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Saturday, January 27, 2007

Loving the farm


I don't just mean our little five acres pictured here. But "the farm" as representative of finding ways to connect with locally grown organic produce.

After reading Rauf's post about farmers in India, this week I heard a piece on NPR about a food festival in Vienna in honor of Mozart's 250th birthday (last year) called New Crowned Hope. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse joined other food experts and artists to share ideas about things like promoting local organic farming and healthy school lunch programs. Alice Waters has founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, and is an advocate of sustainable agriculture who inspires me to no end. Did you know she is the only American chef who was invited to Paris to consult on opening a restaurant at the Louvre?

I want to find out more about the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance this spring and am determined to more consistently support locally grown organic produce and meat.

Photo of Alice Waters courtesy open agreement at Wikipedia.

7 comments:

rauf said...

Thanks for the link Ruth
how sweet of you
I haven't read the post
already late for the train
leaving now
Next is shutting down my computer and leave. this is the last work.
Thanking you. Hope the word verrification behaves and lets me thru in first attempt
I'll be back on 3rd Feb
All my love to You Don Lesley anne and Peter

Mei Shile said...

Organic food is a good idea! This is what I try to also do when I am able. There is a pantry 2-3 blocks from where I live, they have their organic certification. This is the only bread, cereals and coffee I buy now. For freah vegetables and meat, this is more difficult as I would need a freezer and I have no place for one.

Ginnie Hart said...

This is such a great idea, Ruth. I commend your determination to "support locally grown organic produce and meat." Please continue to update this for all of us because I know you're ahead of me. I'd like to follow suit! Now I just need to find those places here around where we live. Surely they are here!

I love that fact about Alice Waters and Paris. I REALLY love the pic of your farm!!!

Ruth said...

Rauf, I'll talk with you when you return from the festival. Thanks!

Mei, we just got a free freezer from friends, need to hook it up. That will help, so we can buy meat at a distance, where it's available, once in a while and stock up.

Thanks, Ginnie! I hope someday I can go to Chez Panisse! Next time I'm in Berkley . . .

rauf said...

Yes Ruth, organic food is fine in the US where you are sure that it is organic. I am pretty skeptical in India. If it sells well and gets higher price anything is sold as organic and we are not sure. Big scale farmers think of exporting organic food. How do you convince the buyer that it is organic ? My friends in Pollachi have a farm. I have seen japanese buyers who come and certify that what is grown in this farm is organic. Only then the produce is exported. Ruth, you do not know how desperate the farmers are to get such a certification. But the local buyers like us are always left guessing. Either organic food is too expensive or not available or it may not be organic at all, it may just have a label. It is a blessing Ruth, Specially in India, if i get used to organic food I am putting myself in chains, a little non organic fruit can kill me.

rauf said...

what a lovely picture of the barn Ruth.

Ruth said...

Rauf, I'm still not 100% certain that what is certified organic here is really perfectly fine. There is a certain amount of trust or resignation one is forced to live with, accepting many things we don't know. We'll all die from something, but I would like to do what I can to stay healthy in the meantime.