Happy New Year !

Mistletoe Kissing Prank

Christmas Lights Gangnam Style

A Sustainable Christmas Table

from contributing editor, Stephanie Georgieff

LED Xmas lighting uses 80% less energy !

According to the Soil Association, a typical Christmas Feast can wrack up 49,000 miles in imported ingredients. I don’t know how they got to this number, but when you look at all the driving and flying that is involved in getting feed and bees to farms that produce meat and vegetables, all the spices, wines and other imported goodies, it certainly can add up. Another depressing statistic is how much food is thrown out during the Christmas season, with parties, special meals, going out and all that, one source said for each person celebrating the season, we create an extra trash bin of food waste than normal.

Practicing a “sustainable” kitchen, is actually one of the greatest gifts you can give your family and community this holiday season. Basically, because it is the gift that keeps giving in terms of a future life filled with resources for generations to come. So how can you have a sustainable Christmas without being really annoying? Here are a few tips: (Please note all of these suggestions can be used for Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Years, Solstice and Festivus)

1)   Have a Vegetarian Feast. Locally grown and sourced produce does not create the carbon footprint of meat. Vegetable dishes are actually more interesting, and face it the side dishes are what makes the feast anyways. Check Out LocalHarvest.org for ideas on what is in season and where to get it at your local farmers market.

2)   If you are going to serve meat, serve locally grown, organic and pastured meat. Neimans Ranch is an excellent source that incorporates 700 small family farms throughout the nation, producing pork, lamb, and beef. Mary’s Chicken has organic poultry options, and is in California. Fronteier Family Farms in Chino and Sage Mountain Farm in Temecula are also great options for locally grown Organic poultry, lamb and beef.

3)   Serve Organic Wine and Beer. Make your own drinks from these wonderful options. Here in California we have many to choose from, Benziger and Frey are good options for wines. Eel River Brewing Company and Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown are excellent brews from California. Organic libations do not use Genetically Modified grains or ingredients, pesticide use is decreased, and well, all the reasons you want organic are obviously involved in your holiday beer and wine selections.

4)   Use reusable plates, cups, utensils and napkins. Keep paper and plastic out of the landfills. It also looks so nice! A trick I used to use when I was in graduate school was to buy plates and such from a thrift store; they were usually cheaper that purchasing paper and plastic anyways, and then I would donate them back (clean of course) when I was done. No trash and the charity thrift shop I bought from got twice the money through re-selling my stuff.

5)   Save water by scraping plates clean, before washing them.

6)   Compost the table scraps. I feed the chickens at a local farm school with my vegetable and fish scraps.

7)   Menu Plan with Leftovers. In America, we waste 40% of our food. Food scraps from homes and restaurants goes into landfills causing green house gases. If you have leftovers, think about how you can use them in casseroles, soups, sandwiches, lunches and snacks.

8)   Give gifts of homemade goodies. Make sure you put them in containers that can be re-used or recycled. Simple gifts made from nuts, honey, oil and herbs are in-expensive, delicious, and do not contribute to waste.

The Holiday Season as it is practiced here in the United States is simply not sustainable, creates a lot of stress, and costs much in terms of personal income as well as resources. A simple and delicious way to celebrate is to use any or all of the ideas above. The great thing, it REALLY tastes great!

Farmers Market Report: Montrose Harvest Market

Montrose Harvest Market
Sundays from 9am-2pm
2200 Block of Honolulu Ave

I've been to Montrose a few times for lunch and always found it quaint and charming. I needed a farmers market last Sunday and this was the only one nearby. And it is quite the market. Going beyond the usual farm stands, seasonal produce, and prepared food, the Montrose Harvest Market is a Winter Wonderland. Boy Scouts meet you at the corner selling mistletoe (I highly recommend this), you can pick up a sustainably grown Christmas Tree, and take a free ride in a horse-drawn carriage. Then there's also the two bands playing, the petting zoo, bounce house, and craft show. Something for everyone !

Small town charm, big time fun !

