The last line of the piece is truly a challenge to all food snobs, “We’re spending obscene amounts on food we don’t need at a time when so many others are genuinely struggling to pay for enough basic sustenance to get them through the day.”

I am not a food snob. I am also on a budget these days. Even so, I certainly enjoy the best foods of every season, and the relative abundance and the fact that I can afford to eat when so many can’t has been weighing on me. I needed to do something to help.
So, here’s how I answered the challenge.

I decided to make a few small sacrifices on my weekly grocery bill so that others can eat. There are many organizations that could use your donation as food aid is in critically low supply right now.

At my area Whole Foods, the store offers these “Feed Bags” for $29.95. Each bag is a reusable grocery bag, but best of all, 100 percent of the purchase price will be used to provide 100 meals for school children in the poorest countries through the World Food Program.

For a  food snob, this donation may only require one less item purchased. For the rest of us, it seems like a lot, but it can only take a few simple cut corners to make it a reality.

For example, asparagus costs $5.99 per pound at Whole Foods. Because it is in season right now and at its best, I am able to buy better, fresher asparagus locally. I definitely lowered the carbon footprint, and I also saved $3.00 on two bunches. Spinach is also in season. I paid $2.00 for two pounds at the farmers market, and saved another $3.00 on the grocery bill. By shopping my own pantry first, I found I could make my own salad dressing with items I have on hand, and save another $2.99 plus packaging and processing.

I bought bulk, dried beans for 69 cents per pound in the bulk aisle, saving $1.00 over the canned organic variety. A few modest changes in cheese selections saved another $3.00. I did not buy any meat at the store. Instead, I purchased chicken direct from the farmer. I saved about $6.00 over the premium for all-natural chicken. We’ll save even more by making that one roast chicken last for several meals.

I made some simple choices, and the end of the week’s shopping at the farmers market and grocery store, I found I was able to easily save the $29.95 — feeding us well and 100 or so kids, too. I never knew that much could fit in a single grocery cart.

Here’s a summary of how I saved enough to donate this week:

• I bought less meat and prepared recipes with grain, pasta, vegetables or beans to “stretch” the meal.
• I learned what is in season, and bought from the farmers market first.
• Sought out local and sustainable sources for expensive staples like meats. These I buy in bulk to save costs, and will even split this kind of purchase with another family to make the up front costs affordable.
• Shopped my pantry and freezer before I shopped the store. By using what I have on hand, I find I can save substantially each week.
• Shop the bulk bins for basics like cereals, pasta, dried beans and other ingredients.

For more great tips on saving money, check out Kelli’s post, “Nine Money-Saving Tips to Eat Greener.” For ways that cost savings can help others, check out the World Food Program site.

In the meantime, I will share a few favorite breakfast dishes that you moms could, say, print out, circle in great big red ink, and leave out on the counter just before hanging the “Do Not Disturb Until 9:30, or My Breakfast is Ready” sign on the bedroom door. I will live vicariously through you.

Best French Toast Ever, Shirred Eggs, and Breakfast Panini recipes after the jump. Orange Brioche French Toast with Bananas and Coconut
For the Toast
3 eggs
1/3 cup cream
1 tbs. Orange flavor (real stuff)
zest of one orange
3 tbs. juice of orange
1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
1 loaf Orange Brioche, sliced
Butter
1 recipe bananas Foster (follows)
flaked coconut
powdered sugar

Heat butter in skillet. Mix the first six ingredients with a whisk. Dip both sides of the bread slices in the egg mixture. Cook the bread slices in the skillet until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm.

Prepare the Bananas Foster. Heat 4 tbs. butter in skillet, add 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 tbs. of dark rum. Heat until sugar dissolved. Saute 3 sliced bananas in this.

Top toast with the Bananas Foster, a sprinkle of coconut and powdered sugar. Something like a Blueberry Compote would also make a fine topping.

Shirred Eggs
4 very thin slices of Canadian bacon or ham (or prosciutto)
4 eggs
2 tbs. cream
2 tbs. Gruyere or other cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray four ramekins with cooking spray. Line each with a slice of ham, pushing it into the cup to make a pocket. Crack and egg into each ramekin on top of the ham.

Place the ramekins on a baking sheet (for easy removal from oven) and bake for about nine minutes just until eggs are set. Remove from oven and top each ramekin with 1/2 tbs. of cream and 1/2 tbs. of cheese. Return to oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.

To get the tops brown and bubbly, broil for just a minute at the end. You can also add spinach to this dish, which is a great variation. Just clean a bunch of spinach and heat in a skillet while it is damp just until it begins to wilt. Divide the cooked spinach among the ramekins, placing it in second after the ham and before you crack the egg in.

