The Event + Conclusion

The main part of our experiment is over. For six hours on tuesday, Jess and I cooked the local organic produce we obtained at Ferry Building, Berkeley, and Oakland Jack London Farmer's Markets. The items that couldn't be obtained directly from the farmer were purchased at local shop Farmer Joe's in Oakland. [www.farmerjoesmarket.com]

If you didnt get a chance to pick up the locavore pledge card at the opening. Just remember when shopping:

If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.

If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.

If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.

If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.


The purpose was to make people aware of their local food options to help escape our crazy 1500 mile system, not to have a rigid ideology and finger waging if you don't purchase everything locally. So...Be Aware of what you are buying and ask questions.


I have to admit that the food preparation was quite exhausting. During our kitchen test, we had five people doing the cooking instead of two of us in a much smaller kitchen. Plus this time we didn't have the pleasure of relaxing between meals, sipping wine, and chatting.

I had one magickal food moment that I'll remember for the rest of my life. I'm not a raw carrot person. I like mine steamed or shreded raw into salads. I admit that if i find a big chunk of carrot to eat, I'm normally smothering it in a bowl of ranch dressing. Anyway, Jess was shredding carrots for our lettuce wraps. She kept having little stubs because it was too difficult to get the last ends of the carrot without shredding her fingers. She turned to me and was like you need to try this now. Hesitantly I did. And it was the most delicious carrot I have ever eaten! So sweet and watery. From now on I'll be comparing all my carrot purchases to this one bought from Happy Boy Farms [http://happyboyfarms.org/market/live-oak/]


At 4pm, we realized that we needed to head over to the school for the opening. So we loaded the car up with food still hot from the oven and rushed on over. Our arrival was timed perfect. The only thing I regret not having time for was to put up all our recipes and vendor info. But that gave me and Jess a chance to talk with people one on one about what was in the food and where things came from. Plus below I'll be giving recipes,costs, and vendor info


The response from people was amazing! I had one woman tell me that she has been buying local organic for years now but her relatives think she is crazy. She was happy to see that other people are doing this more and felt validated by her decisions. And Andree was right, quotes do stick in the mind of the viewer. I had a few folks that were jaw-droppingly shocked about the quote on strawberries The reality of our inport/export system just didnt make sense to them. and finally the insanity of our system sunk in. And that made the whole project worth while.




Now for the recipe ingredients.



Fava Bean Puree:



2 lbs fava beans shelled
[you'll need to buy 5 lbs in the shells in order to end up with 2lbs]
Purchased from Eatwell Farms for $7.00 [www.eatwell.com]
~ 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Purchased 750mL House Blend for $18.00
StoneHouse Olive Oil [www.stonehouseoliveoil.com]

Lemon Juice [ 1 lemon]
Purchased from Twin Girls Farms 13 lemons for $6.00
http://www.pacorg.com/pages/twingirls.html

Salt to taste

Herbs to Taste
we used Tarragon from the garden


Greek Spinach Rice Balls:


2 pounds fresh spinach:
we did a double recipe 4 lbs for $6.50
Happy Boy Farms
[http://happyboyfarms.org/market/live-oak/]
1 cup chopped scallions:
2 bunchs for $5.00
Dirty Girl Produce
http://dirtygirlproduce.com/

2 teaspoons olive oil
Stonehouse [see above]

2 cups cooked rice
2 lb bag for $4.00
Massa Organics [http://www.massaorganics.com/]

2 Tablespoons finely chopped Dill
Bunch for $1.25
Happy Boy Farms [see above]

Juice from 1 Lemon
Twin Girls Farms [see above]

Feta Cheese
Spring Hill Cheese Co. $6.00
[www.springhillcheese.com]


Bread Crumbs [for rolling balls]
Used Morell's Local Loaf [he used Full Belly Farm Wheat] $6.00 a loaf
www.morellsbread.com + www.fullbellyfarm.com

Salt and Black Pepper to Taste





Crispy Lettuce Rolls w/ Orange Dressing



Inside Mix:

Grated Carrots $5 for ~ 2 lbs
Happy Boy Farms [see above!]

