The Foodlums

First spring semester meeting today! 1/27

2012-01-27T12:03:00.000-06:00

Join us in Phillips 119 for our first meeting of the semester! We will be planning out our semester, so come to pitch in some great ideas.

This semester will consist largely of garden planning, honey bees, and a few other exciting things as well!

Pizza Party

2011-04-27T00:07:00.000-05:00

Friday evening, April 29th, after a long-awaited, garden-work meeting, the Foodlums will be unwinding with a

Pizza Party.

In Foodlums Fashion, the crust will be handmade with ethical, local ingredients and perspective pizza eaters will be asked to bring the toppings.

Things that you might consider bringing for toppings :

Cheese

Your favorite secret and delicious sauce

Vegetables

Eggs

Herbs

Meat

Also bring: Your own plate and silverware

The post-gardening party will go down at Tehya and Erin's house (720 Broadway) after we are done in the garden. From the garden, a bike brigade will mosey on over to the pizza house, singing earth-loving songs and sporting dirt-caked hands.

If you come to the garden and no one is there, the Pizza Party has started and you should go to 720 Broadway.

Progressive Film Festival Food Fanatics Fun Film Picks

2011-04-01T15:54:00.003-05:00

Here are some Foodlum inspired films being shown at the 5th Annual Eau Claire Progressive Film Festival. Check them out and all of the other great films if you get a chance:

Saturday, April 2nd 2011

12:00 P.M: "Tapped" Hibbard 321

"a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of the bottled water industry, an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water."

2:30 P.M.: "The End of the Line" Hibbard 321

Exploring the tragic collapse of the cod fishery in Newfoundland in the 1990s, the imminent extinction of the prized blueefin tuna, and the devastation caused by illegal catches and surpassed fishing quotas, this film uncovers the dark ecological story behind our love affair with fish as food."

Monday, April 4th 2011

7:30 P.M.: "Bananas!*" Hibbard 102

"On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers, he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility"

Homemade Crackers

2011-02-10T15:31:00.003-06:00

Hey Foodlums-
Since we were talking about home made crackers a few meetings ago, I ended up making them last week (and brought some to the meeting-- for those who were there).
This is the recipe I used. Super easy and so good to have power over the contents of your crackers!
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 T. sugar (or honey)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. paprika
4 T. butter
1/4 c. water
1/4 t. vanilla
salt for topping

the recipe says to cut the butter in with the dry ingredients until the lumps of butter are pea-sized and then add the rest of the ingredients.
I ended up making a few batches of crackers and tweaking them a little along the way. For one of my batches I substituted some of the butter with olive oil. I also expriemented with different herbs that I rolled into the dough when it was rolled out to the thinness I wanted. My favorite version was dried rosemary (collected from Chris's Graham St. free clinic garden), although ginger chunks were interesting too!
I just rolled the dough out directly onto a greased cookie sheet and cut the rolled-out dough into small triangle pieces pre-baking. Baked the crackers at 400 degrees. This recipe I followed said to let them bake for 5-10 min.. I didn't time them, just watched them carefully. As soon as some of them start to brown, the rest of them brown really quickly, so watch out lest you have a sheet of burnt crackers. I used a metal spatula to get them off the cookie sheet.
Check out the link in the title for the recipe I used online.
Let me know if someone else tries this recipe and finds new ways to tweak the recipe!
-Briana

Fermentation Workshop

2010-12-09T02:12:00.003-06:00

Our last meeting of the semester will be Friday, December 10th and we intend to leave for winter hibernation with some new food in tow.
There will be a fermentation workshop to try different recipes for fermented vegetables.
The star ferment recipe will be kim-chi, a spicy Korean mixture of fermented cabbage and raddish among other things.
Other fermentation recipes will be concocting as well.**

Please come and join us, but make sure to bring a jelly jar or two so you can bring some home to eat (after waiting the appropriate fermentation period, of course)
See you Friday at 3 in the usual Phillips 119*

*Our location may change, so if room 119 is empty, check the chalk board for further direction
**If you have a fermented vegetable recipe of your own, please bring the ingredients and come prepared to share your knowledge

Get ready for bees, raised beds, fruit trees, and a new garden manager!

2010-11-27T10:44:00.003-06:00

The fantastic UWEC Environmental Endeavors Commission has allocated funds to the Foodlums to support a whole slew of improvements to the garden and new projects to begin in the spring 2011 semester.

We will be the proud parents of two colonies of bees with the task of making them feel at home on our campus. Three lucky foodlums will be able to attend a bee-keeping workshop this winter to learn how to tame these beautiful beeings.

Raised beds are now officially paid for and will require people power to plan this winter and build in the spring.

Funding for six new fruit trees is now available for Foodlums to plant the aspiring fruit-producers in and around the garden.

The most exciting addition to the Foodlums-- a PAID garden manager position.

Thank you EEC.

The Progressive Magazine and The Producers and Buyers Cooperative

2010-11-02T19:13:00.001-05:00

Get to Know Your Farmers!

2010-10-18T14:23:00.001-05:00

http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/09/organic-egg-report-and-scorecard/

UW-EC professor, cook share Middle East cultures, cuisine

2010-10-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

A UW-Eau Claire professor and an accomplished cook follow a Middle East tradition of hospitality

http://www.leadertelegram.com/features/food/article_db8add3c-3adf-5df5-a09d-e109998e1d89.html

Paul Kaldjian shared a spice sample with student Ardith Kelly of Eau Claire. Paul Kaldjian, offered a sample of Turkish sumac with student Ardith Kelly of Eau Claire. Kaldjian and his wife, Meg Nord, shared their knowledge of Middle East foods, cultures and geography on Tuesdays at Peace Lutheran Church, 501 E. Fillmore Ave.

Posted: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 11:49 pm, Mon Oct 11, 2010.

By Blythe Wachter Leader-Telegram staff

Not knowing a lot about the Middle East, Nancy Kodl decided to take a course exploring its people, places and foods. The Thorp resident was one of 25 registrants for "Middle East Cultures and Cuisines," offered through UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education. The course, which concludes tonight, offered a chance to experience another culture, Kodl said. "I live in a town where we're all alike. ... It's nice to try something different, especially because it's a culture I knew so little about."

Paul Kaldjian, associate professor of geography at UW-Eau Claire, lectured during the first part of each two-hour session. His wife, Meg Nord, then demonstrated four to five recipes in the kitchen at Peace Lutheran Church, 501 E. Fillmore Ave. The goal was to introduce Middle Eastern dishes and let people see how easily such foods can fit into their diet. People can obtain most ingredients at their supermarket, Nord said. Water Street Deli & Grocery carries harder-to-find items.

Each lecture had a different theme, highlighting foods from the Middle East and North Africa. A guest cook from Iraq was slated for one session.The first class, on Sept. 14, focused on legumes. Pointing out regional differences, Kaldjian said fava beans are more common across North Africa, while lentils and chickpeas are more likely to be used in the Middle East. Fava beans, slow-cooked and flavored with lemon juice, olive oil and onions, are considered the national breakfast in Egypt.

Students' familiarity with the cuisine varied, but all knew of hummus, a spread made with mashed chickpeas and tahini, a ground sesame seed paste. Kaldjian described it as nutritious, easy to make and cost-effective.
One reason for offering the course is the Mediterranean diet is recognized as very healthful, he said.
Olive oil plays a major role in the diet, which also emphasizes fresh vegetables and fruits and grains. Lemon juice and olive oil often are a base for dishes, Nord said, and a lot of different spices are used.
Kaldjian noted the lack of processed foods in the diet. Manufactured ingredients are not used to preserve and enhance food - ingredients are all natural - and the only processing involves grinding or mashing, he said.
The Sept. 21 session dealt with olive oil and vegetables, with the emphasis on Lebanon and Syria. As class began, one student shared a hummus recipe, while another passed around surplus peppers from her garden.
Kaldjian provided the cultural context and background of ingredients in Nord's dishes. For example, he covered olive oil production. "Lebanon makes fantastic olive oil. Turkish oil can be extremely good," he said.
Slides illustrated his lecture, including depictions of Krak des Chevaliers, a European crusaders castle in Syria, and ancient water wheels in Hama, Syria.

Kaldjian discussed food systems in Lebanon and Syria, which range from informal markets that move among neighborhoods to sophisticated grocery stores. Businesses respond to consumer demand, so now organic produce is showing up, and even market vendors use credit card processors, he said."Now the best part - the food," an apron-clad Nord said as Kaldjian concluded his lecture.

On the menu were Carrots With Olive Oil, Pilaf With Tomatoes and Eggplant, Fattoush (Bread Salad) and Bulgur and Chickpea Salad. Students sampled the food. Lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, parsley and mint flavor the bulgur-chickpea salad, while dill and mint season the pilaf, which includes fried eggplant.For the bread salad, greens (she recommended arugula or romaine lettuce) get tossed with cucumbers, green onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and pieces of fried pita bread. The vinaigrette consists of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper - and a secret ingredient, Turkish sumac. Carrots, served cold, are cooked with rice and onions.

Myron Buchholz of Eau Claire, a world studies teacher at Memorial High School, took the class with his wife. He thought it would be a nice experience, he said: "No homework, and you get to eat."The cuisine comes from an oral recipe tradition. With measurements not too exact, experimenting is easier because there seems to be more room for error, he said. Kaldjian, whose father is an Armenian from Lebanon, has traveled extensively in the Middle East, and he and Nord formerly lived in Turkey. They want to share their knowledge with the community. He also wants to contribute to a more whole view of the Middle East and North Africa, which frequently are represented in daily life "in negative terms of war and conflict, which is not a part of what most of the people are doing."

Nord stressed that hospitality is part of the Middle Eastern food culture. Meals are not grab-and-go, but people sit and talk and eat over a long period of time, she said. "Food has social meaning," Kaldjian said. No matter where one goes in the Middle East, food is part of receiving guests, he said. Feeding guests is an honor, rather than an imposition, he noted. "Life across the Middle East and North Africa is about relationships." That sense of hospitality carries over to their lives. "Food is a big part of our life, cooking and sharing," Nord said.

http://www.leadertelegram.com/features/food/article_db8add3c-3adf-5df5-a09d-e109998e1d89.html

Fall Themed Progressive Dinner

2010-10-06T12:09:00.003-05:00

Come to the Foodlums/ Conservationists progressive dinner

this Saturday, October 9th.

The dinner will begin with appetizers at 720 Broadway St. at 5:00 pm and progress to additional houses for main course and dessert.

Just bring $5 and your own silverware, plate, bowl, and cup for a delicious, earth-conscious, fall themed meal. YUM!

Come and bring all your foodie friends. Be sure to RSVP to Briana (odegarbn@uwec.edu) by Thursday evening so that we know how many people to prepare food for.

See you Saturday!

foodlums future jobs?!

2010-09-20T18:08:00.004-05:00

http://www.grist.org/article/food-colin-mccrate-wants-you-to-eat-your-yard-/

There's a new kind of farmer in town. Colin McCrate is using his agricultural know-how to convert sprawling urban yards into edible bounty. He installs and maintains food gardens at homes and businesses through the Seattle Urban Farm Company, which he founded.
His clients are varied, but as this audio slideshow tells, they agree with Colin on one thing: Eating your lawn isn’t just for bunnies.

GMO's

2010-09-19T17:49:00.001-05:00

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/09/19-0#comments

Published on Sunday, September 19, 2010 by The Raw Story

FDA Won’t Allow Food to Be Labeled Free of Genetic Modification: Report

'Extra labeling only confuses the consumer,' biotech spokesman says

That the Food and Drug Administration is opposed to labeling foods that are genetically modified is no surprise anymore, but a report in the Washington Post indicates the FDA won't even allow food producers to label their foods as being free of genetic modification.

That the Food and Drug Administration is opposed to labeling foods that are genetically modified is no surprise anymore, but a report in the Washington Post indicates the FDA won't even allow food producers to label their foods as being free of genetic modification. (photo by Flickr user banlon1964)In reporting that the FDA will likely not require the labeling of genetically modified salmon if it approves the food product for consumption, the Post's Lyndsey Layton notes that the federal agency "won't let conventional food makers trumpet the fact that their products don't contain genetically modified ingredients."

The agency warned the dairy industry in 1994 that it could not use "Hormone Free" labeling on milk from cows that are not given engineered hormones, because all milk contains some hormones.

It has sent a flurry of enforcement letters to food makers, including B&G Foods, which was told it could not use the phrase "GMO-free" on its Polaner All Fruit strawberry spread label because GMO refers to genetically modified organisms and strawberries are produce, not organisms.

It told the maker of Spectrum Canola Oil that it could not use a label that included a red circle with a line through it and the words "GMO," saying the symbol suggested that there was something wrong with genetically engineered food.

"This to me raises questions about whose interest the FDA is protecting," House Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) told the Post. Kucinich has repeatedly introduced bills in the House that would require the labeling of genetically modified foods.

David Edwards, director of animal biotechnology at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, told the Post that "extra labeling only confuses the consumer. ... It differentiates products that are not different. As we stick more labels on products that don't really tell us anything more, it makes it harder for consumers to make their choices."

The Post notes that the debate over genetically modified salmon, which will be decided at an FDA advisory panel meeting this week, "comes at a time when Americans seem to want to know more about their food - where it is grown, how it is produced and what it contains."

"The public wants to know and the public has a right to know," New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told the Post. "I think the agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to approve [the salmon] without labeling."

© 2010 Raw Story.E-mailPrintShare

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/09/19-0#comments

more info! great link on how you can avoid genetically engineered foods http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/guide%208_11%20layout.pdf

Kick-off Potluck

2010-09-18T00:48:00.007-05:00

Come for a delicious potluck to celebrate the beginning of another year and a bursting farmers market. The potluck will be at 4:oo pm Sunday, September 19th
720 E. Broadway St.
It's sure to be a good time.

producers and buyers coop (of eau claire) in the news!

2010-09-14T15:03:00.004-05:00

click for larger text...

Shop these area farmers markets!

2010-06-01T09:55:00.000-05:00

Shop these area farmers markets!

Find locally grown produce at your local farmers market. Here is a guide to some area farmers markets, or check if your community has a market:

Shoppers browsed the downtown farmers market recently in Eau Claire. Participants in the Women, Infants and Children Program can receive vouchers to shop for fresh produce at farmers markets. The Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program also offers vouchers.

Arcadia

Address: Piggly Wiggly parking lot, 550 S. Dettloff Drive.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, mid-June-mid-September.

Barron

Address: Country Lane Market & Pantry, 1642 16th St.

Operating hours: 2 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, June 17-mid-October.

Black River Falls

Address: Scholze Ace Home Center, 133 Highway A.

Operating hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays while products are available.

Boyceville

Address: Andy Pafko Park on Highway 170.

Operating hours: 2 to 6 p.m. Mondays, June 7-Oct. 25.

Chippewa Falls

Chippewa Falls farmers market.

