Slow Food Boston News

Woody Tasch & the Slow Money Movement

noreply@blogger.com (Willow) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:42:00 +0000

Been meaning to write a follow up on our wonderful evening at the Davis Square Lofts with Woody Tasch for ages now... My apologies for the delay!

A wide ranging group gathered on a kind of story summer evening and ate (amazing desserts made by our trusty volunteers and donated from KickAss Cupcakes), drank (lovely whites from Travessia Urban Winery in New Bedford) and then listened as Woody talked about the Slow Money Alliance and the meaning & reasons behind this new way of investing.

What followed was discussion of what we can do on the ground to encourage investing locally and really knowing where our money goes and what it does - rather than the current model of dollars spinning wildly around the globe... We've certainly become better at putting our retail dollars where our (proverbial) mouths are by buying at farmers markets having CSAs and the like. But what about our INVESTING dollars?

A few of the data points that Woody threw out for us all to muse upon:
*Of the $500 billion in foundation assets available for grants in the US, only 1/100 of 1% goes to agriculture.
*Each $1 you spend at the grocery store? Only 9¢ gets back to the farmer.
*Think you have too little money to invest and you wouldn't make a difference? Last year, approximately 4 million people donated only $35 to the NRA to be used expressly for lobbying purposes. That's $14 million all told!

For more info, check out this great article about Slow Money in the Madison Magazine, or this blog post.

Most importantly, check out Woody's book, Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money; Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered, and sign the Slow Money Principles today!

Local Butcher in NYT Dining Section

noreply@blogger.com (Willow) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:54:00 +0000

Check out local dude Adam Tiberio (who spoke after our movie 'Eating Alaska' in April) hugging a big hunk o' beef in a photo on the front page of today's New York Times Dining section.

Adam is works at Concord Prime & Fish, in addition to posting great videos on You Tube of the butchering process under the moniker 'The Hungry Butcher'.

Kudos to those working to bring back the dying art of butchery and getting us away from nondescript pieces of protein wrapped in plastic and sitting in the refrigerator case!

Pssst! Meet you in Copley Square Tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:14:00 +0000

Tapping toes, twiddling fingers, itchy feet... We can finally take a deep breath and plunge in -- because the farmers markets are finally back!!

Tuesday, May 19th our local growers & bakers & producers arrive back in Copley Square for the season - hurrah! The Copley Market runs on Tuesdays & Fridays from 11am to 6pm from now until the end of November.

Th next openings are City Hall & Davis Square on May 27th, Central Square on June 1st, Dudley Square on June 2nd and then the others soon follow throughout June & the beginning of July.

Market hours, directions, attending farmers and anything else you'd like to know can be found on the website of Mass Farmers Markets.

We'll see you there!

Wine For Sale at the Farmers Markets?

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:18:00 +0000

It might seem like a big big dream, but that's just what FMFM (the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets) is hoping for if a bill currently in the Senate passes. Wouldn't that be nice, to pick up a lovely Westport Rivers sparkler to have with the fish you get from the next-door booth at the Brookline Market? Or a Turtle Creek Cabernet Franc to enjoy alongside meat from Stillmans and yummy summer broccoli?

