Cooking Up A Story

03/04/2021

Opinion | Black Farmers May Finally Get the Help They Deserve

Long overdue… "So a program that would pay off United States Department of Agriculture-guaranteed and direct farm loans and associated tax liabilities of Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and other farmers of color would not only be surprising, it would be historic. And yet it looks as though that may happen: Such a measure is included in the pandemic relief package wending its way through Congress."

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/opinion/black-farmers-covid-relief.html

A debt-relief program would be a step in repairing more than a century of discrimination by the Department of Agriculture.

11/23/2020

Snapshots of Daily Life in a Remote Region of Portugal

"To survive the unforgiving geography, residents of the Barroso have, over time, developed a complex farming system that relies on the collective management of the water, forests and pastures used by their animals. This method has helped keep the soil fertile, the rivers and springs clean, and the landscape unblemished.

It is a system based on self-sufficiency, where residents eat what they grow, bake their own bread (often in their village’s ancient community oven), step on grapes from their orchards to make wine, and slaughter hogs to make sausages and ham — which they smoke above their kitchen’s fireplace."

The Barroso is one of Portugal’s most isolated areas, known for its rough terrain, abiding agricultural traditions and stunning beauty.

10/09/2020

A Disrupted Thanksgiving Leaves the Turkey Business Guessing

" “It’s really the size of the celebrations that has changed,” said Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation. “How that translates to the size of the bird people want is something we are a little less clear on.” "

Without big gatherings, will Americans buy whole birds? Smaller ones? Just parts? Farmers and retailers are already placing their bets.

09/19/2020

Special Sauce: Kenji on Dried Herbs; Dan Barber on the Outlook for Small Farmers

"On this week's Special Sauce we talk to Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill, about the huge changes being brought about in the food culture by the Covid-19 pandemic. The startling conclusions he's come to are the result of a survey he and his team sent out to more than 500 farmers." More on the podcast:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/07/special-sauce-dan-barber-farms-1.html

Dan Barber on how the pandemic is affecting small farmers; Kenji weighs in on dried versus fresh herbs.

09/13/2020

As wildfire smoke and ash linger, are garden vegetables safe to eat?

If you live on the West coast, you might be asking: As Wildfire Smoke and Ash Linger, Are Garden Vegetables Safe to Eat?

Extra care is required when harvesting and preparing fruit and vegetables as smoke and ash hover in Oregon.

09/09/2020

7 Ways the Pandemic Has Changed How We Shop for Food

Very interesting read - how our buying habits have changed because of the pandemic. Will some continue into the future?

Oranges and frozen foods are being snapped up. Shelves have fewer choices. And customers are steering their carts in surprising new directions.

09/04/2020

This Vertical Farm Was Born in the Pandemic. Sales Are Up.

This Vertical Farm Was Born in the Pandemic. Sales Are Up.

The Vegetable Co. sits in a shipping container on the edge of a Malaysian parking lot. It’s one of many small farms around the world selling directly to consumers.

08/07/2020

In a Wistful Age, Farmers Find a New Angle: Chore TV

“It is a new thing, though, to make farm life into reality TV.”

It’s hard for small farmers to earn a living selling crops. Enter the “farmer-influencer,” who can earn more by streaming farm life, in all its comforting monotony, to a growing online audience.

08/04/2020

For the Navajo Nation, a Fight for Better Food Gains New Urgency

For the Navajo Nation, a Fight for Better Food Gains New Urgency

As the pandemic has brought home the importance of the global movement for food sovereignty, members are planting and sharing.

07/28/2020

Soul Fire Farm’s Leah Penniman Explains Why Food Sovereignty Is Central in the Fight for Racial Justice

“Pretty much every Black person knows someone who's incarcerated or who's been murdered at the hands of the state. And when you’re dealing with that, how are you then going to be thinking about, like, orchards? So I think the bigger issues of white supremacy and systemic racism need to be addressed for us to heal the food system and society as a whole.”

The author of “Farming While Black” on growing food, and empowering Black and Brown farmers, in a time of plague and racial reckoning.

07/25/2020

UPDATED to reflect new reporting instructions! https://agr.wa.gov/about-wsda/news-and-media-relations/news-releases?article=31411

Today we received reports of people receiving seeds in the mail from China that they did not order. The seeds are sent in packages usually stating that the contents are jewelry. Unsolicited seeds could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants, or be harmful to livestock.

Here's what to do if you receive unsolicited seeds from another country:

1) DO NOT plant them and if they are in sealed packaging (as in the photo below) don't open the sealed package.

2) This is known as agricultural smuggling. Report it to USDA. Information in our latest press release on how to report: https://agr.wa.gov/about-wsda/news-and-media-relations/news-releases?article=31411

07/24/2020

Opinion | That Flour You Bought Could Be the Future of the U.S. Economy

Are flour and Industry workers more than just commodities? As the article title implies, the answer could point us in a new direction for American capitalism.