Address: Corner of Bridge and River streets.

Operating hours: Noon to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, June 3-Oct. 21.

Klinger Farm Market.

Address: 12756 132nd St.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, year-round.

McIlquham Orchard.

Address: 19371 Highway OO.

Operating hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, June 17-July 5 and Aug. 15-Oct. 31.

Durand

Downtown.

Address: Chippewa View Park, Main Street.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, June-September.

Lions Club.

Address: Durand Junior/Senior High School parking lot, 604 Seventh Ave. E.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, July 3-Oct. 30.

Eau Claire

Downtown.

Address: Phoenix Park, along Madison Street.

Operating hours: 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays, June 2-Oct. 30; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, July 4-Sept. 12.

Eau Claire Farmers Market.

Address: Oakwood Mall parking lot, 4800 Golf Road.

Operating hours: 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays, June 12-Oct. 30.

Festival Foods.

Address: FestivalFoods parking lot, 3007 Mall Drive.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, June 6-Oct. 31.

Fresh Start Farmers Mart.

Address: Campus Mall at UW-Eau Claire campus, 105 Garfield Avenue.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to noon Thursdays, June 17-July 29.

Hillview Farm.

Address: E6198 Hickory Road.

Operating hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, Sept. 2-Oct. 31.

McIlquham Orchard.

Address: 3235 E.Hamilton Ave.

Operating hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, June 15-July 15.

Eleva

Address: Family Farms Market parking lot, 50684 N. Main St.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, June-October.

Elk Mound

Address: 204 E. Menomonie St. (U.S. 12.)

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, June 4-Oct. 22.

Galesville

Address: Galesville Square, at Main Street and Gale Avenue.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, June-September.

Hudson

Address: Plaza 94 shopping center at Interstate 94 and 17th Street.

Operating hours: 7:30 a.m. to noon Thursdays, June-October.

Menomonie

Address: Dunn County Fairgrounds, 620 17th St. S.E.

Operating hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, June 2-Oct. 30.

Mondovi

Address: Marten Center, 120 S. Franklin St.

Operating hours: 3:30 to 6 p.m. Fridays, May 28-Oct. 1.

Rice Lake

Address: Rice Lake Chamber of Commerce parking lot, 37 S. Main St.

Hours: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, June 26-October.

River Falls

Address: East Locust Street and Second Street.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays and 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, May to Nov. 1.

Spring Valley

Address: Team Oil, along Highway 29 one mile west of Spring Valley.

Operating hours: 2 to 6 p.m. Thursdays, June-October.

Stanley

Address: Soo Line Park, at First Avenue and Emery Street.

Operating hours: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, June 5-Oct. 2.

Strum

Address: Strum Public Library grounds, 114 Fifth Ave. S.

Operating hours: 4-6 p.m. Thursdays, June-September.

Thorp

Address: Garrison Park, 118 N. Washington St.

Operating hours: Noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, mid-June-October.

Trempealeau

Address: Central Park at Fourth and Gray streets.

Operating hours: 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, June 3-Sept. 30.

Whitehall

Address: Melby Park, at Hobson and Park streets.

Operating hours: 4 to 6 p.m. Fridays, June 4-Sept. 24.

Dubbed a hero, Allen looks to take farming to the skies

2010-04-30T11:24:00.002-05:00

Dubbed a hero, Allen looks to take farming to the skies

Benny Sieu

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/92477004.html

Milwaukee urban farmer Will Allen is listed on Time Magazine's annual "Time 100: The World's Most Influential People" list.

By Karen Herzog of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: April 29, 2010 |(30) Comments

This drawing by Kubala Washatko Architects Inc. shows a a five-story farm that Growing Power is considering building at its existing 2-acre property on W. Silver Spring Drive. Led by Will Allen, the nonprofit is close to launching a $7 million to $10 million fund-raising campaign for the project.

Today's TMJ4 Video

JS OnAir: Allen Named Most Influential

Dig In!

A blog for Wisconsinites who value food from close to home

See all blog posts or follow Dig In! on Twitter @DigInMKE

It's hard to imagine a five-story farm in the middle of a city, but if Milwaukee urban farmer Will Allen is behind the idea, anything's possible.
After all, Allen is a world hero, according to an issue of Time magazine that hits newsstands Friday. He's among 100 individuals and small groups picked by Time editors for the annual "Time 100: The World's Most Influential People," which honors ideas, innovations and actions that are "shaping our world."
Allen already has been dubbed a genius by the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, which awarded him a $500,000 "genius grant" in 2008.
Now all Allen and Growing Power's board of directors must do is find $7 million to $10 million to build the farm that Allen has been envisioning for nearly two decades to take his nonprofit enterprise to the next level.
Backers say the futuristic urban farm designed to intensively produce vegetables and fish could become an icon for Milwaukee, and a model for cities around the world to grow affordable, healthful food close to consumers. It also could create a whole new industry with thousands of jobs for urban farmers and those who design and build city farms around the world, Allen said Thursday.
"It's something a bit counterintuitive with the economy going south, but we've come to the conclusion that Growing Power is going north," Jerry Kaufman, board president for Growing Power and a professor emeritus of urban planning, said Thursday. "There aren't too many Will Allens around, and so far we haven't developed the science to clone him.
"I see the decade of 2010 as potentially explosive for what Will calls, 'The Good Food Revolution.' "
The vertical farm - dramatic in shape and with an expansive, sloped glass front to absorb natural light - would be built at Growing Power's existing 2-acre farm at 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive through local and federal donations and grants. A half-dozen existing greenhouses would be preserved as historic structures.
It would have 23,000 square feet for classrooms, a demonstration kitchen, offices, staff locker room, retail store, food processing, loading dock and freezers. An additional 15,000 square feet of sloped area, facing Silver Spring Drive, would be devoted to growing vegetables and fish. Fish tanks for perch and tilapia would be trenched into the ground. The building would have a rooftop solar panel, would capture rainwater to be recycled for watering plants, and would transfer heat from the building top to a thermal mass underneath to store for future use.

'First of its kind'

The vertical farm is conceptualized in drawings by Kubala Washatko Architects Inc. in Cedarburg, whose designs have included the Urban Ecology Center, the Iron Horse Hotel and the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center near Baraboo - buildings known for their strong connections to neighborhoods and use of natural light and building materials.
"This would be the first of its kind in the world that we know of," said architect Allen Washatko, co-founder of the Cedarburg architectural firm. "This concept is intended for areas where land availability is scarce and where 'going up' to create agricultural space would be in demand."
It's time to stop dreaming and start building, Allen said.
"Somebody's gotta build the first one," he said. "We've taken a leading role in urban agriculture, and we've pioneered a lot of firsts, so why shouldn't we be the ones to do it?"
Allen, 61, for years has been calling attention to the widespread existence of "food deserts" in cities across America, where whole communities lack access to fresh, nutritious, affordable food, and underserved populations have high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
He keeps a hectic schedule - which will slow down in two weeks when he has knee replacement surgery. He speaks at workshops and universities around the world. Growing Power's board members heartily applaud Allen but privately worry that he will be in even greater demand as he continues to gain a higher international profile.

ECLUCK!

2010-04-21T21:16:00.004-05:00

CLICK ON THIS IMAGE FOR A BETTER VIEW

bike race/ cook-off/ picnic/ kickball game/ space race

2010-04-14T23:00:00.004-05:00

Foodlums founding vice-president, Trevor "Hot-Todders" Peterson, had an idea to have a cook-off (similar to our squash-off in the fall), but start it out with a bike-race around town to pick-up ingredients from different check-points.

The event will take off from the council oak tree at 2pm on Sunday, April 18th and will be a sort of space race... to the extent that everyone must wear a space related costume.

Don't worry if you aren't a fast biker. We will be racing in two friendly teams, which will be the cook-off teams.
Don't worry about this event interfering with your afternoon tea. The rules mandate that we must all break for 4:00 tea at Infinitea.
Don't worry about the cook-off recipes. Recipes will be created during the race.
Don't worry if you don't know Eau Claire very well. There will be maps and people who do know the city.

The culmination of this spectacular event will be a picnic during which food will be shared and kickball will be played. A trophy will be awarded to the winning team.
Bring your bike, $3- $5, a space related costume, and a sense of adventure and have a blast (-off?) this Sunday.

Check out last weeks minutes for more details.

Organic Farm Tour at the Holm Family's Farm

2010-04-14T22:35:00.006-05:00

UWEC College Republicans have invited Foodlums on a tour of the Holm family farm. The Holms have an Organic Valley dairy in Elk Mound. All who are interested to learn more about organic family farms in our area should come! We will becaravaning out to the farm, meeting at 1:30 on Saturday, April 17 in the Towers Hall turn-around area. The tour will last from 2-4 which should bring us back toEau Claire around 4:30.
Check out the link for a background on the family whose farm we are visiting!

ECLUCK - Eau Claire Leaders for Chicken Keeping

2010-03-09T08:38:00.001-06:00

http://volumeone.org/blogs/The_Daily_Shakedown/post/1511/Pecking_Away_at_Convention.html
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eau-Claire-WI/ECLUCK-Eau-Claire-Leaders-for-Urban-Chicken-Keeping/313702953318?v=info&ref=search

Pecking Away at Convention
The initials “EC” are frequently used to represent this fair city. They’re also used in conjunction with other initials to indicate groups within the city, like the recently formed ECLUCK. While the part-acronym cleverly suits the purpose of this group, it should be emphasized that ECLUCK’s main interest lies in what those first two initials represent for its residents. “E-CLUCK” stands for Eau Claire Leaders for Urban Chicken Keeping. The group is still in its infancy – more of a discussion than an organization. ECLUCK does have a Facebook page, which links the keeping of urban hens to progress toward sustainability, much like community gardening. The group’s first obstacle is an Eau Claire City Ordinance that reads: “No person, firm, or corporation shall keep, feed, or breed any domestic fowl.” According to one of the members of the ECLUCK discussion, Paul Kaldjian, “The ultimate goal is to have it a permissible activity in the city with the city’s full support.“ Kaldjian touted the health and economic benefits of “controlling your own food.” An educational benefit also exists. Kaldjian stated, “We’re becoming advocates for farmers by teaching our kids where food comes from.” At this early stage, the group seeks other ‘like-minded’ people. Those who feel EC could stand for “evolving conventions” can join the discussion at ECLUCK’s Facebook page.

Previously ...

a month without monsanto...

2010-03-05T08:43:00.001-06:00

http://web.me.com/aprildavila/MWM/Blog/Blog.html

Why am I trying to go a Month Without Monsanto?

It all started in January when a friend posted a link on her Facebook page to an article in the Huffington Post: “Monsanto’s GMO Corn Linked to Organ Failure, Study Reveals”

After reading the article, my instinct to stick it to the man compelled me to swear off all things

Monsanto for good. How hard could it be?

A little research, however, proved that it would be quite difficult. As consumers, we are largely unaware that everything from last night’s steak, to the Cheez-Its on our desk owe their existence to Monsanto.

I began to ponder whether it is even possible to live a modern, American life outside the grasp of Monsanto.

The question grew and grew in my head like a riddle of genetically modified proportions.

I’ve always found the issue of GMO’s fascinating. Humans have been breeding food since we first cultivated it. GMO is just a faster way of doing the same thing, right? That’s what I thought until I read the report from International Journal of Biological Sciences (see link in the column to the right). Then I felt suspicious, untrusting, and confused.

I turned to my training as a scientist. I received my undergraduate degree in biology from Scripps College. I know how to navigate my way around scientific reports and I should certainly be able to take control of what foods I put into my body.

I’m not doing this as a political statement, at least, that’s not how I’m starting out. I am simply fascinated by the fact that one company can have such a profound grasp on the human species and I’m ultimately curious - if we decide, as individuals, we don’t want Monsanto products to be a part of our lives, is it even possible to live without them?

We shall see...

Michael Pollan and Amy Goodman!

2010-02-09T12:04:00.003-06:00

http://www.uwec.edu/activities/forum/goodman.htm

m. pollan... on democracy now (with amy goodman)... she will be in eau claire soon! get your tickets before April 28!

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/8/michael_pollan_on_food_rules_an
and
http://www.uwec.edu/activities/forum/goodman.htm

thursday after hours

2010-02-02T10:56:00.001-06:00

http://volumeone.org/winter
V1's After hours with the foodlums!!! This Thursday 6-8pm!

Ice Skating

Meander Boyd Park's new curvy ice loop. Bring your own skates or rent some on-site.

Snowshoeing

Great for first-timers! Visit the pavilion to rent some snowshoes from Beaver Creek Reserve, then follow a torch lit path next to Boyd Park. Bring a flashlight!

Snow Sculptures

Watch Eau Claire's international award-winning snow carvers in action. Led by Jason Anhorn and Steve Bateman.

Winter Kubb

In the center of it all try Eau Claire's hottest yard game, Kubb, winter style!

Giant Firepit

Gather round the over-sized firepit for some mid-winter warmth.

Music

Enjoy the ambient sounds of an excellent winter playlist.

Hot Drinks

Partake in some hot liquid goodness from local tea and coffee houses. Hosted by Infinitea Teahouse.

Warming House / Restrooms

Getting too cold? Step into the warming house for a bit and grab a seat. Cheap Chilly Fun!

• Ice Skate Rentals available

• Snowshoe Rentals available

• Hot Chocolate, Tea, Coffee available

If it gets TOO cold

(or warm):

Any given week's events could be cancelled if temperatures dip too low or rise too high.

Visit VolumeOne.org for updates!

When?

Thursdays, 6-8pm

January 14 thru February 25 (seven nights)

Where?

Boyd Park on Eau Claire's East Hill (just off Main Street)

Parking

Small lot on-site, plus lots of nearby street parking. Also available is a large parking lot a half-block East at Our Savior's Lutheran Church.

This Thursday 6-8pm!

Bus route and walking map! (Board bus @ Davies’ S. Entrance, exit @ transfer center) walk E on Main St.

Questions? Give Zac a call at (952)846-8788 http://volumeone.org/winter

indian food now in altoona!

2010-01-21T09:52:00.001-06:00

Real Food Through a Wider Lens: Midwest Real Food Summit 2010

2010-01-20T08:58:00.000-06:00

http://realfoodchallenge.org/MWsummit2010

Real Food Through a Wider Lens: Midwest Real Food Summit 2010
Who: The Real Food Challenge, you, and oodles of student activists and local sustainability and food justice experts from across the Midwest!

What: Real Food Through a Wider Lens: Midwest Real Food Summit 2010. Featuring speakers, workshops, presentations, panels, discussion, real food, a real food party, and fun of course!

