Food Shortage at Charitable Food Banks

Just a quick post regarding a very troubling story in the LA Times about the food shortage at local food banks/pantries.

As I mentioned several posts back, I am working on putting together a network of local gardeners to donate their excess produce to those who need it, or to "Plant a Row for the Hungry" another great campaign by the Garden Writers of America.

This article clearly points out there's a need to help. Here's an excerpt:

"The supply of donated food is at its lowest level in recent memory, largely because of a steep decline in government surpluses. In California, since 2002, donations of cheese, canned corn and beans, all longtime food bank staples, have been cut by more than half, from nearly 100 million pounds a year to 40 million. The difference, say officials from the California Assn. of Food Banks, translates into 44.7 million fewer meals for hungry people around the state.

But just as food bank cupboards have grown emptier, more families are asking for help putting dinner on the table, providers say.The problem is acute in Los Angeles, where housing and transportation costs, both of which rose sharply over the past year, gobble up much of a low-income family's budget.

The number of Los Angeles County households whose food supply is shaky increased 17% between 2002 and 2005; hungry families with children grew at an even faster clip, according to a report released last fall by the county department of public health."

The rest of the article can be found here, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-foodbank21jan21,1,2216788.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=5&cset=true

Please, contact me if you would be interested in joining me in helping get fresh food to those who need it.

Book Cover Finally Done!!!

Well, for those who have been following the trials and tribulations of my book, I received some good news on Tuesday. The last photo I submitted has been accepted and we now have a book cover!

Yay, this means that things will be moving forward and I have to get busy collecting the rest of the photos I need to complete the book. No easy task, since I still need about eighty.

So, if you know of anyone who has photos of farms, nurseries, fields, etc. from the South Bay area, please let me know.

Here's the photo that's going to go on the cover (a low quality version)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Just a quick note to let everybody know that on Saturday, I am leading a book discussion on Barbara Kingsolver's fabulous book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. And, I sure could use some help and support since I have never led a book discussion before.

My friend Jamie who works at Santa Monica Public Library asked me to do it a few months ago, and not thinking, I said "sure." Now, I am panicked so hopefully the questions I came up with are going to be OK.

However, following the book discussion, there's a great opportunity to buy a wonderful book from a passionate farm advocate, Amelia Saltsman, who has written the Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook. She knows her produce and how to cook (something I do not).

The book discussion takes place this Saturday, Jan. 26 from 2-3 p.m. and then Amelia will come at 3 p.m. to talk about and sign copies of her book. Its at the Ocean Park Branch Library in Santa Monica.

Check out the event details here at Slow Food LA http://www.slowfoodla.com and of course, at the Santa Monica Library site: http://www.smpl.org/

Survey Shows That Local is a Hot Restaurant Trend

Interesting survey in my local paper today, The Daily Breeze (aka Daily Fish Wrapper). The survey of American chefs conducted by the National Restaurant Association showed some interesting veggie trends in restaurants which came out in their overall, "What's Hot, What's Not" trends.

Here's what they found.

Percent of American chefs surveyed who said these vegetables are in vogue at restaurants:

Locally Grown Produce 84%
Organic Produce 76%
Fresh Herbs 67%
Exotic Mushrooms 65%
Arugula 53%

Check out their site for more interesting stuff http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease.cfm?ID=1523 including a quote by chef Dawn Sweeney who says, "restaurant trends are driven both by consumer demand and chef creativity."

So, as I have been saying, we get what we ask for, so using our dollars to demand local ingredients truly can make a difference.

New Certified Farmers' Market List Added

Sunday Hollywood Farmers' Market

One of the most popular, and easiest ways to eat locally is to shop at a local certified farmers’ market. There are certified markets in over 500 California communities.

A “certified” farmers’ market means that only “real” farmers can sell their produce directly to the consumer and are certified by the local county that they are only selling the products that they have actually grown themselves.

So, that's why I added a new element, a list of certified farmers' market in LA County, at least those that had web links and that I was familiar with.

See, despite being certified, the way a market is run, managed, and supported by the governing body and the community, really makes a difference in how good a market it is.

If you have a favorite farmers' market you don't see listed here, let me know. Conversely, if there's a market I do have listed that you don't like, let me know that too and why.

Giving Gardeners Name Vote Update

I thought I'd just drop a quick post on here to let everbody know how the voting is going for my idea on creating a giving garden network.

So far the leader is "The Giving Gardeners" followed by the close second place "Giving Gardens," and I only heard one person say they didn't think I should add network or campaign after it.

So, please if you haven't emailed or posted your comment here, please let me know what you think. And again, if you have a better choice, let me hear it!

Last Day To Apply To Become A Master Gardener

I just wanted to remind everybody that today is the deadline to apply for the 2008 Los Angeles County Master Gardener class. For more information, go to the website at: http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Common_Ground_Garden_Program/

Hopefully, those are interested already applied or at least read the requirements, because you needed to get LiveScan fingerprints and complete their very thorough application packet!