Jeff from FMFM sent over the following information outlining the bill and asking for help:
I have helped (along with many others) local winery folks to propose legislation that will allow sales of local farm wine at farmers markets (provided ABCC provisions are followed of course). We have a bill: S 400, that is before the legislature. The core of it is: "Notwithstanding any other provision of Chapter 138, in any city or town wherein the granting of licenses to sell wines, malt beverages or alcoholic beverages is authorized under this chapter, the local licensing authority may issue to any person currently licensed in this or any other state as a wine producer, beer producer, or distilled spirits producer a special license for the sale of wine, beer or spirits produced by the person so licensed in sealed containers for off-premise consumption at State Fair, County Fair, and recognized farmers’ market operated on a not-for-profit basis to individuals that are at least 21 years of age. The special permit shall stipulate the premises and times covered as well as any other restrictions imposed by the local authority. A licensee under this section may provide, without charge, samples of wine, beer, or spirits to prospective customers at the State Fair, county Fair, and recognized farmer’s market; provided , however, that no single serving of wine shall exceed one ounce, no single serving of malt beverages shall exceed two ounces and no single service of liqueurs, cordial or spirits shall exceed ¼ of an ounce. All samples of wine, beer or spirits shall be served by an agent, representative, or solicitor of the person currently licensed in this or any other state to individuals that are at least 21 years of age and all samples must be consumed in the presence of the agent, representative, or solicitor from the farm winery. The local licensing authority may charge a fee for each such permit but such charge or fee shall not exceed fifty dollars. The commission may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate its alcohol oversight, licensing and enforcement purposes under this chapter."
Are you able to ask Slow Fooders to contact their legislators in support of this bill? Its passage would certainly be a big boost to the farmers market industry, help local farms, and bring more farmers (and more diversity) to markets across the state.

If you'd like to see the full text of the bill, check it out here.

We definitely will toast to the idea!

Growing Veggies is Trendy!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:30:00 +0000

The local arbiter of all things cool & hip has given their 'blessing' to one of our own!

Daily Candy recently featured a how-to guide for a 'DIY Salad Garden' (to be grown in soup cans on your windowsill) put together by Jessie & Gabe of Green City Growers. Hoorah!

Check it out on
Daily Candy.

Front Page News, Two Days in a Row

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:37:00 +0000

Michelle Obama, planting a veg garden at the White House! Who would have thunk? But there it was, photo evidence on the front page of Saturday's New York Times.

If you haven't seen the photo of Mrs. Obama and her shovel, check out the New York Times website.

And then another front page mention of the sustainable food movement - this time in Sunday's Business section. Complete with a grinning Alice Waters!

We may just yet sweep the nation...

Yet Another Reason to Eat Local

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:54:00 +0000

As we slog through the final and most excruciating portion of a New England winter for the foodies among us, it becomes more and more difficult to stick to our 'local & seasonal' convictions. I, for one, begin to think longingly of southern California and the lovely fresh fruits & vegetables that they MUST be enjoying. And I do this as I saute hardy greens & garlic and roast yet another pan of turnips...

Which means that this article from the newest issue of Gourmet Magazine comes at just the right time to bolster those conviction. Barry Estabrook tells the story of agricultural workers in Florida and the horrid environment in which they live. They are there picking vegetables that will be sent around the country so that those in the north can have their tomatoes and strawberries, even in the depths of February.

So tonight I made a Shepherd's Pie with curry flavors; a little local ground beef, some greens & cellared sweet potatoes and nibbled on some Vermont cheese & bread during the process... And granted, I might have patted myself on the back, at least for a brief moment. I may not be perfect, but I try, and that's the point.

The Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes

local James Beard honorees!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Three cheers for Boston area business and professionals nominated for James Beard Foundation Awards:
Outstanding Chef Nominees
Ana Sortun, Oleana, Cambridge, MA

Outstanding Restaurant
Hamersley's Bistro, Boston, MA

Best New Restaurant
Hungry Mother, Cambridge, MA

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Will Gilson, Garden at the Cellar, Cambridge, MA

Outstanding Pastry Chef
Maura Kilpatrick, Sofra Bakery and Cafe, Cambridge, MA

Best Chef: Northeast
Michael Leviton, Lumiere, West Newton, MA
Tony Maws, Craigie on Main, Cambridge, MA

The full list and more information on the awards can be found here: James Beard Foundation 2009 Semifinalists

Film Series preview...

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:53:00 +0000

Our first film will be shown on Sunday, February 8th, and will be a documentary by the name of 'One Man, One Cow, One Planet.' It is about small farmers in India working to improve the health of their soil with the help of Peter Proctor, a New Zealander who has worked tirelessly to further the ideals of biodynamic farming.

Soil degradation and the general problems with overfarming and problems with the help of our farmland is a problem here in the US as well. Check out this op-ed from the New York Times a few weeks ago: A 50-Year Farm Bill It's written by Wes Jackson and the Wendell Berry, two incredible people that have spent a lot of time and written words trying to alert us to the problems in our farming practices.