When: Friday March 5th – Sunday March 7th 2010

Where: Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota

About: Even though there may be snow on the ground here in the Twin Cities, the real food movement is still growing! Come join us in the Twin Cities for the Midwest Real Food Summit, a time to share and collaborate, to sow justice in our movement, and to strengthen our youth network in the great Midwest. As we move forward in our activism and work in the food movement, we must take a step back and recognize our place in the movement, while also embracing new ideas and new people. Come join us as we embrace a larger, holistic image of the sustainability and food movements.

How: Registration is now OPEN! Register online here!

Payment: Registration is only $30 for students and $50 for non-students.

http://realfoodchallenge.org/MWsummit2010

TWO foodlums in central america!

2010-01-04T10:04:00.000-06:00

Ver nicaragua coffee map en un mapa más grande

look where amiga daniella gannon is! I found out she´s super close to just coffee´s connection to la fem women´s coffee cooperative! consider the possibilities of our university buying coffee dirrectly from these kind of organic roasters and making a dirrect impact in their lives while educating our community and peers about the lives of rural central america.

perhaps this is something we can introduce at a dining services meeting first thing this spring semester? this is a great step towards foodlums´ mission of food with concious and involved consumers (imagine different study abroad opportunities, business partnerships, etc etc etc), more organic and fair trade goods in our community, and giving uwec another way to stand out to incoming students, creating a more just institution and mindfull community.

communicación desde Comayagua, Honduras

2010-01-02T22:17:00.000-06:00

View farmer to farmer trip in a larger map

I´m over joyed to be writing a first post from Comayagua, Honduras... I´m traveling to visit organic and fair trade coffee farmers in honduras and guatemala. Tomorrow we will be up and out on the mountain well before the sun, checking in with many honduran family run coops or small coffee growers, making sure that their needs are being fairly met and that they are receiving the hard earned premium for organic growing practices. These beans are the seeeds and monetary foundation for community projects and infrastructure for continued growth and cooperation. for more info on farmer to farmer please visit their website, become a member and receive quarterly updates on different projects. Look for notices through just local food for future trips where you can also get involved and enjoy the beauty and compassion for our shared future.

keep an eye out for updates on Honduras and then also learn about growers in Guatemala, ask thefolks at Just Local Food to show you what coffee we´re sampling and have a cup to warm up or take home a bag of honduran or guatemalan (farmer to farmer or just coffee!) café to share with family and friends.

winter solstice with you!

2009-12-10T20:20:00.000-06:00

http://thephoenixgarden.blogspot.com/
On the longest night of the year we will have a celebration of Light, Warmth, and Peace. We will celebrate Winter Solstice on Sunday December 20 at 1:00 PM on Phoenix Gardens along Forest Street. We invite you to participate in making it happen and ask you to get the word out to others who would enjoy celebrating the shortest day of the year. It will be inclusive celebration appropriate all ages.
We will begin by recognizing the Four Winds based on Native American tradition that includes recognizing the Great Mystery that dwells in all people. That includes all of us. So that means that WE will co create the celebration that will happen that day on that place. It will be spontaneous and intuitive.
The Eau Claire Fire Chief has told us that we can have a fire and in late December a fire would be good for a celebration. There are 2 conditions for having a fire: (1) have a fire ring in addition (2) at least five gallons of water on the site. We ask YOU to bring stones and build the fire ring. After we have a stone fire ring we will build a fire and ask you to bring the firewood to make the fire. We also ask you to bring water for safety. Each of us based on our resources and abilities will make it happen. Among all of us there will be at least one fire keeper. Please consider bringing food to share with our neighbors.
You know your gifts and talents and I encourage you to share your gifts and encourage your friends to do the same. Many of you are musical and some know about games and activities that work with a number of people. From building a fire ring, building a fire, entertaining ourselves and eat together--we will do it.
If you have questions, suggestions or comments, please let me know. And please forward this informaqtion to people you know would like to be having a mid winter celebration on the river. We have been building community on the garden place for the past year and we are connecting with the Earth again. The soil has been plowed, compost and leaves are turned into the ground. Next spring we will be planting seeds down there. And winter is a good time to honor all of that, relax and celebrate.

winter farmers market this saturday!

2009-12-10T19:54:00.000-06:00

http://www.ecdowntownfarmersmarket.com/winter.php

Winter Farmer's Markets 2009 - 2010

Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin!
Mark your calendars for the 2009-2010 Winter Farmer's Markets. New this year is that each market will be held in the same location convenient to Downtown Eau Claire at the L.E. Phillips Senior Center. Take advantage of these monthly opportunites to purchase high quality local vegetables, meat, dairy, poultry and other farm products direct from the farmers who produce them.

Markets are held on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

New Location
All Winter Markets will be held at the:

L.E. Phillips Senior Center
1616 Bellinger
Eau Claire, WI

All markets will be held the second Saturday of each month as follows:
November 14
December 12
January 9
February 13
March 13
April 10
May 1, 2010 — Downtown Farmer's Market season begins at Phoenix Park.

Thank you for your support of Local Farmers!

'Buy local' pioneers open doors to public

2009-12-07T09:45:00.001-06:00

'Buy local' pioneers open doors to public
http://www.regoldenproduce.com/

Story Discussion Font Size: Default font size Larger font size By MIKE IVEY
The Capital Times
mivey@madison.com
Posted: Sunday, November 15, 2009 8:30 am
(3) Comments

Owner Robert Golden and son Devin display some of the fresh vegetables available at R.E. Golden Produce on Madison’s south side.

MIKE DeVRIES - The Capital Times

Related Links

Related: R.E. Golden Produce website

Stepping off the sun-splashed loading dock into the refrigerated warehouse at R.E. Golden Produce is like walking into a giant vegetable bin.

Waxed cardboard cases of broccoli, yellow peppers and purple eggplant cover the floor of the south side business. The produce is so freshly boxed, in fact, the crushed ice used to keep things cool on the truck ride hasn’t even melted.

And now after 30 years of serving small restaurants and groceries, R.E. Golden Produce is opening its doors to the public.

The family-owned company with roots in the original Mifflin Street Co-op is offering fresh and frozen fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, nuts, spices and specialty cheeses at 1337 Gilson St. It has a new website -- www.regoldenproduce.com -- that allows customers to order items for pickup during regular warehouse hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

“Our stuff is fresher than Woodman’s, and it’s cheaper,” boasts Devin Golden, 25, showcasing crisp red peppers selling for 90 cents a pound.

Devin is the son of company founder Robert Golden, 62, who got interested in food issues while serving as a VISTA volunteer in Boston in the 1960s.

“That’s where I decided I wanted to develop a benevolent community based around food,” says Golden, a soft-spoken native of Walworth County.

The Madison that greeted Golden in 1968 was alive with opposition to the Vietnam War. Along with war protests came a commitment to natural foods and a system of food delivery that fell outside the corporate-owned grocery world.

Golden jumped right into the fray. In 1971, he became the first employee at ICC, the Inter-Community Co-op later known as North Farms Co-op, which served as the wholesaler for the growing number of co-ops and natural food groceries in the region.

But those heady early days soon gave way to the realities of money. The co-op movement faced the same financial pressures that affect any new business. Frustrated with the political infighting, Golden broke out on his own in 1978, founding R.E. Golden Produce based on delivering conventional produce to all takers rather than organics to the true believers.

“There was just too much BS in the co-ops and not enough realism,” he says. “I wasn’t so much about justifying the process. I just enjoyed the work.”

So over the past three decades, Golden quietly focused on serving customers and helping local restaurants secure difficult-to-find items, from fresh quail to exotic Middle Eastern spices.

“Bobby has great stuff, plus he’s just such a nice guy to work with,” says Rosemary Schiavo, an owner of the Cafe Continental restaurant at 108 King St.

The Schiavo family relationship with R.E. Golden Produce goes back to the days of Antonio’s Italian restaurant on South Park Street. When Cafe Continental opened in 1998, the Schiavos knew where to turn for their wholesale food needs.

“Honestly, there are times when they’d be over here twice a day dropping off different things, rather than twice a week like the big delivery houses,” says Schiavo.

In the early days, the R.E. Golden Produce business survived mainly on delivering local cheese and Nancy’s Yogurt. But starting in 1985 when the business moved into its current location on Gilson Street, the company has been slowly expanding with sales approaching $5 million annually.

R.E. Golden has since increased its transportation fleet from one truck to several. The business now counts 15 employees and an 80-page list of products from beans and rice to oil and vinegar. Even the outside of the warehouse has a new paint job.

Ironically, Golden has lasted long enough to watch the food industry come full circle. Organic produce, once available only in co-ops or directly from farmers, is now available at Wal-Mart. Corporate agriculture critics like Michael Pollan have excited the mainstream media with calls for a “slow food” movement.

Golden says he’s cheered by the discussion but maintains his interest has always been food more than politics. He yearns for a return to the “lost art of peddling” where vendors would sell specific items as they became available.

“Trade is really the basis of civilization, moving goods from one place to another for the benefit of both parties,” he says. “When you’re sitting with a case of quality oranges wondering who is going to buy them, then you see the real economy at work.”

If Robert Golden is reluctant to get too excited over the slow food movement, his wife of nearly 30 years isn’t. Barbara Golden notes that 90 percent of the family business comes from locally owned restaurants.

“We’ve always been about ‘buy local,’ since all our customers are local,” laughs Golden, who serves as human resources director of the company, which she notes offers health benefits and paid sick leave to employees.

Barbara Golden has long been active in community issues. She has fought to level the achievement gap between students of color and whites in Madison public schools. Her name appears frequently in letters to the editor.

Robert Golden has largely avoided the political spotlight but does take credit for hiring convicted Sterling Hall bomber Karl Armstrong out of prison. Armstrong still rents space at 1337 Gilson for his Loose Juice food vending cart.

The Goldens took an interest in Armstrong’s case during his trial, and when he was granted parole in 1980 on the condition of a job, they made an offer through their attorney.

“As it turned out, we were the only ones who did make an offer,” says Robert Golden. “I had never met Karl until he started working for us, but over the years we have become friends.”

These days a growing business is taking up most of the family’s time. Work begins before dawn with drives to the farm markets in Chicago. There are also regular trips to local suppliers for craft cheese, morel mushrooms or other specialty items.

“That’s the most satisfying part of the job, when you can help somebody find something that’s really hard to get,” says Devin Golden.

Joe Heggestad, the former owner of the Regent Food Market, says he’ll always remember the senior Golden for agreeing to serve a tiny grocery and supplying fresh produce in small amounts.

“Bobby is a real good, below-the-radar kind of guy,” says Heggestad. “We used to joke with each other that there was always room at the bottom.”

Heggestad also recalls that Golden never did any advertising and didn’t have any real points to offer other than personal service.

“You could call at 11 a.m. and he’d do his best to get it over the next day,” he says.

Golden agrees his produce business has never been about beating competitors, like giant L&L Foods of Verona.

“All we can offer is quality because your next sale is based on that quality,” he says. “If a customer never has to throw anything way, they will always remember you for that.”

With nearly 40 years in the business, Golden also isn’t sure how much longer he will keep at it. But he is encouraged by seeing Americans take a larger interest in where their food comes from.

For example, why would a local grocery in Madison sell tomatoes grown indoors in Canada? And why does the richest country in the world have such high rates of cancer, heart disease and childhood obesity?

“(American) consumption is not separate from its militarism,” says Golden. “The aircraft carrier is part of the same system that has produced the McDonald’s and the Burger Kings. But I think things are changing.”

Selling fresh produce from a small warehouse in Madison, Golden says, is just another step in the journey.

Posted in Business on Sunday, November 15, 2009 8:30 am Updated: 10:21 am. Robert Golden, Devin Golden, R.e. Golden Produce, Mifflin Street Co-op, Rosemary Schiavo, Cafe Continental, Gilson Street, Barbara Golden, Karl Armstrong, Joe Heggestad, Regent Food Market, http://www.regoldenproduce.com/

nonprofit leadership certificate series

2009-12-07T09:10:00.003-06:00

www.uwec.edu/ce
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 12:20 PM CST
For The HERALD

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Continuing Education/ UW-Extension recently was awarded a grant for $16,150 from the Otto Bremer Foundation to create a nonprofit leadership certificate series.
The series is designed to provide professional education opportunities to nonprofit professionals in the area.

“We hope to provide a unique opportunity for nonprofit professionals to engage in valuable networking opportunities which, ideally, would lead to more collaboration,” said Nikki Andrews, an outreach specialist in Continuing Education, who is leading the effort. “During these economic times, it is critical that we work together to meet community needs.”

The series will run from January-June 2010. Individuals may take any number of courses individually or sign up for all six and receive a certificate in nonprofit leadership.

All programs will be held from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at various Eau Claire locations.

The courses are as follows:

Fundamentals of Nonprofit Management: Jan. 12, Metropolis Hotel. Instructor: JoAnn Stormer, Leadership Wisconsin.

Nonprofit Strategic Planning: Feb. 2, Ramada Convention Center. Instructor: Frank Martinelli, Center for Public Skills Training.

Nonprofit Financial Management & Reporting: March 2, Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center/29 Pines. Instructor: Scott Haumersen, Wegner LLP CPAs and Consultants.

Nonprofit Board Development & Management: April 6, Banbury Place. Instructor: Tami Satre, Junior Achievement.

Nonprofit Fundraising: May 4, Fischers’ on the Green. Instructor: Heidi Fisher, Chippewa Valley Technical College Foundation and Alumni Association.

Nonprofit Marketing & Communications: June 1, Presidents Room, Davies Center, UW-Eau Claire. Instructor: Sara Antonson, Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa Valley.

The program fee is $99 per workshop or $570 for the entire series. To register, call UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education at 836-3636 or 866-893-2423, use the Wisconsin Relay System (711), send e-mail to ce@uwec.edu or visit www.uwec.edu/ce.

very important news on the raw milk front

2009-11-25T10:25:00.001-06:00

Hello all,

Below is some very important news on the raw milk front. Please do call your representatives, and read the helpful hints below for maximum effectiveness - real change is imminent.

The time we have been waiting for is here. The draft of the raw milk bill is in circulation within the assembly and senate of Wisconsin. This draft will be in circulation until December 4.

Now is the time to make two very important phone calls. Call your representatives in the assembly and senate this week, preferably before November 27.
Ask each representative to sign on to the Kreitlow/Danou raw milk bill LRB3242/3. Be courteous and let them know you would like them to co-sponsor this draft of the bill which would allow the sale of raw milk and milk products.
This is strictly a numbers game. You need to say no more. At this point representatives simply keep track of numbers to make their decisions.

Do not call more than once.

Be sure each voting member of your household makes their own call on a different day (not back to back calls).

Do not call any representatives who are outside of your district.

Do not call if you live outside of Wisconsin. Calls or contacts from people out of the state must not happen. Action like that will backfire.

This is action not activism. We are working within the legislature, not against it. Let's be sure everyone does this right. Heroes will just set things back.

Any organization or individuals who empathize with us and our goal are encouraged to help by also making calls to their representatives in Madison. Ask them to co-sponsor this draft.