Yes, there is a Starbucks on one corner and a Coffee Bean across the street...

The band plays and kids make a run for the bounce house !

Retro record clocks make a unique gift...

or perhaps a birdhouse?

Friday Special

The Garden Master, David King

10 Great Things About a Seed Library!

1. A far wider variety of seeds can be kept fresh by many people growing rather than one person growing in one garden.  We all gain when we combine our efforts.
2. Participants can save hundreds of dollars each season by growing their own food and saving their own seed.  In Southern California, we are blessed with a climate that allows us to grow food year-round!
3. A seed library ensures we have a food supply that is reproducible, local, uncontaminated by unproven genetic modification, and free from external controls.
4. Our seed library is focused on varietals ideal for home gardeners (full flavor and variety in a small garden) rather than commercial varietals, which often sacrifice flavor and personality for the sake of uniformity and durability for shipping.
5. Over time the plants will change in response to our local climate and soil, and gradually will become better seeds for our area.
6. We get to hang out with other like-minded gardeners!
7. Growing our own food and saving our own seed continues the fine American tradition of self-reliance.
8. Gardening nourishes the soul as well as the body, and is a great source of relief from the chaos of urban life.
9. As caretakers of seeds, we cooperate with nature in carrying on priceless genetic material for future generations.  Seeds are a sacred trust passed down to us by our ancestors.  The seed library helps us to best honor that gift.
10. By growing a plant from seed, eating its fruit and returning it back to seed, we become fully engaged in the rhythm of nature, grow more attuned to the world around us, and gain a deeper understanding of our own place in the web of life.

 

Farmers Market Report: Mar Vista

Mar Vista Farmers Market

Sundays, rain or shine

9am-2pm

Grandview Blvd. at Venice Blvd.

From its inception, the Mar Vista Farmers Market was supposed to be more than a farmers market. Both the local businesses and the the neighborhood envisioned it as a more of a 'town square'. The first Mar Vista Farmers Market was on August 6, 2006, and since then with six yearly festivals, a monthly locally produced art and crafts show, weekly kids' activities, on top of the local farmers and prepared food booths, that is exactly what it has become. With a focus on sustainability and community, the Mar Vista Farmers Market is a Sunday favorite.

J&R Organics is gearing up for the holidays...

with beautiful handmade wreaths, flowers and great produce.

This last weekend, they had a Latka Party and a Klezmer band, Klezmer Juice.

 Atkins Nursery from Fallbrook had a great selection of California winter fruit...

and citrus trees! That would be a lovely gift.

County Line Harvest had greens and a rainbow of vegetables...

..including carrots, radishes, and..

..chard!

Every weekend, someone from the sustainable community is invited to the 'Green Tent'.

Friday Special

A New Ritual in Redlands

from our contributing editor, Stephanie Georgieff

In this era of financial challenges, issues such as sustainability are often dismissed
as too expensive or unrealistic in the business realm. As many traditional forms
of employment are no longer viable, many displaced workers are becoming
entrepreneurs in the artisan food and beverage industry with amazing results. One
such business that combines both sustainability and emerging food industries
is Ritual Brewery in Redlands California. Cicerone Owen Williams and Home
Brewer Steve Dunkerkin came together to create a craft brewery. Dunkerkin is a native Redlander and son of a farmer, who lived in Northern Italy. He met Slow Food there, and was further inspired by Slow Food Nation in the Bay Area in September of ’08. Steve participated in the founding meetings of Slow Food Redlands, and has integrated Slow Food ideals in every aspect of Ritual Brewery.

