Join us for our first Slow Sips of the year. Meet our board and learn what's up for 2016 in the Good, Clean & Fair Food for All world. Plus, meet the folks behind the meat at Tiger!Tiger! and their friendly bakers.
But wait, there's more! Light snacks provided and SFUSD members get 10% off food and drinks. RAWR, indeed!
Slow Sips are networking and community-building events put on by Slow Food chapters. It's one of the ways we celebrate food as a cornerstone of community.
https://youtu.be/jhaCp2dD1s0 Show your love and appreciation for local fishermen by sending them to Slow Fish 2016 in New Orleans this March!
Slow Food Urban San Diego is sending two fishermen. Support the campaign to help send more from around the world!
Slow Fish 2016 will bring together fishermen, chefs and other fishing community stakeholders from around the world to highlight successes and challenges in bringing good clean and fair seafood to all: from changing ecosystems to variable fish stock health; privatization of the public resource to issues surrounding fair price and working waterfronts; and how we can improve access to fresh local seafood.
by Sarah Shoffler, SFUSD Board Member
I used to think that “rockstar” had to be the best job in the world. According to Cecilia Naldoni, winemaker at the Grifalco Winery in Basilicata, Italy, I was wrong.
“We do the best job in the world.”
One of four winemakers from Italy touring southern California this month as part of Slow Wine 2016, Naldoni and her colleagues love what they do, despite the difficulties.
Join us for Slow Wine with the Matriarchs on Friday, January 29th.
Slow Food believes that wine, just as with food, must be good, clean, and fair – not just good. Slow Wine supports small-scale Italian winemakers who use traditional techniques, respect the environment and terroir, and safeguard the diversity of Italy’s grapes.
“Slow Wine is how we approach life. It is our philosophy,” says Naldoni. But this lifestyle, this philosophy is not easy to affect. “The difficulty is that our world is going the opposite way, and we have to resist and fight this a lot.”
Sorelle Bronca, whose winemaker Antonella Bronca is on tour, grows their vines on high steep hills in Veneto, where standing can be difficult, let alone farming. Moreover, organic wine, which all four visiting winemakers produce, in general tends to produce lower yields than conventionally-produced wines. Basilicata, where the Grifalco winery is located, is the most mountainous region in Italy, which can’t make farming grapes easy.
While producing the high quality “Slow Wines” that these women make takes sacrifice and work in difficult land, they contend that making wine this way is worth it. The rewards are substantial. “Slow wine rewards not only the wine but also the relationship of the grower with the territory,” claims Elisa Piazza, enologist at Sorelle Bronca in Veneto, Italy.
Angela Fronti of Istine in Tuscany says that the most rewarding part is being able to produce what she loves in the way she loves. “Maybe in the beginning it was difficult to change the mentality of my parents. They are from a generation who produced conventionally. But actually, they are happy now, too,” says Fronti.
“We are a woman company that produces high quality wines and, like people do with women, we pamper our vineyards and land,” says Piazza whose family has been producing wine for three generations. “Wine is the pleasure of life,” she contends.
Naldoni describes the pleasure she has in producing Slow Wine and how the wines themselves benefit. “We are always under the sky, looking up and thinking about our vineyard. We can be responsible, sensitive and manage our grapes as we would a little child, leaving his best peculiarities alive, and just letting him be what he can be, at his best.”
Saluti to letting wine be its best self.
Join us at Slow Wine with the Matriarchs to meet these Italian vintners on Friday, January 29th at The Rose in South Park. 6:30-8:30 pm.
Angela Fronti of Istine from Tuscany Antonella Bronca of Sorelle Bronca from Veneto Cecillia Naldoni Piccin of Grifalco from Basilicata Matilda Poggi of Le Fraghe from Veneto
Taste 8+ wines, enjoy a complimentary aperativo, and chat with four rad ladies making organic wine. $5 from every ticket benefits Slow Food Urban San Diego.
Buy your tickets ahead of time or at the door.
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Slow Food Urban San Diego is excited to announce the arrival of the Winter 2015/6 issue of Edible San Diego for Kids. This issue is all about dairy and meat. It features articles written by and for San Diego kids, a delicious recipe and a gardening activity.
This issue is appropriate for 4th through 6th grade independent readers. It may also be worked into lesson plans for younger students or sent home for reading with their families.
Edible San Diego for Kids is produced by Slow Food Urban San Diego's Education Committee in collaboration with Edible San Diego.