The more calls we get to Madison from around the whole state encouraging co-sponsorship, the better the chances to get this bill passed.

So be sure to call and get others to call. Use any good connections you may have.

A draft of the proposed bill is available here:
WI Raw Milk Bill LRB 3242-3

The Wisconsin State Representative Contact List:
WI State Representatives Contact List

The Wisconsin State Senators Contact List:
WI State Senators Contact List

Make copies to hand out as we continue to drum up support.

local stores on the move.

2009-11-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

Bill could legalize sale of raw milk

2009-11-19T18:39:00.003-06:00

http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_2410ffbb-88e9-5e80-874a-0e076c4fed65.html

Bill could legalize sale of raw milk

Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:00 pm | Updated: .

By Jim Massey Special to the Leader-Telegram | 1 comment

MADISON - Two legislators from west-central Wisconsin are helping draft a bill to make raw milk sales legal in the state.

State Sen. Pat Kreitlow, D-Chippewa Falls, and state Rep. Chris Danou, D-Trempealeau, are among the legislators working to change a 1957 law that prohibits farmers from selling unpasteurized milk directly to consumers.

Kreitlow hopes to get a bill introduced before the end of the year and hold hearings on the topic early in the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 19.

"We've heard from constituents who are very concerned about a (Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection) crackdown on raw milk sales," Kreitlow said. "It's pretty clear that any remedy would have to come from a change in state law. We're exploring a couple different possibilities that are still in the drafting stage that would allow farmers to engage in the marketing of raw milk while also being mindful of public health concerns."

At a recent hearing in Madison, 20 people spoke in favor of raw milk sales, including farmers who said they could make more money selling it and consumers who said it has improved their health.

However, 35 infections in September in Walworth County were linked to drinking raw milk. The victims suffered from campylobacter, an intestinal illness.

A farm in Elkhorn was selling raw milk through cow-share agreements with customers. Last month, DATCP issued an order to stop the farm from selling the milk. DATCP, which sent up to 12 raw-milk warning letters to farmers earlier this year, says consuming raw milk is illegal and can cause illness and death.

Kreitlow said one option in Wisconsin would be to authorize dairy farmers to sell unpasteurized milk and dairy products if they obtain a raw-milk permit from DATCP. Signs would be required to warn consumers that the raw milk doesn't provide the protections of pasteurization.

The other approach, which Kreitlow said is less likely to be introduced as legislation, would allow farmers with a Grade A permit to sell raw milk to consumers who are part owners of the animal. The cow-share approach was legal on a pilot basis on some Wisconsin farms earlier this decade but has since been outlawed.

"Really, it's a matter of putting the onus on the consumer, who would have an interest in the cow, or on the farmer who sells to consumers," Kreitlow said. "We're more likely to go the (farmer permit) route and see what kind of support we get for sponsorships and at a public hearing."

Kreitlow said it wouldn't be enough to establish a system in which consumers would sign a waiver saying they wouldn't sue the farmer if they got sick from the milk.

"You have to provide some kind of protection to the farmer who sells unpasteurized milk - some waiver from civil liability if the farmer is operating in a responsible fashion. You would have to build that into the statute," he said.

Advocates note that raw milk sales are allowed in 28 states. DATCP Secretary Rod Nilsestuen said the laws run the "full gamut" of how the sales are allowed.

Massey writes for The Country Today, a rural life newspaper published by the Eau Claire Press Co. He can be reached at 608-574-8011 or jimmassey@mhtc.net.

1 comment:

One of the biggest causes of food poisoning in the US is eating raw oysters. Yet, it is still legal to sell these at any restaurant.

There's no reason to continually outlaw the sale of raw milk. If a producer is careful to take good care of their animals, maintain and clean equipment, and follow a few other guidelines, raw milk is perfectly safe and, as the article points out, can be very good for you. Any authorized raw-milk producer should definitely have to follow some established regulations for their operation, but we should make the sale of this product legal. It will provide another way for producers to maket their products, and allow those who desire the product to purchase it with more ease

Garden Plots Available!

2009-11-18T09:26:00.003-06:00

For Immediate Release

Contact: Andrew Werthmann

715-495-2451 or

andwerth@gmail.com

Garden Plots Available!

Community Garden in Downtown Eau Claire now accepting applications! USDA study reports 49 million in US “Food Insecure”

In response to a Government Study released this week outlining massive hunger issues across the US, as well as growing public demand for quality local food sources, the newly formed Eau Claire Community Garden Association is announcing the availability of public garden plots in the Forest Street Green Space located just north of Phoenix Park. The application for plot rental should be attached to this message, if not please email Andrew atandwerth@gmail.com

The United States Department of Agriculture reported this week that 49 million people in the US are “Food Insecure,” up 7.2% over 2008. It marks the largest annual increase in hunger amongst Americans since the government has been tracking this growing issue. About one third of the struggling households are “Very Low Food Security,” meaning they have difficulty simply purchasing food – while two thirds of the households may have some access but only to lower grade and nutritionally deficient food.*

“More and more people are realizing the importance of healthy local food,” said Andrew Werthmann, Coordinator of the Community Garden Association, “whether it’s for health reasons, cutting down on transportation and energy costs or simply to connect with the land and neighbors, we expect this to really take off.”

The group is partnering with The City of Eau Claire Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, which will oversee the tilling and start-up aspects of the project.

“We are excited to be a partner in the community garden concept and the Forest Street location is an excellent use of our public parks and open spaces,” said Phil Feiber, Director of the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department. “Connecting people to their environment and working toward building community is a goal of our department and we will continue to support other community gardens at Jeffers Road, Lakeshore Park, North Riverfronts Children’s Garden, and Demmler Parks.

Applications for the 20’ x 20’ garden plots are being accepted by Parks and Forestry. There are 40 plots available in 2010 and applicants will be accepted until all plots are adopted.

All applications should be mailed or turned in at The Eau Claire Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, 1300 First Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54703. For more information please call (715) 839-5032.

*Web Source: New York Times Online: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17hunger.html

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

Eau Claire Parks and Recreation Garden

Application

Please complete the following information and return application and fee(s) to:

Park Maintenance Department

Marybeth Berry – Volunteer Coordinator

1040 Forest Street

Eau Claire, WI 54703

(715) 839-5039 Fax (715) 839-3823

Marybeth.Berry@ci.eau-claire.wi.us

Primary gardener contact: _______________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: ______________________________ Email: _____________________________________

Please indicate the following (I am interested in):

__ Single Plot (20´x 20´) $30.00 __ Double Plot (2 20´x20´s) $50.00 Make check out to: City of Eau Claire

I would like up to _____ additional single contiguous plots if available. Do not include payment for additional plots until you have received confirmation from the Volunteer Coordinator.

If you have any requests, or have any special needs regarding your garden plot, please let us know, we will make every effort to accommodate your requests.

STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT

The City of Eau Claire will not be responsible for any accidents, injuries, or damages, nor will the City of Eau Claire be responsible for any theft, damage to, loss of, or replacement of any belongings, equipment, materials, or tools, or plantings. There is no security for any personal belongings.

Failure to follow any garden or public area rules and regulations, after reasonable attempt to notify gardener, will result in loss of gardening plot. Gardener may seek to re-establish gardening privileges but is asked to stay out of the gardening area until the issue is resolved. The gardener will not be eligible for any refund or reimbursement for any seed, plantings, or other materials left at gardening site.

Please make sure that you have read and understand the attached rules and guideline sheet, and sign below indicating that you agree to the rules and conditions.

SIGNATURE ___________________________________________________ DATE ____________________

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Gardener paid in full: _____ Yes _____ No

Gardener is a continuing plot holder: _____ Yes _____ No

Gardener has been assigned plot: _____

Eau Claire Community Garden

The goal of the Eau Claire Community Garden is to provide an area for individuals and families to garden, and to build and nurture community friendships to share and enhance gardening skills. Gardeners from year one will have first opportunity to continue their garden spots the following year and their plot will be reserved for them as soon as payment for the following year is made.

The Eau Claire Community Garden Association would like to encourage all plot holders to give some of their harvest to the hungry. There will be a donation bin at the garden and all donated produce will be given to a local food bank. Please compost spoiled or over ripe produce.

Eau Claire Community Garden Etiquette:

· Introduce yourself and build a stronger community!!

· If planting tall crops, do so where they won’t shade other garden plots.

· Weed and maintain your garden regularly.

· Remove pests and diseased plants often as they also quickly spread.

· Never borrow tools from another gardener without permission.

· Do not pick any planting from another plot even if you think that plot has been abandoned.

· Please walk with care, and do not trample surrounding plants in another plot.

· Do not remove plot markers. If unsure of boundaries contact Garden Coordinator.

· Children are welcome at the Garden; however please watch them and monitor their activities.

· Use personal music players instead of radios in the garden and please no cell phone use.

· Do not bring pets to the gardening area.

· Place all rocks removed from your garden in the designated area.

· If you have a concern or issue with a gardening neighbor please address it with him/her in a neighborly manner. If the issue cannot be resolved please contact the Gardening Coordinator.

2010 Community Garden Coordinator: Andrew Werthmann - 616 Wisconsin Street, Apt. #1,
Eau Claire, WI 54703 | Res. Phone: 495-2451 or by email: Andrew.Werthmann@EC-CityCouncil.com

Eau Claire Community Garden Planting Guidelines and Responsibilities

· I plan to attend the Work Weekend in May or will speak to the garden coordinator regarding work opportunities.

· I will plant my garden promptly.

· I will harvest all my plant material at the end of season as directed by the garden coordinator.

· I will prepare my plot for ground cover as directed by the garden coordinator.

· I will compost all plant material and carry out all garbage. I will not put trash in the compost pile.

· I will maintain my garden plot, including weeding. I will be notified if my plot is excessively weedy and will be given a reasonable period to clean it up. If I do not comply, my plot may be forfeited to another gardener.

· I will not plant trees, shrubs, etc. in the community garden.

· I will not use synthetic (non-organic) chemicals. For the health of our community, it is the goal of the community garden to have a natural garden, only natural defenses against insects and disease may be used. Pyrethrins, Rotenone and other neurotoxins are also prohibited. Other organic compounds may be disallowed - subject to a decision from the EC Community Garden Association.

· I will plant only annual plants (or remove and over-winter perennial plants elsewhere).

· I will not extend my garden past the plot markers. Or will be asked to remove plants that extend past the markers, and if not done in a 2 week period, plants may be removed without warning.

· I will keep aisles and walkways free of tools and weeds. I will not plant invasive species such as mint, comfrey etc. that may spread to other areas of the garden.

· If I must abandon my garden I will notify the Garden Coordinator as soon as possible.

· I will not bring pets to the garden.

· I will volunteer one day at the beginning of the season and end of the season to clean up the gardens.

· I understand neither the Community Garden association nor the City of E.C. are responsible for my actions.

Plots will be assigned on a first come first served basis, gardeners should tell organizers what they plan to grow. Plots need to be rotated based on what has been grown in each plot to minimize chances for disease and maximize probability for yield. We will make every attempt to accommodate everyone’s requests and try to fill plots in as fair a manner as we reasonably can.

Action Alert: Senate Bill 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

2009-11-12T19:35:00.000-06:00

Action Alert:

Senate Bill 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

Tell the Senate committee not to threaten quality organic and local food production

Act now! Contact your senator before November 18.

Our food safety system is broken. Industrialized food production gives rise to serious food safety problems, and our government's ability to regulate corporate agribusiness must be strengthened -- without harming small-scale and organic family farmers.

Bills in Congress propose to give more authority to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate for food safety, inspect food processing facilities, and order mandatory recalls. The House passed its own food safety bill in July. The Senate's bill is in committee and scheduled for a mark-up (committee vote) this coming Wednesday, November 18.

Allowing the FDA to crack down on corporate food producers that threaten our citizenry's health is a step in the right direction -- as long as legislation contains protections for small-scale, organic and local food systems. Small farms could be forced out of business by increasing costs for record-keeping, testing and other measures they will not be able to comply with. These are our country's safest farms -- part of the solution, not part of the problem!

Now is the time to contact Senate committee members (especially if one is from your state) that will make changes to the bill on November 18. Our message is: Senate Bill 510 must contain protections for small-scale and organic family farms.

Please call as many committee members as you have time for!

MESSAGES FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

1. Regulate farms and food processors based on risk -- with organic and local systems as the lowest-risk.

While no farm and processing plant can be completely safe and completely eliminate food safety risks, different production systems carry different levels of risk. Small and medium-sized organic farms are low-risk farms from a food safety point of view, and local food systems are low-risk systems. This fact speaks to a risk-based regulatory approach, particularly given limited federal dollars available for system-wide regulation and the need to prudently target the use of those funds.

Organic farms are already controlling pathogens and improving food safety in various ways that conventional, industrial-scale farms do not. Specifically, food safety regulation for organic and small-scale producers should focus on education and training, not one-size-fits-all food safety standards.

2. Protect organic farmers from conflicting food safety regulations.

Tell your Senator to ensure that the bill directs the FDA to integrate any food safety standards with the existing federal organic standards. No farmer should be forced to choose between organic certification and food safety rules, and the two should be streamlined to avoid unnecessary additional burdens and incompatibilities.

3. Protect wildlife, biodiversity and habitat from misguided food safety regulation.

Likewise, the food safety bill should ensure that FDA food safety standards do not conflict with existing federal conservation, environmental and wildlife standards. Farmers should be encouraged to adopt conservation practices on their farms -- in fact, many conservation practices such as vegetated buffer zones and wetland preservation have been shown to reduce the presence of foodborne pathogens on farms.

Take Action Today – Call Senate Committee Members

See the list below for Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Please call or fax their office, ask to speak with the aide in charge of food safety issues, and share the concerns of the small-scale and organic farming community with them.

List of Senate HELP Committee Members

Senator / Phone / Fax

Democrats

Tom Harkin (IA) / 202-224-3254 / No fax
Chris Dodd (CT) / 202-224-2823 / 202-224-1083
Barbara Mikulski (MD) / 202-224-4654 / 202-224-8858
Jeff Bingaman (NM) / 202-224-5521 / No fax
Patty Murray (WA) / 202-224-2621 / 202-224-0238
Jack Reed (RI) / 202-224-4642 / 202-224-4680
Bernie Sanders (VT) / 202-224-5141 / 202-228-0776
Sherrod Brown (OH) / 202-224-2315 / 202-228-6321
Bob Casey (PA) / 202-224-6324 / 202-228-0604
Kay Hagan (NC) / 202-224-6342 / 202-228-2563
Jeff Merkley (OR) / 202-224-3753 / 202-228-3997
Al Franken (MN) / 202-224-5641 / No fax
Michael Bennet (CO) / 202-224-5852 / 202-228-5036

Republicans
Mike Enzi (WY) / 202-224-3424 / 202-228-0359
Judd Gregg (NH) / 202-224-3324 / No fax
Lamar Alexander (TN) / 202-224-4944 / 202-228-3398
Richard Burr (NC) / 202-224-3154 / 202-228-2981
Johnny Isakson (GA) / 202-224-3643 / 202-228-0724
Orrin Hatch (UT) / 202-224-5251 / 202-224-6331
Pat Roberts (KS) / 202-224-4774 / 202-224-3514
Tom Coburn (OK) / 202-224-5754 / 202-224-6008
Lisa Murkowski (AK) / 202-224-6665 / 202-224-5301

Taste of the World

2009-11-11T15:20:00.000-06:00

Time to reserve your place and your dish!

