In fact, there isn't much the Ag Fair doesn't have, from carnival rides to arts and crafts exhibits, from prize winning goats and pigs to a group rescuing injured raptors and owls, from baked goods and fresh veggies to contests in Flower Arranging, the Veggie 500 Races (don't ask!), and Invitational Cheese Carving. And speaking of cheese, "The Big Cheese" stand at the Fair is shooting for a record 10,000 grilled cheese sandwiches sold this year - having sampled them in the past, I'd say it's well worth helping them reach this milestone. (Cheddar cheese, butter and bread - what's not to love?!)
Remember, all the fun and action begins today, August 9 at 3pm at the Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg. Click here for directions, fees, and schedules for all your favorite activities - and we'll see you at the Fair!
Yes You Can Grow School Gardens in Summer!
While many schools try to plan around summer when creating their school food gardens, it's perfectly possible to keep one going from spring through the fall, as we found some schools doing in our MC school veggie garden survey (published in the Gazette and the Post!).
One of them is Flower Hill Elementary School in Gaithersburg. According to Karla Kratovil, Vice-President of the school's PTA, "we kept our garden going in the summer for two reasons. First, many of our spring crops were still growing and needed tending. The second reason was the enthusiasm of our students and staff about the garden. Everyone asked me if we would grow vegetables in the summer." (Two of the summer gardeners, Cole Kratovil and Charles Clawson, are pictured at right.)
What's her secret? She added "It's important to have committed volunteers to keep your garden going all summer - but not as many as you might think. We have five families, each with an assigned day of the week to water and help weed. Equally as important is a good relationship with your building services staff - they control access to the building and water! Our building services manager has been a critical member of our team. I never guessed our students would be so excited about eating salad, and now as they return in late August there will be zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers ready for harvesting and tasting. I know this will further fuel the student's enthusiasm and interest in knowing how our food grows."
Way to go, Karla and Flower Hill ES, for teaching kids where their food comes from, and building community in the process! Here's hoping more schools decide to keep their food gardens growing all year - including the summer! For a list of all the MC County schools currently known to have edible/veggie school gardens, click here.
Backyard Chickens in Montgomery County?
Backyard chickens can be great pets, and also great sources of inexpensive, organic eggs. This is the message spreading across the U.S. as dozens of municipalities have adopted chicken friendly ordinances - and Montgomery County could be next.
The new zoning code , to be approved this summer by the County Council, has provisions that will increase the ability of local homeowners to raise some of their own chickens. The proposal is not without opposition, as demonstrated in the Washington Post report "Backyard hens have residents clucking," but momentum seems to be swinging the way of the chickens. (Read also the follow up LTE, "Chickens can make for good neighbors.")
"Backyard chickens are a delight. They are great pets, produce great eggs, are easy to care for, environmentally-friendly, and support an overall, sustainable environment," say the organizers of a new informational web site, Montgomery County Backyard Chickens. "We're close to having new zoning laws passed which will make small-scale 'animal husbandry' legal. But it's not a sure thing, and the fight is still on. We need citizens to express their support to the council."
Want to know what to do to help this local food initiative, or to find out more about how you could keep your own backyard chickens? Then just click here! [And please note: the county's animal shelters are full already, and there was a recent story about Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary having to take in abandoned chickens - so please do consider carefully what is needed before you make the decision to raise some yourself...]
GMOs, Oranges and Herbicides
We all know - or MVG readers should know, at this point! - about the struggles surrounding genetically engineered food, also called genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. There are significant concerns around their long-term health impacts on humans, as well as their impacts on the environment and non-GMO crops... so much so that 64 nations around the world require labeling of products containing them. Not so in the U.S. however, where our government is unduly influenced, to put it mildly, by GMO producers like Monsanto, and our FDA, which has approved every GMO crop ever submitted, summarily ignores the call of 1.2 million Americans for GMO labeling (the largest number of comments on any issue in FDA history).
As citizens groups in numerous states have followed California's lead to mount their own GMO labeling campaigns, this all begs an important question: can GMO crops be useful or good in any way?
"A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA," from the NY Times, reports on 
efforts to halt an impending collapse of the commercial orange crop in Florida from a disease known as "citrus greening." One of the efforts involves genetic engineering, and while the reporter gives short shrift to the potential dangers of GMOs (not so the reader comments at the end of the story), it is clear that it is an alternative to massively increased spraying - and perhaps the only alternative to save the orange crops.
That, however, is the exception rather than the rule. For as two new reports in July showed, the widespread use of GMO crops in the U.S. has actually increased the use of herbicides, rather than decreased them. And that is very bad news.
Clearly not every GMO crop is made equal, and some might indeed be very useful, with minimal environmental impact. But how can we to trust the judgement of government agencies and scientists, when they have become so compromised by the very corporations that stand to profit from the GMOs?
Fast Food Workers Stage Walkouts for Fair Wages
One of the major problems with our industrial food system, beyond its environmental or health impacts, or mistreatment of animals, is the very low wages and poor treatment of food workers around the country, from pickers working in the field to servers cooking and selling the nation's fast food.
We have covered the successful struggle of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers this year, and now, starting just two weeks ago, numerous workers at fast food outlets such as McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King are staging protests and walk outs, demanding a living wage. The average age of these workers is 28 - they're not kids - and supporting a family on the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is beyond difficult. And beyond unjust, when you consider that the companies they work for make billions of dollars in profits each year.
Of course it's hard to support the industry they work for, which is both a central component and the end point for much of the industrial food system, including the systematic mistreatment of animals known as "factory-farmed" meat. But as a wise rabbi once noted, "We need to have courage to live with ambiguity in this world." Even if we don't eat fast food, we need to support ALL food workers in getting a living wage. Thanks for honking your car horn or sharing a few supportive words in passing if you see them, and doing anything else you can to support their just cause.
You can check out the issue being discussed on the Colbert Report this week. As usual, he manages to make you laugh even as you might clench your fist in anger...
Red Wiggler Community Farm Harvest Celebration - September 7
It is our pleasure and privilege at MVG to promote some of the best farms in the county, and this month we'd like to shine a light again on our friends at Red Wiggler Community Farm in Germantown.
Founded in 1996, Red Wiggler is Montgomery County's longest running CSA; a certified organic farm, it provides employment and vocational training for adults with developmental disabilities and inclusive on-farm service learning opportunities for youth and adults, with and without disabilities. A third of the produce is distributed to low-income populations throughout Montgomery County through Red Wiggler's Farm to Group Home and Farm to Food Bank programs.
On Saturday, September 7th, Red Wiggler will hold its annual Harvest Celebration and Silent Auction. This is the farm's flagship event celebrating the bounty in the fields, the hard work of the Growers and the volunteers, young and old, who make the growing season such a success. It's a true farm celebration with music, local vegetarian fare and drinks, a silent auction, some good company, and a great view!
So please join us in celebrating the great work of Red Wiggler Community Farm at their Harvest Celebration on September 7! For ticket and Silent Auction information, visit their website here, or by calling 301-916-2216.