If you are interested in having copies delivered to your school, please email LisaJoy@slowfoodurbansandiego.org
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Join us for a collaborative gathering of fishermen, scientists, chefs, students, co-producers and gastronomes from across continental North America and beyond, searching to find solutions to the many challenges that affect fisheries, habitats, oceans, and cultural seafood systems in New Orleans, March 10th - 13th.
In addition to a conference in the Old US Mint and a seafood festival in the French Market, Slow Fish 2016 in New Orleans will feature a traditional Lenten Friday Night Fish Fry at the French Market, tours of Louisiana’s rapidly disappearing wetlands and coast and other events around town and throughout the region.We guarantee that anyone brave enough to attend will have a great time, incredible food experiences, and will never ever look at watersheds, waterways, oceans and seafood the same way again.
We at Slow Food Urban San Diego are helping plan this awesome event. Let us know if you'd like to get involved or help send local fishermen and students. Here are some other ways you help:
Want to host a local fundraiser to send local fishermen and students? Let us know!
Write a blog. If you or someone you know would like to write a blog on the topic of good, clean, and fair seafood for all -- we wanna highlight you!
Be a presenter. Share stories and your experiences around seafood business, healthy oceans, and fish policy. See our request for Pesce-Kucha style presentations or email us directly.
Sign up to volunteer!
Share this information with your friends.
Slow Fish 2016
Please contact us with any questions or if you'd like to get involved in any way!
Email: Sarah@slowfoodurbansandiego.org
SFUSD welcomes three new board members this month: Darcy Shiber-Knowles, Lisa Joy and Stephanie Parker. Our full roster for 2016 is listed below. We've reorganized the board, collapsing and expanding some positions. We look forward to working towards a Good, Clean & Fair San Diego food system and sharing with our San Diego community this coming year! Stay tuned for upcoming celebrations and efforts.
Rachel Helmer - Chair Sarah Shoffler - Vice Chair & Communications Coordinator Dana Palermo - Secretary Darcy Shiber-Knowles - Treasurer Kathryn Rogers - Food Justice Chair & Outreach Coordinator Tania Alatorre - Good Food Community Fair & Volunteer Coordinator Stephanie Parker - Farm Liaison & Ark of Taste Chair Lisa Joy - Education Chair
Learn more about them here.
We also extend our warmth and gratitude to the board members who recently stepped down: Jennifer Leong, Chelsea Coleman, Owen Salerno, Lydia Wisz, Aundrea Dominguez, Jessica Barlow, Christina Nelson and Adina Batnitzky. We so appreciate your contributions and leadership over the past several years and know that our future accomplishments will rest on the shoulders of your efforts.
Interested in joining our board? We still have room for a Communications Chair, Fundraising Chair and Membership Chair. Learn more about these positions here.
Pacific to Plate Bill San Diego
By Kathryn Rogers and Sarah Shoffler, Slow Food Urban San Diego Board Members
Slow Food Urban San Diego (SFUSD) joined the San Diego Food System Alliance (SDFSA), local fishermen, scientists, government leaders and community partners this week in celebration of local fisheries.
On December 7, 2015, more than 100 fish-loving friends gathered together at the waterfront Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego for inspiring speeches, a lively panel discussion and delicious local seafood served in honor of the recent passage of the “Pacific to Plate” bill AB226. The new bill, sponsored by Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and signed into law in October by Governor Jerry Brown, allows fishermen’s markets to operate as food facilities, vendors to clean their fish for direct sale, and multiple fishermen to organize a market under a single permit. Put simply, the bill makes it easier for fishermen to sell directly to the public, much like farmers can.
Chef Graham Kent, of SoCal Fish, and his staff prep uni shooters for attendees to try
The process to develop the bill sprung from the early success of Tuna Harbor Dockside Market (THDM), which opened to the public in August 2014 and averaged more than 350 customers and 1.1 tons of seafood sold each week in its first months of operation. Recognizing the potential of a longer-term, direct-to-consumer market (the original operated under a temporary permit), County Supervisor Greg Cox, the County’s Department of Environmental Health, Port Commissioner Bob Nelson, the Unified Port of San Diego, California Sea Grant, NOAA, California Restaurant Association, The Maritime Alliance, California Coastal Conservancy, the local media, fishermen, researchers and supporters collaborated to draft a bill that met the desires of local fishermen and consumers. It received unanimous support in the California Assembly and Senate.
How does the new bill align with Slow Food’s mission of Good, Clean and Fair Food for All?
