Small Farm Central is in a great position to know what is working for farmers online, and they generously offer free tips and advice at their site."
"Whether they farm in the middle of an urban jungle, on the suburban fringe, or as part of a large acreage in the country, each SPIN farmer's story is a powerful online marketing tool. We at Small Farm Central understand their stories, and help them tell it, engage with their customers, and sell more through professional, active websites that promote the farmer-eater connection," says Simon Huntley, Lead Developer of Small Farm Central.
ABOUT SPIN-FARMING
S-mall P-lot IN-tensive (SPIN) Farming is a non-technical, easy-to-understand-and inexpensive-to-implement farming system that makes it possible to generate $50,000+ in gross sales from a half-acre by growing common vegetables. It is organic-based and can be practiced on a single plot or multi-sited on several residential backyards or front lawns in urban or peri-urban areas. It is available via an online learning series at http://www.spinfarming.com/.
ABOUT SMALL FARM CENTRAL
Small Farm Central provides inexpensive, professional web services to farmers across the country. An online control panel that farmers can access at any time takes the mystery out of farm websites and makes it a breeze to sell products, publish a blog, post photos, and more. Information about the Small Farm Central SPIN web service can be found at: http://www.smallfarmcentral.com/. Contact Roxanne Christensene-mail: rchristensen@infocommercegroup.com phone: 610-505-9189
Please note: I am passing this along as an FYI. This should not be seen as an endorsement or recommendation of the product.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Mark Your Calendars for the January 24th Denver Screening of King Corn
Almost everything Americans eat contains corn: high fructose corn syrup, corn-fed meat, and corn-based processed foods are the staples of the modern diet. King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.
In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat—and how we farm.
Director Aaron Woolf will be present at the screening. See the King Corn website for trailers, reviews, dates and how to take action.
Corn Kernels:
Reprinted from the King Corn Press Kit
Corn is the nation’s most-planted, most-processed, most-subsidized crop. More than 80 million acres of the heartland are planted in corn each year, and delivered to our tables:
“If you take a McDonald’s meal, you don’t realize it when you eat it, but you’re eating corn. Beef has been corn-fed. Soda is corn. Even the French fries. Half the calories in the French fries come from the fat they’re fried in, which is liable to be either corn oil or soy oil. So when you’re at McDonald’s, you’re eating Iowa food. Everything on your plate is corn.” -- Michael Pollan, UC Berkeley, in King Corn
There is legislative logic to the flood of cheap corn-based foods. In 2005, federal subsidies spent $9.4 billion in taxpayer money to promote corn production. For Iowa farmers, these payments often mean the difference between profit and loss on a given acre. With subsidies promoting production beyond market demand, the raw materials for an obesity epidemic are readily at hand.
For further reading on corn, consult Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (see Home Grown Colorado review, December 20, 2007), the Farm Subsidies Database at www.ewg.org/farm, or http://www.kingcorn.net/.
On the farm:
Number of acres planted in corn in the U.S. in 1970[i]: 66.9 million
Number of acres planted in 2004[ii]: 80.9 million
Number in 2007[iii]: 92.9 million
Percent change since 1970: +39
Number of acres planted in corn in Iowa in 1970[iv]: 10.8 million
Number of acres planted in 2007[v]: 14.3 million
Iowa’s average yield, in bushels per acre, of corn in 1970: 86
Iowa’s average yield, in bushels per acre, in 2007: 180
Percent change since 1970: +109
Number of acres planted in vegetables in the U.S. last year[vi]: 2 million
Number of acres planted in vegetables in Iowa last year[vii]: 2,800
Number if acres planted in sweet corn—for corn in the cob—in the U.S. last year[viii]: 253,500
Percentage of those acres that are in Florida, the number-one sweet-corn-growing state[ix]: 13
Rank of New York among top sweet-corn-growing states[x]: 3
Last year in which a record was set in the U.S. for corn production, in bushels[xi]: 2004
Percentage points by which 2007 corn production is projected to exceed that record[xii]: +10.6
Number of bushels to be harvested in 2007[xiii]: 13.1 billion
In your body:
Rank of refined sugar, or sucrose, among most-used sweeteners in the U.S. in 1966[xiv]: 1
Rank in 2007: 2
Rank of high-fructose corn syrup in 2007: 1
Estimated percentage of high-fructose corn syrup consumed from beverages[xv]: 66
Rank of soft drinks among top beverages consumed by Americans[xvi]: 1
Minimum percentage of a soda that is made up of high-fructose corn syrup[xvii]: 7
Maximum percentage: 14
Percentage by which high-fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sugar[xviii]: 60
Average, in pounds, of high-fructose corn syrup consumed by an American in 1970[xix]: 0.6
Average, in pounds, consumed in 2000[xx]: 73.5
Size, in ounces, of McDonald’s Supersize soda, discontinued in 2004: 42
Size, in ouces, of McDonald’s new extra-large soda, Hugo, introduced in 2007[xxi]: 42
