Welcome back!

We hope you had a delicious (and local) Thanksgiving holiday.

A few articles of note:

Americans' Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High

Gleaning Gone Crazy - 40,000 Show Up to Pick Leftover Crops at Colorado Farm

Recap of "Future of Farming" Conference

Upcoming Event:

Making Local Farm-to-School Connections

A workshop for extension agents and other ag professionals

December 11, 2008

D.F. Allmendinger Center (videoconferencing available at other locations)

WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center

Farm-to-school connections are sparking interest around the state, as producers, advocates, educators and food service professionals see the potential for farm-to-school programs to expand local markets for farms and provide access to more fresh foods for children and youth in schools. This past year the Legislature passed the Local Farms-Healthy Kids Act, creating a Farm-to-School Program in the Washington State Department of Agriculture to support farm-to-school links and providing money to 25 schools around the state to buy Washington-grown fruits and vegetables. Those and other schools are now actively seeking produce from Washington farms to serve in their snack programs.

Join us for a workshop on Thursday, December 11, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the D.F. Allmendinger Center at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center in Puyallup to learn how you can support successful farm-to-school connections in your community. Please let us know if you’d like to participate by video-conference at an Extension office in another part of the state—we can likely make that happen!

This workshop will provide the tools and resources for Extension educators and other agriculture professionals to facilitate successful buyer and seller relationships between farms and schools. We’ll provide information on food safety, certification and liability insurance issues for farms seeking to sell to schools. You’ll also gain resources and ideas to share with schools for teaching about the links between food, farming, health, culture and the environment.

Each participant will receive a Farm-to-School binder with reference materials, so that you can respond knowledgeably and easily to producers and school personnel seeking to implement or become involved in Farm-to-School programs.

The workshop is free, and lunch is provided (for those attending in person in Puyallup). Pre-registration is required. To register, please contact Maura Walsh at the WSDA Farm-to-School Program: mwalsh@agr or call 360-902-1935. For more information, or to request a videoconference in your area, please contact Tricia Sexton Kovacs at tkovacs@agr.wa.gov or 360-902-2029.

Brought to you by WSU King County Extension Farm-to-School Connections and WSDA Small Farm and Direct Marketing and Farm-to-School programs, with funding from a WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources SARE Professional Development Mini-Grant.

Terra Madre 2008 Day 3

Today was the first full day of conference sessions, and my last day at Terra Madre. I am now totally immersed in this world of food, just in time to leave. :(

The impromptu and formal markets are amazing. The first photo shows the informal market in foreground, with the yellow/red booths of formal market in rear. The second photos shows a formal booth of Gorganu citrus products from the Foggio region of Italy. The third photo shows some traditional, yummy peppers from the Turin/Peidmont region.

I have met producers from Brazil, Bangladesh, Basque region of Spain, Portugal, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Kenya, Poland, South Africa, Italy, and on and on. The food booths are like windows in to our past, with traditional food being offered with the stories of their production and history. I tried some traditional Uzbekistan bread. While it may have not been the best tasting bread, the fact that it was made with the same ingredients in the same recipe that has been used for centuries connected my palate directly with history. That bread is more memorable than any modern loaf that includes modern ingredients like high fructose corn syrup.

The first conference session I attended was entitled "Producing Quality with Dignity"; a comparison of participative approaches to improving small scale agriculture. A gentleman from Brazil enlightened me about Participative Certification: the notion that you get producers and consumers to commit to a set of certifiable criteria that enrich the local food system. A very intriguing extension of Carlo Petrini's notion that consumers are co-producers. A woman from Israel discussed an innovative direct marketing method between Israelis and Palestinians that was basically a CSA project across this divided land. A woman from the Italian trade bureau ICEE spoke about supporting trade networks around the world, supply chain certification (like Food Alliance certifying distributors), and a clarifying notion about how to move forward in the face of uncertainty; that the confusion of which road to take can be clarified through collaborative partnerships, strategic alliances, and/or strategic networks. In other words, when facing uncertainty of what to do next, work with others and move forward together from a stronger, collaborative position. This can reduce risk since one group is not moving forward alone. Reminds me of the Good Food Coalition we have emerging in WA state.