Breakfast Panini
4 large slices of rustic Italian bread (I like Olive Oil Rosemary)
4 sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 roasted red peppers, chopped
4 eggs, scrambled
1 tbs. butter
4 oz. semi-soft cheese such as Fontina, Gouda, or Provolone, shredded
2 slices ham, optional
1/2 cup arugula leaves, torn
1 tbs. fresh basil leaves

Prepare all the ingredients and scramble the eggs. Add 1/2 tbs. butter to the skillet. Lay two slices of bread in. Using half of the sandwich ingredients, lay cheese, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers evenly on each slice. Add the arugula and basil to one slice and the ham, if using, to the other. Add the eggs.

When the bread is golden brown on the bottom, carefully flip one fully loaded slice on top of the other. Now, using the spatula (because who really needs that expensive panini press?) or a grill press, press down on that sandwich to flatten it a bit. Turn it over and press again.

Repeat with the other two slices of bread and remaining half of ingredients. Cut each sandwich in half. Serves four if you have fresh fruit or sides.

If you are still at a loss for recipes (or recommendations on your personal favorites to be “surprised” with), the folks at FruitAndVeggieGuru.com have come up with a list of easy-to-prepare Fruitful Mother’s Day Breakfast recipes.

While accompanying me on a trip to the more scary storage area of our house, my three-year-old spied an old “yard art” statue of a Rottweiler that belonged to my spouse. (The movers would not accept a bribe to, uh, lose a few items during the move).

Later that evening, she remarked to my husband, “Daddy, we need a real dog, not a plastic dog.” Between this plea and having to stop and ask to pet every, every, single dog we encounter in public, I set about the task of getting my spouse to agree to add a new member to the family.

It was not easy. He was heartbroken after losing his last dog, and pretty set against a puppy. This does not mean no — it just means choosing your moment wisely.

“Oh, I’ve got a dog for you. Chocolate Lab. I’ll spay her and everything,” my brother, a vet, offered. We were out for a family dinner. My husband was deep into his second beer. I gauged my opportunity. The moment looked right, or my husband looked a bit drunk. Either way, works for me. “Hey, Honey, guess what?!”

Yeah, I got him to agree while he was buzzed. A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.

Speaking of do, or rather “doo,” we have just a short while before we go pick up the puppy to consider how to “green” our new pet. A bit of internet searching and some recommendations included Paw Luxury, a site that offered eco-living for the every day dog. The products included many eco-friendly, fair-trade, and recyclable products from hemp collars to organic treats, toys, beds and things for the lesser exciting new pet issues such as the “wet dog” aroma, and doggy breath.

The site also offered a resource for biodegradable “scooperboxes” and “business bags.” The only thing the site did not have was a place to put the fully-loaded bio-bag. For that, I had to do some research.

Turns out, they do make compost bins especially for pet waste. You can make your own, or buy a ready-made model. Prices range from around $50 bucks to a fancy model with fans and an empty light (not-so-green for the brown, really) for around $500 bucks. I’m all for low-tech, kids. It’s poop.

The compost system uses a treatment similar to a septic system, or a bokashi bucket, using enzymes to break down the waste. This “compost” however, cannot be used on any kind of food garden. But the system sure beats the plastic bag method for environmentally-friendly.

Now, if I can just convince the spouse he will not mind some scooping. That’ll take a few more beers.

In the meantime, we dress warm and console ourselves with purple and green asparagus, arugula, spring onions, herbs, lettuces and spinach.

Around the country, other markets are filled with spring’s freshest. Entries for this week’s Farmers Market Fare after the jump.

CSA

Lisa Spinelli presents The 100 Mile Diet | Greener Pastures: Personal Finance posted at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance, saying, “How a novice slowly comes to terms with eating locally.” The post includes a link to the 100 Mile Radius Finder for the USA and Canada.

Farmers

Sahara Reins presents What to do with Rooster Spurs posted at Fowl Visions.

Farmers Market

Sara Ost presents Seasonal Eating: Roasted Beets (Plus Seven Tasty Suggestions) posted at Eco Salon.

Joy Weese Moll presents How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Whole Chickens posted at The Spiral of Seasons.

valereee presents Sorrel soup posted at Cincinnati Locavore, saying, “Sorrel is in season now and available at the farmers’ markets!”

Jen at Modern Beet is making Quick Kohlrabi Pickles this week.

Manjula Jain presents Vegetable (Navratan) Korma posted at Manjula’s Kitchen.

