This is an urgent call-to-action from the Center for Food Safety. Passage of this language into the 2007 Farm Bill would stop state and local governments and voters from deciding what is best for their local communities. We have a chance to stop it at the House Agriculture Committee level if you take action quickly. This is much like the Food Uniformity bill that was nearly passed last year.

Here’s part of what the Center for Food Safety says on their web page above:

The primary intent of this passage is to deny local or state rights to regulate genetically engineered crops or food. This would wipe out the restrictions passed by voters in four California counties and two cities, and could limit the powers of the California Rice Certification Act and its ability to prohibit the introduction of GE rice varieties. Local and state laws pertaining to GE crops have also been passed in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. All of these democratically enacted laws are threatened by this language.

I took out the language provided by the Center for Food Safety and inserted my own, copied below.

The right of local governments to decide what is best for their own communities is at the heart of our democratic system. By their own auditor’s admission, the USDA has a terrible track record of monitoring food and agricultural products of questionable stability and safety. Just look at what happened to rice farmers last year.

I would like to think that a large area of organic farmers could be protected from contamination from pharma and other GE seeds by local zoning laws and regulations if the local government deemed it in the community’s best interest. Once a farm is contaminated, an enormous economic hardship is incurred. That farmer often has the choice of going out of business or being forced to do business with certain corporations. There is no justice in this situation.

Our small farmers must be protected from prosecution by large corporations like Monsanto, who have a history of contaminating farms, suing the victims, and winning. Local regulation and zoning could resolve these problems and ensure that there is a fair deal for small farmers and agribusiness alike.

This is a matter of protecting your citizens and small businessmen. As a small farmer, the descendent of generations of small farmers, and an organic consumer who would like to see the supply for organic produce increase to meet the growing demand, I beg you to remove this language from the 2007 Farm Bill.

If you’re on Blogspot, and you’ve selected that you will not accept anonymous comments, the only choice for the reader who wants to comment is to log in with a Blogger or Google account. I realize that I’m being a tad unreasonable, but I don’t want to set up another account. I left Blogger in part because I didn’t want to set up another account. I have TOO many accounts!

So there are some of you who I read from time to time but I cannot comment on your blogs. I tried to comment on at least two Blogspot blogs today who are on my blogroll, and I could not. I assume that you’d like us to share the blog love, and didn’t know that this is happening.

I don’t know how many others out there are like me, but if you want to hear from at least one more of your readers, please pick another way to reduce your spam. Word verification should do the trick, and it doesn’t exclude anyone who is not set up with Blogger or Google. Yes, it’s a pain. Not as much of a pain as not being able to communicate, though.

Thanks,
Laurie

Things that I regret today:

• NOT going to this picnic. I could have gone. Really, I could have taken a day off, hung around my sister’s house, and gone to this. Why, why, why didn’t I? I heard all about the bread baking that took place in an outdoor brick oven on Monday. That by itself should have told me to ditch work and play hooky with the Slow Food folks in Chapel Hill.
• Not having Memorial Day off. Why don’t I have Memorial Day off? No one will be there, no one will expect me to be there, and there will be nothing for me to do. Expect a lot of visits from me on the blogs tomorrow.

I had visitors to the Back Forty today - KS, who has been a simple living inspiration for me for a long, long time, and KT, who is the manager of a fine restaurant here in Greensboro. Kerry didn’t realize that we had already met virtually and on the phone until he was here. This worked out wonderfully, because not only was I able to give away some echinacaea that was overrunning my path, I also gained a volunteer to water my garden and my containers while I’m on vacation. One more worry down the drain.

So, I have a garden-waterer, I have a house-sitter, I have a pet-feeder lined up who will clean the litterbox (not for free!), and I even timed my vacation so that it will not be that -ahem- time of the month for me. What could be wrong?

The Sopranos. Auggghhh!

The Sopranos’ series finale will be shown the first Sunday that I will be gone. All the repeats are scheduled during the week that I am gone. The final repeat will be shown at 2 a.m. the Sunday that I am back, meaning that if I watch it I will be even more worthless than usual the day I get back from vacation.

It was all calculated so carefully. Nine episodes in the final season. I didn’t check to see if they were going to SKIP a Sunday!

