Food Security in Maryland Panel, This Saturday, June 2

We told you to save the date last week, and for good reason - this is going to be one of the best events on local food issues in our area in a while!

"Food Security in Maryland" will explore where we stand on creating and implementing programs to increase local food production across the state, with a focus on Montgomery County. The panelists will discuss obstacles in Montgomery County related to utilizing the Montgomery County Agriculture Reserve, statewide initiatives to get farmers on the land, the training of farmers, and the distribution and processing of local food. Getting more fresh local food in our schools will also be discussed.

And the panelists? Check out this stellar line up: MD State Senator Jamie Raskin, MD State Delegate Heather Mizeur, Montgomery County Councilmember Valerie Ervin, Michele Levy, Executive Director, Cross Roads Food Network and a member of the MC Food Policy Council, Sophia Maravell, farmer at Nick's Organic Farm and Brickyard Education Farm in Montgomery County, and Caroline Taylor, Executive Director, Montgomery Countryside Alliance. Pretty awesome, huh? (And did I mention I will be moderator for the event?)

The weather may be beautiful on Saturday, but this can't-miss-local-food-event is worth you time. It will be held this Saturday, June 2, from 2-4pm in the Main Auditorium of the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave. in Takoma Park, MD 20912. The event is sponsored by the Food, Farm & Freedom Coalition, the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-op, and the City of Takoma Park.  Click here for more information.

Come bring your questions, and find out what is being legislated and what is being advocated through food policy councils and local food organizations... and what you can do to support the effort! Note: There will be an onsite food drive - please consider bringing some nonperishables to help feed those in need.

Salad Parties in MC Elementary Schools!

How often do you hear the words "salad" and "party" together? Music for the locavore's ear, wouldn't you say?

Well "Salad Science," run by Montgomery County's Audubon Naturalist Society through its GreenKids program, provides salad growing tables, curriculum, and hands on assistance to elementary schools in our county that want to give their students an experience in food growing. This year GreenKids served 1200 students in 12 or our county's 128 elementary schools. And it ends with a big Salad Party at the end of the year.

I must admit I was a little skeptical when I was asked to assist, as a Montgomery County Master Gardener, with the Salad Party at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School. But I was delighted to find that the 3rd graders were truly excited to harvest the greens they grew, even if it was only a handful or two, and that all 75-80 of them totally enjoyed the resulting salad they ate - with many asking for seconds!

According to Jenny Brown, Coordinator of the GreenKids program, "Salad Science and the Salad Parties that conclude the program are wildly popular with teachers, students and parents alike. What we have to do now is find the money to continue this great program - and hopefully expand it."

Watching classrooms of young kids enthusiastically harvest vegetables, and then clamor for more after eating them, strikes me as exactly the type of program we need more of in our schools. Thank you, Audubon Naturalist Society for running this... and let's put our heads together to figure out how the program can grow!

It's Garlic Scape Season!

There are a couple times of year when garlic lovers can get especially excited, and garlic scape season is one of them.

Garlic scapes are the long, twisty flowering stems produced by hardneck garlic varieties, and for most of us they appear in late May/early June. As you can tell from this picture of my own harvest, they are one of the funkiest-looking things growing in the garden outside of kohlrabi. The scape needs to be removed to coax the garlic plant into putting all its energy into bulb development, and as it turns out this is a great thing for us humans as well, because minced up with a little bit of olive oil and parmigiano cheese, garlic scapes make one of the most unforgettable pestos you'll ever have.

Click here for a good recipe for this simple yet amazing pesto. (While the nuts are optional, consider trying walnuts as a cheaper alternative to pistachios or -gasp!- the wildly expensive pine nuts.) Fresh garlic scape pesto - check it out, there's really nothing else quite like it!!

Farming in the Sky

What do you do if you want to farm but live in a city, with little if any available land? What about growing on a rooftop? 

Ben Kramer is one of the founders of Brooklyn Grange, a 40,000 square foot (just a touch under an acre) farm on top of a 7-story warehouse near the border of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. Ben spoke at Brookside Gardens' Green Matters Symposium this spring, and invited everyone to visit. As it happens I was traveling through Brooklyn on Memorial Day weekend, and since farmers know no holidays, it turned out to be a fine time to stop by.

Brooklyn Grange grows a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers you would expect to find at any small local farm, and sells them to restaurants, through a CSA, and at farmers markets. They employ five people, and involve dozens more as interns and volunteers. (Sometimes too many people, according to their Farm Manager Michael - but hey, look at the view!) The word has gotten around in locavore-minded Brooklyn, so much so that that they are already opening a second rooftop farm nearby.

MVG likes to highlight local farms, and Brooklyn is not local by anyone's definition; yet this seems like a fantastic model for any area that has little available land, but lots of big buildings with flat roofs. Sound like some place you know? How long can it be before the example of Brooklyn Grange, and other rooftop farms like it, sparks the creation of the first rooftop farm or community garden right here in southern Montgomery County??