Good: The bill makes it easier for local fishermen to sell directly to consumers, and eliminates added transit time and processing/freezing compared to seafood imported from other countries or regions. The fish sold at THDM is caught by San Diego fishermen in local waters, most of it coming out of our oceans no more than a couple of days before it ends up in consumers’ kitchens. If you’ve ever tasted fresh caught sea urchin (a San Diego local favorite), you can tell the difference - big time. If you haven’t, get yourself down to THDM for an uni scramble or shooter. Your taste buds may never be the same.
Clean: Local sourcing means a smaller carbon footprint - no added fuel costs for fish flown or trucked to our markets from other states and countries. And US fisheries are among the most stringently regulated the world, meaning that if there’s a problem – either we’re fishing them too fast, there are too few or we’re catching protected species, we are mandated to do something about it. Our fishermen are required to stop fishing, slow fishing, or change fishing practices in some way to ensure we’re fishing sustainably.
Fair: One of the greatest benefits of a true fishermen’s market is that it promotes collaboration among local fishermen. Take it from fisherman Pete Halmay, a member of the Fishermen’s Market Working Group and longtime sea urchin diver:
“One of the best things I've seen with this direct market is that every Saturday 10 to 12 fishermen sit down together, work together, to maximize the benefits to the population. They are bringing in a wider variety of fish so each fisherman can generate more sales and bring more diverse options to consumers.”
San Diego’s seafood is wide-ranging indeed. We don't have just tuna and shrimp (two of the most commonly eaten seafood products in the US) in our waters. Our harbors and oceans are full of rockfish (dozens of species!), crab, lobster and snails, among other smaller fish like sardines, sand dabs, and mackerel.
Manchester Grand Hyatt Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa and Scripps Mercy Chef Cindy Quinonez admire the wide variety of rockfish available at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market
For All: The direct-to-consumer market allows fishermen to run specials when they catch a big run of fish, passing the abundance onto consumers in the form of lower prices.
The passage of the Pacific to Plate bill is a major milestone in bringing good, clean and fair seafood to all San Diegans. So what’s next?
During Monday’s event, Dr. Theresa Sinicrope Talley, Coastal Specialist for the California Sea Grant Extension at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego moderated an expert panel that raised some important questions about where we can go from here to create an even more sustainable seafood system. Barriers to getting seafood from dock to dish still remain, including:
Lack of infrastructure for San Diego fishermen to offload their catch at local docks.
Logistical constraints including limited market hours (currently Tuna Harbor Dockside Market is only open Saturdays from 8 a.m. until around 1 p.m.) that make it hard from some consumers and chefs to get there.
Limited awareness among locals and visitors that the market exists, where else they can buy local seafood, and how they can prepare the less well known seafood produced locally.
Stay tuned for local efforts to address these issues. In the meantime, SFUSD is seeking local chefs and community partners interested in collaborating on these efforts. Contact us to learn more.
And, be sure to pay a visit to THDM to see these fish tales come to life. While you’re there, make sure to ask your local fishermen for their favorite seafood preparations!
Tuna Harbor Dockside Market
By Kathryn Rogers, SFUSD Board of Directors
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The holiday season is a time to celebrate with family and friends. A time to select that perfect gift from a local vendor for someone special. A time to indulge in holiday libations and decadent feasts. A time to give thanks and share a little extra cheer with those in need.
With 1 in 7 San Diego County residents experiencing food insecurity, food distribution programs and meal donations can go a long way in helping families get their basic needs met. Aligned with Slow Food’s vision of Good, Clean and Fair Food for All, here we share our top tips for how to give back to our local community this holiday season.
Participating in the San Diego Food Bank’s 2015 Holiday Food Drive by purchasing a pre-filled bag of food at a local Vons, donating online, or hosting a food drive at your workplace or community center.
Joining Feeding San Diego in its goal to raise one million meals for local families in need this holiday season. Learn more about how you can donate your time or dollars on their website.
Supporting our local military and veteran community by adopting a military family for the holiday season. When you purchase commissary or grocery cards for your adopted family, you are helping to nourish both their bodies and joyful spirits.
Donating a Farm Fresh to You box to a local family in need, bringing the gift of healthy produce to their doorstep.
Honoring your friends and family by donating to a local, sustainable food organization or ordering an organic CSA box in their name. This wonderful gift will keep on giving – supporting a healthier, more delicious and just world for them and their neighbors to live in. Check out Suzie’s Farm or San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project for inspiration.
Here’s to a happy, healthy and nourishing holiday season for all San Diegans!
By Lisa Churchville, SFUSD Member
I love a good bowl of soup. I like it steaming hot and full of goodies. I want the soup to delight my taste buds and fill my belly. This hearty soup has a smoky background, with a touch of heat and a touch of sweet.