After three years of subscribing to HBO only for this, I am NOT going to miss the final episode. Period. So, the best solution I can come up with is to rent a hotel room with HBO for that night. Sandy’s okay with it because I offered wild monkey sex as a bribe. Men are so easy.

Anyway, I harvested and shelled a large bowl of peas and I think that I’ll blanch them and freeze them tonight. I pulled out the rest of the turnips and pondered what to do with them. I’m really sick of eating turnips, but that turnip soup that I had at Lantern Monday night was so luscious. I looked up recipes with turnip roots and came across a statement that anything tasted wonderful if you bathed it in butter and cream, and followed it with a recipe that was basically the same way I’ve always made scalloped potatoes. So I tarted it up just a tad, with homemade butter from cream from my cow, more milk and cream, and spring onions and thyme from the Back Forty, and it’s pretty good!

In the turnips’ place, I worked in a little bone meal and planted the rest of the jalapenos. It’s not a great spot for them, but they desperately needed to go in somewhere. I put in the rest of the mixed hot peppers behind the cabbage in a very sunny area. Next year, I’m buying pepper plants. I know when I’m defeated. My peppers from seed are just not that into me.

Then I had a visit from the fabulous Zha K and youngest son, who was unbelievably sweet and patient when my husband kept referring to him as his older brother. Zha K always knows ahead of time what’s up with me because she reads this blog. It’s a little weird and very flattering at the same time. It almost feels like talking to a clairvoyant.

It is very hot in the house and we’re trying to get by as long as possible without turning on the central air. Last year we were able to make it until mid-July. I’ve been drying laundry on the deck again, and it dries so quickly now. I give it a few minutes in the dryer to try to remove some cat hair and lint and fluff it up. All the ceiling fans are going and I have fans in the windows. We do have a small window A.C. unit for the bedroom for nights that I just can’t handle the heat. It’s very important for me to get a full night’s sleep to handle my anxiety/panic disorder. I’ve found that has been the MOST helpful thing since I’ve been trying to get by with minimal medication.

We went to Lowe’s and bought a compact florescent bulb to replace one of the floodlights in our living room. That’s not a typo. I don’t know why the former owner chose such ugly lighting for the front room of the house, but it’s on my list of things to change when I come into my enormous inheritance from my long lost unknown rich childless relative. Also filters for the furnace/AC system, which can only be accessed when both of us are in tip-top physical condition. I looked longingly at the bathroom fixtures and gave a salesman twitters of hope for a few minutes. It was nice to have someone approach me in a big box store - how rare is that?

I guess that the next thing on the agenda will be fleas. I’m sure that we have ‘em, just not enough that I’ve been able to spot one. As soon as I do, it’s off to the vet for an astronomically expensive supply of Advantage. With four cats, I’ve learned that the cheapest route is to hit ‘em hard with the best stuff right off the bat. You know, like we should have done in Afghanistan.

Oh, but I’m not going there. Oh no. But just in case you’re new to this blog, I’ll let you in on my politics, since I rarely announce it: I’M A PROUD LIBERAL. I HATE ALMOST ALL POLITICIANS, except Al Gore. Just in case anybody thinks otherwise. It happens occasionally.

Now that it’s cooling off, I’m heading to the Back Forty to hose it down again.

UPDATE: Boy, you can tell how dry it is by the way the birds come flocking in when I water now. I give the robins little showers and they just hop around under the spray.

This morning, we and other members and guests of the Slow Food Piedmont Triad convivium wound our way up the mountain roads of southern Virginia to attend the grand opening day of Foggy Ridge Cider. The owners and hosts, Diane and Chuck Flynt of Greensboro, spend their time divided between family and work here in North Carolina, and developing their orchard and cider business in Virginia. Diane has over a thousand apple trees of many heritage varieties in her orchard. They are pollinated with bees that live in two hives at the top of the winding road under the oak.

Diane Flynt, cidermaker of Foggy Ridge Cider, presides over a tasting of their three kinds of hard apple cider: Serious Cider, First Fruit, and Sweet Stayman. We bought one bottle of each!