The Tafelbier (a Belgian enkel), the Wit's End (a Belgian White Witbier), the Extra
Red (an American red) and the Hellion (a Belgian golden strong ale) are their new
releases. When Citrus is incorporated in the brews, it is locally sourced. Water in
the fermenting and cooling containers is recycled, and most of the brew equipment
has been salvaged from larger breweries no longer in service. The tasting tables
are made from recycled bowling lanes, and the wall dividers were salvaged from
grocery stores in Los Angeles. One of the most amazing practices at Ritual is to give
their spent grains to local cattle and poultry farms. Brewing involves lots of grains,
and after the fermentation process, the “spent grains” are often shipped to landfills
creating ozone destroying gas. Ritual found some floundering small dairy and beef
farmers who could not afford rising feed prices in the area and let them pick up the
spent grains on a regular basis. This practice has allowed these family farms to stay
alive in a very difficult farming climate, while reducing waste from the brewery.
Owen Williams teaches brewing classes at Cal Poly Pomona, so Ritual will have
an emphasis on taste and fermentation education. Ritual has paired up with Farm
Artisan Foods in Redlands, a local organic farm to table restaurant, to do food and
beer pairings. Outside the brewing plant, a lone hops bush has been flourishing. Co-
founder Steve Dunkerkin plans to have more herbal plants and citrus trees for their
upcoming brews, making locally sourced products, literally in front of the office.

Ritual combines the true art of artisan craft breweries and sustainable business
practices of reducing waste, recycling of resources and reusing fermentation tanks
and building materials in its physical plant. It also is bringing much needed jobs and
revenue to the San Bernardino Valley, and has helped to save family farms. Most
customers will only know Ritual produces really great Beer, but what enhances the
experience for me is knowing the yummy brews have a very small carbon footprint.

I Was A "Glean Team" Member (For A Day)

From contributing editor Annette Eason

Gleaning is an ancient concept. It means to gather what is left in a field after harvest or to collect, little by little with patient effort. Food Forward has given the concept of 'gleaning' a much needed contemporary twist, first gathering fruit from trees in peoples yards and now in its latest venture, gathering what is left after local framers markets.

So why bother with modern gleaning? It keeps a lot of perfectly great food from going to waste, taking up space in landfills and producing polluting gases. More immediately, it can help feed those in the greatest need. That's a double blast of sustainability. Gathering what was left at the end of the farmers markets, the FM Recovery program, just started last August. So when the call went out at the end of last week that Food Forward's Hollywood Farmers Market "Glean Team" had an opening on Sunday, I jumped on it. 

When I got there I met the real "Glean Team", from left to right, Jane, Colin and Jack. What does the "Glean Team" do? The concept is brilliantly simple, distribute boxes to all the farmers who think they might have things left at the end of the market and then at the end of the market gather all the full boxes. It does take some serious work and hustle, attention to detail and a good attitude. The last was easy because this "Glean Team" was a seriously fun group.

Oh, did I mention it started to rain. No big deal. Also hand cart skills are a plus, but not a requirement.

And what we gathered was some beautiful produce, just look at those tomatoes. We got tomatoes, butter lettuce, arugula, spinach, rapini, rainbow chard, carrots, kale, potatoes, mushrooms, cauliflower, apples, grapes, persimmons and more....

It makes the farmers happy because they hate to see what they worked so hard to grow go to waste.

Each week Food Forward features one of the participating farms. This week it was Valdivia Farms from Carlsbad.

So by the end of the market, the four of us had "gleaned" over 1200 pounds of food. It was all distributed on the spot to receiving agencies who help fed the city's hungry. Not bad for an afternoon of work. Well, work was involved, but it was really a pleasure and I highly recommend the experience.

Are you interested in trying you hand at modern gleaning and joining the "Glean Team" for a day? Or maybe you can make a six month commitment to be a regular team member. Food Forward is currently looking for both!

Contact Mary at fmrecovery@foodforward.org for more information.

Friday Special

Food Desert Or Food Forest?

 Small acts can transform the world. In doubt? Please don't tell Ron Finley of South Los Angeles. Actually, if you are a doubter, Ron just might be the man to change your mind. He found a solution right outside his front door, literally. It's a small thing really, something almost anyone could do, but the difference is he did it. It's making a difference.
 Watch this short, lovely and inspiring video. If you are in doubt let Ron Finley change your mind and hopefully inspire you to do your own small act that can help transform the world.