What you’ll need to serve six people:
Directions:
Drizzle some oil into a big soup pot. Drop in the onion and sauté until soft. Add the ground meat and garlic, and sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Break up the meat while it’s browning. Once the meat is cooked through, add the diced tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, sweet potato, oregano, paprika, and salt. Bring to a boil. Add the kale.
I know this looks like A LOT
but it cooks down to this.
Cover the pot and lower to a simmer for 15-20 minutes until a fork can go through the sweet potato. Add sliced hot Italian sausage and simmer another 5-10 minutes until it's heated through.
What's YOUR favorite autumn recipe? Share it with us on Facebook!
Join us for some end-of-year fun! Champagne and local wine specials and pairings just for Slow Sippers, plus happy hour appetizer specials.
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By Slow Food Urban San Diego Board Member, Kathryn Rogers
In sunny San Diego, with our near-perfect year round weather that is the envy of northern dwellers across the country, one of the strongest indicators (besides those 4:30 sunsets) of the long-anticipated holiday season is a whole lot of marketing. We get e-blasts, mailers and point-of-purchase reminders galore that the best way to celebrate this holiday season is by buying as much as possible.
Long gone are the days when retail employees spent the Thanksgiving holiday at home with their loved ones. Now we can jump on those holiday deals while we’re still in the first clutches of a Thanksgiving feast food coma. We’ve traded retail therapy for good, old-fashioned family time.
This Thanksgiving, Slow Food Urban San Diego invites you to reclaim your dining table with gratitude for the bounty of food and the people who produced it, with a heritage turkey and locally sourced, seasonal side dishes. You can enjoy slow living the whole weekend and throughout the season, perhaps by opting for these five local activities in lieu of the mad crowded rush that is Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Visit a Farmers’ Market. Whether you intend to purchase produce and homemade goods or just want a great reason to taste seasonal fruits and veggies and chat with local farmers, a day at the farmers’ market is sure to be a hit with the whole family. Many markets also have a wide selection of prepared foods (in case you’re still hungry) and some even have live music.
Get Outside. The County of San Diego manages more than 120 parks and preserves throughout the region with locations ranging from the beach to the valleys, the mountains to the desert. Not to mention all our local parks and open coastline. These trails, scenic vistas, playgrounds, and lakes are perfect for hiking, cycling, strolling, or horseback riding. Being active is a great way to avoid the crowds and burn off some of those extra calories.
Make Homemade Gifts. Nothing says “I love you” more than a gift crafted from the heart. Whether its beeswax candles, a hand knitted hat or your famous holiday cookies, you can “wow” your loved ones while saving time and money by making presents in batches. Stock up on your supplies and ingredients in advance so you can spend all of Black Friday cozy at home, crafting away. Any little ones in your house will surely enjoy lending helping hands as well.
Enjoy Arts and Culture. This Friday, Balboa Park has scheduled more than 20 exhibitions, 15 film screenings, botanical garden tours and family activities including holiday puppet shows, many of which are free and open to the public. Hop on your local bus line or bike path to make it a completely green day while avoiding parking woes. Then enjoy the natural and historical beauty in the company of your dear ones.
Share your Abundance. As you are feeling extra grateful for all the good in your life, take time to give back to your community. Local organizations offer a number of volunteer opportunities for individuals and families, including preparing and serving meals to people experiencing food insecurity. Wild Willow Farm and Shakti Rising are also hosting a Give 5 Black Friday Challenge where you can volunteer your time or make a donation in support of sustainable farm education programs.
If the buying bug is still tugging on your purse straps or wallet folds, shop local whenever possible. This puts money back in our local economy, and you’re likely to discover more unique gifts compared to online or in big box stores. Check out Edible San Diego’s Holiday Guide for tasty local gift ideas, stroll shops on Adams Avenue during Small Business Saturday (November 28) while enjoying festive libations, or head over to South Park on December 5 for the Holiday Happenings Walkabout.
Wishing you and yours a slow start to the holiday season!
By Sarah M. Shoffler, SFUSD board of directorsPhotos by Eric Buchanan
We had a great time at the 2015 Good Food Community Fair! This year's event, at the wonderful Quartyard, featured some of the best of San Diego's thriving slow food scene: coffee, honey, beer, pigs, sea urchins, yellowtail, sushi, oysters, kombucha, mead...plus farmers, fishermen, chefs, brewers, beekeepers, butchers, food researchers, publishers, educators and conservationists. Check out our photos below!