I know that this photo is awful, but I love the impish look on my friend Gratia’s face as she looks at the camera from behind me on the right. I have on my “Slow Food” hat, one of the ones I made at John C. Campbell Folk School. Obviously, we were having a good time!

After the cider tasting, four of us split a bottle and nine of us spread blankets for a picnic lunch. It was a lovely day with a threatening thunderstorm never drenching us but providing a cool breeze from time to time. Two musicians played jazz on a roofed area where tables were provided. I didn’t get photos of the picnic because I was too busy enjoying the food!

We went back up to the cider house where we found three more travelers from NC, and we tasted award-winning cheeses from our own local favorite Goat Lady Dairy and Galax, Va’s Meadowcreek Dairy. Both dairies practice sustainable agriculture.

Down the road a ways Blacksnake Meadery had a tasting on their front porch. It was THE perfect front porch to relax with a crisp, light glass of mead (honey wine). They used honey from their hives (no collapse disorder in theirs) and crabapples from their trees and Foggy Ridge Orchard. We left with a bottle of each of their offerings as well: Bee Brew with Lime, Bee Brew with Hops, and Tupelo Honey Wine.

Tomorrow they’re doing it again with music if you care to go. Check their web site for details. It is way way way back twisty mountain roads, but what a beautiful drive! (Take the usual precautions if you are prone to motion sickness! You’ll want to feel good when you get there.) And on June 16-17, you could follow the Blue Ridge Wine Trail and visit these and three nearby wineries.

Man, I love this area. If I ever get a chance to buy a little land, this is where I’m looking.

This does not look good. It is very dry here and there is no rain forecast for days. My rain barrels will be totally empty by mid-week, and I’ve been using them sparingly. I’ve been watering with a hose every day. There are places in the paths where the ground is starting to crack. It’s a good thing that I have a small garden that I can reach all of it with a hose.

The tiny amounts of rain I’ve gotten here in the Back Forty may not be enough to get the garden through my being gone on vacation in June for eleven days - the barrels will be empty and I don’t want to hook the city water up to the soaker hoses. My seeds may not come up. We need a good soaking rain very badly in the next week!

I hope that this is not the beginning of another drought. It’s about time for another one. One climate change forecast that I have seen for the southeastern U.S. is more periods of extreme drought. I can believe it based on the recent past. It’s weird to bounce back and forth between a hurricane-prone state and a drought-stricken state.

The straw mulch that I have been using for the past year has so many seeds in it that I hate to buy any more. I would’ve had a bumper wheat crop this spring, believe me. But I guess I need to put some more down. I bought pine straw for the Brandywine bed, but that’s kind of expensive for the amount you get in a bale. (The Brandywine plants are looking FABULOUS, by the way. Best plants I’ve ever grown from seed - thank you, Fedco.)

When I was growing up, we were expected to watch the evening news every night and repeat the weather report to my father when he came in from work. If we didn’t, he got mad. I guess that I’ve had an obsession with weather all my life because of that. My sister is the same way and she doesn’t even garden, not in a big way. Farm kids learn that the weather is important. I’ve noticed that city people (Sandy, for example) often do not notice when it doesn’t rain more than a few drops for days. It has to get dusty and crackly first.

Funny that I’ve lived in a small city for 28 years now and I still consider myself a country person. At one time I wanted so desperately NOT to be a country girl.

Tonight I baked a loaf of banana/pear bread to take to a picnic our Slow Food group is having at a cider orchard in Virginia tomorrow. It was meant to be just banana nut bread, but my bananas were a little TOO ripe and I had two pears on hand. So I followed the recipe in the Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen for apple bread, except with pureed bananas and pears.

Hopefully my camera will take better photos when I replace the batteries. I think that my recyclable ones are getting worn out.

Here is the bill as it stands now - copied from NCLEG.net.

SENATE BILL 948*

Commerce, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Substitute Adopted 5/22/07
Third Edition Engrossed 5/24/07

Short Title: Small Dairy Sustainability.
(Public)

Sponsors:

Referred to:

March 20, 2007

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to promote small dairy sustainability by allowing consumers to contract with local farmers to become partial or complete owners of dairy animals OR small HERDs of dairy ANIMALS; AND TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING TO BE PROVIDED WHEN RAW MILK IS DISPENSED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1. G.S. 130A‑279 reads as rewritten:

“§ 130A‑279. Sale or dispensing of milk.