MD Becomes First State to Ban Arsenic in Poultry Food

Maryland has officially become the first state in the nation to officially ban any poultry feed containing arsenic.

The new law, which Gov. O'Malley signed on May 23 and which takes effect on Jan 1, 2013 prohibits the use, sale, or distribution of commercial feed containing arsenic. The legislation specifically mentions two products made by Pfizer drugs, one still on the market and one since withdrawn.

And while the Food Safety News article on this happy event duly notes the USDA study showing that - surprise surprise - chickens fed with arsenic tend to retain some of the carcinogen in their bodies, it unfortunately fails to mention the grassroots campaign that helped steer our Sate Legislature in the right direction, one that MVGers have supported in the past. (Another major concern for those campaigning is the tens of thousands of pounds of arsenic-laced chicken manure that gets washed into the Chesapeake Bay each year.)

Given the original insanity of adding arsenic, a known carcinogen, to the feed of animals raised for human consumption (apparently it speeds growth), this seems like a small step in the process of transforming one of the uglier manifestations of our current industrial food system. But at the same time it's an important step forward.  And in a state where poultry is such a major industry, and has such leverage in the state capitol, well... this achievement ain't exactly chicken feed!  (Meaning we done good.)  Congratulations to all those who made this victory possible!

The National Battle Over GMOs Intensifies

As this article from the NY Times describes, the battle over the labeling and use of genetically engineered foods, or GMOs (genetically modified organisms), continues to escalate. The national Just Label It petition to the FDA, featured previously on the MVG Update, gathered over one million signatures. Individuals, such as the activist in the Times article (and photo below), are practicing civil resistance by labeling foods themselves. And numerous states are considering laws to require labeling of GMOs - most importantly California, which has an initiative on the ballot this fall.

The Times article is accurate in describing the growing intensity of this battle. The article is quite inaccurate, however, in portraying the labeling effort as something akin to the panicked reaction of vaguely concerned consumers being herded along by self-interested organic farming interests.

There are numerous health, agricultural and environmental concerns over GMOs shared by scientists, public health advocates, farmers and food activists the world over - so much so that dozens of countries require labeling of any foods containing GMOs, and a number outright ban them. (And don't forget that most of these crops are engineered by a tiny handful of agribusiness firms to resist specific herbicides that they conveniently produce - a process that has inevitably resulted in herbicide overuse, the emergence of herbicide resistant super weeds, and yet more - and more dangerous - chemicals being proposed.) Yet despite the lack of any long term testing, our FDA has routinely approved every single application for a genetically-engineered crop ever submitted.

It should also be noted (pardon me for going on here, but this article really ticked me off) that those most assiduously promoting GMOs (we see you, Monsanto!) are hardly the selfless actors portrayed in the article, interested only in solving the program of world hunger. (Hardly.) And if the reporters had done their research, they would know that numerous peer-reviewed studies, including many from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, conclude that GMOs have been a failure when it comes to delivering increased yields, let alone more nutritious food, and that small scale non-industrial and organic farming is the only real option for feeding the world.

But as the article helpfully points out, the tide on GMOs is beginning to turn here in the U.S. So stay tuned to this page for future updates, and opportunities to participate in the campaign!

Two Hot Upcoming Classes - Composting and Food Preservation!

Compost is essential to creating fertile soil, but making it is a mystery to many. Can eggshells, coffee grounds and other food wastes go into compost? Do you need to turn it? Does it have to get hot, and how do you know when it's done? These questions and more will be answered in "Successful Composting" a guide to the art (and science) of turning organic waste into "black gold," with examples of simple and inexpensive composting methods including vermicomposting, an effective method of composting using worms. The workshop, presented by Montgomery Victory Gardens, will be held at the Silver Spring Whole Foods Market on Wednesday, June 13 from 6:30 - 8pm. Click here for more info and to register.

Food preservation has become a hot topic for Maryland citizens with increasing numbers of consumers interested in learning up-to-date techniques and safety procedures for preserving their garden's bounty. The University of Maryland Extension Office in Montgomery County is offering hands-on food preservation classes to teach basic USDA approved canning techniques. A water bath canning class for high acid foods such as tomatoes, fruits, jams and jellies will be held on June 8 from 9 a.m. to noon. A pressure canning class for low acid foods like vegetables and meats will be held June 19, from 9 a.m.-noon. Both classes will be held at the UME Montgomery County Office at 18410 Muncaster Rd., Derwood, Md 20855.

Cost is $35 and includes a copy of So Easy to Preserve, handouts and materials for a hands-on canning activity. Space is limited so sign up now - click here for registration information.

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That's it for now! Here's hoping we see a whole bunch of you at tomorrow's panel discussion on "Food Security in Maryland!"