More info & reservations – www.pclegends.com/taste
New Location: 1^st Congregational UCC, 310 Broadway, Eau Claire

Join us for the 9thAnnual Taste of the World
An evening of Fun Ethnic Dining & Live Music

Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Meal: 6-7:45 pm Coffeehouse 7:45-9:30 pm

Admission: Suggested donation of $8 plus a potluck dish of your choice

Menu: All the dishes by participants & dishes from 5 area restaurants - typically 50-60 items from 20-30 countries!

local food buffet at the dulaney

2009-11-10T13:33:00.003-06:00

Local Food Buffet

Thursday, November 12th

11:30 am - 2 pm

$8.50 per Person

Schweinebraten Pork

Belgian Beef Stew Carbonade

Stued Acorn Squash

Sauerkraut with Potato

Pecan Wild Rice

Beets

Maple Glazed Carrots

Tay Apple Salad

Bibb Lettuce Salad

Hot Beef Sandwich

Parsnip Soup

www.uwec.edu/dining

uwecdining.blogspot.com

The Dulany

A Day With Nowhere to Stay CHALLENGE

2009-11-10T12:29:00.001-06:00

A Day With Nowhere to Stay

CHALLENGE!

Hunger and Homelessness in our Community:

Experience. Education. Action.

We challenge YOU to spend just one day with nowhere to stay in downtown Eau Claire! As part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, we invite you to spend the afternoon and evening of Thursday, November 19th experiencing the various services that the city of Eau Claire provides to our friends and neighbors in need.

3:00-5:00p.m. Positive Avenues

- Art Show featuring a Photo Essay and Open Floor -618 S Barstow St.-

3:00-5:00p.m. Beacon House Family Shelter - 309 E. Lake Street -

The Wellness Shack, Inc. - 515 S Barstow St., Suite 117 -

- Stop by the Beacon House and the Wellness Shack to learn about the services they provide for the community!

5:00-6:30p.m. The Community Table

- Come enjoy a hot meal provided to the public Ð free will donation -320 Putnam Street-

3:00-8:00 p.m. The Warming Center

Ð ÒIn the Shelters, In the StreetsÓ documentary showing every hour

Ð Hunger and Homelessness Panel Discussion @ 7pm. - Corner of Graham Ave. and Gray St.-

8:00-11:00 p.m. Wilson Park Sleepover/Bonfire

Ð Raise money to sponsor the hours you can last Ôspending the nightÕ in Wilson Park! Proceeds go to the new Warming Center! - the 800 block of S. Farwell St.-

Event sponsored by the

Hunger Prevention Coalition,

Continuum of Care, and

AmeriCorps*VISTA

http://echungerandhomelessness.wordpress.com

Check out our website for more info on the planned events!

A Day with Nowhere to Stay Challenge

2009-11-05T09:26:00.001-06:00

A Day with Nowhere to Stay Challenge

What would you do if you had no car and nowhere to spend the day and evening? We challenge YOU to spend just one day with nowhere to stay in downtown Eau Claire. As a way to take part in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, we invite you to spend the afternoon and evening of Thursday, November 19th experiencing the various services that the Eau Claire community provides to our friends and neighbors in need.

Schedule of Events:

3:00-5:00: Photo Essay and Open Floor at Positive Avenues

3:00-5:00: Tours of Beacon House and The Wellness Shack

3:00-8:00: Documentary "In the Shelters, In the Streets" showing at The Warming Center

5:00-6:30: Dinner at The Community Table

7:00-8:00: Panel Discussion at The Warming Center

8:00-11:00: "Sleepover"/Bonfire at Wilson Park

Please visit our website for details on the Challenge, other ways you can get involved, donations we are seeking, stories of hunger and homelessness in our community, and how to have family and friends sponsor you if you take the Challenge.
http://echungerandhomelessness.wordpress.com

Please pass this information along to all of your family, friends, and co-workers.

Sponsored by: Hunger Prevention Coalition, Continuum of Care, and AmeriCorps*VISTA

Co-op Annual Meeting Celebrates Progress to Link Local Farms and Institutions

2009-11-04T09:10:00.003-06:00

Contact: (715) 271-2681
(715) 717-4928
For Immediate Release
November 3, 2009

Co-op Annual Meeting Celebrates Progress to Link Local Farms and Institutions

The first annual meeting of the Producers & Buyers Co-op will be held November 10 at 6 p.m. at
Sacred Heart Hospital’s Community Auditorium (Eau Claire, WI) and the public is invited.
Members will elect new officers and approve bylaws and have opportunities to share the
organization’s recent success and future goals and taste local food products. Please RSVP by
calling (715) 579-5013. A reception will begin at 6:00 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The annual Co-op meeting will provide information on membership opportunities for farmers and processors, and institutions. “Supporting the Co-op is an opportunity to invest in the local community and to support sustainable products, local farms and jobs,” said Co-op treasurer, Shawn McMartin, bison producer, Promise Farm Buffalo in Menomonie, Wisconsin. “Co-op support is helping rebuild the local processing infrastructure and expand local food production by providing a stable market.”

Darrel Lorch of Lorcrest Farms, Inc., in Blair, Wisconsin, added, “Having a stable market price
allows me to do more long-range planning with my farm operation.” Lorch currently serves as Co- op board chair. “Over the past year, we have had an outpouring of warm compliments on our food from patients, our Meals on Wheels patrons and employees,” said Rick Beckler, Co-op board member and Sacred Heart Hospital’s Director of Hospitality Services. “As an institution committed to our community, it’s our responsibility to buy local food to support local agriculture. The Co-op facilitates the process for other institutions to source local food.”

The Co-op intends to bring new buyers on board as products are sourced and serves institutions
such as: schools, universities and colleges, hospitals and nursing homes, and businesses that
provide cafeteria services “Following the Hospital Sisters Mission and our Franciscan tradition, Sacred Heart Hospital is proud to invest in its community by purchasing local food to support local agriculture,” commented Steve Ronstrom, Hospital Sisters Health System Divisional President and CEO (Western Wisconsin), which includes Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. “Local food is good medicine for everyone. It benefits our local economy by preserving and expanding family farm operations, providing jobs in production and processing, and keeping money in our community.”

“There have been profound changes over the past century for family farms and rural mmunities, culminating in the 1990s when Wisconsin lost almost 40 percent of its family farms,” said Co-op
coordinator Mary C. Anderson, a value-added farmer with extensive direct sales experience.

“Unfortunately, local Wisconsin markets for locally produced agricultural products remain under- developed.” “Large institutions (universities, school systems, hospitals and nursing homes) have long- established supply chains that ensure the safety, availability, variety and quantity of food products, but seldom source local products,” commented David Mortimer, Communications Specialist, Sacred Heart Hospital and Co-op organizer. “It’s an irony that in the very heart of America’s Dairyland, local Wisconsin family farms, processors, and their products remain largely shut out of institutional markets even though those institutional buyers may be located only a few dozen miles away. The Co-op helps remove those barriers.”

The Co-op facilitates buying and selling for farmers in Eau Claire, Chippewa, Barron, Dunn, Pepin, Trempealeau, Buffalo, Clark, Jackson, Polk, Pierce, and St. Croix counties. Sacred Heart Hospital is a founding partner in the project and committed 10% of its $2 million food budget to purchasing local food products in order to provide a market to help the organization get off the ground. In 2009, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls committed to purchasing local food through the Co-op.

###
The Producers & Buyers Co-op was launched with the announcement of a Buy Local, Buy
Wisconsin (BLBW) grant on July 17, 2008, by Governor Jim Doyle at Sacred Heart Hospital in
Eau Claire, WI. Governor Doyle chose Eau Claire as the city to announce statewide BLBW grants
due to the innovative local food partnership between Sacred Heart Hospital and River Country
RC&D Council to launch the Co-op.

Thanksgiving plans...

2009-11-04T09:02:00.003-06:00

A Message from Vandana Shiva: Help Us Fight For The Truth

2009-11-02T19:16:00.005-06:00

http://truefoodnow.org/campaigns/messagefromvandanashiv/

A Message from Vandana Shiva: Help Us Fight For The Truth

dear foodlums,

Have you seen this advertisement? Couched deep within the green-washed rhetoric of a recent Monsanto ad is an egregious claim:

Producing more. Conserving more. Improving farmers’ lives. That’s sustainable agriculture. And that’s what Monsanto is all about.

Oh, really?

While the mainstream media and Big Ag pundits seem all too happy to watch how Monsanto and other biotech companies spin and co-opt the term “sustainability,” we at the Center for Food Safety (CFS) are on the front lines fighting against the corporate take-over of our food, farms, and future; advocating for REAL, sustainable, solutions to the problems of the biotech industrial agriculture model.

Over the next month, CFS will be bringing you videos from some experts with whom we work closely in the trenches—Michael Pollan, Vandana Shiva, Anna Lappé, and CFS’s Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell—to help us tell you the real truth about the false claims put forth by Monsanto and other biotech companies. We’ll share with you why these leading activists support the work of the Center for Food Safety.

CFS has been fighting on your behalf since 1997. We have accomplished a lot – we’ve stopped GMO crops including wheat, rice, and alfalfa, and also dangerous pharmaceutical-producing crops. We’ve beat Monsanto in the courts, but they have the substantial resources to continue to challenge CFS; just this week, they asked for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider yet another appeal of our successful lawsuit stopping GMO alfalfa.

We can only accomplish these victories with the support of members like you. Please join Vandana Shiva in supporting our work, to raise the funds we need to continue to fight Monsanto in the courts, and to combat the twisted version of “sustainability” biotech company marketers are trying to foist on the world. We need your help, right now, to raise our goal of $100,000 this Fall — less than the amount Monsanto spent on just ONE AD on the back page of The New Yorker (about $140,000), to support our important work.

HELP US FIGHT FOR THE TRUTH AND BUST THE BIOTECH MYTHS

In this week’s video, Vandana Shiva, founder and director of Navdanya in India, leader in the Slow Foods Movement, and author of the recently released book, Soil not Oil, shares the tragic story of farmers pushed into intractable debt, and some to suicide, by the economy of biotech crops, and why she supports the work of the Center for Food Safety.

Please help us meet our goal of $100,000 dollars this fall by donating as generously as you can and becoming a paid member of CFS today. Our members are our most important asset, and we have provided you with cutting-edge research and reports, timely and effective action alerts, and petitions to help make your voice heard for free all of these years because of it. If you appreciate all that you have received from the Center for Food Safety and our True Food Network over the years, and want to help us continue our important work, please show us with a generous contribution!

Help us show the world that Monsanto’s vision is NOT our vision. Thank you for your support!

PS – Don’t forget to choose a thank you gift from our drop-down list when you donate! Get a copy of Your Right to Know, Soil Not Oil, the film “Food, Inc”, our Non-GMO Shopping Guide, and more!

A fresh approach - Producers and Buyers Cooperative

2009-11-02T09:35:00.004-06:00

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=CH&Date=20091102&Category=REG&ArtNo=110209998&Ref=PH&Template=galleryzoom&Params=Itemnr=1

Modern Healthcare, November 2, 2009

A fresh approach

Wisconsin hospital gives a big boost to local farm co-op as facilities nationwide look to nearby sources in search of a higher-quality food supply

Click for Photos

By Gregg Blesch
Posted: November 2, 2009 - 5:59 am EDT
Darrel Lorch is a good-natured grouser, and that's how he starts when he recounts how it has been to help out with a new cooperative set up to allow small local farms to sell food to Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wis.—and eventually other hospitals, nursing homes and schools.

“Of course, my first response really was, ‘Oh my God, do you think we can do this?' ” Lorch says, steering his truck up a steep incline on his farm to get a look at one of his herds. “I said, ‘Well, we'll give it shot,' ” he recalls. “The last two years have been very, very complicated at Lorch raises cattle in Blair, Wis., about 50 miles south of Sacred Heart, which pledged to spend $200,000 a year on local food. But just because Sacred Heart wanted to buy didn't mean the small-scale producers and processors could immediately deliver what the 223-bed hospital needed in the right volumes, forms, packaging and flow.

Lorch rattles through a number of hurdles that have been solved or potentially solved over the course of many meetings in Eau Claire. The list includes administrative and legal hoops, insufficient processing and distribution infrastructure, and communication between a buyer and sellers not accustomed to doing business together.

By the time Lorch parks his pickup back at the farmhouse he lets on that, even though he has yet to be paid a dime for chairing the ad hoc board of what has become officially incorporated as the Producers & Buyers Co-op, he thinks it's working, that it's good for everyone involved and that it will grow. “I believe in one thing,” Lorch says. “If something's going to happen, somebody is going to have to pick up the ball and run with it. If no one does anything, the ball will lie there and rot.”

Bypassing the industrial food-supply chain is no small feat, and the challenges Lorch cites might easily knock the wind out of good intentions. That system allows hospitals and other institutions to order exactly what they want in any quantity, size, shape and packaging and have a truck drop it off the next day. The scale and speed of the production, processing and distribution make the prices and convenience impossible to match.

View a photo album showing some of the key players in the Producers & Buyers Co-op But it's also a system that Sacred Heart CEO Stephen Ronstrom blames for much of the chronic illness driving healthcare costs, meanwhile sending the hospital's money around the country and beyond to truck in food that can be grown and raised better by people in the hospital's own community.

“If you start digging into it some more, you see we don't have the financial incentive at this time,” Ronstrom says. The local food the hospital buys on average costs 15% more than what it would get through its group purchasing organization. But, he adds, “I think five years from now this will be mainstream, and I think the crisis in our healthcare costs is going to drive this.”

With a directive from Ronstrom to buy local food, Sacred Heart Hospitality Services Director Rick Beckler says he fumbled around for a while to figure out how to do it—he couldn't just show up at a farmers market and buy 1,500 pounds of ground beef—so in January 2008 he attended an agriculture and food conference at the Eau Claire convention center and, as he tells it, stood up and said: “I'm committing $200,000 to buy local food, from Sacred Heart Hospital. Do any of you in this room want a piece of that action and want to work with me?”

The money (10% of the hospital's food budget) drew a partnership with the River Country Resource Conservation and Development Council, a not-for-profit organization that works on projects that support sustainable resources and communities, including watershed restoration and promoting farming practices that reduce soil erosion. With a foundation laid with Sacred Heart's money and cooperation, River Country believed a co-op could sell to other institutions and create a new market for food that's locally raised according to principles the organization believes yield better food and are good for the land and animals.