(a) Only milk that is Grade “A” pasteurized milk may be sold or dispensed directly to consumers for human consumption. Raw milk and raw milk products shall be sold or dispensed only to a permitted milk hauler or to a processing facility at which the processing of milk is permitted, graded, or regulated by a local, State, or federal agency. The Commission may adopt rules to provide exceptions for dispensing raw milk and raw milk products for nonhuman consumption. “Sale” or “sold” shall mean any transaction that involves the transfer or dispensing of milk and milk products or the right to acquire milk and milk products through barter or contractual arrangement or in exchange for any other form of compensation including, but not limited to, the sale of shares or interest in a cow, goat, or other lactating animal or herd. compensation. This subsection is subject to subsection (b) of this section.

(c) Raw milk may not be dispensed to any person for human consumption unless the dispenser of the raw milk provides notice to the person to whom the raw milk is dispensed of the public health risks associated with human consumption of raw milk. The Commission shall adopt rules providing for notice to persons to whom raw milk or raw milk products are dispensed for human consumption of the public health risks associated with human consumption of raw milk. The rules shall include a requirement that containers of raw milk for human consumption must contain a warning label affixed to the container indicating the public health risks associated with human consumption of raw milk. The rules shall also require the public health notice to be provided by means other than container labels in cases where the raw milk is dispensed into a container that is not provided by the dispenser of the raw milk. As used in this subsection “raw milk” includes raw milk products.”

SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law. The Commission for Health Services may adopt temporary or emergency rules in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes to implement this act.

Hallelujah, it’s possible that North Carolina farmers may regain a source of lost income, and consumers will have a choice.

Whatever your personal feelings are about raw milk, many people have been drinking it for years with no more ill effects than pasteurized milk. Not only that, many people who can NOT drink pasteurized milk can drink raw milk because of the enzymes that remain. There is a lot of misinformation about raw milk out there. Raw milk has been the scapegoat of many an incident, only to be cleared with little mention in the press after testing.

It’s time for those who want the choice of raw milk to have the legal option again. We were allowed this option until 2004. Many states and countries allow the sale of raw milk, and obviously there has not been the consequences that the opposition claims.

I’ve been drinking raw milk again since January. Since that time, my digestive problems have pretty much disappeared. I say again, because I grew up drinking raw milk, from a cow at my neighbor’s house.

There are reports that drinking raw milk helps other health problems too.

And talk about knowing where your food comes from - I know the name of my COW. It would be nice for these farmers to be able to sell their milk for human consumption openly again. Legalization can only help the public, since raw milk fans will find a way to get it on the black market.

This raw milk bill requires the consumer to buy a share of a cow from a farmer. Cow-share programs are common in other states. Raw milk would be required to carry a warning label, much like cigarettes, which are lethal and legal everywhere in this country.

But now it has to pass the House, and you can bet that the lobbyists for big dairy operations are hard at work to stop this bill. I urge you all to contact your state representative and ask them to vote yes on Senate Bill 948!

I finally harvested my fava beans, and now I understand why they aren’t a popular crop.

The pros: I planted them in the fall and overwintered them with just a little bit of loss, and much of that was due to digging animals. They are nitrogen-fixing plants. And their blossoms are very cool!

The cons: Not many pods to a plant. Not many beans to a pod. Hard to shell. If you wait until they get bigger to increase your yield, you get the additional chore of having to blanch and peel the actual beans themselves.

I ended up with a very small amount, and I used the recipe in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone to prepare them. The very short version is that you saute the beans with olive oil about ten minutes or until tender. Then you toss them with chopped fresh dill, scallions, lemon zest, lemon juice, and yogurt. Eat them hot or chilled. I chose to chill them for lunch the next day.

Perfect, since my dill and spring onions were also ready. And delicious, but, I used way too much lemon zest and juice, so I still do not really know what cooked fava beans taste like. Live and learn. I tasted some small ones raw. They were sharp and I think that I probably would prefer the cooked ones. If I grow them again. I might just because I think that the flowers are really groovy.