Over 40 partner organizations, our colleagues in the San Diego Slow Food movement, brought their variety of good, clean & fair food for all to our annual event. We owe our success to these partners, plus to our generous donors of food, supplies, raffle items, time and expertise, and to our awesome volunteers. Not to mention the rockstar staff at Quartyard. See you next year!
Like this year's artwork? You can buy an artist-signed print, of just the art, for $10. Email us at info@slowfoodurbansandiego.org.
Our amazing partners and sponsors:
1:1 Movement, Baby Cydesdale, Café Virtuoso, California Sea Grant, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Catalina Offshore Products, Cat Chiu Phillips, Chef Rob Ruiz, City Farmers Nursery, City Farming Academy, Culinary Historians Of San Diego, Community Health Improvement Partners, Cook Pigs Ranch, Duck Foot Brewing, Edible San Diego, Epicurean San Diego, Ernest Miller, Girl Next Door Honey, Golden Coast Mead, Green Flash Brewing, Jeanne's Garden Program for Children, Kashi, Leah’s Pantry and EatFresh.org, Master Gardeners of San Diego, NOAA Fisheries, Nomad Donuts, Nopalito Hop Farm, Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center, One Bag World, Project New Village, RainThanks, Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County, Revolution Landscape, San Diego Weekly Markets, Slow Food San Diego State University, Slow Money SoCal, SoCal Fish, Stone Brewing Co., Surfrider Foundation San Diego, Suzie's Farm, The Humane League, Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, Via International, Viva Pops, Wild Willow Farm & Education Center, Women of Coffee Microfinance Fund, Specialty Produce, The Meat Men, Eclipse Chocolate, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Next Door Wine + Craft Beer Bar, Dr. Bronner's, Blind Lady Alehouse, Leroy's Kitchen, Suzie's Farm, NINE-Ten, Curds and Wine, Epicurean San Diego, San Diego Food Systems Alliance.
By Rachel Helmer, SFUSD Board of Directors
Slow Food Urban San Diego is honored and grateful to have been a part of the 13th annual Celebrate the Craft held at The Lodge Torrey Pines. The October event showcases the region's best chefs, produce, wine, and beer. Guests came from all over California to gather together and celebrate with local culinary artisans, growers, brewers and vintners that were there to showcase their craftsmanship.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Slow Food Urban San Diego, to support efforts in raising public awareness, improving access, and encouraging the enjoyment of foods that are local, seasonal, and sustainable. Thanks to everyone who came out and visited the Slow Food table and to Executive Chef Jeff Jackson and The Lodge for hosting such a beautiful event.
By Sarah M. Shoffler, SFUSD Board of Directors.
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Heritage turkeys are different from most turkeys sold in the U.S. Ancestors to the Broad Breasted White turkey, the most produced commercial breed of turkey today, heritage turkeys have retained some of their historic characteristics. Unlike industrially-produced turkeys, which are mostly raised in captivity, the heritage breeds are raised outdoors and roam freely in pastures. They are allowed to grow older and eat a diverse diet, so put on an extra layer of fat. These self-reliant birds are known for their good flavor due to more dark meat, and "thriftyness" or good meat yield. Many heritage breeds originated in the United States and since the 1960s have been difficult to find. Some are nearing extinction.
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The Broad Breasted White turkey is so often preferred by industrial food producers because it grows quickly and provides a great deal of white meat. However, like the Broiler chicken, the most produced food chicken, the Broad Breasted White turkey has so much breast meat and such short legs that it cannot mate naturally. This bird also can't fly, is prone to health problems and cannot survive without human intervention.
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Choosing to eat a heritage turkey may in fact save the breeds. By buying heritage breeds, consumers encourage breeders to continue producing the rare birds, thereby supporting their existence. To this end, the American Livestock Conservancy works to protect nearly 200 individual breeds of livestock from 11 different species. They developed the term "heritage" in order to help market historic and endangered breeds of livestock because "the loss of these breeds would impoverish agriculture and diminish the human spirit."
Slow Food's Ark of Taste, a living catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction, also includes eight of the heritage turkeys: Bronze, Black, Bourbon, Jersey Buff, Midget White, Narragansett, Royal Palm and Slate.
The Narragansett turkey, a heritage and handsome breed.
Wondering where to buy a heritage turkey? You may have to order one, but here are a few places we found carrying them:
Some Whole Foods (the Hillcrest store was out, but La Jolla was still taking orders as of 11/12), Bristol Farms, Barons Markets (taking orders starting 11/13) have heritage turkeys available or are taking orders.
Mary's Free Range Narragansett and Bourbon turkeys are available in a number of SoCal locations, including those listed above.
