| Market Updates |  Thanks to everyone who came out to support our winter market trial run last week. We received a lot of positive feedback and will keep you updated as plans progress!
This Saturday is Opening Day! We will be in our full spread along NE Hancock Street between 44th & 45th Avenues. Bring a basket to fill up, there will be so much available!
8am - 1pm!
Last week there were bagels, basil, beef, beets, bietola, bok choy, bread, buffalo, carrots, chard, chicken, Chinook salmon, crab, cucumbers, feta, fiddleheads, filberts, goat cheese, halibut, kale, lettuce, mixed greens, morels, nettles, new potatoes, oregano, oysters, pac choi, pastries, prunes, radishes, rhubarb, rock fish, shiitakes, shrimp, smoked salmon, spinach, spring garlic, sturgeon, truffles, turnips, yak, zucchini, and over 50 varieties of garden starts, nursery stock and more. And that was with only nine vendors. This Saturday there will be fifty vendors waiting to serve you and your food needs.  Don't forget to stock up on flowers for Mother's Day! Blooming Goodies, Herr's Family Farm, and KCK Farms will all be there selling cut flowers and bouquets.
Many of your favorite market vendors are returning for the 2011 season although a game of musical chairs has been played. Please stop by the Info Booth to take a look at the most recent market map to find out where your favorite farmer is. New vendors this season include Happy Campers Gluten Free Baking (starting 5/28) and Lion Heart Kombucha (starting 5/14). Ate-Oh-Ate is our new hot food vendor and will be serving Hawaiian plate lunch at the market. Lastly, Sun Gold Farm will join us for the full season this year rather than just May and November as in the past. We also have a number of on-call vendors that we're pretty excited about this season. You won't see all of these vendors at the market each week, but we fit them in when we can. Please be sure to give a big welcome and your support to these folks who make the extra effort to be at the market on short notice: The Better Bean Company (freshly prepared beans), Abby's Table (fresh veggie packs, fruit parfaits, and dips), Souper Natural (frozen soup), Sage & Sea Farms (drinking vinegars), Rose City Pepperheads (jams), Inspired Salts, Fatdog Mustard, and Two Brothers Foods (chocolate sauce). Be sure to read about House Bill 2222 below. There is a lot of great information about what's been happening in the Legislature that everyone should be aware of. Lastly, we want to tell you about a Wine Tasting at Grocery Outlet this Saturday. Have you been in there recently? They have some amazing deals and a great selection of wines from the Pacific Northwest and across the globe. Their tasting will be from 2-4pm this Saturday, please consider stopping by! See you at the market! |
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 Gutted & Stuffed: Why HB 2222 Matters to You
by Trista Cornelius
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Shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market (HFM) is my oasis in the week: glowing fruits, gleaming vegetables, and enthusiastic farmers talking of beets and kale like beloved pets.
Then, I started to dig a little deeper into the source of my produce, asking where it comes from and how the farmers manage to bring it to the market so reliably every weekend.Next thing I know, I'm mired in local politics, espionage, and tax code.
Okay, maybe not espionage.
Here's the skinny: a group of farmers from small, family farms got together and made a list of things that would help them survive as small farmers. Friends of Family Farmers turned this into "The Agricultural Reclamation Act" and created a few bills to bring to the legislature this session.
House Bill 2222, titled "Friends of Family Famers Act," is part of our legislature's current session, and its content affects you because it shapes what products are sold at farmers markets.
A four-hour hearing in February, overflowing with attendees, proved the importance of this bill.However, some controversy over raw milk seems to have killed the bill as of April 8th.Fortunately, the bill's other parts are being put into new bills ("gut and stuff" is what one lobbyist called it), so the bill's contents still affect your shopping experience at HFM.