I have been puzzled about the leeks this year. Last year I planted the same variety in the same type of soil, and they did not send up a seed stalk. This year, almost all of them that I planted this past fall have seed stalks, and they are not big enough for harvest yet. I did a bit of searching and came up with this explanation from this web page - our crazy up and down weather this spring sounds responsible to me.

“Leeks are biennials and will normally bloom the second year – unless planted early enough in fall to be vernalized by winter cold temperatures. Then they will bloom the first year.”

Little green tomatoes are appearing on my Roma tomatoes in the containers. I transplanted the Pimento peppers, and started picking the Little Marvel peas. Just a few hills of Trombonicino, Yellow Crookneck, and Black Beauty zucchini squash were planted on Sunday.

Only have one foxglove left after the great mint purge, and now field peas and lima beans will take over the mint’s former domain.

My neighbor’s peach tree is hanging so far over the fence that it is blocking the sun from my new Seckel pear tree and casting a lot of shade on my tomatoes and Korean Giant pear tree. She is very unlikely to do anything about it, and she’s going through a tough time. She is not mentally stable. I think that I’ll end up having to cut it back severely, but I dread talking to her about it.

More bad news - the camera is not performing well at all. Hmmm.

Oh, how I love Slow Food. The dinner last night with Carlo Petrini, Erika Lesser, and other North Carolina Slow Food leaders just confirmed my already warm and fuzzy feelings for this organization.

I’m not an “organization” person. I’m a loner, and usually I prefer nothing more than a cool afternoon weeding my garden, or a day alone working on some kind of creative project. The last thing on earth I would choose would be a sitdown with all strangers. Sitting down at a table with this group of people whom I had never met, I realized how much I want this experience more often. Sharing wonderful tastes, our experiences, our passions, offering simple conversation about the food we eat and enjoy. I walked in a bundle of nerves, and walked out feeling that I was blessed.

And this food, this food. Oh my God. This was one of the most incredible meals I have ever eaten. Andrea Reusing of the Lantern, a Chapel Hill Asian restaurant that takes her local food philosophy to the maximum possibilities, sent out dish after dish of delicacies for us to try. We started with a local turnip soup with pickled ramps that was divine. Then, every appetizer on the menu came out. My personal favorite: the sashimi with yellowfin tuna and sea scallops with sea urchin oil. It melted in my mouth as every taste bud cried out for joy. Then, on the recommendation of a regular customer, I ordered the black cod. Buttery delicate goodness, although at that point I was so completely stuffed that I could barely eat another bite. The desserts, unfortunately, mainly went to waste because we were all happily groaning with full bellies, but I tried little tastes of several and they were just as incredible as the rest of the meal. I didn’t get back to my sister’s house until 11:30! A typically Italian, lingering meal in the company of good people.

I sat at the end of the table, so I didn’t get much talk time with Carlo Petrini. The acoustics and the language barrier made it difficult. Much of the time he was talking with another guest in French. Occasionally he talked in Italian and Erika translated for him. He discussed the possibility of connecting the N.C. convivia with Tibetan yak cheese producers, which sounded like a wonderful idea, but in the end I think that we decided that North Carolina wasn’t the best area to do this. I love the idea of partnering with other world convivia and presidia though.

Erika Lesser from Slow Food USA was gracious and friendly. I immediately felt comfortable with her, in a way that I seldom do with people I don’t know. Talking with her and the others made me wish that I had more time to devote to the organization.

The best part of this dinner for me was the connection with leaders from Slow Food Charlotte and Slow Food Research Triangle. We swapped ideas and discussed the building of an outdoor brick oven. By the end of the dinner, we decided that we should find ways to have more events together, and I felt that I had made some friends.

That’s the other reason why I love Slow Food. It is all about our connections with each other and the earth. There’s not anything much more basic than food - we must all eat to live. What a perfect thing to bring us all together.

Oh yeah - if you’re interested in hearing Carlo Petrini speak, here’s the information for his lecture in Raleigh tomorrow night:

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
‘Farm-to-Fork’ Exploration
A Carlo Petrini Lecture NCSU McKimmon Center
1101 Gorman Street, Raleigh
7:00 p.m.
Presented by: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems

Carlo Petrini will lead a discussion on the meaning and value of preserving food traditions, defending biodiversity, and protecting food that is good, clean, and fair.