Meet the California Spiny Lobster

What happens when you mix A Sustainable Kitchen, Seafood for the Future, Edible Westside Magazine and Ray Garcia of FIG Restaurant?
You get a demo featuring this spiny lobster dream team and more chances to enjoy this local crustacean on a special limited menu later in the season. Details will be revealed in the winter issue of the Edible Westside Magazine due out in early December.

from our Seafood Expert, Kim Thompson 



When most of us think of lobster, the image of the bright red crustacean with giant claws
strewn out in front, glistening on a plate with a side of melted butter comes to mind. Over
the course of the summer, coastal communities all over Southern California celebrate
these clawed American or “Maine” lobsters from New England in a series of Lobster
Fests. Meanwhile, the clawless, California native spiny lobster is nowhere to be found.

California spiny lobster season is officially in session, yet you’ll be hard-pressed to
find festivals held in their honor or “Surf and Turf” specials featuring the local spinys.
Because they are both considered cold water lobsters, there is no overwhelming
difference in taste between the locals and their imported counterparts from the Northeast.
Arguments in favor of American lobster are the claw meat and price, while California
spinys tend to yield more edible meat pound for pound. In regards to sustainability,
both fisheries are well-managed to ensure healthy stocks and minimize impacts on their
surrounding environments. So why don’t we see California spiny lobster on more menus
in Southern California? Supply!

To give some perspective, the spiny lobster trap fishery in California produced just
over 0.715 million pounds in 2010. The American lobster fishery produced more than
115.4 million pounds that same year. Given the limited supply of California spinys,
they cost more. The result, instead of savoring and celebrating local and responsibly
harvested lobster straight from the boat, we are utilizing more fossil fuels to export it
while we import responsible, but not-so-fresh American lobster from the other side of the
continent!

We can all agree this is silly! The local movement is growing and more and more, chefs
are looking to local seasonal items for their menus. Some are finding ways to include
local delicacies such as the California spiny lobster with special limited edition menus
and/or creating new and inspired dishes that feature the lobster rather than slapping the
whole thing on a plate flanked by a steak and butter.

This winter, show your support for local seafood and the restaurants that are thinking
outside the box to feature California spiny lobster. You can also purchase them for yourself to impress your guests at holiday parties at the Newport Dory Fleet, Ventura
Harbor Fisherman’s Market, and through the Santa Barbara Community Seafood CSF.

*Please check websites for availability.

Thanksgiving

Farmers Market Thanksgiving Recipe

from our Food Editor, Katheryne Phillips

Are you bored of the same mashed potatoes every year? Try mixing it up this Thanksgiving with creamy mashed potatoes with cauliflower and Parmesan. The cauliflower add a robust and almost meaty taste to the potatoes, and the cheese adds just the right amount of salty goodness. Your family will love it, and it's a great way to sneak some extra veggies into your kids' diet!

Recipe:
5-6  potatoes washed & peeled (I used creamy potatoes from Flora Bella Farms)
1 small head or about 1/2 lb of white cauliflower (I got my cauliflower from Weiser Farms)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Chives for garnish (I use Humble Seed Chives from my own garden)
Potato masher or ricer
oven safe glass dish greased with butter or oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Heavily season the water with salt. Chop the potatoes and the cauliflower into 1 inch size pieces. Once the water is boiling add the potatoes and boil for 3 minutes, then add the cauliflower and boil for another 8 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Once the veggies are all soft drain the water by pouring the pot into a strainer. Once the water is drained dump the veggies back into the pot and start mashing. Add the cream, butter, and Parmesan to the mix and whip it all together until creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the creamy mixture into an greased oven safe dish and bake the dish for 12-14 minutes. The potatoes should be browned on the top, and a bit bubbly from the cheese. Remove from the heat, and garnish with chives. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Then enjoy this hearty take on this classic dish.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Profile: Food Forward

Meet Rick Nahmias, the Founder and Executive Director of Food Forward, SoCal's largest harvesting for the hungry non-profit. Food Forward's volunteers have rescued nearly 5 million servings of fresh local produce for our community's most vulnerable since forming 3 1/2 years ago.