2 Green Scallions
Dirty Girl Produce [see above]

5 Avacados chopped
Brokaw Farms 5 for $6.25
[http://www.willsavocados.com/]

Bunch of Celery [finely chopped]
$1.69 bunch from Farmer Joes [see above]

2 packages Sprouts [we used daikon]
$1.69 bunch from Farmer Joes [see above]

1 Red Pepper
$2.40 from Farmer Joes [see above]

Fresh Mint [to taste]
2 bunchs for $3.00
Happy Boy Farms [see above]

Lettuce to wrap mix
3 bunchs of Romaine Lettuce $1.69 per bunch
Farmer Joes [see above]


Orange Dressing:

3 Oranges [ 10 lbs for $10]
Twin Girl Farms [see above]

1 cup olive oil
StoneHouse [see above]

1/2 cup honey [ donated]
Sparky Beegirl
http://www.sparkybeegirl.com/iuh.html

1/8th teaspoon salt




Garlic Toasts:



1 Loaf of Morell's Bread [see above]

Two bunchs of spring Garlic [chopped finely]
Dirty Girl Produce [see above] $3.50

~1cup olive oil
StoneHouse [see above]




Frittata: We made three

Each consisted of:

8 Organic Free Range Eggs
[From my chickens: Poppy, Buffy, Mary, and Layenna. Thanks Girls!]


2/3 bunch of chopped Asparagus
Ceccini + Ceccini Farms, Brentwood CA [4 bunchs for $10]

2 Scallions
Dirty Girl Produce [see above]

either a few sprigs of oregano or rosemary
From my garden

2/3 cup Milk
Strauss Dairy $4.99/ 2 Quart
http://www.strausfamilycreamery.com/

Butter for sauteeing Scallions and Asparagus
Strauss Creamery $6.79

2 Cups of Cheese[ one mixed in and one on top]

either
Old Portuguese $6.00
Spring Hill Cheese Co[see above]
or
Pt Reyes Blue Cheese $5.00
http://www.pointreyescheese.com/html/index.html

plus salt and pepper




Grilled Asparagus:

we made 2 bunchs sauteed in leftover orange dressing from Lettuce Wraps
[see above]



BIG THANKS For Chris and Rob[manager] of Buffalo Whole Foods in San Francisco for Donating Boxes of fresh Strawberries and Sugar Snap Peas




Buffalo Whole Foods
598 Castro Street
SF, CA
http://buffalowholefoods.com/

Fresh Strawberries[ Beach Street Farms]
http://www.beachstreet.com/

Fresh Sugar Snap Peas
Comanche Creek Farms




Fresh Whipped Cream for dipping
Pint of Strauss $4.94
[see above]


Fruit Flavored Water:
Filtered Water plus
Orange + Lemon Slices[ Twin Girls Farms]
Mint [Happy Boy]
White Guava[ Brokaw] $2.49


Total Reception Cost Breakdown:
Celery $1.69
Sprouts $3.38
Lettuce $5.07
Whipping Cream $4.94
Milk $4.99
Butter $6.79
Red Pepper $2.40
Garlic $3.50
Fava Beans $7.00
Olive Oil $18.00
Bread [5 loaves] $30.00
Lemons $6.00
Oranges $10.00
Brown Rice $4.00
Scallions $5.00
Avocados $6.25
Blue Cheese $5.00
Feta Cheese $6.00
Portuguese Cheese $6.00
Asparagus $10.00
Mint $3.00
White Guava $2.49
Dill $1.25
Carrots $5.00
Spinach $6.50

Total $162.56 Not bad for an all organic and local reception

Art Opening May 13th

I've got about one more week until our art opening. This weekend I'll be hitting farmer's markets to get all of our ingredients. Jessica will be helping to cook next Tuesday.

Feels a tad strange without Kelly being in town. She was such a vital part of our experiment. I think we both learned alot from each other over the past few months. I believe our local food explorations will continue after the exhibit. I'm not sure in what form they will be made public if at all or just shared with friends and family. We'll see...


