Food blogging has taken off in many forms and below is but a partial list of Houston related food blogs. Please add any to the comments and we’ll add them to the list.
Cook’s Tour
Houston Chronicle, by Alison Cook
Eating Our Words
Houston Press
mmm-nachos by Carrie Murphy
by Brenna Spurgeon
Urban agriculture has now clearly established a place for itself in the U.S. landscape. Canada and Europe are already experiencing trends in urban agriculture, and concerns about food safety and the environment are pushing the movement in the U.S. An article in TIME highlights emergent and ongoing endeavors in Manhattan, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee.
Manhattan has approximately 600 small-scale farms (mostly vegetable gardens), showing that farming in the Big Apple is becoming less unexpected, partly spurred on by the rising food and fuel prices. Since July, the lawn of San Francisco’s city hall has been transformed into an urban farm, reminiscent of the early forties when citizens were encouraged to grow “victory gardens” to aid the war effort. The city’s other current agriculture project, SF Victory Gardens 2008+, is organizing a backyard-garden program for lower-income families to improve their access to healthier food.
People are proving that results can be successful with only a small plot. Baby vegetables and salad greens grown on less than an acre outside Philadelphia grossed $67,000 in a pilot project. Greenhouses, tilapia tanks and poultry brought in more than $220,000 on a one-acre farm in Milwaukee. In Portland, Ore., City Garden Farms covers only a quarter acre, but is spread out over 12 backyards. Urban agriculture is proving to be an ideal way to promote community organizing.
The trend has grown to the extent that a housing developer in St. Louis, Mo. is including in his subdivisions an organic farm, and Dickson Despommier, a public-health professor at Columbia University, is promoting his Vertical Farm Project: “hydroponic skyscrapers that would be as productive as 588 acres of land.” The first tower to be built will be in Las Vegas, an interesting ecological choice: a hydroponic tower promoting urban food sustainability… in the desert.
by Brenna Spurgeon
The local food movement already includes several classic reads that illuminate the community, environmental, and economic issues involved in food systems. Below is only a partial list of recommended readings for anyone interested in locally grown food or the industrial food supply chain.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver
Chronicles her family’s year of eating food only grown by themselves or in their neighborhood.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
Explores the “ecological and ethical dimensions of eating” by detailing the supply chain of four different meals
In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
Food for personal health - why we should just eat real food, rather than accepting processed alternatives
Everything I Want to Do is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front, Joel Salatin
Michael Pollan’s week-long stay at Joel’s Virginia farm is described in the Omnivore’s Dillemma; this is a good follow-up book to expand on that chapter.
By Brenna Spurgeon
Asparagus in December? When seasonality of fruits and veggies is only marginally reflected in price, how is one to know what is truly “in season” at a particular geographic location?
The Natural Resources Defense Council has a section of its website where you can input the state in which you live, as well as the time of year, and find out what produce is in season. The site also lists produce that is available in bordering states.
Since much of the produce in supermarkets is available year round, this website is a great tool for figuring out what items will be at their peak flavor and can help reduce your carbon footprint by choosing food that did not have to be transported a long distance.
by Brenna Spurgeon
Farm Aid is a non-profit organization that seeks to make easily available food that has been produced by a family farm. With the rise of agribusiness and corporate farms, many small family farms have been pushed out of business. Farm Aid encourages connections between farmers and consumers, and provides an expansive resource network. Assistance is available for those trying to make the move toward more sustainable farming practices, as well as support services for families in times of crisis.
In 2007, Farm Aid granted over $400,000 to local farm groups to assist in grassroots campaigns: Advocacy and Organizing, Growing the Good Food Movement, and the Resource Network.
Farm Aid also has the longest running annual concert event in the US, put on to raise awareness of issues facing family farmers.
by Brenna Spurgeon
The Organic Farming Research Foundation is a valuable resource for anyone interested in supporting organic agriculture, as well as the farmers themselves. OFRF funds grants for science-based research on how to improve and support organic farming, conducts its own research, and strives to ensure all policy-makers are well-informed about organic issues. It also seeks to disseminate its findings to the general public through networking, media, and education.
OFRF considers grant proposals for Education and Outreach twice a year.
“OFRF will fund the development of educational opportunities and materials that are:
The grant program is open to residents of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
by Brenna Spurgeon
Rising commodity prices across the world have led to substantial media coverage of the food struggles facing developing nations.
A recent editorial in the Chronicle, “A quiet crisis” suggests Houstonians should pay attention to those struggling in their own community.
Everyone has noticed the price increases, yet lower-income families are hit harder because they typically spend a higher percentage of income on food staples. In addition, those with school-aged children are now responsible for the meals that were offered through free or reduced-price meal programs during the school year. In the 18-county Houston area, over a third of hungry families have had to choose between food and medical care.
Brian Green, president of the Houston Food Bank, cites the need for volunteers to help distribute the donated food. There is an increasing number of people using food assistance, and if there are not enough volunteers donations must be turned down.