You can order Narragansett, Slate and Bourbon turkeys online from Local Harvest.
The Heritage Turkey Foundation also lists several heritage turkey sellers in SoCal.
Know someone else selling heritage turkeys? Please let us know: email sarah_at_slowfoodurbansandiego_dot_org.
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Learn more here.
By Sarah M. Shoffler, SFUSD Board of Directors
Bees are critical to pollinating plants and to growing thousands of fruits and vegetables that we eat. They are the only insect who make food that humans eat. But since the 1990s, beekeepers around the world have noticed bee colonies are disappearing. Added to that, droughts mean less access to their food supply. These things together spell trouble for these amazing five-eyed, honey-producing critters.
DID YOU KNOW?There are three types of bees: worker, drone and queen. All worker bees are females. Their wings beet 200 times per second or 12,000 beats per minute. The average worker bee produces about 1/12th of a tablespoon of honey in her lifetime. Bees communicate through pheromones and dances. Plus watch this.
Hillary Kearney of Girl Next Door Honey
But you don’t have to convince Hilary Kearney, Owner of Girl Next Door Honey, of the importance of bees. Her whole business is grounded in making bees accessible to people on every level.
“First and foremost I am educating people about bees and I find that they are often less afraid of them once they have a better understanding of what they do. I like to think of it as 'pollinating hearts and minds,” says Hilary. She does this by: teaching classes on backyard hives, managing home hives, relocating hives, teaching children about bees and giving Beehive Tours to the public. These efforts, she feels, will broaden bee knowledge among the public and lessen people’s fear of bees, which are critical to “engaging people with bees and on a larger scale their local food and ecosystem.”
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Hilary cares about her bees. Under normal conditions, bees will produce excess honey, enough to supply us humans with the sweet stuff and still feed themselves. But during a drought, there are fewer flowers, which means less nectar, which the bees need in order to make honey. So they may not be able produce enough for themselves and may have to work harder and travel further just to find the nectar. To support her bees, who rely on honey as their only food, Hilary doesn’t harvest honey during a drought. So when people buy honey from her, they can be assured that the bees it was taken from have enough food and are not starving.
Hillary tending her bees.
In addition, the drought has weakened the wild colonies in the area. They are producing smaller and weaker swarms (when a queen leaves a colony with worker bees to form a new colony). “When I do a bee rescue it takes more effort and resources to keep those bees alive and healthy” she says. Wondering what you can do to support bees?
HOW TO HELP BEES:
Avoid neonicotinoids in pesticides. These are thought to weaken bees’ immune system and make bees vulnerable to disease, parasites, extreme weather, viruses, poor nutrition, and other stressors.
Plant organic bee-friendly flowers, like California poppy, citrus, sage, sunflowers and others listed here.
Make a bee drinking fountain: fill a baking dish or pet water bowl with pebbles or marbles and water. The bees will stand on the marbles while they drink, without drowning.
To learn more about bees, honey, beekeeping and how to help bees, you can check out Girl Next Door’s partnership with Suzie's Farm and their new monthly Beehive Tours. You’ll be able to suit up and go into a beehive with Hilary. Or, come check her and our other bee-positive partners out at the Good Food Community Fair, Sunday, October 11th.
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By Kathryn Rogers. SFUSD Board of DirectorsPhotos by Colin Leibold
Cook Pigs Ranch
At the age of seven, I proclaimed to my carnivorous parents that I would no longer be eating meat. It was a moral decision grounded in my love for pigs; I couldn’t bear the thought of my favorite animal ending up on my dinner plate.
Looking back on my youthful conviction, it’s a wonder that some 20 years later I find myself standing on a pig ranch outside San Diego staring into the eyes of more than 40 porkers destined for slaughter.
My staunch pescetarian days had ended years before during a college semester in the south of Spain. Sipping espresso in my favorite corner cafe, I was enticed by the cured pig leg hanging above the chopping blocks. Shortly thereafter I enjoyed my first piece of toast with Spanish olive oil and the famed Iberian ham. I’ve been eating meat ever since.
Cook Pigs Ranch
As I expanded my diet to include poultry and beef, I faced the classic omnivore’s dilemma. My body responded well to the added protein and fat; I felt healthier than I’d been in years. And my culinary forays blossomed with more diversity in my staple ingredient list. But I still didn’t feel right eating animals, especially those that came from the crowded, dirty and inhumane conditions on factory farms.
I hoped that my journey to Cook Pigs Ranch, located outside the little mountain town of Julian, CA, would help to resolve some of my inner turmoil.
