It's APRIL FOOD DAY

Today is April Food Day and it’s no joke.

More and more people in our country are going hungry because they have lost their jobs, their benefits have ended, they can’t find a job and have no place left to turn but to their local food bank. But the nation’s food banks are stretched to the limit because of the increased number of people needing their services.

You might think that none of your friends are going hungry, but I read a comment on a piece NPR did about a photography exhibit about hunger in America, and think it could apply to any one of us:

…a dear friend and community member crossed over. At his one year crossing remembrance, stories began to come out and I realized with great sorrow, our friend went hungry. I feel sad when I think of it, that our dear friend who gave so much and was so generous in spirit and friendship was hungry and we never knew that. How did we not make it our business to know how it was with him we loved so?

Please make a donation to Feeding America, or your local food bank, and count yourself as one of the lucky ones if you’re not going to bed hungry every night. Feeding America has set up a special URL for April Food Day so they can see how much we’ve donated.

If you’re a blogger, tweeter, facebooker or have an e-mail list, please share this address. Let me know if you’ve posted about April Food Day, and we will add you to the list of participants on the April Food Day site.

Thank you very much.

Story on NPR About Hunger

Interestingly, there was a story about hunger in America this afternoon on NPR. You can listen to it here.

Photographer Michael Nye has been documenting the faces and voices of hunger — those who are newly hungry, others who have experienced hunger all their lives, and some who have known it temporarily but unforgettably.

His new exhibition, "About Hunger & Resilience," is on display at San Antonio's Witte Museum.

April Food Day Details – Are you in?

April 1 is just two days away and we’re preparing for the second annual April Food Day blog event. This year, Chris Cox, Editor of Easy & Elegant Life, and I hope that people will post the link on twitter and facebook, and share the information with their friends and colleagues.

Feeding America has provided April Food Day with a special link that will track the giving, and so we will know what an impact it’s had.

Here are some facts to use in writing about April Food Day:

• Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006, when we were feeding 25 million Americans, including 9 million children, each year.
• That means one in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food and groceries.
• Feeding America's nationwide network of food banks is feeding 1 million more Americans each week than we did in 2006.
• Thirty-six percent of the households served have at least one person working.
• More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.
• The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.
• Feeding America food banks provide food and groceries to 33,500 food pantries, 4,500 soup kitchens and 3,600 emergency shelters.
• 68 percent of pantries, 42 percent of soup kitchens, and 15 percent of emergency shelters rely solely on volunteers and have no paid staff.
• 55 percent, are faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organizations; 33 percent are other types of non-profit organizations.

There are several important links to include:

• Feeding America’s website
• The link to their April Food Day donation page
• My e-mail
• Chris’s e-mail

Last but not least, please let either Chris or me know that you’ve posted about April Food Day, so that we can add you to our list of participants. We had about 150 bloggers last year and would love to double that in 2010!

Thanks for helping us make a difference!

Meg & Chris

One Organic Chicken: Thinking Thrifty, Thinking Sustainable

When I was a teenager, I became a vegetarian. I was also an avid foodie and cook. This meant that I learned how to cook as a vegetarian. When I moved into my own house, I cooked vegetarian meals. When I decided to reintegrate minimal amounts of meat into my diet, I still had no idea how to cook most meat.

To this day, I don’t know how to cook and carve a chicken. It’s a confession that shocks my British mother-in-law, but it’s a fact. My neighbors invited me over to dinner a couple of weeks ago, and they asked me to carve the chicken. I did, but it wasn’t pretty, not at all.

We purchase a limited amount of meat every week, generally one package of free range beef. I’ve had a hard time sourcing local free range and organic chickens, so we don’t eat all that much chicken. However, a conversation the other day may have steered me in the direction of a local farmer who raises chickens in an ethical and environmentally-friendly way, and I’m excited.

My beef is from far away, relatively speaking. Yes, it’s from within my province, but the province where I live is a fairly large area, and the beef is from way, way beyond any scope of 100 kilometers. There’s one local beef producer that I’d like to buy from and do upon occasion, but he requires a very large order and we really don’t want to eat and store that much meat.

The part of the conversation that excited me wasn’t necessarily about a source of chicken, however. The part that excited me was the reminder that a small chicken can feed a family for the week. You can have chicken one night, a meal with pieces of chicken another night, and then you can use the bones for soup. I like the idea of using the entire chicken. If I am going to eat meat, I want to be thrifty about it, and this is something that we don’t do in our beef consumption.

It looks like we may be entering into the world of cooking and carving whole chickens. It’s been twenty years since I learned how to cook, and it’s been a decade and a half of cooking for myself. My British mother-in-law would be pleased.

If you eat meat, do you purchase it with multiple and thrifty uses in mind?

I'm lame... but I'm married!

OK. So it's been almost a month since I've given you a post. I know, I suck. I've been busy! On Saturday the 20th, I became a Mrs. We had an all vegan wedding! It was not in New York; it was in New Orleans, my other home. You probably already know all of this. I'm just sayin'. This isn't my usual lameness. This is semi-valid lameness!