The idea soon won a $40,000 grant from the Wisconsin Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection Department. As of September, Sacred Heart was buying most of its beef through the co-op, as well as half its pork and more than a third of its chicken. Recently the co-op signed up its second buyer, 102-bed St. Joseph's Hospital in nearby Chippewa Falls, Wis., which like Sacred Heart is part of Hospital Sisters Health System, a 13-hospital system based in Springfield, Ill. The two hospitals make up the system's western Wisconsin division, of which Ronstrom is president.

Concept catches on

Other hospitals across the country are making a point to buy high-quality food from local farmers. It's happening a few hours from Eau Claire in Madison, Wis., a community that has become an epicenter of a burgeoning eat-local movement. The Badgerland Produce Co-op Auction allows institutions, including 338-bed St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, to purchase large volumes of fresh produce aggregated from local growers.

In Vermont, 47-bed Brattleboro (Vt.) Memorial Hospital and 420-bed Fletcher Allen Health
Care in Burlington are participating in the Vermont Fresh Network, a not-for-profit group that
builds partnerships between farmers and chefs, mostly at restaurants.

But Sacred Heart and its partners in the co-op are building their own model from scratch and
learning and adjusting as they go.

“We're multistakeholder,” says Mary Anderson, a resource specialist for River Country, who has taken a lead on sorting out the product flow. “We've got buyers and sellers sitting at the same table, which is a hard thing to do because you're speaking farm language and you're speaking institutional-buyer language. It's like having someone speaking Spanish and someone from Russia trying to communicate.”

Walking through Sacred Heart's cafeteria, Beckler runs into Mary Price, a part-time speech therapist at the hospital whose small farm, Out to Pasture Beef in Fall Creek, Wis., has sold two cattle to the hospital through the co-op. She and her husband raise cattle—“Angus and Galloway, 100% grass-fed,” she says—on a scale that ordinarily would be much too small to sell to institutions.

That's a hurdle solved by the co-op model, Beckler says. Producers are pooled, and working by trial and error they've made strides figuring out the right flow of deliveries and a schedule of slaughter dates to make the deliveries possible.

“We as an organization want to buy local, but if somebody grew 20 tomatoes in their backyard and they want to sell it to Sacred Heart—run up to the door and say, ‘Here's 20 tomatoes'—or somebody walks his cow in the front lobby, it's too cumbersome to manage,” Beckler says.

Distributing fruits and vegetables creates a need for refrigerated trucks not at the co-op's disposal (a member has been trucking the frozen meat to the hospital). And the limits on the availability of fresh produce with the Wisconsin growing season, along with the demands on a kitchen staff preparing as many as 2,600 meals a day, means Sacred Heart and future institutional buyers need a processor that right now doesn't exist in the area.

Going whole hog—with beef

To start fast without getting bogged down—even before the co-op formally took shape—Sacred Heart started buying whole cattle and then whole hogs and whole chickens, rather than insist on buying just the cuts and parts that are affordable and most useful in the hospital's menu, such as large orders of stew meat and ground beef. The animals are slaughtered and butchered at local processors, then delivered by freezer truck. Little by little, Beckler worked with Anderson and the coalescing co-op on cuts, sizes and packaging that make things easier on the hospital's kitchen staff.

The co-op has signed up seven small meat processors, four of which handle beef. The smallest is Indee Meat & Locker Service in Independence, Wis., population 1,250, give or “The buyer needs to understand that things in the small-scale world are different,” says Anderson, who arranged a visit to Indee, as well as two farms, including Lorch's. At Indee, animals are slaughtered on Thursdays, one at a time. Industry giants Cargill, Tyson Foods and JBS—which together account for two-thirds of U.S. beef production—slaughter thousands of cattle a day in single plants.

Velma Gallagher, the matriarch of the family-owned meat processor, says she and her husband bought the facility 56 years ago. From the street, the business she, her son and daughter still run half a century later looks like a modest-size house. Quite a few of the cattle that come through Indee now end up in meals served to the patients and staff at Sacred Heart. “We've already processed 44 beef for the hospital co-op, and we have No. 45 hanging in the cooler,” says Gallagher's daughter, LouAnn Rebarchek.

Volunteering to show how the slaughtering happens, Gallagher gets up from a desk by the front door and hustles through the cutting room, the slaughter room, and into a dark space at the back of the building.

“The beef come in here,” she says, pointing to a large sliding door at the back of the room aglow in dim yellow light.

The animals move through a series of wood-plank stock pens and finally through a gate into the knocking pen, where they're stunned, falling and rolling under a heavy revolving grate and onto the slaughter-room floor. Her son, Randy Gallagher, and the hired staff—increased for slaughter days to two men from one—then attach shackles to the animal and hoist it toward the ceiling, drain its blood into a barrel, and then lower it into a cradle to complete the skinning and remove the innards, preparing for the carcass to be halved, quartered and moved on gambrels into the cooler.

Throughout the process a state inspector makes sure nothing touches the floor and checks the glands and organs for disease or contamination. The beef and packaging bear the inspector's stamp.

At the hospital, Beckler repeats several times that the meat is inspected just like meat bought through any large-scale food supplier, clearly sensitive to the possibility that someone might fear that the food the hospital buys from small producers and processors is less safe. In fact, the hospital sees better food safety and security as benefits of the project. During a salmonella outbreak in 2008, he says, it took investigators several months to track the infections in 43 states through U.S. distributors and finally to jalapeno and serrano peppers grown in Mexico.

Sacred Heart, in contrast, knows that each tube of ground beef came from a single animal and knows where and how that animal was raised. Beckler also notes that the hospital's local food supply would remain stable in the event of an epidemic or catastrophe that interrupted interstate commerce.

Producers and processors that sign up for the co-op promise to employ growing practices and animal husbandry that's good for the land, good for the animals and good for the people who eat the food. The buyers, in turn, agree to pay a price that reflects the cost of producing food that lives up to those standards plus a small profit. Buyers also agree to be flexible if certain products or quantities aren't available when they want them, filling the gaps through other suppliers.

The standards include that livestock must have access to fresh air, space and pasture. “We have certain guidelines for our members—how they raise their animals, how they feed them,” Lorch says. “They basically are certifying they're not feeding animal parts. They're not feeding hormones; they're not using implants,” he explains, referring to the common practice of implanting growth hormones at the base of the ear in beef cattle. “They're not feeding continuous antibiotics, and any of this type of thing the industry does today.”

Growers declare that they only use pesticides and herbicides approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for organic crops, although they aren't required to be certified as organic. They're also required to follow USDA guidelines intended to mitigate the risk of food-borne illness.

Farmers and processors applying to sell through the co-op pay a $50 fee to cover the cost of a visit “to more or less inspect their premises and to see if they're doing what they say they're doing,” Lorch says.

At Deutsch Family Farm in Arcadia, Wis., hogs spend some of their time outside on a pasture and otherwise in pens with deep beds of straw that allow them to root around, as is their nature, compared with the conventional practice of raising hogs on slotted concrete floors over manure pits. Jim and Alison Deutsch raise about 200 pigs a year. She's now sending one to be processed for Sacred Heart once every three weeks. Their chickens—they're raising a brood of 125 right now, all for Sacred Heart—have access to an ample yard, where they can feast on the grass.
Careful planning required The scale of operations like the Deutsches' requires careful planning and communication between them and the co-op and Sacred Heart, which has needed some remedial education on the way animals are raised and turned into food products that arrive in tidy packages.

“I always have my year's schedule of how many pigs I'll have when. I have locker dates for every six months out,” Alison Deutsch says. “You can't call me one day and expect the meat to be there the next.”

And in spite of the best planning and communication, some things are unpredictable. Some of those chickens happily pecking around in the yard might get picked off by hawks and owls, and crops are vulnerable to seasonal variations and weather events. But the co-op is trying to make the experience at least somewhat closer to that sort of convenience for institutional buyers, and Sacred Heart made itself the guinea pig.

“We should have had those product specs upfront with the producers, the growers, the processors and ourselves,” Beckler says. “We weren't sure how this was going to fly because we had to get the co-op incorporated, we had to get other pieces in line,” he says, such as liability insurance policies. Each producer must carry $1 million in coverage at a minimum.

In the walk-in freezer at Sacred Heart, chef Randall Lathrop picks up a 2½-pound tube of frozen ground beef bought through the co-op and says he's working on getting 5-pound tubes, which are easier for the kitchen staff to work with. Likewise he wants beef patties that are individually frozen rather than frozen together and separated by paper.

“Pork, too, we're working on getting our sausages, breakfast sausages,” Lathrop says. “They're all with the casing tied together, so it takes an employee to clip, clip, clip, clip, clip. They're working on a way they're going to have them pre-done for us. So it's a growth period.” And, he adds, the co-op is solving issues that most likely would surface with other institutions willing to become buyers.

There was no chicken processor in the area, so the chickens raised in western Wisconsin have been sent to facilities in Minnesota and Iowa until recently. Partly in response to and with the help of the co-op, a farmer established a small poultry plant in Dorchester, Wis.

Now co-op members are exploring ways the meat producers can sell high-end cuts retail at markets or out of meat cases at the processors, making it possible for Sacred Heart, St. Joseph and future institutional buyers to get their large quantities of ground beef and stew meet without also having to buy the expensive prime cuts. So in September they had what they called “the parts meeting,” where they began to sort out how it would work. “Our ultimate goal is to have the institutional buyers have the flexibility to call and say this is what I want, and they don't have to worry about the rest of it,” River Country's Anderson says.

“We're building that middle infrastructure of processing that's not there. The ox is slow and the earth is patient, and we take it one day at a time and we try to do lots and lots of communication, because there's education that's needed at all levels.”

What do you think? Post a comment on this article and share your opinion with other readers.
Submit your comments to Modern Healthcare Online at mheditorial@modernhealthcare.com.

Please be sure to include your hometown and state, along with your organization and title.

Visit
www.modernhealthcare.com/reprints for additional information.

Idea to plant community garden atop new library taking root

2009-10-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Grass Roots: Idea to plant community garden atop new library taking root

Pat Schneider Posted: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:30 am (3) Comments

Could a new library building be a source of nourishment for the body as well as the mind?
A grass-roots Madison group is working to make the idea blossom. The Downtown Community Gardens Group is hosting a public meeting Thursday to spread information and stimulate discussion on a proposal to put a community garden on top of the proposed six-story, $37 million library at West Washington Avenue and Henry Street.

A presentation on rooftop gardens starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 204 of the current Central Library, 201 W. Mifflin St. An open Q&A session will follow.

Urban rooftop gardens are springing up all over the United States. To the south, Chicago sells honey from beehives on the City Hall's expansive rooftop garden. To the east, Milwaukee is home to a rooftop community supported agriculture garden, whose origin you can learn about here. The Kansas City, MO public library, in a converted bank building, boasts an ornamental garden on its roof.

To find out if a rooftop garden on the new Madison library is feasible, the group already asked prospective developer Fiore Cos. for estimates on the cost. But for the idea take root, it will take grass-roots support from Madisonians dedicated to expanding the city's tradition of community gardens as the urban agriculture movement flourishes.

So come out to the meeting, send your ideas to library officials, and let your City Council representative know what you'd like to see happen.

Like the downtown community gardeners say: "Local food is the wave of the future, and in the urban environment the sky's the limit." Love that slogan.

Posted in Grassroots on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:30 am Updated: 6:59 am. Blog, Downtown Library, Community Gardens

downtown's community garden

2009-10-27T12:55:00.001-05:00

http://volumeone.org/magazine/articles/887/Hot_Plots.html

OCTOBER 15, 2009 ISSUE

Hot Plots

a community garden association sprouts up

words by Katie Venit

The way Andrew Werthmann sees it, creating an organic community garden is a hands-on way to help save the world, one that nicely complements what the City of Eau Claire is already trying to achieve with green legislation. “You can take votes and do legislation on the city level or state level, but really this community garden is an on-the-ground, action-oriented step. Being a part of this effort is being part of a greater effort of greening our city. In my opinion there’s nothing bigger than that.”

Although he has spent much of his adult life working in politics, city councilman Werthmann grew up working on a CSA farm, so he thinks about the importance of community-based agriculture a lot. Some time ago, he walked by the Forest Street green space in downtown Eau Claire and thought it would be great for a community garden. Dennis Eikenberry approached him a few years later to be part of what they have dubbed the Eau Claire Community Garden Association, an unofficial advisory committee that helps guide the city towards that goal.

Members include experts in agriculture and landscape architecture, and also folks just dedicated to locally grown produce and community development. Eikenberry started bringing together this A-Team of urban agriculture after Phil Fieber, director of Parks and Recreation, asked what he thought of the idea of a community garden on Forest Street. One major first step was for the association to gauge interest among residents of the North River Fronts Neighborhood through meetings and door-to-door canvassing. Enthusiasm was abundant, and the city decided to go with the idea.

The garden is still in the planning stages. Although the city owns the land and will make the ultimate decisions on how big it will be and what the land will be used for, the association has been drawing on its expertise to pass along detailed suggestions and plans for what could be built now and what could be added in years to come.

Page 1 Page 2

Apple Picking Success!!!

2009-10-26T10:41:00.005-05:00

Fertility Strategies for Organic Vegetables. Fall Field Day!

2009-10-26T10:14:00.004-05:00

Fertility Strategies for Organic Vegetables

Fall Field Day

November 2, 2009 - 1:00 – 4:00pm

Spring Hill Community Farm
Barron County, WI

Join fellow farmers and University specialists for an in-depth look at the fertility management strategies and practices at Spring Hill Community Farm. Mike Racette will discuss his use of cover crops, rotations, mulch, tillage, and purchased inputs. Spring Hill is a 20-year-old CSA farm growing a wide variety of vegetables on approximately 5 acres. University staff will be on hand to discuss the results of a survey of organic growers and their fertility management and to help answer questions. Please join us!

Spring Hill Community Farm
545 1-1/2 Avenue
Prairie Farm, WI 54762
http://www.springhillcommunityfarm.com/

A beverage and snack will be provided
Cost: Free!
Please RSVP to John Hendrickson at jhendric@wisc.edu or 608-265-3704
Sponsored by the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, College of
Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of Illinois Funded by the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program

Directions to Spring Hill Community Farm

From Eau Claire and points South and East
Take I-94 West. Take exit 41 for Hwy 25. Turn right (north) on 25. At Hwy 64,
turn left. At County Road F, turn right. Follow signs for County Road F to 1st
Avenue and turn left. Follow 1st Ave to 6th St. Turn right on 6th and then left on
1½ Ave. Spring Hill Community Farm is the last (fourth) place on the road.