Sarah presents Eating Well On Your Budget Vacation posted at The Eclectic Female. The post offers a reminder that it can be rewarding to look for local foods even when you are far from your home market.

Rose at A Little Bit of Green is serving “All Purpose Farmers Market Dip” this week. The recipe is for a delicious dip that can be served with almost any of the vegetables in season right now.

Thanks, everyone, for participating. You can share your eating local journey with us each week by submitting your post url on local food to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Or, you can submit at the tool on blog carnival.

“One of the most serious unintended consequences of industrial food animal production is the growing public health threat of these types of facilities,” the report said. “There is increasing urgency to chart a new course” in agriculture, which has been shifting over the last 50 years from family farms to large livestock meat producers.”

The studies primary focus assessed four areas of impact by industrial farms:

• Impact on public healthy by overuse of antibiotics on food animals, primarily the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria
• Impact on the environment from animal waste
• The need for humane treatment of animals
• The impact on family farms from lack of competition and the consolidation of the agribusiness entities

Recommendations from the report include:

• Phasing out and banning antibiotics and other antimicrobials that are used to promote growth but not treat illnesses. To understand more about this issue, visit the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Health Observatory.
• Improving animal disease monitoring and tracking. Currently this issue is a source of debate. Check out the discussion at Ethicurean.
• Creating regulations for farm waste, making the farms responsible for the costs to clean up and prevent pollution. This unpaid cost by industrial farms is one of the key factors in the artificially low price of meats. For more insights on these real costs, visit The Meatrix.
• A ten-year deadline to phase out all “intensive confinement” practices such as gestation crates, birthing crates, battery cages for poultry, and individual confinement of calves for veal.
• A call for enforcement of antitrust laws to bring fair practices and competition back to the livestock industry.

There will be a battle ahead on these points, particularly the antitrust laws. It is refreshing to see independent studies like this surface in the media and call for urgent changes. Making sure our representatives hear that call and hear it from us is a great next step. Here is how to find your Representatives and your Senators.

Putting the comment back into context, however, there are a few problems with the logic of this suggestion, and not just that he, Bush, was the creator of the “eat local” concept.

The statement was made in response to a question on the relationship between ethanol and food price increases: (quote from press conference after the jump).

“Actually, I have a little different take: I thought it was 85 percent of the world’s food prices are caused by weather, increased demand and energy prices — just the cost of growing product — and that 15 percent has been caused by ethanol, the arrival of ethanol.

By the way, the high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. And the truth of the matter is it’s in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.

In terms of the international situation, we are deeply concerned about food prices here at home and we’re deeply concerned about people who don’t have food abroad. In other words, scarcity is of concern to us. Last year we were very generous in our food donations, and this year we’ll be generous as well. As a matter of fact, we just released about $200 million out of the Emerson Trust as part of a ongoing effort to address scarcity.

One thing I think that would be — I know would be very creative policy is if we — is if we would buy food from local farmers as a way to help deal with scarcity, but also as a way to put in place an infrastructure so that nations can be self-sustaining and self-supporting. It’s a proposal I put forth that Congress hasn’t responded to yet, and I sincerely hope they do.”

Let’s look at the logic here. If more and more farmland gets diverted to commodity crops for ethanol production, how are we going to provide food for the world AND have land left for local farms? If just fifteen percent of the food price issues were caused by using farmland for ethanol, how is using more farmland for ethanol going to be part of the solution? Not to mention the massive input of fossil-fuel based fertilizers that are used to grow that commodity crop conventionally. Or, the fact that current demand for local food may become greater than what can be supplied with only four percent of our nation’s farms growing fruits and vegetables.

On the chance that this “new” buying local concept of our president’s may sour you on the idea of buying local, please don’t quit. Buying local is your movement. Your choice. Your actions. And they make a huge difference for positive changes in this country.

I was also contemplating urban sprawl, more suburban sprawl today. The suburban city I live in basically just decided to take over about 15 miles south — without the vote of the citizens there. This was all farms, rolling pasture, beautiful land. You can see the future in the photo here with the brand new McMansions crowding a small farm out. All around this place are strip malls and subdivisions. How many strip malls do we really need? Or better yet, how do you get local food if there are no local farms?

That in mind, this week’s carnival entries follow.
Lynn at Organic Mania contemplates the terrible news about the food crisis has really been weighing on me. We who have the choice of organics vs. conventional foods are truly blessed.

Speaking of blessed, Christine presents Open Air Market in Barcelona posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Carole DeJarnatt presents What to do with Rooster Spurs posted at Fowl Visions.