Percentage of Americans categorized as overweight or obese in 1971[xxii]: 47.7
Percentage in 2004[xxiii]: 66
Percentage of American children categorized as overweight or obese in 1971[xxiv]: 4
Percentage in 2004[xxv]: 17.5
In our wallets:[xxvi]
Rank of Iowa among states receiving the most money in corn subsidies: 1
Rank of New York: 16
Rank of corn growers among farmers receiving the most farm subsidies in Iowa: 1
Rank of corn growers among farmers receiving the most farm subsidies in New York: 1
Amount, in dollars, that Iowa corn farmers received in subsidies, 2003-2005: 3.4 billion
Amount that New York corn farmers received: 173 million
Amount, in dollars, received by Floyd County, IA corn farmers, 2003-2005: 37.5 million
Amount, in dollars, received by Greene, IA’s top recipient of subsidies: 364,693
Number of farm subsidy recipients in Greene, Iowa: 317
Population of Greene, Iowa: 1,015
Amount, in dollars, that the top 20% of subsidy recipients received, 2003-2005: 29.1 billion
Amount, in dollars, that the remaining 80% of recipients received: 5.6 billion
Amount, in dollars, received by the subsidy program’s single top recipient: 7.9 million[xxvii]
References:
[i] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 1970”.
[ii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 2004”.
[iii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 2007”.
[iv] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 1970”.
[v] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 2007”.
[vi] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables, 2006”.
[vii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables, 2006”.
[viii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables: Sweet Corn-Fresh, 2006”.
[ix] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables: Sweet Corn-Fresh, 2006”.
[x] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables: Sweet Corn-Fresh, 2006”.
[xi] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “USDA Forecasts Record-Setting Corn Crop for 2007,” August 10, 2007.
[xii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “USDA Forecasts Record-Setting Corn Crop for 2007,” August 10, 2007.
[xiii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “USDA Forecasts Record-Setting Corn Crop for 2007,” August 10, 2007.
[xiv] Sally Squires, Washington Post, March 11, 2003, “Sweet but Not So Innocent?
[xv] George A Bray, Samara Joy Nielsen and Barry M Popkin, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004
[xvi] American Beverage Association, “ What America Drinks: Our Favorite Beverages—Total U.S. Beverage Consumption 2005”.
[xvii] American Beverage Association, “What's Inside Carbonated Soft Drinks,” 2007.
[xviii] Business Week, April 2, 2007, “Will Soda Makers Shuck Corn for Sugar?”
[xix] George A Bray, Samara Joy Nielsen and Barry M Popkin, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004
[xx] George A Bray, et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004
[xxi] Martin, Andrew, The New York Times, July 22, 2007, “ Did McDonald’s Give In to Temptation?”
[xxii] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight, obesity, and healthy weight among persons 20 years of age and over by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1960-1962 through 2001-2004”, p. 287.
[xxiii] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight, obesity, and healthy weight among persons 20 years of age and over by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1960-1962 through 2001-2004”, p. 287.
[xxiv] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight among children and adolescents 6-19 years of age by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1963-1965 through 2001-2004”, p. 291.
[xxv] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight among children and adolescents 6-19 years of age by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1963-1965 through 2001-2004”, p. 291.
[xxvi] Farm Subsidy Database, Environmental Working Group, 2007.
In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat—and how we farm.
Screening: January 24th
The Starz Film Center
9th Street and Auraria Parkway
Times and Details: 303-893-3456
Director Aaron Woolf will be present at the screening. See the King Corn website for trailers, reviews, dates and how to take action.
Corn Kernels:
Reprinted from the King Corn Press Kit
Corn is the nation’s most-planted, most-processed, most-subsidized crop. More than 80 million acres of the heartland are planted in corn each year, and delivered to our tables:
“If you take a McDonald’s meal, you don’t realize it when you eat it, but you’re eating corn. Beef has been corn-fed. Soda is corn. Even the French fries. Half the calories in the French fries come from the fat they’re fried in, which is liable to be either corn oil or soy oil. So when you’re at McDonald’s, you’re eating Iowa food. Everything on your plate is corn.” -- Michael Pollan, UC Berkeley, in King Corn
There is legislative logic to the flood of cheap corn-based foods. In 2005, federal subsidies spent $9.4 billion in taxpayer money to promote corn production. For Iowa farmers, these payments often mean the difference between profit and loss on a given acre. With subsidies promoting production beyond market demand, the raw materials for an obesity epidemic are readily at hand.