The lecture is FREE and open to the public. Reserved seating is available. For reserved seating information, visit on-line at www.cefs.ncsu.edu or contact Lisa Forehand at 513-0954.

Now, unfortunately, I have to go back to work!

Interesting that this local food outrage about Carlo Petrini’s remarks about the Ferry Plaza Market in San Francisco should come to my awareness just before I get to meet the man himself.

Many farmers at the Ferry are quite ticked off at Petrini’s characterization of their market as being a “boutique” and only for the “wealthy and very wealthy.” I have mixed feelings about this controversy.

Having not read Slow Food Nation, and reading quickly through the posts at this blog, here are my quick reactions.

1. It would be nice if Petrini and Slow Food USA offered an apology for publishing and defending what might be an unfair assessment of the Ferry Plaza Market. I don’t know if his remarks are true, having never been there. But simply in the spirit of unity and collegiality, sometimes it’s best to show a bit of humility, suck it up, and say you’re sorry. (UPDATE: Well, well. It seems that there were at least two apologies that weren’t accepted. The verbal one is described here. And a written letter was posted in the comments at Chow. I now think that an apology is still needed: to Carlo and Erika for the treatment they’ve received.)

2. At the same time, the farmers who are so outraged should probably consider a little more deeply the fact that it was Petrini’s first impression of the market. Learn from that. You will never hear many other first impressions, especially when they are negative. If he zeroed in on the oddballs, then that is what caught his attention. This is valuable information. Work on your marketing if that’s not what you’d like to convey.

3. I highly doubt that Petrini was out looking for a reason to diss the Ferry. Especially when a large part of Slow Food’s mission is to encourage consumers to buy directly from farmers and local food artisans.

4. Food and elitism. Man, am I tired of this subject. But. I think that there is a place in Slow Food for gourmet food and food for the “masses.” As long as we are celebrating good food and educating consumers about where their food comes from, Slow Food is doing the world an enormous service. One of the things I like about Slow Food is that it is not just about food for the hungry. It is also about building food businesses and food heritage. It is about the pleasure of food. It is about making food fun again. It’s about making people WANT to think about the connection between the farmer and their mouths because it’s enjoyable. (And if a farmer or baker can get prices in her market that will allow her to make a living, good for her!)

5. Food and the hungry. If we are to do anything of substance about making healthy fresh food available to the poor in this country, it will have to be through changing the American agricultural system. Right now, food stamps are being issued in the form of debit cards, which the vast majority of farmers cannot accept. The vast majority of subsidies that go to farms go to huge commodity farmers and agribusinesses, not small farmers who grow food to be consumed in this country. Serious change will have to begin with the new Farm Bill, which addresses both of these problems. Slow Food is trying to bring awareness about the Farm Bill, and educating the public about where their food comes from.

6. The cheapest food to be found in this country is not labeled with the country of origin, likely contains genetically engineered and other ingredients of questionable safety, and contains a lot of empty calories, which burdens our tax system with sick, fat people. Slow Food is working to bring awareness about the decreasing quality of our food.

7. Most of the members and volunteers of Slow Food convivia across the country do not even know who Carlo Petrini is, and it is unfair to paint us all with the same brush because of the impression Petrini has of one market. Different convivia have different focuses. I’m willing to bet that they are all contributing to making the world a better place in each its own way. Hell yes, we make mistakes, but stop running us down for trying to improve the quality of our food. In the end, that’s what we’re doing. That’s the POINT. (UPDATE 2: This thoughtful and balanced thread from the Slow Food Forum particularly addresses the issue well. It includes the actual chapter about the Ferry as well as the apology letter.)

You’re not slamming the whole organization, you say? Then why use the title “Slow Food Versus the Farmers and You and Me?” Sheesh. I understand being upset, but come on, man. I’m working hard to support your counterparts in North Carolina. I don’t need this. Slow Food IS you and me.

That’s all I have time to say about it right now, but I felt the need to get it out of my system.