The second session I attended was to discuss the "Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security". This Manifesto presents a series of actions we can take to ensure that food security is considered during the drafting of climate change intitiatives. Vandana Shiva co-authored the manifesto and emphasized that the time is right to change the paradigm that underlies our economic considerations, and urged everyone to sign on to support the manifesto at The International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture. The hope is to present support for the manifesto at the next meeting of the G8, and to place food security on the table for the 2010 meetings in Copenhagen that will lay out the framework for the followup to the Kyoto protocol. Please read the manifesto and consider pledging your and/or your organization's support.

I started in to a third presentation but quickly realized that the best thing I could learn was in the markets outside the conference spaces. Wandering the world in one place has become a mesmerizing experience.

Alas, it is time for ma familia to move on. Cascade Harvest, grazie for the opportunity to share some of my ramblings. Hopefully you have gotten a sense of Terra Madre, and how our little corner of the world is connected to a global effort to secure farms and traditional foods for all.

Ciao!

Tim

Terra Madre 2008 Day 2

So I was wrong about the number of delegates at Terra Madre. There are around 7,000 producers, chefs, and educators present. And the US has quite a presence, with around 800 delegates, the largest group outside the host country, Italy. Washington state has 19 delegates here!

I got my facts checked by none other than Linda Neunzig, of Snohomish county's Ninety Farms, shown in the attached photo with Mina Williams and Anza Meunchow, aslo from WA state. What a trip, to travel halfway around the world and find your neighbors.

The day began with ma familia and I diving, more like squeezing, our way through the parallel event, Salone Del Gusto. The Salone is the largest food trade show I have ever seen, both by number of booths and number of spectators. Provinces from around Italy proudly displayed their regions' bounty. You could spend all day sampling Italian wine, cheese, meat, and oils.

But our goal was the 'addendum' show in the back, the Slow Food pavilion. This attached trade show was smaller and therefore more manageable to ingest and explore. It was also what we traveled halfway around the world to see, with booths from different countries showing their heritage foods. On one side of the hall were the formal booths (photo of Madagascar booth with Puget Sound Fresh bag!) that the public could explore. On the other side of the hall was the delegate space which has become an informal marketplace of world food and crafts. I have included a photo of one of those booths, from Thailand. Notice the "No GMO" sign on the wall.

The day's conference sessions were comprised of meetings of each country's delegation. The US delegates (large group photo) heard impassioned speakers discuss the reasons why we do these things we do: support heritage foods and their producers. Of note, the new president of Slow Food USA, Josh Viertel, emphasized the need for Slow Food to more actively support social justice issues and organizations. Carlo Petrini stopped by and welcomed our county to his home. He warmed this heart by saying "Because of you (US delegates) my love for your country only grows". This was great to hear after the boo I heard yesterday.

Onward! Today are separate meetings and more wading through the world's food market. Ciao!

Terra Madre 2008 Day 1

Buongiorno from Terra Madre 2008.

Tim Crosby here, Farm and Food Systems Director for Growing Washington, and one of the U.S. delegates in attendance. Mary asked me to send some notes from Turin, a task I am only happy to complete. I won't be here for the whole conference but will share what I can until I leave.

Terra Madre, the world Slow Food conference, opened today at the 2006 winter Olympic hockey rink. I would guess around 3,500 delegates were in attendance to hear the opening session speakers.

The 3 hour convening assembly was awash in colors and nationalities. A parade of flags opened the session, with over 140 flags representing the participating nations. I had my own little international corner in the back of the stadium with a Brazilian farmer to my left and a South African farmer on my right. Molto bueno (very good)!

There are quite a few Americans present, which I hope will lead to continuing dialog about what works best in the U.S. Unfortunately, but not surprising: when the U.S. flag was announced there was a lot of cheering and at least one boo. I was expecting a negative tone especially during this current financial storm.

