Good Food is Everybody's Business
An old-fashioned county fair gathered farmers, their families, and hundreds of “city folk” to meet and connect over good food. Barns full of prize-winning livestock; exhibits of garden produce, baked goods and preserves; and lots of music and excitement helped build a sense of community. Seattle Tilth’s annual Harvest Fair is an urban version, but all of the components are there!
We tip our hats and offer congratulations to Bill Marler for his contributions to the passage of the Food Safety Bill.
The new law will contain a provision that is intended to give small, local farmers and food producers some protection from the cost of developing risk management plans and product testing required by larger producers. Many small farms and food producers have embraced the Internet as a low-cost sales and marketing tool, and more and more consumers are buying online. The law can be interpreted in such as way as to restrict online sales as well.
The most complete book on urban farming, covering everything from growing organic produce and raising chickens, to running a small farm on a city lot or in a suburban backyard. With 100 two-color instructional illustrations throughout and dozens of vital resources, Your Farm in the City is the most practical, comprehensive, and easy-to-follow guide to the burgeoning trend of urban farming.
We had the opportunity to speak with Kenna Eaton, the Co-op’s General Manager, and learned how a small retailer in the middle of the Palouse – the rolling hills and prairie grass of southeast Washington and northern Idaho – is successful.
Wild strawberries are an easy plant to grow – tuck them in, water them a little, and soon they will give you the daintiest, sweetest strawberries you’ve ever tasted. Plant them near your door and grab a handful for your breakfast cereal! Arthur Lee Jacobson, Puget Sound’s edible plant expert, provides us with today’s comments on growing the Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca).
This research will help city planners, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and citizens understand how urban agriculture can contribute to creating a sustainable food system in a major North American city.
While small operations like Amaltheia Dairy and Crown S Ranch will never approach the size and production of operations like Smithfield Foods, we thought it wouldn’t hurt to see what happy pigs and piglets look like.