Read up, and we hope to see you on February 8th for even more information and discussion!

Meeting Follow Up

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Thank you to everyone who ventured forth last Wednesday into the bitter cold in order to attend our annual meeting. By all accounts, it was a raging success!

First off, the food was incredible - much variety and many, many yummy things. As an aside, I have had requests for the baked beans recipe, so if this was your contribution, can you email me? Next time around, I will have people bring copies of their dish recipe, as this was suggested by a few people.

Second, a big shout-out to the seven Terra Madre attendees that gave their accounts of their experience in Italy: Jeffrey Schmalz and Andy Pollock, Jen Hashley and Pete Lowy, Kristen Rogers and Marc DeRego and Asta Schuette. Asta is a student at Tufts, and I neglected to introduce her at the start of the gathering... My apologies! We truly appreciate all of their work and tireless energy.

A round of applause to Alex for his slides and explanation of the current and future state of affairs here at SF Boston. We are pleased with the work we have done in the past, and are excited to move forward in fulfilling our goals for the next year with even more events and a more streamlined focus on policy in agriculture and the food related world in the Boston area.

Welcome to Nicole as our events coordinator, and Annette in the role of heading up that policy focus! We are excited to have them join our leadership team, as they have been involved in the past but never in such specific roles.

Many of you spoke to us at the meeting about possible collaboration, as well as your suggestions and thoughts. Given the chaos of the night, I worry that some of those conversations may have fallen through the cracks. In order to be sure that we are available to those of you that would like to help out or provide feedback, I've listed our names, roles and email contacts below.

Alex Loud - SF Boston Chapter Leader - alex@slowfoodboston.com
Willow Blish - PR/Website/Email - willow@slowfoodboston.com
Nicole Nacamuli - Events Coordinator - nicole@slowfoodboston.com
Annette Lee - Policy Coordinator - annette@slowfoodboston.com

Feel free to touch base at any time. We look forward to many great times in the coming year!

Photos from Terra Madre

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:42:00 +0000

SF Boston helped a number of people involved with the local agricultural movement travel to the Terra Madre Festival in Turin, Italy in November.

Andy Pollock and Jeffrey Schmalz, of Silverbrook Farm in Dartmouth, took some wonderful pictures on their trip and have asked us to share them with you. Take a look at the things they discovered on their trip....

Terra Madre Photos

Fermentation Class Follow Up

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:01:00 +0000

Our phenomenal teacher, Sharon Kane, has written an article about her experience with Slow Food Boston and the Fermentation Class she taught at Haley House. Text is below. Enjoy!

Fermenting at Slow Food Boston and Haley House by Sharon A. Kane, Dec 3, 2008

I arrived a bit early to teach Fermentation Class that Sunday afternoon. I had always been intrigued by commercial kitchens and was looking forward to working in one. Didi arrived and gave me a tour of Haley House. We entered the silent kitchen and I took in the stainless steel worktables, the giant stockpots, the enormous metal bowls, formidable knives, lunch lady ladles, oversized stoves and the walk in cooler.

Then she took me into the café, in the front of the building. It was warm, intimate and homey with beautiful artwork on the walls. The lecture and discussion part of the class would be here, in this inviting space. The hands on part would be in the slightly overwhelming commercial kitchen.

Soon, Willow and Rosemary arrived and we got ready for class. We filled large pots with water for boiling and hauled the Noonday Farm veggies out of the cooler. We would be making two recipes today: lacto-fermented green cabbage sauerkraut and lacto-fermented butternut squash, onions and apples.

Through much trial and error, I taught myself to lacto-ferment out of a book through much trial and error. Lacto-fermenting vegetables is an old fashioned salt brine technique. The technique utilizes the naturally occurring lactobacillus, a natural preservative, present on fresh vegetables, and furnishes an environment that fosters growth of more lactobacillus thus preserving the food for weeks and even months. Only salt and water are used for the fermentation while herbs and spices can be added to enhance the flavors.