Q: What does Food Forward do on a daily basis?
Rick: Food Forward connects people with people through food - and is making great strides to curtail food waste across our region by assembling our corps of volunteers to harvest excess backyard and public space fruit, and glean local farmers markets and parts of the downtown wholesale terminal. We then donate 100% of this produce to over 50 agencies serving people in need: food pantries, women's shelters, after school programs, homeless agencies, HIV/AIDS programs, etc.  

We also have a education and food preserving program called CAN IT! which is a quarterly hands-on workshop where participants learn a diverse range of food preserving techniques from professionals working on the cutting edge of this growing field.  We'll be launching the 2013 Foodsteader Tour (as we call it) in Spring next year - and I'm happy to say the last two years of this program have sold out entire workshops from gourmet fruit jamming to cheese making. With all teachers donating their time and locations, this is a social enterprise with 100% of the funds raised going right back into Food Forward's harvesting programs.  One other way we raise funds for our work is through Private Picks which are fun team-building activities for corporations, schools and faith-based groups. (http://foodforward.org/get-involved/private-pick-program/)

Q: How does sustainability fit in with your work?

Rick: I am adamant that the amount of food waste in this country - over 40%- is shameful. Coupling this with the fact that we live amidst over 500,000 acres of decommissioned commercial fruit and nut orchards that STILL produce fruit year after year - it is hard NOT to be committed to feeding people with this healthy food, and stewarding these trees which are older than many of our parents. I came out of a career as a photographer and was a trained cook.  Having documented the human cost of feeding America in Californian fields (see "The Migrant Project" - http://themigrantproject.com) and witnessing the cruel irony that those who feed us often cannot afford to feed themselves made me angry and wanting to effect change.  The 2008 election galvanized me further on several fronts, not least of which was seeing mindless food waste in my neighborhood in the form of unused fruit dropping to the ground. A few weeks later I decided to try this idea by gleaning a neighbor's tree.  Since then we've grown to nearly 4,000 volunteers strong and have held nearly 600 harvesting events. I find the work incredibly rewarding, immediately and viscerally gratifying and I love the community building that has come with it. Our fruit family keeps growing and welcomes folks of all kinds, knowing in the end it's all about one of the simplest pleasures: feeding people.

Q: What challenges have you faced?

Rick: Honestly, managing our growth has been a challenge.  Our first two years were all volunteer run (no paid staff) and produced over 350,000 lbs of rescued produce. At that point it was clear LA had been bitten by the gleaning bug, and we were getting requests from other agencies in need of our produce, from homeowners in other counties, from volunteers wanting to glean more and thus to meet the demand, we began to hire a couple of staff, build a board and get our 501.c.3.  We now are four full-time staff, and two part-time and modestly saturate LA and Ventura Counties and have some presence in Santa Barbara and Orange County but are truly just scratching the surface of "Fruitland."  We are committed to thoughtful sustainable growth but there is no other geography in the country with our abundance. The possibilities are almost endless with what can be done to have Southern California be a growing source of sustainable food for our region and beyond.  We've just kicked off our GO OUT ON A LIMB WITH FOOD FORWARD year-end fundraising campaign, and contingent on its success - donations can be made at foodforward.org in any amount - we will grow our gleaning to San Gabriel Valley in 2013 and add 6 more farmers markets where our volunteers are gleaning at 300% above the programs expectations.

Q: Who is your sustainable super-hero? Who inspires you?

