Eat Here Now: Stewarding the Land, Local Foods Community Potluck

Come join us this Saturday, May 2 at Lost Valley Educational Center for our next Local Food Community Potluck.  It is part of Lost Valley’s 20th anniversary celebration weekend.  We are cohosting the community potluck with Lost Valley and Helios Resource Network.

In addition to the potluck, there are several other exciting activities planned:

2-3 pm Rainwater catchment workshop

3-5 pm Guided tour of the land

6-8 pm Community potluck (suggested donation $5-10)

8:30 pm Alice DiMicele concert ($10)

Camping and other weekend activities are available.  For more information,cContact Lost Valley at events at lostvalley dot org or 541-937-3351, ext 112.

10th Annual That’s My Farmer CSA signup

Come join us tomorrow night (that’s Tuesday, April 21) for the 10th Annual That’s My Farmer CSA signup event.  This event is an opportunity to learn more about CSAs, meet local farmers and thank them for their contributions to our food system.  This fun evening attracted more than 400 people last year, from the elderly to the very young.  That’s My Farmer! sprung from the faith communities’ call for justice and care of Mother Earth and is now organized by a network for 16 faith communities.

Here is a brief schedule for the evening:

6:30 Mingling with farmers

7:30 Program begins

8:30 Enjoy homemade ice cream

We hope you’ll join us!  Click here for more event details.

Come see Good Food, a movie about local food

Come join us this Saturday, April 18, 3 p.m., for a screening of the documentary Good Food at the John Baldwin Film and Lecture Series at the EWEB Earth Day Festival. The film premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival last year to enthusiastic audiences in sold out theaters and since then has screened in small theaters, in other film festivals, and many community settings. Filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young will attend to introduce the film and participate in discussion of local food following the screening.

Food, where it comes from, how it is grown and processed is becoming more important for everyone, and Good Food introduces us to farmers and ranchers, stores and restaurants that are building a more sustainable food system. For decades small family farmers have been disappearing, but there is new life in the fields, orchards and pastures of the Pacific Northwest, and in the business community to help sustain them. In Good Food we see the beautiful rural landscapes and meet some of the leaders in bringing good food to tables across the region.

You can check out more about the Earth Day festivities and movie showing at http://www.earthdayoregon.com/

Eating close to home

Welcome to the inaugural post of our blog.  We figured there was no better way to get things started than to highlight an eat local cookbook recently published by local author, Elin England.  It is the perfect cookbook for anyone living in the Northwest because it is organized by season and features fruits and vegetables grown here.  I only wish she had published it 6 years ago when we joined our first CSA and were confounded by the arrival of kale, kholrabi, and rutabaga in our weekly box.  

I have been cooking from it for the last few months and love its simplicity.  The recipes are perfect for busy families that want to put healthy, nutritious food on the table without a lot of fuss.  One of my favorites so far is the Salmon and Corn Chowder recipe made with frozen corn from last year.  I have made it for friends and family – always to rave reviews.

Perhaps the most endearing quality of the book is that it is a compendium of recipes that Elin has fed her family over the years.  When reading her directions, it is obvious that she has made them dozens of times (if not hundreds of times).  Not only do you know they are good and well tested, the recipes are very personal.

Elin has graciously offered to donate 10% from the proceeds of the sale of the book to Willamette Farm & Food Coalition.  (Thank you Elin!)  We hope you’ll purchase a copy for your house to nourish your family and support your local community.  Books can be purchased online here, Powells, or Amazon.   They can also be purchased at Tsunami Books, Capella, and Marche Provisions.

Elin’s book was also featured in this week’s Entree section of the Register Guard.  Click here to read the article.