The Queen of Fats by Susan Allport

I haven't seen this book on Omega-3's yet, but you can read the first chapter at the UC Press Web Site. It comes highly recommended from Amy Adams at Bastyr University.

U District Farmers' Market

At 9:00 15 UW students gathered at the South East entrance to the U-District Market to ask the 57 farmers some questions: how many miles did you drive to bring your produce to us; how many species do you grow over the course of a year, and how many products or species are unique to your stand. We'll debrief on Tuesday and perhaps use some push-pins on a map to display the data we gathered. Above are Emilia, Jasmine, Rachel, Dawn, and Andre.

Visionary and Potential Nobel Peace Laureate, Carlo Petrini

If there is one person who more than any other has tried to synthesize issues surrounding food and the environment for the past twenty years, it is Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food. To get an introduction to his thought, one could read Slow Food Nation, published in English in May 2007 (read Alice Water's article in the Nation, here), or one could listen to this podcast from the book's launch. It was originally published in 2005 by Einaudi as Buono, pulito, e giusto (good, clean, and fair). If you don't have an mp3 player, don't worry, most computers can play podcasts. Just download and double click. One can subscribe to the Ecologist Podcast RSS feed here:

Time Europe profiles Petrini as a European hero of 2004.

Podcasts of interest.

Not to worry, I haven't started podcasting. But I do listen to some on a regular basis and want to share the links here.

The first is very local, Diane Horn's "Sustainability Segment," broadcast early Saturday mornings on UW's second station, KEXP. Three of particular note are: George Monbiot, columnist and author, speaks with Diane Horn about his book, Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. Bill McKibben speaks with Diane Horn about his book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. And Larry Nussbaum, Program Director, Stewardship Partners, speaks with Diane Horn about the Salmon-Safe farm certification and eco-label program. Both Full Circle Farm and Skagit River Ranch are certified Salmon Safe. The feeds are available in these formats:



The other two podcasts of particular interest to students in the class are KCRW's Good Food
Here's how they describe themselves:
"Your weekly treat from Evan Kleiman. By tuning in to Good Food, you can discover great restaurants that you've never heard of, the politics of consumption, explorations of cultures through their food customs and some of the most interesting people who devote their lives to various elements of the food supply." It is available as an Rss Feed and from iTunes.

If KCRW is not edgy enough for you, then try CJLY's Deconstructing Dinner, hosted in Nelson, BC by kOOtNAY Coop Radio. It is the most radical, and one of the most informative, approaches, to food studies I have heard on the air and well worth listening to. You can find links here:

If you know of any other podcasts of interest, please add a comment below with a link.

Affordable Produce

Two people have sent me links about projects designed to make produce both available and affordable in neighborhoods that have not had good access to fresh greens and fruits. One is the New Roots Urban Farm in East Saint Louis, recently written up by Treehugger in a story called, Urban Farm Spreads Its Roots in Impoverished St. Louis Neighborhood. Another reader sent me a link to a project in West Oakland, CA, called City Slicker Farms, whose mission is Growing Affordable Fresh Produce for West Oakland.

NPR also had at least two stories on food and health today. The first,"Child Obesity Concerns Prompt Shift in Food Ads" is about how the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood have gotten Kellogs's attention regarding their marketing of unhealthy breakfast foods to kids. The second is about CSA for meat, "Local Food Co-Ops Go Beyond Greens." Both links will take you to podcasts of the stories.

Pix from Full Circle Farm

Rachel was kind enough to send these two photos from our visit last week.

Here's the group checking out the restoration of the river bank.



Mark and Rose, in front of some beds of greens.

Full Circle Farm, Carnation, WA

First field trip today, out to carnation, less than 40 miles from Seattle, we visited Full Circle Farm in Carnation, WA. Mark McIntyre led us around through each stage of the production process. Then we went down to the Snoqualmie river where they have been restoring the river bank and flood plains with grasses and trees. It's no wonder that Full Circle was the first farm in Washington to be certified Salmon Safe by Stewardship Partners.