Farm Tour Features Three Local Farms (and Lunch)

If you’re interested in getting better connected with local farmers, you might be interested ins a day-tour of three local farms on Saturday July 11, sponsored by EatGreenDFW.com and Food Roots both owned by Slow Food members. The culinary bus tour will take you (in air conditioned splendor) to JuHaRanch, Oak Grove Farms and Garden Harvests where you'll discover how three farmers bring sustainably grown produce, meat and dairy products to our community using organic and natural methods. And bring the kids. It’s a great way for them to learn where their food comes from.

The trip, which includes lunch at the Brown Street Cafe and Kolache Depot in Ennis, is $89 but there's a discount for Slow Food members. Just drop a line to brian@eatgreendfw and I'll send you the coupon code that's good for 10% off.

Mary Kimbrough of Food Roots has lined up three great places to visit and learn about local agriculture. And it even looks like there will be a wine tasting with wines from Calais Winery during our stop at Oak Grove Farms. You can find out more and sign up here.

You don't want to miss it. You will have an opportunity to buy pick of the season at all of our stops.

Local Wines are Here

Wine meets the "Eat Local" movement on the recently launched drinklocalwine website. Local wine writer, Jeff Siegel, co-founded the wine Internet writers project:

"to highlight the growth of local wines throughout the United States and Canada. During "Regional Wine Week" - the week of October 6 - writers in various newspapers, Internet publications and blogs around the United States and Canada will be featuring some of their local gems. You can find links to their writings on www.drinklocalwine.com.

Local wines - broadly defined as any wines not from the West Coast ..."

EatGreenDFW is Open For Business

EatGreenDFW officially opened its on-line farmers market this week offering products from North Texas ranchers and farmers along with other sustainable food and non-food products.

The site was originally focused on locally produced food but has grown to include an eclectic mix of products bound together by their connection to natural, sustainable food or their connection to Texas. A basic listing on the site is free and currently there are 24 producers listed.

The on-line farmers market offers products from twelve of them including meat and poultry from JuHa Ranch in Barry, Dominion Farms in Denison, P.O.P. Acres in Purdon, Sloans Creek Farm in Dodd City and JZJ Natural Beef in Troy; sun-dried tomatoes from Oak Grove Farms in Ennis; and natural pet treats from Ol’ Maggie Bakery in Plano.

Additionally the store offers wild Alaska Salmon from Fred’s Alaska Seafood; organic gardening supplies from Edens Organic Garden Center in Balch Springs; and books written by Texas authors and published by Dallas-based Atriad Press and Lone Star Productions. Soon to come: pickles and relishes from Dis & Dat Organic Farm in Purdon.

Full disclosure: Yours truly is part owner.

Eden's Organic Garden Center to Launch New CSA

Eden's is taking the pulse of the southeast DFW area to see what level of interest in supporting a new CSA there is. Marie is looking to break ground for a fall garden - cool season veggies mostly and a salad eaters dream come true. So, if you're interested, let her know via her website/email (mailto:eogc@airmail.net) or call her at 214-348-3336

A CSA or Community Supported Agriculture is, according to Local Harvest "a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season.

"A CSA season typically runs from late spring through early fall. The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 1000."

What The World Eats - Photo Essay

Wow. Here's an eye-opening photo essay that shows what's on family dinner tables in fifteen different homes around the globe. The pictures are by Peter Menzel from the book "Hungry Planet." There's also an accompanying article, "How The World Eats": http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1626795_1627112_1626671,00.html

The photo of the Aboubakar family in Chad and the photo of the Revis family from N. Carolina. presents a startling contrast. In the Revis family portrait, American bounty is represented by brightly packaged processed foods and takeout pizza. The only fresh produce seems to be grapes and a couple of tomatoes.

Another surprise was the prevalence of soda...especially Coke...on tables from Poland to Cairo.

What would a week's worth of your family's groceries look like?

(Thanks to member Peter Schaar for giving me a heads up about this...)