Winding through the oak groves on the way to the 11-acre farm, I admit I was nervous. But as soon as we pulled through the iron gate, I was put at ease with a greeting first by two friendly “watch” donkeys and a giant white horse, followed by an oinking pen of recently weaned piglets. I grinned seeing their curly tails and crinkly snouts.
Krystina Cook, with her youngest daughter Rosaleigh in tow, came to welcome us.
“Let me introduce you to our pigs,” she said, smiling proudly.
Their more than 500 pigs are crosses of heritage breeds including Red Wattles, GOS, Large Blacks, Berkshires, Durocs, Tamworth, and Mulefoot that spend their days roaming pastures and oak groves to feed on grass, herbs, acorns, and roots, with some supplementation from sprouted barley and pesticide-free seasonal produce. Sows birth their piglets in covered birthing facilities and protected pens, and the youngsters are never given medicine so they can build up their immune systems naturally to thrive in the outdoors. It is a truly beautiful (and surprisingly pleasant smelling) operation.
Cook Pigs Ranch
Krystina Cook never set out to be a commercial pig farmer. But she was always committed to being an excellent mother to her eldest son, who suffered from severe food allergies. Grounded in the belief that food is medicine, Cook set out to raise a few ultra-clean animals for her family to eat. She had no trouble raising healthy chickens and sheep, but the pigs struggled to thrive. She became obsessed with figuring out how to raise them well, for both the health of the animals and the best-tasting meat. Word soon spread of her small family farm, and her endeavors blossomed into the growing ranch that is Cook Pigs today.
“Our entire operation is driven by the psychology and art of the pig,” says Cook. “We take pride in raising the healthiest, happiest pigs possible. And we model our slow-growth approach after the famous Iberico pigs from Spain, which produces very consistent heritage pork of the highest quality.”
Krystina Cook, Cook Pigs Ranch
Contributing to the art is Head Butcher Nick Scafidi. He and his team at Cook Family Butcher Shop process more than 20 heads a day at the only USDA-approved butcher in San Diego County. The pigs arrive after to the Kearny Mesa facility after harvesting at a USDA-approved facility north of Los Angeles and are artfully carved and crafted into everything from sausage and ribs to coppa steaks and pig skins.
“We strive to use as much of each animal as possible,” says Scafidi.
Scafidi spent a number of years working in the kitchen, so he understands what it’s like to want unique cuts of meat and is proud of the shop’s commitment to excellence.
“We are ensuring the highest quality from farm to finish.” gushes Scafidi. “I find this very rewarding because no one else is really doing this in San Diego right now.
Nick Scafidi and his team at Cook Family Butcher Shop
With increased demand for humane and delicious heritage pork, Cook Pigs continues to grow. The farm is moving to a new location near Julian with more acres of pasture. They just expanded their product line to include holiday hams. And they will soon be opening up an online store for broader distribution.
“This is the most beautiful pork I’ve ever seen. It tastes rich and robust - just like you are back on the farm,” says Distribution Manager and “Jill of All Trades,” Dana Hayden.
As I get ready to grill up that beautifully marbled coppa steak, I sure hope she’s right. I would be glad to return to Cook Pigs Ranch for a visit anytime. My love for happy pigs (and delicious pork) is strong as ever!
Cook Pigs Ranch in Julian, CA
To learn more about Cook Pigs and how to order their heritage pork, visit their website. And be sure to join Slow Food Urban San Diego at the Good Food Community Fair on October 11, where Cook Pigs will be giving a butchering demo at 1:00 p.m.
By Sarah Shoffler, SFUSD Board of Directors
Our “Craft Beer and Local Hops: a Community Dialogue” panel discussion at this year’s Good Food Community Fair will feature three San Diego breweries and a local hop farmer. We selected these local producers because of their novel production practices, commitment to sustainability and community, along with their flavorful products.
The youngest brewery on our panel at just four months old, Duck Foot Brewing Company has a unique approach to serving delicious beer to all San Diegans. “With so many great breweries in the county it can be difficult to differentiate yourself, but we have a solid lineup of different styles of beers with a focus on balance,” says Chief Fermentation Officer, Brett Goldstock of Duck Foot Brewing Company. “Plus, we’ve uniquely positioned ourselves to serve a whole sector of the community not served before by brewing gluten-reduced beer. And our gluten-reducing process doesn’t affect the natural flavor, aroma or body of any of our brews.”