Rick: I've come from a creative arts background - not sure there is a degree in professional urban gleaning anywhere in the US currently - I have a huge number of influences and heroes ranging from Edward R. Murrow to John Waters and most recently, Carlo Petrinni who I had the pleasure of hearing speak in person at the Slow Food Festival/Terra Madre last month in Torino.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Rick: I see Food Forward growing both in size but also in depth. I would estimate we currently glean maybe 1-2% of what is available in the LA area. I'd love to see that just increase to 10-20%, still a small fraction, but something do-able that would make HUGE change in the immediate quality of our community's lives in so many ways: less hunger, less waste in landfills, greater awareness about self-sustaining practices, more community service, smaller carbon footprint, and satisfaction knowing some of the best produce in the world is going to appreciative bellies instead of dumpsters.  More specifically I'd love to see our CAN IT! program and the food line it generates (http://foodforward.org/store/) grow into a major social enterprise, and see more and more of our income come from earned income of various mission-related businesses.  Simply put, I'd just love to know Food Forward is still here, still thriving and we are still having the honor to keep doing this work.

Volunteers, fruit donors, and anyone wanting to get involved with us can do so by visiting FOODFORWARD.org.

Holiday Gift Crates Supporting Food Forward

http://foodforward.org/store/food-forward-shop/food-forward-gift-crate/

 

Each year at holiday time, as a way to generate funds for their organization, a very limited number of Food Forward Gift Crates which are filled with tasty small-batch, house-made gourmet foods and stylish Food Forward merchandise are sold. All of the food items are made with seasonal, locally harvested produce which is preserved within days of harvesting by the Can It! Crew of volunteers.

Inside your 2012 Food Forward Gift Crate you’ll find:

GINGERED MEYER LEMON MARMALADE  - great spread on toast or stirred in with yoghurt

GRAPEFRUIT ROSEMARY SIMPLE SYRUP  - the perfect ingredient for that special cocktail, or drizzled across a dessert 

PRESERVED MEYER LEMONS – a salt brine and Moroccan spices give these lemons their depth of flavor. Use several sections to stuff you favorite poultry, or chop finely and mix in for a great addition to salad dressings, marinades, hummus or other savory dishes. 

PERSIMMON CINNAMON TEA – a delightful and light herbal tea that can be drunk hot or cold, just follow the directions on the back of the bag.

* A Food Forward light-weight hoodie

* A Food Forward baseball cap

* A Foodsteader apron

* Two Orange Pomanders (traditional fragrant French-inspired holiday decoration with a history reaching back to the 15^th century.)

All money raised from the sale of gift crates goes directly back to the organization’s programs to harvest more food for our community’s most vulnerable.

PRICE: $125 (+ $25 for local LA area delivery or UPS national ground shipping) 

 

Friday Special

Today Is America Recycles Day !

Closing the Loop and Finishing the Cycle

Do you recycle?

Did you know that last year only 25% of the plastic in the United States was recycled? We know, that figure is shocking, and very expensive. Public agencies in California alone spend $300 Million in coastal litter clean up per year. This year we will add 14 BILLION pounds of trash to the ocean. We can do better!

Every ton of plastic we recycle saves:

-5774 KWH of electricity

-685 gallons of oil

-98 million BTU's of energy

-30 cubic yards of landfill

What can you do?

1. Get reusable shopping bags and use them.

Help ban single use plastic bags. We all shared our favorite reusable bags with you so you could see there is no 'right' one except for the one you will use.

2. Stop drinking bottled waters. Get a water filter for you home.

3. Avoid overly packaged products, especially food.

So you are already doing all of those things... fabulous. Are you closing the loop? Look for and buy products that are made from materials that are renewable, recyclable and recycled. The higher the recycled content the better, if it is post consumer, even better. What kind of products? First think practical and everyday, copier paper, almost all paper products. Then think big, and even high style like investment pieces like furniture and carpet or if you are remodeling, drywall and decking materials. If you don't see it at you favorite retailer, ask for it. Vote for recycling with your wallet.

Here are a couple of examples of of high design with great style, from two very sustainable companies and there is nothing 'crunchy' about either one.

Loll outdoor furniture made from recycled plastic milk jugs.

Flor carpet tiles, not only made from renewable recyclable and recycled materials,you can return them to the company and they will recycle them.

So remember when you recycle, close the loop and finish the cycle. Help create a demand for recycled products. WE can do better!