The students began arriving. I felt a little nervous. I had never taught such a large group before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Normally, I would lecture and we would discuss the material I was presenting. Then I would demonstrate the processes we were discussing. The students would assemble their own jars with the vegetables that I had chopped before class. The brine was started hours before class so it would be room temperature by class time. The prep work always took me many hours but it ensured that class would go smoothly.

This class would be a bit different. We would start the same way with the lecture, questions and discussion. Then we would all go into the kitchen and I would direct this large group of eager beavers through all the tasks: trimming, peeling, chopping, jar washing, lid boiling, rock boiling, jar packing, sealing and clean up. I had absolutely no idea how long any of this would take a group of twenty.

The lecture went well. The questions were intelligent. The discussion was lively and there were smiles and laughter. And then it was time to go on back. Someone told the group to put on aprons and there was a blur of white cloth flipping around as twenty people donned aprons. Then there was mass hand washing and people started to sort themselves into stations at the various worktables. There was the cabbage prep group, the squash prep group, the jar washing group, and the jar packing group.
It normally takes me a good piece of time to trim, wash and chop my cabbages. I gave the cabbage group their orders, expecting them to take a good long while since we were processing a lot of cabbages. I moved onto the squash group. I find squashes challenging to cut so I use a cleaver and a rubber mallet. I had brought them along to get them started and was about to demonstrate when a woman picked up an enormous knife and hacked open a big squash. I quietly tucked away my cleaver and mallet to the sound of many squashes being hacked open.

I moved onto the jar washing group. They had it under control. Rosemary had boiled rocks and lids and I had someone fish them out to cool and dry. By this time ten whole minutes had gone by and the cabbage group asked me what to do next. I turned around and saw this enormous mountain of cabbage in an equally enormous bowl. They had chopped it all and were already washing down their table! The squash group was still slicing squash, apples and onions, thank goodness. The jar washers had finished and had delivered all the jars to the jar packers who were standing and looking at me for direction…all those pairs of eyes…I moved into action and began demonstrating the jar packing technique, handfuls of cabbage into the jar, pressing it down with a wooden tool, layer after layer, then adding a few layers of whole cabbage leaves, plopping a sterilized rock on top and ladling in the brine, which I had made the day before and carried in with me. Dry the jar and the lid and then seal it.

The jar packers jumped into action layering and pressing, ladling and sealing. At this time the squash group was done and started bringing their enormous bowls of stuff to the jar packers. The jar packers pounced on the squash. Again, in a few minutes, it was all done and the sealed jars were in beautiful rows of lush color.

We cleaned up the rest quickly and efficiently. We put the giant pots, bowls, ladles and knives back in their places, swept up and put the aprons in a pile. Haley House kitchen was quiet again.
We said our goodbyes, packed up and parted company.

For me, the bonus of the day, besides working with this fantastically eager group was that I got to take home a giant bag of compost to feed next year’s harvest!

Big thanks to Willow, Rosemary, Didi, Bing and the 20 pairs of hands.

Yet Another Way to Support Farms and Please Your Palate...

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Chefs Collaborative has teamed up with Farm Aid, Edible Boston and BostonChefs.com for a week-long celebration of eating food fresh from local farms.

From October 12th through the 19th, forty-three restaurants in the area will offer a dish or two made from ingredients sourced from local farmers -- and then donate a portion of the proceeds to Chefs Collaborative, Farm Aid as well as Verrill Farm (to help in rebuilding their farm stand).

You get to choose from a range of options, flavors and cuisines; Myers & Chang, Aujord-hui, Summer Shack, Za, Rialto... and many more! So check out the website below, and get out there and chow down! Enjoy the final breath of this wonderful summer harvest....

Fresh from the Family Farm

ARK of Taste and heirloom.. or is it heritage?... foods

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:23:00 +0000

We've been throwing the words heritage and heirloom around a lot lately, talking about food diversity and how we can eat and farm better in order to be environmentally sensitive. But what exactly do all of those words MEAN?