Keep baking bread. Small grain companies may suggest a better path for American business.

07/23/2020

The Western Meat School

Exciting news from Rebecca Thistlethwaite, author of The New Livestock Farmer and other books:
“Super excited to announce that enrollment is open for the first ever Western Meat School, a hybrid in-person and online school for learning how to direct market high-quality meat. This is a collaborative effort of 5 states, but producers in other states can take it too. This is like turning my book, The New Livestock Farmer, into an interactive class. It's so exciting. Take a look at the website and consider enrolling today! Classes start on November 4th!”

https://westernmeatschool.com/

November-December 2020

07/21/2020

Ugly produce is the best bargain at farmers markets. Here’s how to buy and use it.

Ugly produce is the best bargain at farmers markets. Here’s how to buy and use it.

Produce seconds can do the same job as pristine fruit and vegetables in most recipes, and they're often sold at a steep discount.

07/20/2020

Two Recent Harvard Grads Build Platform To Help Furloughed Chefs During COVID-19

Two Recent Harvard Grads Build Platform To Help Furloughed Chefs During COVID-19

Kookoo Club provides live, virtual classes, hosted on Zoom, for both individuals and corporate teams led by Michelin-starred chefs and mixologists who have worked at top restaurants like Momofuku and Eleven Madison Park.

07/08/2020

British Workers Try Their Hand at an Unfamiliar Job: Berry Picking

" As a result of the looming labor shortage, the government started a “Pick for Britain” campaign in April to attract British workers. Prince Charles released a video in which he said the country needed “pickers who are stickers.” "

When farmers realized many European laborers couldn’t arrive for strawberry season, out-of-work Britons responded.

07/07/2020

From cow to customer, a $20 cheeseburger’s tumultuous journey during a pandemic

"The journey of a single burger during a pandemic."

A cash-strapped rancher, a virus-stricken meatpacker, an underpaid chef, a hungry engineer: All their lives have been upended

07/06/2020

Meet the Gleaners, Combing Farm Fields to Feed the Newly Hungry

Meet the Gleaners, Combing Farm Fields to Feed the Newly Hungry

An age-old tradition suddenly has fresh urgency in the pandemic, delivering surplus produce to Americans who can’t feed their families.

06/30/2020

Shop update! There are planters, some vases, lots of entertaining chickens, and the first three farmers from Rebecca Gerendasy Clay Art 's ongoing urban/small farmer series! All are one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces for the home or yard. Visit rebeccagerendasy.com to see the new collection!

06/24/2020

Roundup Maker to Pay $10 Billion to Settle Cancer Suits

How many hundreds of billions in sales from this one product over the decades? This will hardly discourage bad behavior by manufacturer’s in the future.

Bayer faced tens of thousands of claims linking the weedkiller to cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Some of the money is set aside for future cases.

06/23/2020

" With more people spending time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the city of San Diego launched a website Tuesday that provides information and assistance on how to become a successful “urban farmer.” "
Read full article with link to new website:
https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2020/06/16/san-diego-debuts-website-to-help-prospective-urban-farmers-get-started/

06/22/2020

"With the end of World War II in 1945, the camp was closed, and the orchards were abandoned for 50 years until the site was established by Congress in 1992 to serve as a reminder of the fragility of American civil rights and to honor families whose memories are tied to the desolate landscape."
Read the article:
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-06-15/coronavirus-is-dangerous-for-survivors-of-the-manzanar-internment-camp-for-japanese-americans-during-world-war-ii

06/21/2020

Bakers Against Racism Aims To Fight Injustice With The Power Of Food

Bakers Against Racism Aims To Fight Injustice With The Power Of Food

Thousands of professional and home bakers around the world are participating in virtual bake sales to benefit charities that support the lives of Black people.

06/15/2020

Perspective | Dietitian sees one positive pandemic outcome: A shift in how we think about food

“ “It’s rewarding to see so many improvements in my clients’ health due to just one thing: more time in their own kitchen,” says McMahon. “

More Americans are cooking at home and may be developing other healthier habits.

06/14/2020

Meet the Farmer Behind CHAZ's Vegetable Gardens

Meet the Farmer Behind CHAZ's Vegetable Gardens

Something unexpected just appeared in Cal Anderson park, and it's growing larger by the day.

06/13/2020

Court overturns EPA approval of popular herbicide made by Monsanto

Court overturns EPA approval of popular herbicide made by Monsanto

Ruling says EPA ignored clear evidence that the new herbicide would cause widespread damage to crops

06/04/2020

For This Tribe, Saving a River Means Saving the Sturgeon

For This Tribe, Saving a River Means Saving the Sturgeon

The Yakama Nation has been raising fish to release back into the Columbia River for more than a decade. Now, its hatchery is also producing caviar.

