Mybe you ate too much for the holidays and just want to relax like Draggin' here.As Barack Obama ponders whom to pick as agriculture secretary, he should reframe the question. What he needs is actually a bold reformer in a position renamed “secretary of food
Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy — all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
“We’re subsidizing the least healthy calories in the supermarket — high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil, and we’re doing very little for farmers trying to grow real food,” notes Michael Pollan, author of such books as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food.”
The Agriculture Department — and the agriculture committees in Congress — have traditionally been handed over to industrial farming interests by Democrats and Republicans alike. The farm lobby uses that perch to inflict unhealthy food on American children in school-lunch programs, exacerbating our national crisis with diabetes and obesity.
But let’s be clear. The problem isn’t farmers. It’s the farm lobby — hijacked by industrial operators — and a bipartisan tradition of kowtowing to it.
I grew up on a farm in Yamhill, Ore., where my family grew cherries and timber and raised sheep and, at times, small numbers of cattle, hogs and geese. One of my regrets is that my kids don’t have the chance to grow up on a farm as well.
Yet the Agriculture Department doesn’t support rural towns like Yamhill; it bolsters industrial operations that have lobbying clout. The result is that family farms have to sell out to larger operators, undermining small towns.
One measure of the absurdity of the system: Every year you, the American taxpayer, send me a check for $588 in exchange for me not growing crops on timberland I own in Oregon (I forward the money to a charity). That’s right. The Agriculture Department pays a New York journalist not to grow crops in a forest in Oregon.
Modern confinement operations are less like farms than like meat assembly lines. They are dazzlingly efficient in some ways, but they use vast amounts of grain, as well as low-level antibiotics to reduce infections — and the result is a public health threat from antibiotic-resistant infections.
An industrial farm with 5,000 hogs produces as much waste as a town with 20,000 people. But while the town is required to have a sewage system, the industrial farm isn’t.
“They look profitable because we’re paying for their wastes,” notes Robert P. Martin, executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. “And then there’s the cost of antibiotic resistance to the economy as a whole.”
One study suggests that these large operations receive, in effect, a $24 subsidy for each hog raised. We face an obesity crisis and a budget crisis, and we subsidize bacon?
The need for change is increasingly obvious, for health, climate and even humanitarian reasons. California voters last month passed a landmark referendum (over the farm lobby’s furious protests) that will require factory farms to give minimum amounts of space to poultry and livestock. Society is becoming concerned not only with little boys who abuse cats but also with tycoons whose business model is abusing farm animals.
An online petition that can be found at www.fooddemocracynow.org calls for a reformist pick for agriculture secretary — and names six terrific candidates, such as Chuck Hassebrook, a reformer in Nebraska. On several occasions in the campaign, Mr. Obama made comments showing a deep understanding of food issues, but the names that people in the food industry say are under consideration for agriculture secretary represent the problem more than the solution.
Change we can believe in?
The most powerful signal Mr. Obama could send would be to name a reformer to a renamed position. A former secretary of agriculture, John Block, said publicly the other day that the agency should be renamed “the Department of Food, Agriculture and Forestry.” And another, Ann Veneman, told me that she believes it should be renamed, “Department of Food and Agriculture.” I’d prefer to see simply “Department of Food,” giving primacy to America’s 300 million eaters.
As Mr. Pollan told me: “Even if you don’t think agriculture is a high priority, given all the other problems we face, we’re not going to make progress on the issues Obama campaigned on — health care, climate change and energy independence — unless we reform agriculture.”
Your move, Mr. President-elect.
Check out comments to this peice at NYTimes
Michael Pollan's essay to the next President about the future of food, "Farmer in Chief", appeared in the New York Times Magazine (Oct. 9, 2008 issue). If you have time to read the whole article, you really should. Otherwise, here is a quote:
With Halloween next week, remember to swing by the stand and grab a pumpkin from us!
Morse took this photo in October 2003, and surely it will be repeated in the near future. Fall is officially here and with it comes cooler weather."Some things better, others won't exist...Greens become sweeter." Morse
Pitts, October 2nd
Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Gently open the end of the squash blossom and fill approximately one tsp of cheese in center.