Bold and hop-centric Stone Brewing Co. is a San Diego king, both in terms of brewing and in terms of supporting the Good, Clean & Fair Food movement. Longtime supporters of local environmental non-profits, like Surfrider San Diego, sustainability is integral to their business practices: Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens is the largest restaurant purchaser of local, small-farm, organic produce in San Diego County. Their Bistro’s Meatless Monday menu prevents 110,448 lbs. of CO2 from being released annually and they source their vegetables from their organic Stone Farms. Stone also provides their spent grain to local dairy animals for feed. Stone sees operating their own farm as a hands-on demonstration of their commitment to sustainable food production.
Among the pioneers of the local IPA movement, Green Flash continues to experiment to find the next great beer. “Our Genius Lab allows any employee with an idea for an experimental beer to convince a brewer to brew it on our 5 bbl. pilot system,” says Erik Jensen, Head Brewer of Green Flash Brewing Company. “We serve these beers in our tasting room and many are the basis for future production beers. Cellar 3 is a separate facility dedicated to wood-aged sour beer and spirit-aged beer.”
Nopalito Farm & Hopyard is a two-and-a-half acre certified organic hopyard in north San Diego County providing high-quality local hops to local brewers. “While we do dry some of our hops, we prefer to supply brewers with fresh hops, which are typically hard to come by this far south. Plus, we grow damn tasty hops,” says Jordan Brownwood, Farmer and Owner of Nopalito Farm & Hopyard. “Water is the number one issue for farms all over the West Coast, so the drought has heavily affected us,” which is, in part, why they use drip irrigation, heavy mulching and other techniques allowing them to minimize the farm’s water use.
And while our local breweries have not yet faced big water restrictions to their operations, the drought is on all their minds. “The dirty little secret of the brewing industry is the brewing process consumes a large amount of water to make a gallon of beer,” says Brett. Most breweries use 3-7 barrels of water to produce one barrel of beer, depending on their production practices. Duck Foot, Green Flash and Stone evaluate water use at each step in their beer-making processes. And Stone is trendsetting in its water practices having implemented an on-site water reclamation system and water conservation practices years before the drought’s regulations came into effect.
Our panel, moderated by JuliAnna Arnett, a local food systems expert, will explore the ways our local beer and hop industries support good, clean and fair food (and beer!) for all, the impact of the drought, and how they can implement water-wise production. Plus, beer. Really good beer.
Join the discussion and enjoy a quaff with these good folks at 2pm, Oct. 11th at the Quartyard:
By Kathryn Rogers, SFUSD Board of Directors
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With no end in sight to the California drought, local organizations are seeking sustainable solutions to address all aspects of water use. The San Diego Food System Alliance, coordinated by Elly Brown, is collaborating with other local non-profits to process and minimize food waste - a surprising issue of importance in the water conservation dialogue.
According to a recent Natural Resources Defense Council report, getting food from the farm to our forks eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land and swallows 80 percent of all freshwater consumed in the United States. Yet, 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. This means that Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion each year and wasting a significant amount of water at the same time. What’s more, researchers at the NIH have found that food waste accounts for over 25% of total freshwater consumption. Not to mention the approximately 300 million barrels of oil per year for transporting this wasted food along with the methane and CO2 emissions from decomposing food in our landfills.
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The good news is that the state of California recently passed legislation to begin addressing some of these issues. Governor Jerry Brown signed AB1826 in October 2014, which requires local jurisdictions to have an organic waste recycling program in place by January 1, 2016, and businesses to recycle their organic waste by April 1, 2016.
A forward-thinking policy, no doubt, but how will it be implemented locally?
The Food System Alliance is working in San Diego County to create polices and solutions to address huge gaps in terms of infrastructure for handling food waste. Food System Alliance researchers recently estimated that San Diegans produce 500,000 tons of food waste, but local composting facilities can only process an estimated 10,000 tons of this waste. We still have a long way to go.
Public awareness about how much food waste we are producing and how to store and recycle this waste properly is a critical piece to the story as well. “The National Resource Defense Council and Ad Council are doing a national awareness campaign around food waste launching in early 2016, and we plan to dovetail and build upon that locally,” says Brown.
Ground-level efforts are also helping to educate community members about waste issues and engage them in opportunities to create change. The Food System Alliance has collaborated with the Wild Willow Farm, Hidden Resources, and Sweetwater School District to pilot a Food Recovery Program. The Food System Alliance will also convene groups and individuals for a half-day summit on food waste on October 6: the Food Waste Solution Summit.
“Water conservation should not only be happening in our homes but also in our food system as well by creating less waste and encouraging efficiencies,” says Brown.
To learn more about local efforts to conserve water, join the Food System Alliance and other community partners at Slow Food Urban San Diego’s Annual Good Food Community Fair on October 11.
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