Ilana, the Hip Hostess, gives us hip tips on how to save money buying local.

Don’t forget to send in your posts for next weeks Farmers Market Fare. Entries are due on Sunday night, by midnight, send them to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!

Now and then, we parents have to be creative. Someday, if our kids are lucky, we’ll share these secrets when they have kids of their own. Maybe. Or maybe we’ll just have a bit of a laugh first then let them in on it. (fun after the jump).

1. “All the cookies are gone!” (The last two are hidden because I want them). “I have some whole wheat crackers!”
2. My signature secret move: Eye the vegetables on your child’s plate. Beg for a bite. See how much fun it is for your toddler to deny you. Try to “sneak” the vegetable off your child’s plate. Use the “MINE!” instinct to your advantage. Watch child eat vegetables simply because you want them.
3. “Would you like Mommy to put you in the seat, or do you want to climb up yourself?” Note that no third option of running off to play is mentioned. This will change by age three when your child begins to make his own options.
4. “Which side of the bed did you get up on? Oh, we’re going to have to back upstairs and go get up on the other side now. Ready?”
5. “See, Elmo uses a toothbrush. And he doesn’t even have teeth.”
6. “Tickle the Pickle!” shout this, then tickle said grouchy child until you have made her forget what the big deal was.
7. Serve green fruits like kiwi, honeydew or sliced green grapes, not just green vegetables. Keep them guessing on that whole green food thing. Works for orange, too.
8. Find a place where running, climbing and discovery is pretty safe. It’s nice to be saying “No. No. No no no no no NO!” every fifteen minutes instead of every five. Play too. You need it.
9. “Uh oh! If you don’t turn off the water, we’ll run out!” Water conservation is a pretty heavy concept for under five. You can revisit this one later.
10. Didn’t eat well? Have dessert for the big people after bed time. They won’t miss what they don’t know you had.
11. Shop for the cereal without the kids along. Buy the healthy stuff. Place all prepared food items (cereal, crackers, etc.) into clear storage bins. Food looks like food, not fun characters. Better yet, shop the bulk bins, cheaper, saves packaging, and none of those pesky licensed characters pimping sugar.
12. Encourage that Mommy’s Helper “Housework is FUN!” stage for as looooong as you can. Make sure you use non-toxic cleaners, or natural options like vinegar and water. Seriously, mine drank out of the mop bucket.

Okay, so what’s your best trick? We have to stick together, you know …

“It is possible then, to be liberated from the husbandry and wifery of the old household food economy. But one can be thus liberated only by entering a trap. The trap is the ideal of industrialism: a walled city surrounded by valves that let merchandise in but no consciousness out. How does one escape this trap? Only voluntarily, the same way that one went in: by restoring one’s consciousness of what is involved in eating; by reclaiming responsibility for one’s own part in the food economy.”

Entries after the jump.

Jen Carlile presents Slivered Dandelion Greens with Chorizo posted at Modern Beet.

Ilana (aka the Hip Hostess) makes Wheat Berry Salad with fresh arugula from her farmers market.

Sahara Reins presents Little Known Facts about Raising Chickens in Your Backyard posted at Fowl Visions.

Jasmine presents Dark Days Eat Local Challenge: wrap up posted at Knitting 40 shades of green.

Just a reminder, all entries to the carnival must be about local food, food gardens, farmers market, CSA or they cannot be posted. Entries for the next week’s carnival are due on Sunday, April 27. I am going to extend the deadline until the end of day Sunday for all of us that post at night! You can submit your entry by emailing it to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!

So, in the tradition of your Thanksgiving table, holiday feast and Easter eggs … why not an Earth Dinner? It’s simple, just make your meal on Earth Day a table comprised of local, seasonal, sustainable and/or organic dishes. The concept was created by Theresa Marquez, Earth Dinner founder and chief marketing executive for Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic farmers cooperative.

“We started Earth Dinners three years ago to honor Earth Day with its own special meal filled with deeper conversations about food,” said Marquez. “Many Americans today are detached from what they eat and the tremendous impact of their food choices. Earth Dinners are a perfect way to bridge that gap, a time to slow down and reflect on each aspect of the food being served, how and where it was produced, the way it tastes and the stories behind it. It’s exciting to see more people than ever before embracing this movement.”

For ideas on menu plans, resources, party ideas and creative hosting ideas, check out Earth Dinner. And, given the global food issues, when you sit down to that “holiday” meal, it sure does take on a new meaning this year.