I'll be back home (the other home) in a few days, and then maybe I'll get my ass in gear and tell you about a few things: the beans I've been cooking, the three amazing restaurants I've eaten at down here, that little shindig of mine, et cetera. For now, my husband awaits... ;)

When is a Weed Not a Weed? Sustainable and Holistic Gardening

Last week I wrote about our concept of weeds. Weeds are plants that we don’t want. However, many of our weeds are quite useful plants. We may not want them in our farms and gardens, but many so-called weeds are not inherently bad. They’re just a little naughty and enjoy traipsing around where they’re not wanted.

Permaculture is a gardening concept that is about far more than gardening. It’s the idea that a gardener can create an ecological system that sustains itself, much like a forest would. Except that this ecological system is a garden. Many of those who practice permaculture approach weeds very differently than the average gardener.

In the permaculture method of gardening, you listen to your weeds. Weeds are telling you something. If your garden only grows weeds and your desired plants look sickly, those weeds are sending you a clear message. In fact, they’re being extremely useful and you should thank them. Perhaps they’re telling you that your soil is low on nutrients so that only tough plants can grow there. They might be telling you that you’re tilling the soil an awful lot and that all of the weed seeds are coming to the surface and growing with vigorous delight. They may also be telling you that the location of your garden is not ideal for the plants that you’re growing, and that your garden receives too little light, too much heat, or too much wind. Listen to the weeds. They have wisdom too.

Permaculture gardeners also work to create a diverse ecology in which weeds play only a small role. It’s not that the weeds are not in the garden, it’s just that they are surrounded by the vigorous growth of other plants. By creating a diverse garden with plant species suited to the conditions in which they grow, a gardener can develop a garden system that discourages weeds. By mulching and practicing low-till agriculture, a gardener can discourage weeds even more.

And after this, if there are still weeds, that’s all right. You use them. Use it and lose it. Permaculture’s approach towards weeds is one that I love, especially for those edibles that love to take over the garden, like borage, comfrey, dandelions, and mint. The ethic is this: plants that grow in abundance should be used in abundance. Use your dandelions and your comfrey and your borage and you will control their populations. Pick them and dig them and get angry with them, and they will spread their seeds and little pieces of themselves around the garden. Work with what’s there, and if you can’t figure out a way to use those plants that we may call invasive or weedy, look again.

The permaculture approach to weeds is much more than spray and run. It’s a holistic view of weeds that promotes the development of a healthy garden ecosystem.

Crop Mobs Lend a Helping Hand to Small Sustainable Farms

A lot of us, myself included, tend to hold a romanticized vision of farming. We imagine ourselves as farmers, working the land, in harmony with nature, fill our bellies and the bellies of our communities with beautiful, fresh food. In reality, it’s one thing to garden; it’s another to farm. Running a successful and profitable farm is tough work. You have to really love it to do it, and even then it’s still hard.

Which is why most farmers will never turn down a helping hand, and why those of us who are dreamy farmer wannabes, should offer one. There are lots of opportunities to do this, and it can be as simple and as informal as walking down to your local farm and pulling up some weeds. But there are also more organized ways of helping farmers farm, and they’re a bit more impactful.

Recently, National Public Radio and, subsequently, the New York Times, both featured a story on crop mobs. Crop mobs are usually composed of aspiring farmers, food activists, and community members who, with the assistance of blogs and Facebook, coordinate their efforts and “mob” a local farm. The mob descends upon the farm full of energy and with the intention of putting a big dent in the farm owner’s to-do list. Plant some trees? Lay a fence? Clear a field? Repair the barn? All of that is easily accomplished in a matter of hours by a group of 20 or more eager, and often knowledgeable, helpers. Crop mobs have been likened to a modern version of the barn raising, and the recent national exposure has incited similar organized movements all over the U.S.

If you can’t hook up with a crop mob in your area, you can still be a big help on your local farm. Becoming a CSA member at a nearby farm is a big help in and of itself because the money you pay at the beginning of the season enables the farmer to buy seeds and supplies. But at many farms you can also participate in CSA member work days, when community members who have a share are encouraged to come out to the farm and dig in and experience the work that goes in to the bag of food they receive each week. Many farms also offer work shares, for which the shareholder agrees to work a certain number of hours each week in exchange for a bag of seasonal veggies.

If you are really serious about learning more about farming, or just want to be a more integrated part of your favorite local farm, you might consider doing a farm apprenticeship. And apprenticeship is usually a full-time, full-season commitment that benefits both the farmer and the apprentice. The farmer gets an extra hand and the apprentice gains knowledge about all aspects of the farm. Apprenticeships usually provide a small stipend, or room and board, plus all the veggies you can eat.

Whichever way you are able to help, I encourage you to become more invested in your local farms, and to really get your hands dirty, in order to better appreciate all the hard work your farmers are putting in to providing their communities with good food.