For further reading on corn, consult Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (see Home Grown Colorado review, December 20, 2007), the Farm Subsidies Database at www.ewg.org/farm, or http://www.kingcorn.net/.
On the farm:
Number of acres planted in corn in the U.S. in 1970[i]: 66.9 million
Number of acres planted in 2004[ii]: 80.9 million
Number in 2007[iii]: 92.9 million
Percent change since 1970: +39
Number of acres planted in corn in Iowa in 1970[iv]: 10.8 million
Number of acres planted in 2007[v]: 14.3 million
Iowa’s average yield, in bushels per acre, of corn in 1970: 86
Iowa’s average yield, in bushels per acre, in 2007: 180
Percent change since 1970: +109
Number of acres planted in vegetables in the U.S. last year[vi]: 2 million
Number of acres planted in vegetables in Iowa last year[vii]: 2,800
Number if acres planted in sweet corn—for corn in the cob—in the U.S. last year[viii]: 253,500
Percentage of those acres that are in Florida, the number-one sweet-corn-growing state[ix]: 13
Rank of New York among top sweet-corn-growing states[x]: 3
Last year in which a record was set in the U.S. for corn production, in bushels[xi]: 2004
Percentage points by which 2007 corn production is projected to exceed that record[xii]: +10.6
Number of bushels to be harvested in 2007[xiii]: 13.1 billion
In your body:
Rank of refined sugar, or sucrose, among most-used sweeteners in the U.S. in 1966[xiv]: 1
Rank in 2007: 2
Rank of high-fructose corn syrup in 2007: 1
Estimated percentage of high-fructose corn syrup consumed from beverages[xv]: 66
Rank of soft drinks among top beverages consumed by Americans[xvi]: 1
Minimum percentage of a soda that is made up of high-fructose corn syrup[xvii]: 7
Maximum percentage: 14
Percentage by which high-fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sugar[xviii]: 60
Average, in pounds, of high-fructose corn syrup consumed by an American in 1970[xix]: 0.6
Average, in pounds, consumed in 2000[xx]: 73.5
Size, in ounces, of McDonald’s Supersize soda, discontinued in 2004: 42
Size, in ouces, of McDonald’s new extra-large soda, Hugo, introduced in 2007[xxi]: 42
Percentage of Americans categorized as overweight or obese in 1971[xxii]: 47.7
Percentage in 2004[xxiii]: 66
Percentage of American children categorized as overweight or obese in 1971[xxiv]: 4
Percentage in 2004[xxv]: 17.5
In our wallets:[xxvi]
Rank of Iowa among states receiving the most money in corn subsidies: 1
Rank of New York: 16
Rank of corn growers among farmers receiving the most farm subsidies in Iowa: 1
Rank of corn growers among farmers receiving the most farm subsidies in New York: 1
Amount, in dollars, that Iowa corn farmers received in subsidies, 2003-2005: 3.4 billion
Amount that New York corn farmers received: 173 million
Amount, in dollars, received by Floyd County, IA corn farmers, 2003-2005: 37.5 million
Amount, in dollars, received by Greene, IA’s top recipient of subsidies: 364,693
Number of farm subsidy recipients in Greene, Iowa: 317
Population of Greene, Iowa: 1,015
Amount, in dollars, that the top 20% of subsidy recipients received, 2003-2005: 29.1 billion
Amount, in dollars, that the remaining 80% of recipients received: 5.6 billion
Amount, in dollars, received by the subsidy program’s single top recipient: 7.9 million[xxvii]
References:
[i] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 1970”.
[ii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 2004”.
[iii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 2007”.
[iv] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 1970”.
[v] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Crops: Corn for Grain, 2007”.
[vi] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables, 2006”.
[vii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables, 2006”.
[viii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables: Sweet Corn-Fresh, 2006”.
[ix] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables: Sweet Corn-Fresh, 2006”.
[x] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Quick Stats, “U.S. & All States Data—Vegetables: Sweet Corn-Fresh, 2006”.
[xi] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “USDA Forecasts Record-Setting Corn Crop for 2007,” August 10, 2007.
[xii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “USDA Forecasts Record-Setting Corn Crop for 2007,” August 10, 2007.
[xiii] USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, “USDA Forecasts Record-Setting Corn Crop for 2007,” August 10, 2007.
[xiv] Sally Squires, Washington Post, March 11, 2003, “Sweet but Not So Innocent?
[xv] George A Bray, Samara Joy Nielsen and Barry M Popkin, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004
[xvi] American Beverage Association, “ What America Drinks: Our Favorite Beverages—Total U.S. Beverage Consumption 2005”.