From Twin Cities and points West
Take I-94 east and get off at exit #19, the Baldwin/Hwy. 63 exit. Go north (left)
on 63 through Baldwin. Continue on 63 to Hwy. 64, about 15 miles. Go east (right)
on 64 another 15 miles or so, just past Connorsville. Take County Road V north
(left) for 4.4 miles to 1410. Turn left on 1410, then immediately veer to the right
on 190th St. (Confusingly, "190th St." is called "4 3/4 St." at the other end.) Go
1.8 miles to a T in the road. Turn right on 1/2 Ave. Go 1.2 miles on 1/2 Ave. to 6th
St. Turn north (left) on 6th St. and drive .7 mile to 1 1/2 Ave. Turn west (left)
onto 1 1/2 Ave. Spring Hill Community Farm is the last (fourth) place on the road.

From points North
From Hwy 8, take County Road F south to Prairie Farm. Continue on County Road
F through town to 1st Ave. Turn right. Follow 1st Ave to 6th St. Turn right on 6th
and then left on 1½ Ave. Spring Hill Community Farm is the last (fourth) place on
the road.

FOOD, INC. Wednesday 7pm

2009-10-12T09:44:00.001-05:00

FOOD, INC.
wednesday, october 14, 2009

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the
highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. 7:00pm

UW-Stout Applied Arts building Rm
210 (13th Avenue & 3rd Street E) Run Time: 1hr 34min. General admission $TBA. Sponsored by Blue

Devil Productions, refreshments and post-film discussion courtesy of Menomonie Market.

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

How Much Vitamin D Do You Really Need to Take?

2009-10-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/10/Vitamin-D-Experts-Reveal-the-Truth.aspx

On November 3 at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, noted doctors Cedric Garland and Tracey O'Connor are running a seminar on how vitamin D can be used to prevent breast cancer -- as well as infectious diseases, type 1 diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, and falls in the elderly.

Presenters will include some of the best known vitamin D researchers/practitioners, such as Robert P. Heaney, Reinhold Vieth, John White and Susan Whiting.
It is estimated that 25 to 50 percent of any healthcare budget could be saved with adequate vitamin D serum levels.

The conference will look at the current research and practice with vitamin D to enable everyone to take action today based on what's known to solve the deficiency epidemic, and to start the prevention of many diseases.

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

2009-10-10T23:39:00.003-05:00

the beef article many have heard of... few have read.

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?em

See the Video:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/03/health/1247464978948/tainted-meat.html

LOCAL FOOD on Sacred Heart Hospital's NEW room service menu!!!

2009-10-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

A Regional Leader

Bringing Locally-Produced Fresh & Nutritional Food to You

Because we’re committed to provide you the freshest, most nutritional, and best-tasting food, Sacred Heart Hospital pledges more than 10% of its food budget to purchasing products from local farms. These local products include beef, pork, chicken, buffalo, fish, cheese, ice cream, breads, jams, chocolates, strawberries and apples.

Our local producers and processors include:

Ledebuhr’s Meats (Winona MN)
Angel Acres (Mason)
Lo Fam Farm (Chippewa Falls)
Augusta Meats (Augusta)
Lorcrest Farms (Blair)
Blue Collar Café Jams (Hixton)
Matthew Buvala (Pepin)
Bullfrog Fish Farm (Menomonie)
Out to Pasture Beef (Fall Creek)
Castle Rock Organic Farms (Osseo)
Pat’s Country Market (Arcadia)
Coon Creek Family Farm (Mondovi)
Promise Farm Buffalo (Menomonie)
Crescent Meats & Catering (Cadott)
RiverWinds Farm (Boyd)
Deutsch Family Farm (Arcadia)
Romar Greenhouse (Augusta)
Ewes Rule the Farm (Cornell)
SunnySide Meadows (Dorchester)
Gunderson’s Meats (Mondovi)
Tschanz Farms (Blair)
HCH Farm (Ettrick)
West Road Farm (Ettrick)
Indee Locker (Independence)

A Franciscan commitment to our agricultural community & local economy

Local food is good medicine for our patients and our community. Because of this, Sacred Heart Hospital has led the local food effort in western Wisconsin and partnered with River Country RC&D to create the Producers & Buyers Co-op. As a partner in this innovative project, we’re helping open doors for other institutions
(hospitals, universities, schools, nursing homes) to also purchase local food. Thanks to the Co-op, our patients and cafeteria patrons and Meals-on-Wheels customers enjoy fresh local food products with greater nutrition and better taste. Leading the way for others to purchase local food is just one way Sacred Heart Hospital is
committed to its community. It’s a part of our historic Franciscan mission to benefit and support local family farms and our local economy.

For a brochure or member information on the Co-op,
please call (715) 834-9672.

Up Cycling

2009-10-05T09:48:00.002-05:00

Trash or treasure? Upcycling becomes growing green trend

Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:24am EDT

By Belinda Goldsmith

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Rather than throwing that bag or hosepipe into the recycle bin, how about turning it into a belt or a shower curtain, joining a growing band of upcyclers?

Upcycling refers to reusing an object in a new way without degrading the material it is made from, as opposed to recycling which generally involves breaking down the original material and making it into something else, using more energy.

Supporters of the environmentally friendly practice of upcycling say people in developing countries have effectively been upcycling for years, using old packaging and clothing in new ways, although more out of need than for the environment.

But upcycling is now taking off in other countries, reflecting an increased interest in eco-friendly products, particularly ones that are priced at an affordable level and proving profitable for the manufacturers.

"If upcycling is going to become mainstream, then the corporate world needs to see that it can be profitable," said Albe Zakes, spokesman of U.S. company TerraCycle which specializes in finding new uses for discarded packaging.

A growing number of companies are focusing on upcycling although the trend is still in its infancy with industry-wide figures yet to be produced.

Upcycling is used on a range of products including jewelry, furniture and fashion items, such as making bracelets from old flip flops, lamps from blenders, and turning skateboards into furniture such as chairs and bookcases.

British company Elvis & Kresse Organization (E&KO) uses industrial waste to make new luxury products, turning fire hoses into bags, belts, wallets and cufflinks.

E&KO co-founder James Henrit said they avoid what they call "virgin materials," instead opting for scrap sail cloth or furniture textiles in their lines.

"We are very much a social enterprise, and we're hoping to change the landscape of the luxury accessories industry by leading by example," Henrit told Reuters Television on the sidelines of the London Design Festival.

A design store in Vienna in Austria called Gabarage lets customers rifle through trash like used plastic covers, old computer chips, and discarded X-rays and pick what they like to create their own individual bag.

All the single pieces of waste chosen are put together by the creative team of "garbage upcycling design."

"Upcycling stands in contrast to recycling," said spokesman Daniel Strobel. "We upvalue products innovatively, instead of just reusing them."

TerraCycle, set up in 2001 by U.S. college freshman Tom Szaky, turns drink pouches into backpacks and cookie wrappers into pencil cases or kites, paying schools and other groups a small amount to send them the old packaging to be upcycled.

TerraCycle also makes a line of clocks, coasters and picture frames from vinyl records and circuit boards, with major companies like Kraft and General Mills sponsoring the company's waste streams.

CEO Tom Szaky, in his newly released book "Revolution in a Bottle" -- that came with a returnable book cover for upcycling -- said he was working to eliminate the idea of waste by proving all things can be reused, recycled or upcycled.

"We upcycle waste that can't be recycled ... we love the challenge of looking at any kind of waste and thinking of something amazing to make from it" says Szaky. "Our products are both greener and cheaper."

http://www.reuters.com/article/smallBusinessNews/idUSTRE58T3HX20090930?utm_source=Ode+Newsletters&utm_campaign=0d753d203b-daily-rss&utm_medium=email&sp=true

Foodlums Progressive Dinner

2009-10-02T09:33:00.002-05:00

Greetings everyone,

Everyone is cordially invited to the Foodlums/Conservationist progressive dinner featuring local foods. A progressive dinner is where you eat a multiple course meal between multiple houses. After the first course you “progress” to the next house to receive the second. It is a lot of fun!
We will be enjoying the evening with friends and great food. The delicious dinner is FREE of charge. We only ask that you bring a plate and utensils.

The progressive dinner will be Saturday, Oct 3 Starting at 5:00pm at 611 Germania #1.
If you would like to attend please RSVP to Briana Odegard ODEGARBN@uwec.edu so we anticipate how many to cook for. Also let us know if you will be coming from campus. We will be coordinating groups coming from campus.

Hope to see you there,

Phillip Plager
Foodlums President

Necessity Opportunity Profit

2009-10-02T08:36:00.000-05:00

http://www.uwec.edu/cob/emails/andreen_presentation.htm
True ecological sustainability is a source of profit and competitive advantage, according to Gunnar Andréen, former executive vice president and COO of Sophus Berendsen AS, a leading European supplier of textile, hygiene and safety solutions for industry, public institutions, hotels and restaurants, and health care facilities. Under Andréen’s leadership, Berendsen reduced its consumption of water, energy, and chemicals by almost 50 percent, making the company a pioneer in protecting the environment. In his presentation, Necessity, Opportunity, Profit: A Winning Combination for Environmental Sustainability in Business, Andréen will discuss how companies like Scandic Hotels, a Swedish hotel chain that began using green business principles in 1994, view sustainability as both good for society and business. He will introduce us to The Natural Step, and discuss how companies use this framework to integrate ecological sustainability into their business strategies and operations. Finally, Andréen will talk in-depth about his experience at Berendsen, explaining how he got inspired by The Natural Step principles to gain consensus among his employees, benchmark energy consumption and increase energy efficiency while reducing the company’s CO2 emissions.

Gunnar Andréen is president and owner of G. Andréen AB, a consulting firm located in Sweden. Andréen’s clients include Huebsch Services, an Eau Claire-based family business that provides uniform, matting and restroom supply services to organizations in west central Wisconsin and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.Prior to starting his business in 2004, Andréen was executive vice president and COO of Sophus Berendsen AS (1994-2004), and president of Tvattman AB (1984-1994), a textile rental subsidiary of Electrolux, one of Europe’s largest conglomerates. Andreen worked for Tvattman for 25 years—first as a marketing director in Sweden, then president of a subsidiary located in Houston, Texas, and eventually as corporate president.Andréen holds a Master of Business Administration from the Lund University School of Economics and Management in Lund, Sweden. An entrepreneur and innovator, Andreen has also received several U.S. patents for equipment he developed for the textile rental industry.

http://www.uwec.edu/cob/emails/andreen_presentation.htm

Foster Cheese Haus

2009-09-29T10:49:00.005-05:00

perhaps a tasting, tour, area farm tours and camping is in order?!

harvest festival on Saturday September 19th 5pm

2009-09-15T15:21:00.003-05:00

Hello all, I am writing quick to let you know about an upcoming event In the backyard of Sutherland on Sept. 19th at 5pm. It is a joint effort with Sutherland Hall and the Foodlums. It is going to be a big night featuring local foods, a sustainability org resource fair and a movie filmed in WI called the Dirt on Farmer John.

for more info please email barneszj@uwec.edu orharleskd@uwec.edu (by Wednesday September 15th)

LOCAL FOODS SPECIALIST

2009-09-11T11:07:00.003-05:00

Producers and Buyers Co-op

LOCAL FOODS SPECIALIST

(Part Time Employment Opportunity)

The Producers and Buyers Co-op (PBC) of Altoona, Wisconsin has an immediate opportunity for an LTE staff person to work twenty-five (25) hours per week through December 2009 (training period). Hourly pay is $13.50. This position works under the direction of theCooperative’s Board of Directors.

The mission of the Producers and Buyers Co-op (PBC) is: operate a profitable and “values- based” business specifically for the exchange of sustainable goods between local farms, businesses, and institutions.

The employee will work independently to take product orders from buyers, verify orders, and arrange for product procurement, processing, transportation and storage. The employee will provide outreach to new and existing buyers interested in purchasing large volumes of local foods including fruits, vegetables, and value added products, as well as to producers interested in supplying these markets in an effort to increase local sales and sourcing.

The employee will develop content for the PBC website; conduct outreach and education; draft board meeting agendas and take minutes, make site visits to potential co-op members; develop marketing materials; and perform other writing, research and outreach tasks related to the mission of PBC.

Position Requirements: A combination of training and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, urban/regional planning, agricultural enterprise development, or closely related field with one to three years of related professional work experience. Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office applications including MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Experience working with agricultural producers or a farm background is essential. This is a telecommuting position which requires access to a personal computer with Microsoft Office, high speed internet access, printer, scanner, and fax. The position has the potential to continue beyond December, 2009. Web development experience is helpful but not required.

Recruitment ends when the Cooperative’s hiring needs are satisfied. Please submit a resume and cover letter to: Producers & Buyers Co-op at PO Box 207, Altoona, WI 54720-0207. An Affirmative Action Employer.

http://www.producersandbuyers.com/

Proposed Federal Rules Could Competitively Injure Small, Local and Organic Fresh Market Produce Growers

2009-09-04T08:41:00.003-05:00

Action Alert
September 3, 2009

http://www.cornucopia.org/

Proposed Federal Rules Could Competitively Injure Small, Local
and Organic Fresh Market Produce Growers

USDA Schedules Public Hearings to Obtain Citizens' Concerns and Suggestions

The “Leafy Green Marketing Agreement,” which requires producers to follow a set of rules (metrics) in the name of food safety, has already shown to be injurious for the environment, biodiversity, and organic growers in California. The USDA is now considering a similar “Leafy Green Marketing Agreement” that would extend beyond California and Arizona to cover the entire United States—let's help make this rule work for growers of all sizes!

The USDA has scheduled a series of hearing sessions, around the country, inviting you to this perfect opportunity to share your concerns and suggestions.

Make your voice heard!—if you are able to attend, we urge you to speak on behalf of the organic and family-scale farming community. (See below for locations and dates.)

High Quality and Organic Growers Competitively Disadvantaged

Producers’ experiences in California, where these metrics have been in place for several years, reveal what is at stake. While food safety is a legitimate national concern, organic and small-scale farmers bear a disproportionate economic burden of these metrics. Consider this:

An estimate from leafy green growers in California indicates an average expenditure of $18,000/ year per farm for food safety efforts.
Metrics require the expense of regular laboratory testing of irrigation water, soil amendments, fertilizers and sometimes seeds and transplants.
Growers must have someone regularly monitor fields for wildlife and domestic animal incursions and documentation of all their efforts and testing is required.
Farms with more acreage generally spend more to comply with the metrics but can experience some economies of scale due to larger field sizes and existing staff—these burdens could force the safest farms out of business.
Smaller farms often have smaller field sizes, grow more diverse crops and raise livestock as well. These farms don't usually have staff available to help them comply with complicated record-keeping requirements nor can they afford to hire extra help. They incur higher expenses per acre due to their smaller field sizes and greater complexity and disproportionately high testing/inspection costs.
The requirement to have traceability of the produce grown also poses significant financial and record keeping challenges for many growers—organic farmers are already required to do much of this—it is redundant for organic growers—and local direct marketers have a special relationship with customers facilitating trace back.