I came across the following entry from Kathryn at 'the kitchn' blog, which is a part of the Apartment Therapy website and thought it appropriate and interesting. Check it out!

THE KITCHN

Victory Gardens!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Can you imagine the White House with a vegetable garden out front? Well, a bunch of folks can, and they are doing all they can to make it happen.

Given the trying times, both economically and environmentally, home gardens are a wonderful way to connect with your food. You know what it is, you know how it's grown - and nobody is trucking it halfway across the world to get it to your plate!

Out at Slow Food Nation over Labor Day, they celebrated this idea with the creation of a edible ornamental garden at the San Francisco Civic Center. The idea was to use the same thought process that led to Victory Gardens at the end of World War II.

Information on Slow Food's participation can be found on the Slow Food Nation website: SFN Victory Garden

Locally, Craigie Street Bistro had an interesting post explaining more about the concept of these garden on their blog. Give it a READ. (And see photos of the construction on their new place at the same time!)

As for that garden on the White House lawn? An organization called Eat The View has started an online petition to try to make it happen. You can even 'purchase' a parcel of the lawn in order to support the campaign. Check out their WEBSITE to learn more.

How's that for political involvement of a new sort??

Slow Food in the News...

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:09:00 +0000

More on Slow Food Nation, which was sponsored & organized as an offshoot of Slow Food USA, was in the New York Times Dining section from yesterday.

Check it out!
Dining - September 3, 2008

Ark of Taste Event Follow-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:44:00 +0000

On Wednesday night, we hosted 40+ people downtown for a tasting of endangered varieties of heirloom fruits. And, if I say so myself, it was a great success! (An attendee even posted about it on Bostonist.com!)

We enjoyed FIVE types of tomatoes, a crazy deep red plum, a sweet mild watermelon and a pear originally grown in Dorchester way back when.... Plus a tomato salad, roasted apricots & pork and an apple pie to die for. Oh! And goat cheeses from Westfield Farm (mmm Hickory Smoked!) & breads from When Pigs Fly.

On top of the wonderful eating we were also feeding our minds with information on Slow Food's Ark of Taste, the importance of food diversity, and the amazing stories behind a few of these heirloom food varieties.

The handouts from the evening have a list of the tastings, as well as sources and more information on Slow Food's Ark in general. (If you'd like a copy, email Willow.) Additionally, we mentioned Earthworks Boston and their Urban Orchard Program - if you want to learn more, check out their WEBSITE.

A few other 'juicy' tidbits I've come across that I thought might interest folks:

Check out this article about tomatoes and Amy Goldman's new book, The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: NJ Star-Ledger from August 13th.

Old Sturbridge Village works hard to teach visitors about historical rural New England, including traditional food types, specifically by saving heirloom seeds and maintaining extensive gardens. They offer many public events on these topics, one of which is coming up on October 4th: 'Antique Apple Tasting.' More info is HERE.

Even Prince Charles is weighing in on the subject! He was interviewed by the UK Telegraph, and the resulting text is ONLINE.

Enjoy! And keep eating!

ARK of Taste event coming up

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000

We are hosting a very cool learning & tasting event in few weeks (Wednesday August 27th) featuring summer fruits from the Slow Food Ark of Taste... These are heritage varieties of foods considered 'endangered.' What exactly do we mean by this? Well read more about the background of the Ark project on the SLOW FOOD USA website.

And for a reporter's take on the whole thing, check out this article from the New York Times a few months ago:
SLOW FOOD ARK OF TASTE in NY Times. It talks about the ARK, as well as a related project called RAFT (Renewing America's Food Traditions).

Once you've read a bit, I hope you'll join us for this fun & educational event!

Front Page News

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:40:00 +0000

Not sure whether anyone saw the New York Times Dining section last Wednesday, July 23rd -- but if not, check it out! Slow Food USA's incredible undertaking, SLOW FOOD NATION was featured in an article.

The gathering is five weeks away... So if you're still searching for something interesting to do over Labor Day weekend, we encourage you to go. It will truly be a magical happening, bringing together an incredibly wide range of people all looking to turn focus to eating well and eating sustainably.

