Interested in Local Food/Sustainable Ag? See "Fresh" Aug. 7

Received from Just Food Co-op (Full disclosure: Just Food is currently a client in my professional life, which I usually keep separate from this blog. Regular readers of Penelopedia will know that my support for the co-op and issues surrounding local food and sustainable agriculture long pre-dates any professional relationship with Just Food.)

“Fresh” Showing for One Night Only in Northfield

Food has been in the news a lot lately, from problems with our food system to the struggles of farmers. A new film called FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are reinventing our food system. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision of our food and our planet’s future. FRESH addresses an ethos that has been sweeping the nation and is a call to action America has been waiting for.

Just Food Co-op, the Northfield Arts Guild, and the Cannon River Sustainable Farming Association Chapter will be showing the film “Fresh” at the Northfield Arts Guild Theater at 411 West 3rd Street in Northfield on Friday, August 7 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m. Please purchase your tickets in advance at Just Food Co-op to guarantee a seat).

The film will be followed by a lively panel discussion, moderated by local CSA farmer John Ostgarden. Panelists are Atina Diffley (Consultant, Organic FarmingWorks, and former farmer and co-founder of Gardens of Eagan), Matthew Fogarty (Executive Chef for Bon Appetit at St Olaf College. His crew serves 32,000 meals per week while fulfilling Bon Appetit's mission to provide fresh food grown sustainably, and purchased locally whenever possible), and Erica Zweifel (Northfield City Council Member, Third Ward). Tickets are $10 and are available at Just Food Co-op (516 Water St S, Northfield) or online at www.freshthemovie.com. Seating is limited, and we expect to sell out, so get your tickets early!

Producer Ana Joanes is a Swiss-born documentary filmmaker whose work addresses pressing social issues through character-driven narratives.

After traveling internationally to study the environmental and cultural impacts of globalization, she graduated from Columbia Law School in May 2000, awarded as a Stone Scholar and Human Rights Fellow. Thereafter, Ana created Reel Youth, a video production program for youth coming out of detention. In 2003, Ana and her friend Andrew Unger produced Generation Meds, a documentary exploring our fears and misgivings about mental illness and medication. FRESH is Ana’s second feature documentary.

Among several main characters, FRESH features:

Will Allen - 6ft 7” former professional basketball player Will Allen is now one of the most influential leaders of the food security & urban farming movement. His farm and not-for-profit, Growing Power, have trained and inspired people in every corner of the US to start growing food sustainably. This man and his organization go beyond growing food. They provide a platform for people to share knowledge and form relationships in order to develop alternatives to the industrial food system.
Joel Salatin- world-famous sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, made famous by Michael Pollan (also in the movie) - author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Joel Salatin writes in his website that he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” By closely observing nature, Joel created a rotational grazing system that not only allows the land to heal but also allows the animals to behave the way the were meant to – as in expressing their “chicken-ness” or “pig-ness”, as Joel would say.
David Ball -supermarket owner, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy. With the rise of Wal-Mart and other big chains, David Ball saw his family-run supermarket dying, along with a once-thriving local farm community. So he reinvented his business, partnering with area farmers to sell locally-grown food and specialty food products at an affordable price. His plan has brought the local economy back to life.

FRESH empowers us to realize that our individual actions in fact do matter. Throughout the film we encounter the most inspiring people, ideas, and initiatives around the US. And thus, FRESH showcases real people first and foremost, connecting audiences not with facts and figures or apocalyptic policy analysis, but with personal stories of change.

Blog Milestone

As I did my usual morning check-in on my blog, I noticed that by chance my visit had triggered the hit-counter to register 25,000. This isn't an accurate count of visits to the site, as it records every page-view anywhere on the site, including my own. Still, because we have ten fingers and so tend to find multiples of ten compelling, 25,000 still seems a significant milestone. Thanks for all who have visited, and especially to my modest cadre of regular readers. Penelopedia has been one of the most enjoyable and meaningful things I've ever done. It's inspired and enabled me to learn a lot in the interest of being accurate here, and it's given me an ongoing reason to get out there and notice things. Because that's essentially what this blog is all about: the excitement to be found in noticing the world around us.

Young Barn Swallow

This young barn swallow sat for a few moments at the edge of a roof this afternoon. We were able to take some photos through the spotting scope from just a few yards away. I'm amazed at the texture of the downy feathers visible at this close range, as well as their lovely apricot color.

Eat Local Anniversary Dinner

This delicious and colorful mixture of summer vegetables with shrimp, served over pasta, made up our mostly-local dinner last night. It was our wedding anniversary - one year ago Dave and I were married on the deck of our dear friends Sarah and Bob's house in the nearby countryside. Tonight I made a recipe from a book called Serving Up the Harvest, by Andrea Chesman, which I bought in Duluth while we were on our honeymoon, so that seems fitting. It's a sautée of zucchini and yellow squash (from my garden and the farmer's market), yellow and red tomatoes (from the co-op and farmer's market), a yellow Hungarian pepper (from the garden), white wine, saffron, garlic, and fresh basil (from the garden). Oh, and yes, some shrimp out of the back of the freezer, slightly freezer-burned. (My approach to Eat Local challenges is always: if it's in my house already, it counts as local!) Fresher shrimp would certainly have been better, but this was really good anyway! The photo shows the final view in the skillet before the sauce was tossed with pasta shells.

Green Herons

This green heron, along with two others we saw nearby this evening, was hanging about at the mudflats next to one of the marshy ponds east of the soccer fields in southeastern Northfield. We walked there last night and saw two of these herons; we came this evening with camera and spotting scope, but it was bit too late for optimal lighting. We'll have to try again during full daylight, but they may be shyer then.

Still, you can get a nice idea of the striking coloring and (in the top photo) the crest of this smaller (16-22") relative of the great blue heron we are more used to seeing. Green herons can be found throughout almost all of Minnesota during the summer, but their low profile and somewhat secretive habits tend not to make them an everyday sight. These birds we saw today and yesterday make up only about the third green heron sighting I've ever had.

Green herons are known to use bait to catch fish, dropping insects, twigs and other items onto the water to attract a nibble. Look at the size of that beak!