Biodiversity Threatened

The environmental impacts of the Leafy Green metrics have also been alarming. Since wildlife, non-crop vegetation (wild habitat), and water bodies could be viewed as food safety risks, many environmentally positive, conservation and habitat-oriented practices that growers have implemented in California have been forced to be destroyed or abandoned by growers threatened with the rejection of their crops.

If these metrics are adopted nationally, organic farmers across the nation could face difficulties balancing organic requirements, to promote biodiversity, with metrics seeking elimination of wildlife and non-crop vegetation.

Voluntary Regulations?

Although the USDA has defined this regulation as “voluntary,” it is important to realize that in California, this has not been the case. Large grocery chains and distributors have refused to purchase produce from growers unless they are a signatory to the “leafy greens” program, making this a defacto rule. Don’t let the voluntary nature of this program dissuade you from recognizing the impact this proposal could have on small, local and organic growers.

Make Your Voice Heard!

The USDA organized public hearings to glean citizens’ concerns and suggestions. The USDA invites you to present evidence at the hearing on the possible economic impacts of the proposal on small businesses.

When and Where?

Monterey, California September 22-24

Jacksonville, Florida September 30-October 1

Columbus, Ohio October 6

Denver, Colorado October 8

Yuma, Arizona October 14-15

Syracuse, New York October 20

Charlotte, North Carolina October 22

All hearing sessions are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Stay tuned! The Cornucopia Institute, in partnership with other public interest groups, will shortly issue a more comprehensive action alert including talking points, information to submit written comments, sample letters and detailed instructions and help regarding appearing at the public hearings (including the precise location of each hearing).

We encourage other NGOs that would like to collaborate on this project to contact us. A number of other groups have also invested in developing an excellent knowledgebase and networking together will leverage our work on behalf of family farmers and consumers.

A copy of the USDA's Federal Register notice announcing the public hearings can be viewed on this action alert at The Cornucopia Institute website:

http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/09/proposed-federal-rules-could-competitively-injure-small-local-and-organic-fresh-market-produce-growers/

The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit. Cornucopia’s web page can be viewed atwww.cornucopia.org.

Mark A. Kastel
The Cornucopia Institute
kastel@cornucopia.org
608-625-2042 Voice
866-861-2214 Fax

P.O. Box 126
Cornucopia, Wisconsin 54827
www.cornucopia.org

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

2009-09-03T13:33:00.001-05:00

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Health, Justice and Sustainability News
from the Organic Consumers Association

Obama and USDA Finally Speak Out for Local Food

"What we've got to do is change how we think about, for example, getting local farmers connected to school districts because that would benefit the farmers delivering fresh produce."

-President Obama, Health Care Forum, August 20, 2009

LEARN MORE

"There are so many new producers cropping up in America. Their best opportunity to expand is a local market. It's enhanced if they can be joined together with other local producers so sufficient quality and quantity can be established for schools, hospitals, jails and other purchasers."

-Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, The Washington Post, August 26, 2009

LEARN MORE

"Imagine an NGO receiving USDA grant money to construct a community kitchen where farmers drop off produce and families join cooking classes that teach about healthy eating while everyone prepares fresh nutritious meals to bring home... Imagine a community using USDA money to construct an open-sided structure to house a farmers market... Imagine a school using USDA loan money to set up cold storage as part of a larger effort to retrofit the school cafeteria to buy produce directly from farmers and return cooking capacity for school lunch... Imagine..."

-Deputy Secretary Merrigan, "Harnessing USDA rural development programs to support local and regional food systems," August 26, 2009

LEARN MORE

100 miles of Food

2009-09-01T10:01:00.001-05:00

Foodlums 100 miles of Food art show at Just Local Food
I'm looking for artists wanting to display their art... Just Local Food and Foodlums are partnering to display local artists' work revolving around seasonality, devine palettes, our time place y mucho mucho mas! please let me know if you ha...ve anything you'd like to show by this friday at 11am! send me pdf's or jpeg's of your piece or pieces and the foodlums will select what will be displayed starting Monday the 7th!

JLF 101 for September (and the eat local challenge!)

2009-08-27T15:53:00.003-05:00

Welcome back everyone!

please join us at Just Local Food any of the following days for JLF 101

Thu Sep 3 7pm – 8pm JLF 101
Thu Sep 10 7pm – 8pm JLF 101
Mon Sep 14 10am – 11am JLF 101
Thu Sep 17 7pm – 8pm JLF 101
Tue Sep 22 10am – 11am JLF 101

Just Local Worker-Owners will be telling the stories that add to the store's mojo! bring questions and friends, ideas and hunger!

Demand Investigation of Dole Food Company

2009-08-25T17:17:00.001-05:00

http://www.equalexchange.coop

Demand Investigation of Dole Food Company

If you purchase bananas with a Chiquita or Dole sticker on them, you’re not alone.

Nevertheless, or better yet, because we eat these bananas, I’d like to ask you to please read the following letter from an old friend, Bob Perillo, who has spent the past 20 years or so in the struggle for worker rights in Guatemala and Colombia. If you’re concerned about justice in the banana industry or just plain outraged about the idea of a U.S.-based company choosing to pay off paramilitaries in Colombia, please consider writing an email to Attorney General Eric Holder. Bob’s letter explains the situation and he provides a sample letter for you to send.

Last week a Florida law firm, Conrad and Scherer LLP, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dole Food Company, one of the largest banana companies in the world. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of 73 plaintiffs from the Province of Magdalena, Colombia, charges Dole with having hired the right-wing paramilitary group known as the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) to act as a “local police force” in and around the company’s Magdalena banana plantations. The plaintiffs allege that the AUC paramilitaries performed a number of violent services for Dole, including driving small farmers from their land to allow Dole to plant bananas; driving leftist guerrillas out of the Magdalena banana zone, and in the process murdering thousands of innocent people, including relatives of the plaintiffs; keeping trade unions out of Dole’s banana plantations by murdering union leaders and organizers, and using terror tactics to discourage workers from joining unions or negotiating collective bargaining agreements with Dole. You can read the lawsuit against Dole here.

International Rights Advocates, a non-governmental human rights organization in Washington that supports the lawsuit against Dole, is asking individuals and organizations to write the U.S. Department of Justice to urge that it investigate Dole’s ties to the AUC paramilitaries. The AUC was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in September 2001. The Justice Department has thus far not shown much interest in investigating U.S.-based multinational corporations alleged to have links to Colombia’s paramilitaries. In fact, before the current Attorney General, Eric Holder, was sworn in by the Obama administration in February of this year, he was a partner at the Washington D.C.-based law firm Covington and Burling, LLP, which represented Chiquita Brands in a criminal case stemming from Chiquita’s admission that it paid the AUC paramilitaries $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004. Chiquita pleaded guilty in 2007 and agreed to pay a fine of $25 million to the U.S. government. Chiquita’s admission and subsequent guilty plea did not result from a Justice Department investigation, but from an exposure initiated by a member of the company’s own board of directors. Covington and Burling, LLP continues to represent Chiquita in a separate civil suit brought against the company by Conrad and Scherer, LLP and International Rights Advocates on behalf of another group of plaintiffs whose relatives were murdered by the AUC paramilitaries.

If sufficient numbers of people demand an investigation of Dole Food Company, the Justice Department may find itself forced to carry one out, and then to extend it to other multinationals that have also profited handsomely from paramilitary repression against trade unions, peasant groups and human rights activists in Colombia.

Please consider sending a letter to the Attorney General today. Letters, addressed to Attorney General Holder, can be sent by email to: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov. Please put USDOJ Comments in the Subject Line.

Or, you can send a letter by snail mail to:rp@iradvocates.org

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

The Attorney General’s office also accepts phone calls at 202-353-1555.

Below is a sample letter to the Attorney General. Please send a copy of your letter to: rp@iradvocates.org

The plaintiffs in the Dole case will be grateful for your efforts.

In Peace,

Bob Perillo

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

Sample letter:

[Date]

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Holder,

I write to urge you to carry out a thorough investigation of Dole Food Company for its alleged links to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group that was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government in 2001. A group of 73 Colombian plaintiffs recently filed a civil wrongful death suit against Dole Food Company in a California court, alleging that the company hired the AUC to provide a number of violent services for Dole’s banana operations in Magdalena, Colombia. These services include murdering trade union leaders and intimidating Dole’s banana workers so that they would not dare to join unions or demand collective negotiations. The AUC paramilitaries also murdered small farmers, allegedly so that they would flee their land and permit Dole to plant bananas. Over a period of more than ten years, the AUC carried out a campaign of terror in Magdalena Province against anyone it suspected of aiding or sympathizing with the FARC and ELN guerrillas, in the process murdering thousands of civilians, all so that multinational companies like Dole could conduct their business profitably in the midst of an internal armed conflict.

The allegations contained in the lawsuit against Dole, together with the public testimony given by demobilized AUC leaders like Salvatore Mancuso, who has stated unequivocally that Dole and other banana companies made regular payments to the AUC in exchange for “security services,” should be sufficient grounds to spur the Department of Justice to investigate whether Dole Food Company and other U.S. companies profited by supporting violent terrorists, in the process violating U.S. anti-terrorism laws. In 2007 Chiquita agreed to pay a $25 million fine in order to settle the criminal charges it faced as a result of its payments to the AUC. That punishment, while woefully inadequate, given the scale of the crimes, stands in contrast to the absolute impunity that Dole Food Company has enjoyed up until today. Please put an end to that impunity by ordering the Department of Justice to investigate Dole Food Company.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Organization Name]

http://www.equalexchange.coop

Independent Farmers Feel Squeezed By Milk Cartel

2009-08-24T09:37:00.004-05:00

August 20, 2009

Behind that pure, wholesome, nourishing glass of milk, there's an insurgency.

The price of raw milk paid to farmers has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years. Dairy farms are going under across the country, and a few dairymen have grown so desperate they've taken their own lives.

As the crisis deepens, criticism grows that dairy giants are trying to monopolize the industry, to the detriment of independent farmers and consumers.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112002639

The vegetable gardeners of Havana

2009-08-23T13:59:00.003-05:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8213998.stm

Cuba, Eau Claire te acompanya!

and now for the good news...

2009-08-21T09:11:00.001-05:00

Food among the ruins of Detroit
First the bad news - good produce is tough to come by in Detroit these days. In the America's most depressed major city, supermarkets have become a rare sight. But Mark Dowie of Guernica Magazine has met some "intriguing visionaries" in Detroit - people who "imagine growing food among the ruins—chard and tomatoes on vacant lots, orchards on former school grounds, mushrooms in open basements, fish in abandoned factories, hydroponics in bankrupt department stores, livestock grazing on former golf courses, high-rise farms in old hotels, vermiculture, permaculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, waving wheat where cars were once test-driven, and winter greens sprouting inside the frames of single-story bungalows stripped of their skin and re-sided with Plexiglas—a homemade greenhouse."
Read More

Healthy food goes to school
“All of a sudden I am not the fringe idiot trying to get everyone to serve peas and carrots that don’t come out of a can, like that’s the most radical idea they have ever heard of,” says nutrition activist Ann Cooper. Cooper was recently invited to the School Nutrition Association to discuss the "Lunch Box" - her system to "help school districts wean themselves from packaged, heavily processed food and begin cooking mostly local food from scratch." Food reform is on the rise in America's public schools. In this New York Times article, Kim Severson considers a few of the movement's most notable voices...
Read More

Holms Girls Dairy Chores

2009-08-19T12:38:00.002-05:00

can we do video blogs for our future farm visits? I'd like to do the Community Homestead, Organic Cranberries, Wild Rice, Apples, Sunbow Farm, and more quite soon if you are able to help! searching for videographers...

The Foodlums

First spring semester meeting today! 1/27

Pizza Party

Progressive Film Festival Food Fanatics Fun Film Picks

Homemade Crackers

Fermentation Workshop

Get ready for bees, raised beds, fruit trees, and a new garden manager!

The Progressive Magazine and The Producers and Buyers Cooperative

Get to Know Your Farmers!

UW-EC professor, cook share Middle East cultures, cuisine

Fall Themed Progressive Dinner

foodlums future jobs?!

GMO's

Kick-off Potluck

producers and buyers coop (of eau claire) in the news!

Shop these area farmers markets!

Shop these area farmers markets!

Dubbed a hero, Allen looks to take farming to the skies

Benny Sieu

Milwaukee urban farmer Will Allen is listed on Time Magazine's annual "Time 100: The World's Most Influential People" list.

'First of its kind'

ECLUCK!

bike race/ cook-off/ picnic/ kickball game/ space race

Organic Farm Tour at the Holm Family's Farm

ECLUCK - Eau Claire Leaders for Chicken Keeping

a month without monsanto...

Michael Pollan and Amy Goodman!

thursday after hours

indian food now in altoona!

Real Food Through a Wider Lens: Midwest Real Food Summit 2010

TWO foodlums in central america!

communicación desde Comayagua, Honduras

winter solstice with you!

winter farmers market this saturday!

Winter Farmer's Markets 2009 - 2010

'Buy local' pioneers open doors to public

nonprofit leadership certificate series

very important news on the raw milk front

local stores on the move.

Bill could legalize sale of raw milk

1 comment:

Garden Plots Available!

Action Alert: Senate Bill 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act

Taste of the World

local food buffet at the dulaney

A Day With Nowhere to Stay CHALLENGE

A Day with Nowhere to Stay Challenge

Co-op Annual Meeting Celebrates Progress to Link Local Farms and Institutions

Thanksgiving plans...

A Message from Vandana Shiva: Help Us Fight For The Truth

A fresh approach - Producers and Buyers Cooperative

Idea to plant community garden atop new library taking root

downtown's community garden

Hot Plots

a community garden association sprouts up

Page 1 Page 2

Apple Picking Success!!!

Fertility Strategies for Organic Vegetables. Fall Field Day!

FOOD, INC. Wednesday 7pm

How Much Vitamin D Do You Really Need to Take?

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

the beef article many have heard of... few have read.

LOCAL FOOD on Sacred Heart Hospital's NEW room service menu!!!

Up Cycling

Trash or treasure? Upcycling becomes growing green trend

Foodlums Progressive Dinner

Necessity Opportunity Profit

Foster Cheese Haus

harvest festival on Saturday September 19th 5pm

LOCAL FOODS SPECIALIST

Proposed Federal Rules Could Competitively Injure Small, Local and Organic Fresh Market Produce Growers

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Health, Justice and Sustainability Newsfrom the Organic Consumers Association

Obama and USDA Finally Speak Out for Local Food

100 miles of Food

JLF 101 for September (and the eat local challenge!)

Demand Investigation of Dole Food Company

Independent Farmers Feel Squeezed By Milk Cartel

The vegetable gardeners of Havana

Health, Justice and Sustainability News
from the Organic Consumers Association