[xvii] American Beverage Association, “What's Inside Carbonated Soft Drinks,” 2007.
[xviii] Business Week, April 2, 2007, “Will Soda Makers Shuck Corn for Sugar?”
[xix] George A Bray, Samara Joy Nielsen and Barry M Popkin, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004
[xx] George A Bray, et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004
[xxi] Martin, Andrew, The New York Times, July 22, 2007, “ Did McDonald’s Give In to Temptation?”
[xxii] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight, obesity, and healthy weight among persons 20 years of age and over by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1960-1962 through 2001-2004”, p. 287.
[xxiii] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight, obesity, and healthy weight among persons 20 years of age and over by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1960-1962 through 2001-2004”, p. 287.
[xxiv] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight among children and adolescents 6-19 years of age by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1963-1965 through 2001-2004”, p. 291.
[xxv] United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, “Health, United States, 2006, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans—Table 73: Overweight among children and adolescents 6-19 years of age by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, and poverty level: United States, 1963-1965 through 2001-2004”, p. 291.
[xxvi] Farm Subsidy Database, Environmental Working Group, 2007.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
NPR Interview with Michael Pollan on his New Book: In Defense of Food
Technorati Profile
"Don't eat anything that your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food...."
Check out this NPR interview with Michael Pollan on his new book, In Defense of Food. In six minutes, he covers a number of the scariest things about our current food system -- and gives us all plenty to chew on.
Here's a link to the interview:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17725932
"Don't eat anything that your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food...."
Check out this NPR interview with Michael Pollan on his new book, In Defense of Food. In six minutes, he covers a number of the scariest things about our current food system -- and gives us all plenty to chew on.
Here's a link to the interview:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17725932
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Top 10 Ways to Help Support Local Foods in Denver
It's always good to use the New Year as a catalyst for examining your life. If you're looking for some "resolution-fodder," here are ten ways that you can help develop a local food system in Denver. (This can be adapted to other communities as well.)
10. Patronize restaurants and grocers that feature locally grown food.
9. Go to one of Denver's many farmers markets to buy local food and connect with local farmers.
8. Grow food organically in your backyard or even in a container. Invite a child to handpick and eat your vine-ripened fruit or vegetables.
7. Get involved in the public review process for proposed development and advocate for community gardens, community-supported agriculture projects (CSAs) and farmers markets. Be sure to support the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's efforts to develop a Sustainable Community Development Code.
6. Join Denver's Food and Agricultural Policy Council, and help address local food issues at a policy level, such as farm to cafeteria programs in local schools.
5. Join Denver's Healthy Neighborhood Network (HNN) and share ideas with other gardeners, help to further secure the long-term sustainability of community gardens in our city and volunteer/or volunteer to mentor youth in a school garden.
4. Support Denver's new Youth Markets Coalition next season by attending their market days from July through September.
3. Join DeLaney Community Farm, or another local CSA, as a shareholder or volunteer. You can even purchase a "winter share" at some local CSAs.
2. Volunteer with Denver Urban Gardens and assist us in our work to improve access to local, healthy and affordable food for inner-city residents.
1. Promote, join or start a community garden in your neighborhood, and reach out to your neighbors, build community and share the joys and benefits of a bountiful harvest.
10. Patronize restaurants and grocers that feature locally grown food.
9. Go to one of Denver's many farmers markets to buy local food and connect with local farmers.
8. Grow food organically in your backyard or even in a container. Invite a child to handpick and eat your vine-ripened fruit or vegetables.
7. Get involved in the public review process for proposed development and advocate for community gardens, community-supported agriculture projects (CSAs) and farmers markets. Be sure to support the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's efforts to develop a Sustainable Community Development Code.
6. Join Denver's Food and Agricultural Policy Council, and help address local food issues at a policy level, such as farm to cafeteria programs in local schools.
5. Join Denver's Healthy Neighborhood Network (HNN) and share ideas with other gardeners, help to further secure the long-term sustainability of community gardens in our city and volunteer/or volunteer to mentor youth in a school garden.
4. Support Denver's new Youth Markets Coalition next season by attending their market days from July through September.
3. Join DeLaney Community Farm, or another local CSA, as a shareholder or volunteer. You can even purchase a "winter share" at some local CSAs.
2. Volunteer with Denver Urban Gardens and assist us in our work to improve access to local, healthy and affordable food for inner-city residents.
1. Promote, join or start a community garden in your neighborhood, and reach out to your neighbors, build community and share the joys and benefits of a bountiful harvest.
Note: This list was originally published in The Underground News, Fall 2007
Reprinted with permission from Denver Urban Gardens
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