As I am trying to sleep, somewhere in the house I hear water running. And it bugs me. It always has. Perhaps it was my childhood of growing up rural on a well system. During the dry summers, the entire family would have to go into conservation mode. I learned early about the “Navy” shower; get in, get wet regardless of water temperature, turn off water, soap up, quick rinse and go. I also learned not to leave the water running while brushing my teeth, and the more contentious practice of “if it’s yellow…” you know the rest.

These things prepared me well for my brief expatriate days on arid Caribbean islands. I adapted easily to the idea that you can’t drink from the tap, flush every time, or enjoy a long shower. In fact, we were only allowed one, ice-cold Navy shower a week. Thank goodness we spent a lot of time in the ocean.

This is not, however, the common experience for an American suburbanite. So, I spend a lot of time listening to the water running and thinking of ways to resolve my worries.

For my husband who has the tap going full every morning to get hot water for shaving and shower, there is the Instant Hot Water Circulator. It purports to save 16,000 gallons per year by eliminating the wait. Costs are around $200.00 plus install.

For my own shower dilemma, I just keep the tap on lightly, and have resorted to washing myself and my child both at once. There are trade offs here. Thanks to a few toys, an extra person and small confines, my once cherished Mommy Time is now about as relaxing as a game of dodge ball. And that’s on the nights I am not trying to shave, too.

I am not sure how much this saves in time or water, but it does take an extra toll on sanity. A gray water recycling system might be better. This could be as low-tech rigged as a garden hose through the bathroom window (probably not going to fly with the spouse) or up to $30,000 for the top-of-the-line. Such a system could save up to 50 percent of water use in a year.

For our household’s hotly controversial “Flush, No Flush” debate, we could compromise with a double-flush toilet. Depending on your current type of toilet, this could save 2,500 to 15,000 gallons per year. And a lot of arguments, except over the purchase price of about $500.00 each. Besides, we still have the “Pre-wash, No Pre-wash” dishwasher debate to settle.

On the blessed rainy days, I hear the sump pump cranking. And I think, hey, we should really be using rain barrels to catch that run-off for watering the lawn. I priced these out at the lawn and garden store, about $179.99 each.

Finally, for my child who is just getting the hang of the tooth-brushing, water-running thing, she bears probably the hardest cost — Mommy nagging.

Given that this coming week is Earth Day, and April is poetry month, here are a few words from Kahlil Gibran’s poem, “Earth:”

“How beautiful you are, Earth, and how sublime!
How perfect is your obedience to the light,  and
how noble is your submission to the sun!

How soothing is the song of your dawn, and how
harsh are the praises of your eventide!
How perfect you are, Earth, and how majestic!”

Here are your blog posts for the week (after the jump).

valereee presents Foraging: hot new foodie trend, or the hottest new foodie trend? posted at Cincinnati Locavore.

Laura McRae, who started the over-winter local food challenge “Dark Days,” submits her final post for the winter long eating local adventure. Let’s hear it for a new spring challenge!

Fellow “Dark Days” challenge participant, Jasmine presents Dark Days Eat Local Challenge: wrap up posted at Knitting 40 shades of green.

Lynn at Organic Mania is posting about her battle for better food for her child’s school.

Katy presents Sausage and Egg Sandwich posted at sugarlaws.

Janet Majure presents Farmers market opens with a chill posted at foodperson.com. Yours and mine both, Janet. We had snow and one lonely table of non-local goods!

Joy Weese Moll presents Is it spring yet? posted at The Spiral of Seasons.

Carole DeJarnatt presents Little Known Facts about Raising Chickens in Your Backyard posted at Fowl Visions.

Next week’s post submissions can be emailed to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com or submitted over at blogcarnival.com. Submissions are due by 2 p.m. EST, Sunday, April 20.

Consumers in the United States struggle with prices rising as much as forty percent for grains and twenty-five percent for eggs, eighty percent for dairy and double-digit increases for other staples. The situation has led to a record number of individuals seeking assistance from food banks nationwide. Globally, however, the crisis has taken on life and death consequences.

As prices have risen, fifty and even three hundred percent in areas like Sierra Leone, these areas have experienced food riots. The growing lists of nations that have had food price protests and riots in the last six months includes Mexico, Haiti, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Cameroon, Yemen, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

The situation resulted from what some experts call “a perfect storm” of factors combined; oil prices, the use of farmland for ethanol instead of food, Australia’s drought, crop disease, climate change, U.S. economy, and the growth of a more meat-intensive diet worldwide.