Twist top of flower closed and dust with white flour
Dip in egg and then roll into cornmeal
Deep fry
Sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired
Serve immediately
Filling for Quesadillas
Heat oil in frying pan, add onion and garlic and cook over medium heat for 1 minute.
Add the chilie strips and cook for 2 minutes.
Stir in squash blossoms and ssalt, cover pan and cook over medium heat, until the bulbous base of flower is tender. About 10 minutes.
If flowers are dry, add water. If they are juicy remove the lid. Mixture should be moist but not juicy,
Stir in epazote and cook for 3 more minutes.
Create quesadilla with
Adapted from Diana Kennedy
Choosing tomatoes at a farmers’ market in Larchmont, N.Y. (Alan Zale for The New York Times.)The local food movement typically has been about improving the health of the planet. Buying locally means less fuel burned to transport food, which means less pollution.
But now researchers are trying to find out if eating locally farmed food is also better for your health.
A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a grant to study the public health impact of moving toward a local, sustainable food system. An increasingly vocal local food movement calls for consumers to try to buy and eat foods produced within 100 miles of their homes.
So far, there’s not real evidence that eating locally farmed food is better for you. But there are many reasons to think it might be. By definition, locally farmed food is not going to come from large commercial food companies, so people who eat locally aren’t going to consume as much processed food, which typically contains lots of refined carbohydrates, sugar, fat and preservatives.
By focusing your diet on products grown and raised within 100 miles of your home, you will likely end up eating more fruits and vegetables as well. Shopping for fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets is also pleasurable and may lead to more variety in your diet. Eating local often means you can meet the people who produce your food, and you can also ask questions about pesticide use and farming methods.
The University of North Carolina study will last two years, and researchers say it will improve understanding of the health, environmental and economic issues associated with the local food trend. The study will look at the environmental benefits of transitioning to sustainable farming practices, determine whether there are nutritional and health benefits for consumers, and conduct an economic analysis of opportunities and barriers to local food systems.
“Among the most pressing public health problems in the U.S. today are obesity, environmental degradation and health disparities,” said Alice Ammerman, director of the U.N.C. Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. “Contributing in a big way to each of these problems is our current food system, with its heavy dependence on fossil fuels such as fertilizers, pesticides and gasoline for large-scale production and long distance transportation of often high-calorie, nutrient-poor food, from farm to processing facility to table.”
To read more about local food, read this post from last year called “A New Yorker Tries the 100-mile Diet.'’
Check out Windfall Farms', "local farmer", Morse Pitts and Phil Yacuc of Council on the Environment talk about local agriculture on Brian Lehrer."7% of "our" farms sell 70% of our food, and collect the majority of farm subsidies offered by the US government."I guess we should consider them "our" farms since anyone that pays taxes is sustaining all the large farms the accept them!
Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to broil. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat until it begins to foam. Place brioche slices in the skillet, moving them around until well-buttered and browned.
(1) Using a biscuit cutter or drinking glass, press a hole in the center of each bread slice and discard the cutout rounds. Divide the remaining tablespoon of butter between the 2 holes in the bread.
(2) When butter begins to foam, crack an egg into each hole and cook until the egg whites set about halfway up the sides of the yolks. Flip the bread with a spatula and cook for another minute or so.
(3) Remove bread from skillet and place onto a broiler pan. Spread grated cheese thoroughly over the bread, covering as much surface area as possible to prevent the bread from burning, and place pan under the broiler. Remove as soon as the cheese is melted. Serve with broiled tomatoes or a simply dressed green salad.
We are still working out how we are going to format this site, Morse has oodles of pictures, and 
Here's a glimpse of what's growing in the greenhouse last week. We hope to give you many more visuals as the season gets going!
Kelly Choi stopped by the stand recently to ask us if she could use our chicken coop for a photo shoot. The article ran in New York Magazine's Restaurant section of its website. Kelly is seed holding one of our Araucana Chickens, from which we receive incredibly delicious eggs in a green shell.
