What's Growin' On Around Town

I was pretty excited when SlowFood LA announced yesterday that Alice Waters would be speaking about edible education and school gardens here in Santa Monica on May 19. The event, which benefits Canyon Charter School will include a presentation, book signing, and Q&A with Ms. Waters and 15 year-old Sam Levin, who founded a sustainable garden for his public school in Western Massachusetts.

Tickets and complete information available here.

Watch a sneak preview of Alice's new book, The Edible Schoolyard, a Universal Idea:




AND

Get your edible garden groove on the weekend before the celebrated Berkley chef comes to town, with Gardens of Gratitude's 100 Garden Challenge! The goal: plant 100 victory gardens and transform LA's Westside to an edible paradise of fruits, berries, nuts, veggies and flowers!

For more information about Gardens of Gratitude, and to find out how to participate in the event May 16-17, visit the 100 Garden Challenge, here.

I can't think of a more perfect activity do with young foodies, eco-friendly families, and anyone Growing Up Gourmet!!

Cooking: Not Just for Mom & Dad

Still looking for more reasons to get cooking with your kids???

Our friends at gastrokid.com posted a great Top Ten today. (Perhaps the introduction to their forthcoming book?)

My favorite is right in-line with Michelle Obama's remark last week.

1. Feed Them Perfect Produce
Buy the best, ripe, in-season, local produce you can find, whether at a grocery store or farmer's market. Asparagus in spring to teach your kids the essential less of eating seasonally and locally. Strawberries in summer. Apples in fall. Citrus in winter.

Perfection. Perfection. Perfection...

Read the rest of Gastrokid's Top Ten here.

A Victory for the Victory Garden!!

I'm pretty excited!

When was the last time the First Lady and President of the United States actually acted on something you were totally and completely passionate about? I mean, an issue you've read about, petitioned for, fervently supported, and written about? Yeah, it feels pretty darn good!Oh, and the icing on the already sweet cake? (Or rather, sugar beets to top the arugula?) Local elementary school children will be hoeing, sowing, and watering these seeds of change. Fitting, as Mrs. Obama recently noted,

“When you grow something yourself and it’s close and it’s local, oftentimes it tastes really good... And when you’re dealing with kids, for example, you want to get them to try that carrot. Well, if it tastes like a real carrot and it’s really sweet, they’re going to think that it’s a piece of candy. So my kids are more inclined to try different vegetables if they’re fresh and local and delicious.”

Sustainable foodie Bloggers are all abuzz with the latest news about the Obama's vegetable garden on the White House lawn. Get the full scoop here in the New York Times or here in the Washington Post. Inspiration is growing already. Families can now get planting with the list of "10 Easy-Grow Veggies for Your Kids' Obama White House Garden".

If You Build It...

If the youth vote for President-elect Obama, and the enthusiasm his powerful election generated among young people, is any indication of how kids will be motivated and influenced by the 44th president, I feel good about the future.

If President-elect Obama accepts the call to lead by example (see video below), plants the nation's most important organic vegetable garden on the White House Lawn, and the children of America clamor to till the soil, water seedlings, and pick tomatoes from their own school and backyard gardens, I feel REALLY good about the future. (And the future of our citizens' health and the country's food supply.)

Back in October, in response to Michael Pollan's now famous article, Farmer In Chief, I wrote about the brilliant idea to turn the White House Front Lawn into a sustainable fruit and vegetable garden, and give school children on their annual field trip to the Capitol the chance to till the Presidential soil.

It looks like this idea really has, (sorry) germinated.

As described on http://www.change.org/ -- the website soliciting the top ten ideas for change to submit to the president:

Thousands of Americans and people from the around the world are asking the Obamas to lead by example on climate change, health policy, economic self-reliance, food security, and energy independence by replanting an organic food garden at the White House with the produce going to the First Kitchen and to local food pantries.