The storm has been brewing for some time, according to one author on the subject, Raj Patel. Patel’s book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World’s Food System chronicles the global problems leading up to our food crisis. He explains how the causes combined to create the current food crisis in an interview with Democracy Now. Patel also posted on his site about the current food riots in Egypt, Haiti, and Senegal.

Thus far, experts on the situation agree that it will not be a short-term issue; it may, in fact, take years to resolve. As Paul Krugman wrote in a op-ed for The New York Times, “Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past.”

In the coming weeks, look for posts on Eat. Drink. Better, that cover the global and national food crisis as well as provide tips on how you can make your food dollars go farther.

Scientists from the American Chemical Society have begun a five-year study of the use of biomass charcoal for soil enrichment in order to understand its impact on fertilization, soil carbon changes, crop productivity and any impact on the microorganisms in the soil.

The practice holds promise for several reasons:

1. Soil need only be fertilized once with this method and the effect lasts for hundreds to thousands of years.
2. The resulting agricultural method is carbon-negative since the enriched soil traps and holds carbon in the soil, which may offer significant benefits to decreasing global warming from agriculture and reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
3. The charcoal required would be made from biomass like compost, leaves, wood chips and organic matter resulting in a non-toxic and stable fertilizer.
4. Smoke generated during the burning process, called pyrolysis, could even be collected and cooled to use as a bio-oil renewable energy source.
5. The practice could be a low-cost way to enrich soil in the most impoverished areas where poor soil quality and drought have led to high rates of hunger and malnutrition.

Scoring points on the altruism scale, scientists involved say they will not seek a patent on the process if the study is successful. They want the practice they call “Black Gold Agriculture” put into use as soon and as widely as possible. It’s a fascinating prospect that an answer to help save our earth would come from that very earth, and was in use for thousands of years.

Currently the only foreseeable downsides to the approach is the cost to transport the biochar mass and the need for different farming tools to spread the product over large areas.

I don’t need any more reasons to eat my blueberries. I love them. Even so, here’s a bit of good news. University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England researchers have found that the luscious little berries are effective at reversing age-related deficits in memory.

The study showed that a regular diet supplemented with blueberries fostered improvements in spatial working memory tasks in as little as three weeks of consuming the fruit.

So, eat your blueberries and you won’t forget that the deadline for this week’s Farmers Market Fare posts is Sunday, April 13, 2 p.m. EST. Submissions are welcome by email to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com or over at blogcarnival.com.

The post must be non-commercial and contain a recipe, photo or story about local food you prepared/purchased/picked up that week at a farmers market, CSA, garden/community garden or direct from a local food producer. Recipes are great posts, but personal stories are also of interest. Your post must also include a link to Eat. Drink. Better.

While Terry’s eco-chef work is impressive, his role as an activist for “Food Justice” is truly compelling. Terry founded b-healthy! (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth) in 2001. The program is a five-year initiative created to raise awareness about food justice issues. It aims to empower youth to be active in creating a more just and sustainable food system.

Bryant Terry managed to make some time to do an interview for Eat. Drink. Better. on his current projects just as he started major work on his next book due out in 2009, Organic Soul. Interview after the jump.

How did you learn to cook? Who inspires you as a chef?

Growing up in Memphis, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my grandparents observing them and helping out as much as possible.  From early I was picky about what I ate (and everything else), so I started preparing my own meals with fastidious attention, teaching myself as I went along.  Studying at the Natural Gourmet Institute refined my culinary skills.

As far as chefs that inspire me, I continue to be moved by mentors such as Alice Waters, Peter Berley, and Myra Kornfeld.  Dan Barber’s food is top notch.  And you have not truly eaten until you’ve had Marcus Samuelson’s 7-course Vegetarian Tasting Menu at Aquavit.  I also read a lot of cookbooks and try new restaurants to keep my game tight.

How did you come to embrace local and sustainable foods?

Alongside my social, economic, and environmental analysis about the need to embrace local and sustainable foods developed a more selfish pull—flavor.  I value the sensual pleasures of eating, and food that is local and grown without chemicals tastes better than food that has been shipped across the globe and/or sprayed with poisons.  The fact that choosing these foods is good for our health, local economies, and the earth makes them that much more delicious.

The local food movement has been labeled “elitist” for many reasons, what are the things we can all do to change this and help make healthy, local and sustainable food available to everyone?

I don’t necessarily think that the local foods movement is elitist, I simply think that communities are self-interested.  In order to ensure that historically-excluded communities have access to grub members of those communities need to ask/cajole/pressure/demand that existing institutions in the communities (i.e., places of worship, community-based organizations, and the like) take the lead in creating locally-driven and community owned food systems.