Arriving just before the beginning of the ceremony gave me few options for seats, so as you can see from the picture, I was situated in the back of the room. And, having arrived just before start I did not get a translation headset so only understood half of the speakers. Luckily those who spoke in English included Vindana Shiva, Alice Waters, UN Assistant Secretary General Carlos Lopes, Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, and Sam Levin, a high school student from Massachusetts who spoke eloquently about starting a school garden.

The common theme of their talks stressed 3 crisis we are currently facing - financial, food security, and climate/environment - that together emphasized the importance of moving forward a more sustainable and equitable food system. Vindana Shiva (photo, right) received a long standing ovation for her passionate voice for sustainable, fair food, as well as her tirade against WTO, Monsanto, and Wall St. She was able to successfully connect these groups due to the gravity of the issues we currently face. The term that will stick with me from her speech was how we are currently being managed by "the rules of fiction": paperless, collateraless monetary transactions like derivatives and mortgage-backed securities.

Tomorrow (which is today here) I head to Salone Del Gusto, a marketplace of world food producers, and also to a meeting of all US delegates.

Ciao!

Tim

WANTED: New Farmers

On Monday evening, Mary and I attended the Local Harvest Gala at the Palace Ballroom to celebrate the Local Food Action Initiative and to help raise funds for BALLE Seattle.

The food, catered by Tom Douglas Restaurants, was top-freakin'-notch. Absolutely delicious. Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin made an excellent point: one of the benefits of working on local food issues is the refreshments are always delicious. Hear, hear!

The words, spoken by various leaders throughout the sustainable ag. community, were inspiring. My favorite tid-bit from the speeches came from Siri Erickson-Brown of Local Roots Farm. She spoke about the challenges and successes she has experienced first-hand when starting out farming. But perhaps her most important idea was that we are in dire need of new farmers. She astutely pointed out that nearly every community wants its own farmers market. We can attest to that: every week we field calls from folks who want to start their own FM. But for a farmers market to be successful, it first must have FARMERS!

Fact: There aren't enough farmers to fill all of the potential farmers markets...actually, there aren't enough farmers, period!

As the local food movement continues to gain public awareness and demand increases, we must examine the supply side of the equation as well. If we want to create a sustainable food system, it is imperative that we GROW NEW FARMERS.

It will not be easy, it will not happen quickly, but we must begin to build a sustainable framework on which to build new farms and grow new farmers.


Links:

Learn more about the County of Origin Labeling, which finally went into effect on Sept. 30th. This site even has "webinars".

Michael Ableman to talk about local food systems this October

For Immediate Release Contact: Mary Embleton, Cascade Harvest Coalition,

206-632-0606 or mary@cascadeharvest.org

Feeding the Future: Stories, Images and Ideas from the Frontier of Food and Agriculture, an Evening with Michael Ableman

Everett, WA: Where our food comes from and how it is grown are getting more attention than ever, particularly in light of large national and international food recalls, recent studies detailing the tremendous energy consumed by our current industrialized food system, and the impacts that food system has on the health of communities and the environment worldwide. We are facing what proponents of sustainable food systems for years have called a looming ‘food crisis.’ It is time to take an insightful look at what is happening on the frontier of sustainable and localized food systems and the promising models that can lead us forward.

Join renowned farmer, author and photographer Michael Ableman on October 24^th at 6 pm at Everett Station for a closer look at food, culture and sustainability gleaned from his travels across urban and rural landscapes in the US and abroad. Hear about the farmers and organizations that are providing real leadership and action on re-thinking how we feed ourselves and our communities.

Regional efforts at re-localizing our food system will get a boost from this dynamic discussion as we launch the second annual Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign and gear up for Snohomish County’s 5^th Annual Future of Farming Conference: Breaking New Ground (www.focusonfarming.org).

This event is sponsored by Cascade Harvest Coalition with support from Snohomish County, the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, WSU Snohomish County Extension and Cascade Land Conservancy. Cost is $15 for non-members and $10 for members of Cascade Harvest Coalition. Seating is limited so reserve your seat today for this exciting event.

When: October 24, 2008

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Where: Everett Station, Weyerhaeuser Room, 3201 Smith Avenue, Everett, 98201

Light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to Mary at 206-632-0606 or mary@cascadeharvest.org by October 20^th