The many successes(1) of the first Victory Garden movement were the result of effective public policy, bold leadership(2) at a time of national crisis, and the commitment of millions of citizens who were ready to roll up their sleeves for the greater good. There' s no better, more symbolic place for launching a new National Victory Garden Program than at the White House, "America’s House". There's no better, more urgent time(3) than now. And there's NOTHING that can beat the fresh taste of locally-grown, home-cooked foods.

(1) Victory Gardens (behind homes, schools, in vacant urban lots, etc.) produced 40% of the nation’s produce at their peak, helped conserve food and natural resources at a time of crisis, resulted in the highest consumption rates of fruits and vegetables our nation has seen, and helped keep millions of Americans physically fit and active.

(2) First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden on the White House lawn in 1943 over the objections of the USDA, inspiring millions by her example.

(3) The UN estimates that 1 billion people will go hungry in 2009 while climate scientists predict this year will be one the five warmest years on record.

So please cast your vote for Victory Garden 2.0 today here: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/green_the_white_house
Learn more about the movement here: http://www.eattheview.org/
And certainly don't miss the video which might turn you, and Mr. Obama, into a green thumb.


This Lawn is Your Lawn from roger doiron on Vimeo.

And the Economist Says...

...Wake up your kitchen!! Plug in the blender, dust-off the mixing bowls, and GET COOKING!

Today's lead story in at least two of the nation's best food sections is enough to make restaurateurs, butchers, and gourmet artisans cringe:

"From Dining Out to Cold Turkey", headlines the New York Times. "Food Lessons from the Great Depression," writes Mary MacVean for the LA Times.

In the LA Times, we read about depression-era recipes that encouraged families to make do with the little they had. Nothing says government bailout like sour grass soup and water cocoa. In the NY Times, we learn that 60% of Americans are cooking at home more and dining out less. And Ball canning supplies are up a whopping 92% from this time last year. It was also bleak a month ago, when the Times reported that the packers at a Minnesota Spam factory were practically working 8-days a week to keep up with demand for the infamous recession meat. Meanwhile, grocery stores continue to see double-digit increases in sales of inexpensive mainstays like rice and beans.

Okay, so Americans might have made some mistakes when they signed up for those variable rate loans, but it seems like they might be on the right track when it comes to nourishment. The one glaring difference between the Great Depression (1.0) and our current economic crisis? The role children play in the family meal.

Take, for example, Hattie Adkins, now 76, who recalls being a locavore before it was cool. Her family ate whatever was cheapest and closest, including wild rabbits from the nearby woods. As MacVean reminds us, this was a few generations back when "cooking was a family affair, with children sent to pick food from the garden or shell peas. With SAT prep classes or soccer or ballet, many families are lucky to get their kids to the dinner table at all."

(AGH. PLEASE don't get me started.)

Fast forward to 2008. Meet Tracey Gist, the Pennsylvania resident quoted in the NY Times article. She used to take her family to restaurants for dinner most nights of the week. But with the economy as it is, she's cutting back. And her kids are not pleased. In fact, they actually complained about a recent home-cooked roast chicken their mom served, and opted for canned ravioli instead! (I'm sure Ms. Adkins would have been delighted at the mere prospect of such a feast.) Ms. Gist mimics her daughters' fickle tastes: "it doesn’t matter what it is [I make] if it doesn’t come on a menu." Well you know what I have to say to this mom? TOO BAD. Get a menu. Put dinner on it. And if they don't eat it, well, that's what we call depression-era cutbacks.

In these uncertain economic times, it seems one thing is certain. Your kids will probably starve before they skin a wild rabbit or eat sour grass soup. ("Is that real grass? EWWW!!!")

But cooking at home is healthier, and it is cheaper than going out. (Barbara Kingsolver proves it on every page in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.) And does it really take that much more time? Many say no. Before economists turn cooking into a depression-era-only activity, let's also remember all the joys that come from a home-cooked meal. And it gets even better when kids actually help with the cooking. Schedule cooking dinner into your kids' lives -- right before SAT class and after soccer practice -- and teach them the kitchen skills they need.

That way, when they are parents themselves, and Depression 3.0 hits, they won't be one of the millions trading take-out for a nice can of Spam.