Poultry Exemption & Raw Milk
Here is why the content of HB 2222 matters to you and your favorite HFM products: The first part of the bill allows small farmers to raise and slaughter more poultry for your consumption, up to 1,000 animals per year.This means up to 1,000 chickens never have to leave the farm, the slaughtering is done on the premises, and the meat is delivered fresh to you at HFM.However, 1,000 birds in one year is still a small-scale operation, so farmers can focus their expertise on maintaining the health and well-being of their birds, providing you with the best product possible. The second part of the bill was the controversial part.It attempted to expand raw milk production for small farms.Production is currently limited to three cows or nine goats.The bill raised the limit to ten cows or thirty goats or sheep.The Oregon Dairy Farmer Association and others cited concerns over the safety of raw milk as a reason not to pass HB 2222 because just one incident of food-borne illness related to raw milk would potentially reduce sales of all milk.However, raw milk and Oregon creameries continue to be boasted about in the news with some local cheeses sought and savored world-wide, so raw milk will remains an important issue. Small Farmers on the Board of Agriculture The third part of the bill addresses something neither you nor I probably pay much attention to, but it is something that significantly shapes our food choices.The bill requires that at least two members of the Board of Agriculture (BOA) be small family farmers selling their products in Oregon. Therefore, in addition to focusing on what products export outside of Oregon at the highest prices, the board will be sure to consider consumers like us, our food preferences, and HFM's farmers.Our local food interests will be heard at the highest level of agricultural policy. Finally, the fourth part of the bill involves tax code.I know, I know, just the phrase "tax code" gives some of us the shivers.Currently, farmers working land that is not zoned as agricultural must work the land for three consecutive years and prove they have farm income before the land can be re-designated as agricultural. HB 2222 would allow farm-land deferments to begin earlier, which would help new farmers survive the high costs of beginning and operating their farms. Even though I've always loved our HFM farmers and their products, learning about the issues small farmers face made me appreciate their work even more. Also, it's been intriguing to follow a bill's journey through the legislature. Even though HB 2222 is "dead," the issues live on in other bills.If you'd like to follow the progress, get more information, or get involved, you can: Get Involved Contact your local representative or one of the sponsors of the bill: Representatives Buckley, Barker, Esquivel, Frederick, Greenlick, Krieger, Richardson, Roblan, J. Smith, Weidner, or Senator Bates. Visit Friends of Family Farmers at http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/ and click on "2011 Legislative Session." |
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Community Booths at the Market
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Every Saturday, two community organizations provide customers with information about unique projects around the city and add to the community feel of the market. Organizations represent many different interests, from local food initiatives and healthy living advocates to conservation groups and youth empowerment agencies.
This year, the community booths will be located near the southeast corner of the market, along the south edge of the parking lot planter, across from Happy Harvest Farm. Drop by and talk with some of the many wonderful organizations that will be filling this spot throughout the season.
In addition to the regular community booths this week, OSU Master Gardeners will have a booth next to the information booth at the corner of 44th and Hancock.
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Bark's mission is to transform Mt. Hood National Forest into a place where natural processes prevail, where wildlife thrives and where local communities have a social, cultural, and economic investment in its restoration and preservation. Bark is the resource for community action to protect Mt. Hood National Forest and surrounding federal lands. They'll be publicizing some of upcoming events, including a free public hike on the Collawash River May 8, National Environmental Policy Act 101 training to learn how to protect public land (May 12), and a Day of Action to protect Mt. Hood on May 26. More info at
www.bark-out.org
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At the confluence of rural farm land and native forest in an urban center, Tryon Life Community Farm is a community sustainability education center that gives Portland residents a unique place to have hands-on engagement with each other and the land. Through its outdoor education programs, including Mother Earth School (a bio-immersion preschool and kindergarten), experiental field trips, community workshops, permaculture design courses and more, TLC Farm shares skills needed to build sustainable community in Portland and beyond. They're open to the public six days a week and would love to see you soon! They're having their annual spring fest and skillshare at the farm on Saturday and Sunday, May 14 & 15. Check their website for details: www.tryonfarm.org.
The Oregon State University Master Gardener Program is an Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service program that educates Oregonians about the art and science of growing and caring for plants. This program also facilitates the training of a highly educated corp of volunteers. These volunteers extend sustainable gardening information to their communities through education and outreach programs. The master gardeners will be answering customer's gardening questions at their booth throughout the market. Come by if you have a garden-related question! |
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At the Market
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Music:
Cafe Cowboys
Community Booths:
Bark
Tryon Life Community Farm
OSU Master Gardeners
Upcoming Events:
Cooking Demo with Amie Edelstein - 5/14, 9:30am and 10:30am
HFM's 15th Birthday Party - 5/21, 10:30am
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| Featured Products | |
May 7, 2011
Asparagus Maryhill Orchards Fiddleheads Peak Forest Fruit Green Garlic Sweet Leaf Farm Stewing Hens Pine Mountain Ranch Steamer Clams Linda Brand Crab |
Tip of the Week
brought to you by Robert Reynolds' Chefs Studio
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Asparagus - First test the asparagus, figure out where it wants to naturally snap and break it there. This separates the tender stalk from the tougher end. Repeat with all of the spears. Keep the fibrous ends for another use (see below).
Fill a wide pan with water 2 inches deep and bring to a boil. Drop the asparagus in the boiling water. When the water comes back to a boil, add a 1/2 cup of cold water. Repeat 2-3 times. This evens out the cooking between the tip and the stalk end of the asparagus.
The end bits of asparagus make a great base for risotto. Cut the fibrous ends of the asparagus in finger thick slices. Boil in water for half an hour. Liquefy, strain, and use that liquid to make your risotto!
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The Hollywood Farmers Market
is open Saturdays, May through Thanksgiving from 8am - 1pm. (November Markets begin at 9am). 