In addition to people, many of these institutions have financial capital, land, and other resources.  By creating community gardens, rooftop gardens, urban farms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), value added businesses, food buying clubs, food coops, local restaurants, and independently owned grocery stores, these institutions would not only address food injustice but also spur economic development, community beautification, youth empowerment, and a host of actions that would strengthen marginalized communities.
We all can ask/cajole/pressure/demand our elected officials to reform our Farm Bill so that it restores fairness to America’s food and farm policy; improves access to healthy, affordable foods in low-income and underserved communities; and expands market opportunities for small and mid-sized farms.

What is one of the greatest barriers to attaining “food justice?”

The unfair and wasteful commodity programs that benefit agribusiness with multi-million dollar payouts.

Tell me what’s happening with your Southern Organic Kitchen project? How is it going?

Right now I am partnering with some churches and community-based organizations in the South to create replicable models that illustrate the powerful role that similar institutions can play in creating community-based food systems.  2009 is going to be BIG!

The “local” food label sounds homogenous, I love that you are showing how foods reflect a culture and really define what is “local.” Can you share a favorite Eco-Soul Food recipe?

Sure:

Sweet Cornmeal-Coconut Butter Drop Biscuits
Yield:  about 24

Soundtrack:  “Turn Left” by Little Dragon from Little Dragon

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup medium grind cornmeal
2 tablespoons raw organic sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons chilled coconut butter
3/4 cup rice milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

•    Preheat the oven to 425°F.

•    In a large bowl sift together the flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Rub the coconut butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles sand with pebbles.

•    Combine the rice milk, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar and mix well.  Then, make a well in the center of the flour pebbles, add the rice milk, and stir just until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

•    Drop walnut-sized balls of dough from a spoon onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

So, TV series and appearances, a second cookbook, The Root and your other blogs, food justice projects and a Kellogg Foundation fellowship, how do you have time to cook?

It’s funny.  I was thinking the other day maybe this whole cloning thing is not such a bad idea after all.  I can create a Bryant who only focuses on writing.  One who focuses on recipe testing.  Another Bryant can make public appearances.  Of course there has to be a Bryant who calls my parents every single day, lest they not think that I’m being a bad son.  Then the original Bryant would have time to read pop culture blogs, watch YouTube videos, and eat Red Hot Blue Chips all day.

In all seriousness, because my book deadline is July 1st I’m pretty busy right now.  But personal ecology is the most important thing to me, and if I am not maintaining balance, pacing, and efficiency to sustain my energy over a lifetime of work then I think it’s hypocritical to be working towards sustainability outside of me.  So I’m committed to pumping the breaks this summer.  My lady and I will be spending long stretches of time at the family cabin away from everything.  No work.  No computer.  Just yoga, long walks, trees, fresh air, and the Yuba River.  And cooking. . .

In your book, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, the recipes are organized by seasons and by a complete meal. What’s your favorite season and menu and why?

Summer is my favorite season, simply because Farmer’s Markets are so bountiful.  My favorite menu is whatever I freestyle after visiting the farmer’s market.

One recent study published in the April issue of Pediatrics suggests that answer is yes, by an amazing fifty percent less incidence of obesity. The study, called the School Nutrition Policy Initiative, was conducted at ten schools in the Philadelphia area. Five of the schools eliminated all candy from the premises, and replaced soda with water, 100 percent juice, and milk for beverages. The schools also improved the quality of food and offered nutritious snacks. Additionally, students received about fifty hours of nutrition education over the course of the year and were given some incentives toward increasing physical activity.

The results of these small changes were an impressive fifty percent reduction in obesity rates among children in grades K-8 for the experimental group. This result was particularly important since the schools selected have a mostly urban population, where the obesity rate can be nearly 42 percent. Many of these children have little access to physical activity in their home environments due to safety concerns and less access to nutritious foods.
The program was developed by Temple University and The Food Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to making better food and nutrition affordable and available to all. The success of the program with just a few small changes is encouraging news. However, the Food Trust and the pediatricians involved view the results also as a sign that more can be done by extending the reach of the program to outside the schools and into the neighborhood and home environment.

As the costs of food rise, issues like childhood obesity rates and access to better food choices will become a greater issue as well. Ultimately, we all benefit from a healthier next generation. In order for most schools to change, however, the push to do so has to come from the community and involved parents, as well as outreach programs to the communities with lower income families face so many barriers to a healthy diet.

You can find more information on the program at the Food Trust web site.