Video Insight: Edible Schoolyard

If you've ever wondered how Alice Waters' Schoolyard really works, watch these kids transform seeds into dinner.



Read the full story that appeared in edutopia, or visit the Edible Schoolyard's website, here.

Other Things I'd Like to Vote For

I've managed to live in two of the few states that put propositions on the November ballot. With confusing wording and lengthy legalese, it can leave even the most informed citizen baffled. Let alone your average Joe. (Plumber or not.) Californians today cast their vote for a wide range of topics, from constitutional amendments about same-sex marriage, the rights of a chicken, renewable energy, and parole rehabilitation. In Santa Monica, we also weighed in on traffic congestion, rent control leadership, building development, and a cell-phone tax.

I don't mean to disparage our great civic duty, or dismiss the truly electric energy that buzzed through my polling place today. But after waiting in line for 20 minutes, and spending many more inking my voice in nearly 35 different bubbles, I realized that there were actually a few more things for which I'd like to cast my vote in favor. Here's my list. Feel free to dream yours.

Prop EAT: A Provision for a Healthier, Happier America:

School Lunch Reform
Stricter Cafeteria Standards
Nutrition and Culinary Education
Junk Food Consumption Limits
Massive Reduction in Global Warming and Fatal Diseases Currently Attributed to Agriculture and Livestock Production
Teaching Kids the Value of a Good Meal Enjoyed with Friends and Family Teaching Those Same Kids How to Cook It
Elimination of "Ingredients" like Hydrogenated Oil and Red No. 40 in the Food We Feed Our Children
An Opportunity for Kids to See How Food Grows and Where It Comes From with the Likes of a School Garden
Access to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for All, Regardless of Economic or Geographic Restrictions
Dramatic Increase in Fruit, Vegetable, and Whole Grain Consumption
Limits on the Distance a Tomato Should Travel
A nation that Eats Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants

I'll keep dream voting... but that first poll is closing and it's time to see the real changes that will be made today.

School Lunch Reform and Victory Gardens

"Changing the food culture must begin with our children", writes Michael Pollan, in his article "Farmer In Chief", which appeared in Sunday's New York Times' Magazine.

Using his typical compelling and poignant prose, Pollan implores our future president-elect to direct his energies towards our nation's rapidly deteriorating food system. If the man sworn in next January heeds Pollan's advice, even the most pessimistic political and cultural cynics at the table will find hopeful promise in America's new food system - one that is based on sunshine.

In case you haven't got the time to read Pollan's latest manifesto (though I really suggest you do), here are two significant changes which would make it easy to be Growing Up Gourmet with Michael Pollan as Secretary of Agriculture.

Lunch will become a mandatory part of the school curriculum, from planting a seed and watching it grow, to creating, following, and preparing a recipe, and to enjoying a meal shared with friends and teachers. Coupled with endless teachable moments, countless math, science, reading, and social lessons, and a healthy portion of Superfoods, lunch will become the "Super-Class":

"On the premise that eating well is a critically important life skill, we need to teach all primary-school students the basics of growing and cooking food and then enjoying it at shared meals."

Children will visit the White House not only for the chance to see the Oval Office, but the opportunity to till the Presidential soil. After devoting five acres of White House lawn to an organic fruit and vegetable garden, Pollan hopes to redefine the way Americans view farming, quite literally from top-down. With reminders of Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden of 1943 that inspired 20 million home gardens and supplied 40% of the nation's produce (!!!):

"The president should throw his support behind a new Victory Garden movement, this one seeking “victory” over three critical challenges we face today: high food prices, poor diets and a sedentary population... ...Making this particular plot of American land productive, especially if the First Family gets out there and pulls weeds now and again, will provide an image even more stirring than that of a pretty lawn: the image of stewardship of the land, of self-reliance and of making the most of local sunlight to feed one’s family and community."

As the most basic aspect of human existence, and historically one which has created cultures and defined nations, food and it's supply is an issue every world leader must be discussing. Thank you, Mr. Pollan, for reminding us that our nation's security, health care, economy, and future depend on it.