SLOW FOOD NATION in New York Times

Our Guest is Famous...

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Rick Field, who is teaching our Pickling Class at Haley House next month, was featured in Domino Magazine this month!

Check out the feature here: Rick in Domino.

The last Preserving the Harvest Class sold out quickly, so sign up for this one soon!

Thanks to Harvest Co-Op

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:35:00 +0000

If you are a member of the co-op or happen to shop at either location, check out the 'Harvest Times,' their newsletter. The latest edition, for July & August is all about the SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT! Hip Hip Hooray!

It's a nice roundup of the movement and our issues and mission. Most critically, they mention that Slow Food is not only about 'back-to-the-kitchen,' but that our interests extend to global issues that affect our kitchens.

Check out their newsletter online HERE.

We appreciate any and all airtime Slow Food can get, so thank you Harvest!

Three Cheers for our local Food Producers!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:28:00 +0000

Not only producers of food, but people involved in restaurants, food education groups and agricultural collaborators -- a number of people from our area have been accepted as delegates to attend the Terra Madre festival in Turon, Italy this fall.

Kudos to:
Glenda Yoder of Farm Aid
Jennifer Hashley of Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds
Alex Whitmore of Taza Chocolates
Will Gilson of Garden at the Cellar
Leigh Belanger & Melissa Kogut of Chef's Collaborative

Many others from the New England region have also been given the OK to go to Italy. Makes us proud to be a part of such a strong community of people interested in making our food growing, distributing & creating practices better!

Locally Based Eating is getting Business Press!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:11:00 +0000

Business Week magazine, in their May 20th edition, published an interesting article on how the movement toward local and seasonal eating is actually (finally!) beginning to affect the 'business' of farming and food retailing.

We may actually be making a difference! Check out the article here: The Rise of the 'Locavore'

Some good news:
In the past six years, the number of small farms has increased by 20 percent, to 1.2 million
Farmers’ markets grew 50 percent from 2001 to 2006, to nearly 4,700 farms (and $1 billion in sales).
According to the most recent Farm Bill, small farmers can get up to 75 percent of their organic certification costs reimbursed, and some can also get crop insurance. Money has also been set aside to research organic foods and promote farmers’ markets.
1,200 U.S. school districts have committed to buying fresh vegetables and fruits from local farms.
The number of farms with community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs in the U.S. grew from just 400 in 2000 to over 1,800 in 2008.

But we're not quite there yet; "...although the Farm Bill set aside $2.3 billion to subsidize small farmers’ specialty crops, it gave $290 billion to big business in the form of corn, soybean and cotton subsidies." Ugh.

(Thanks to Dr. Joseph Mercola and his NEWSLETTER for bringing this to my attention!)

strawberries are coming! strawberries are coming!

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:29:00 +0000

Well, at least FMFM is hoping that the weather cooperates and gives us the delectable local fruit....

They've convinced 17 (!) restaurants in the area to participate in their first annual Strawberry Dessert Festival. From June 14th through June 29th, each restaurant will be preparing special desserts focused on the yummy red berries and donating part of the proceeds to Mass Farmers Markets.

Check out their website (www.massfarmersmarkets.org) for more information - and to whet your appetite, the list of participating dining establishments ranges from Newton's 51 Lincoln to the brand new Persephone to the comfy standby of Chez Henri. Whole Foods is even getting into the act - 10% of proceeds from strawberry-rhubarb pie sales during June goes to FMFM. You KNOW you want one!

What better way to enjoy the fruits of the season....

An Inspirational Op-Ed in the NY Times

noreply@blogger.com (Willow Blish) — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:13:00 +0000

Dan Barber, chef/owner of Blue Hill Restaurant in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown New York, wrote an intriguing Op-Ed piece in the Times last week...

He argues against 'agri-business' not just for the more obvious and often stated reasons regarding environmental damage and unfair pricing, but even more so due to the loss of taste in our food.

Read on for a little inspiration on how we can all make a difference!

Change We Can Stomach By DAN BARBER