Last night, I returned home late from squeezing in hours at the farm I’m moving to with my partner in June. We spent all day helping her father move new goat kids and their mothers from pen to stall, stall to nursery, nursery to pen. They look like this when they are about five days old:

It’s hectic, exhausting, mucky, work. About a dozen kids were born yesterday, and another eight today. That means a lot of running around as we help coordinate the many births with the few stalls available for mothers and kids to bond together during their first 24 hours. We learn the new ways of this work via fresh straw, buckets of water, screamin’ baby goats (man they can wail!), and lots of bodily fluids.

We are juggling this farming life with our day jobs as best we can. We are remodeling and renting out our city house while remodeling and buying a farmhouse. It’s never-ending chores, and we’ve only just begun. So I asked myself last night as we drove home, why do this? Why work so hard, when it would be so much easier to get up, go to an office job, go home, watch tv, eat take-out, drink a beer, stay numb and go to bed?

We talked it over, and it comes down to living a conscious life, one where we are aware of the impact of the choices we make. It means having a passion for for that life. For me, that comes from a belief so strong in a human right to have food security, that I am willing to change my life to make it happen – even on the smallest scale, one that is now but a glimmer of a vision for a tiny organic, sustainable farm.

Providing accessible, healthy food for ourselves and others takes on greater significance with every article I read about food security. Right now, there are global food shortages and increasing prices worldwide for the foods many cultures hold dear, let alone need to survive. In Egypt, the cost of bread is up 35 percent and cooking oil 26 percent. The price of pasta in Haiti has doubled. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization expects prices to continue to increase for another 10 years, and the poorest of the world will suffer the most. Already, the U.N.’s World Food Program says it’s facing a $500 million shortfall in funding.

I’m not so naïve that I think I’m solving world hunger or anything like that. But I do think that working this hard for good, local food options is what helps me sleep at night. (Being wiped out from double-duty and all that conscious living helps, too!)

Sometimes I feel like I’m giving up a lot to change my life this much. Members of this blog have discussed several times that sacrifice won’t convince others to join you in going green. But I ask you — what would you be willing to change to reach for a greener goal close to your soul?

“If we are to hope to correct our abuses of each other and of other races and of our land, and if our effort to correct these abuses is to be more than a political fad that will in the long run be only another form of abuse, then we are going to have to go far beyond public protest and political action. We are going to have to rebuild the substance and the integrity of private life in this country. We are going to have to gather up the fragments of knowledge and responsibility that we have parceled out to the bureaus and the corporations and the specialists and put those fragments back together in our own minds and in our families and households and neighborhoods.We need better government, no doubt about it. But we also need better minds, better friendships, better marriages, better communities. We need persons and households that do not have to wait upon organizations, but can make necessary changes in themselves, on their own.”

Thank you all for “thinking little” and “thinking local” food sources, taking personal action to make your world a better, healthier place. Posts and links after the jump.

Jen Carlile presents Nettle Soup posted at Modern Beet, saying, “This is recipe for nettle soup made from ingredients from my local farmer’s market (Palo Alto, CA).”

Sam presents Good Cooking with Balsamic Vinegar! Posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “Balsamic vinegar is vinegar made from grapes and aged in wooden casks. It is not wine vinegar, because the grapes are never permitted to ferment into wine. Far superior to other vinegars, the flavor of balsamic is rich and slightly sweet. It is a culinary delight when used in sauces, marinades and vinaigrette salad dressing. Italians have enjoyed “balsamico” for more than 900 years, but only recently did it became popular in the United States.”

Valereee presents Foraging: Wild Garlic posted at Cincinnati Locavore.

Suzanne presents Irish Stew posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Finally, over at The Expatriate’s Kitchen, a Slow Spring Start.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of farmers market fare using our carnival submission form or emailing your post to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Posts are due on April 13th, by 2 p.m. Eastern. Past posts can be found by clicking on the category for Farmers Market Fare at right.

Starting this week, we’ll be bringing something new to Eat. Drink. Better. — your recipe and blog links! I’m celebrating the opening of my local farmers markets this weekend by starting a recipe and local food post carnival that will run from now until November.

Each week, submit your post to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Submissions are due by 2 p.m. Sunday, EST. The post must be non-commercial and contain a recipe or story about local food you prepared/purchased/picked up that week at a farmers market, CSA, garden/community garden or direct from a local food producer. Recipes are great posts, but personal stories are also of interest. Your post must also include a link to the carnival edition here at Eat. Drink. Better.

We’ll post a carnival here each week, with links to you. You can also use blogcarnival.com as a path to submitting.

Looking forward to hearing how your local food season is going!