05/25/2020

Prince Charles wants furloughed workers to pick berries. Farmers wonder if Brits are up to the task.

"But here’s the hitch: Picking soft berries and leafy greens requires considerable skill and backbreaking physical toil for low pay. Farmers are worried that of the thousands of Brits who have forwarded applications, many won’t show up or won’t last the season, especially after they get their hands dirty."

The coronavirus has restricted migrant labor and left Western Europe short on farmworkers.

05/24/2020

My Seeds Won’t Sprout, My Starter Won’t Rise: I’m Failing at Quarantine

My Seeds Won’t Sprout, My Starter Won’t Rise: I’m Failing at Quarantine

My problem is not a failure to launch. My problem is a failure to land.

05/23/2020

Our Food System Is Very Much Modeled on Plantation Economics
"And that system—you know, I’ve referred to this term of “the structure of agriculture”—is a system that looks very much like a social hierarchy that many of us will remember from grade school, where we had slaves at the bottom of the pyramid and the pharaoh or king up at the top of the pyramid, fewer and fewer people benefiting as you go up the pyramid. In agriculture, we still have pretty much that system." - Ricardo Salvador, senior scientist and director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Read entire article: https://fair.org/home/our-food-system-is-very-much-modeled-on-plantation-economics/

05/22/2020

At a small Oregon meatpacking plant, first came fear, then a plan

At a small Oregon meatpacking plant, first came fear, then a plan

At Nicky USA's in Portland, Ore., sad realization struck that in the era of the coronavirus, the family business could not go on as planned.

05/21/2020

Growing Solutions

"In the face of threats to our farming future such as climate change, people are innovating to protect and regenerate our most vital resources – soil, water, seeds, and our farmer workforce. Growing Solutions features a centuries-old water conservation method, a farmer who’s growing topsoil faster than most thought possible, a seed-saving high school, a farmer training program for military veterans, and researchers who are developing a perennial style of agriculture that mimics the prairie." Watch the 42 minute documentary:

In the face of threats to our farming future such as climate change, people are innovating to protect and regenerate our most vital resources – soil, water, ...

05/20/2020

The Sickness in Our Food Supply

The Sickness in Our Food Supply

“Only when the tide goes out,” Warren Buffett observed, “do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” For our society, the Covid-19 pandemic represents an ebb tide of historic proportions, one that is laying bare vulnerabilities and inequities that in normal times have gone undiscovered. No...

05/17/2020

Americans Have Baked All the Flour Away

"But along with the illusion of self-sufficiency, the normally plentiful reasons to not try making pie crust or English muffins have vanished. Dough that needs to proof or chill for a few hours? No problem; you’ll be around."

The pandemic is reintroducing the nation to its kitchens.

05/14/2020

To Fight Waste and Hunger, Food Banks Start Cooking

To Fight Waste and Hunger, Food Banks Start Cooking

As farmers throw away produce and other Americans line up for food, relief groups are connecting the two by turning those ingredients into meals.

05/12/2020

As produce rots in the field, one Florida farmer and an army of volunteers combat 'a feeling of helplessness' - one cucumber at a time.
Read article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-produce-rots-in-the-field-one-florida-farmer-and-an-army-of-volunteers-combat-a-feeling-of-helplessness--one-cucumber-at-a-time/2020/04/30/6230c3ae-842b-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html

05/12/2020

Pandemic Gardens Satisfy A Hunger For More Than Just Good Tomatoes

Pandemic Gardens Satisfy A Hunger For More Than Just Good Tomatoes

The victory gardens of the 1940s helped people contribute to the war effort from the safety of home. 75 years later, vegetable gardens are having a resurgence, for similiar reasons.

05/10/2020

How 5 Friends and a Field of Tulips Fought the Covid-19 Meltdown

How 5 Friends and a Field of Tulips Fought the Covid-19 Meltdown

A group of old high school friends moved home and bought a tulip farm, just as the coronavirus threatened to devastate the industry. Here’s how the power of friendship and innovation saved them.

05/09/2020

Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker join forces on bill to ban most factory farming by 2040

“The largest CAFOs would be entirely phased out by 2040. Medium and small-sized operations would not be prohibited, although voluntary buyouts would be offered for farmers who want to cease factory farming.”

Rep. Ro Khanna is joining Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker in the legislation, and has submitted a companion bill in the House.

05/07/2020

French farmers sound alarm in cheese market meltdown amid pandemic

French farmers sound alarm in cheese market meltdown amid pandemic

5,000 tons of Roquefort, Camembert and Brie could go to waste.