Come say hello at the art opening. Try out of dishes and see some great art from the other students in the Eco-Art class at Laney.


Matters of Fact

An Exhibit of Art Addressing Important Environmental and Social Justice Issues

May 12-27th, 2008

Opening reception: May 13th, 5 to 8pm

Refreshments, interactive art, and performance

Laney College
Art Center Hall Gallery
(multi-colored building behind tennis courts on 10th st across from Kaiser Convention Center)

So Long and Thanks For All the Fish

Lately our neighbors cat has been trying to adopt us. This morning, I was attempting to write what will be my last blog entry for the Loca Lifestyle Experiment. I am leaving shortly, and Paul and Jessica will be stepping in to see the final preparation of the feast through to its conclusion. As I was assembling my thoughts, the neighbors cat appeared at the door asking to be let in. He begins these visits with a little jump led by his head to meet my hand. From there, I know I’m committed to scratching his ears and chin and talking to him for several minutes. Today, he seems particularly in need of affection and is reluctant to leave. He has fully explored the house, sat on the couch with me, and kneaded the entire surface. Thirty minutes later, I have to resort to clever ways of drawing his attention to the outdoors. I’m feeling slightly guilty now as I’m not sure he truly wanted to return to the wilds just yet.

Cats are opportunists. If things are not working out for them at home, they find someone else to take care of them. I’m not saying my neighbors are not taking care of him, for I’m certain they are. It is just that they have a new member of the family, a young puppy, that might have him feeling a little crowded. So for the time being I’m willing to be the distant relative who takes him in until he feels more reassured. In a similar way, I feel that the Eco-Art class, the umbrella for our project, is very much like that, a temporary home where we are nurtured and encouraged to formulate actions that we can then weave back into our own families and communities upon our return.

During the short life of this project, I have learned from and been inspired by my project partner Paul, from the other eco artists participating in this exhibition who are exploring equally significant issues, from my own experiences seeking out local foods and recipes, and from Andree, our mentor. Andree constantly reminded us that the news can be overwhelming, but stressed optimism, and kept us focusing on hope, always hope, and solutions.

After this experiment, my blinders have been permanently removed in regards to food production and consumption. I was a fairly regular devotee of the farmers market, but I will now look at all those additional, supplemental foods I buy from the grocer differently, and make my selections in a more careful “mind full” manner. I will vote with my feet and support only those grocers that provide local and/or organic. I will read the labels and take particular note of the origins. Also, I will take more time and be careful to not stock my refrigerator and pantry with items that will end up wasted because I haven’t planned well. Recently at a CUESA panel discussion, I heard that our food waste is equal to the footprint of Bangledesh, with a population of 150 million people. According to a recent online article, (www.triplepundit.com/pages/waste-font-ii-by0th-numb-002783.php), “about a quarter of the food we consume and prepare gets tossed into the garbage only 2% of that is composted.” So you can see that simply not wasting can make a significant contribution to reducing your footprint. I am also planning on supplementing our purchased food with what we grow. To that end, we have recently started our compost heap, broke ground to begin our garden, and joined the ecology center to have access to expert resources (www.ecologycenter.org).

I’m sure there will be a few fuzzy blueberries and watery cucumbers that will need to be composted and perhaps a convenience item or two that may slip into my grocery cart in the future, but I am trying. My vision is no longer overcast, it is much clearer. I now see further than the stem of asparagus. I see the farmer and the land and the energy. I think about the origins of the seed, the health of the soil, the planting, the harvesting, the transporting, and time invested so that my family and I might sustain our health with this vibrant, alive, flavorful and succulent food.

To all I give my express thanks and love and encouragement to continue to lead a more awake life,
Kelly (aka Birdwoman)

P.S. Don’t forget if it isn’t local AND organic, remember the locavore pledge (www.locavores.com/who):

If not Locally Produced, then Organic
If not Organic, then Family Farm,
If not Family Farm, then Local Business
If not Local Business, then Fair Trade

News from the Kitchen Test Front

KITCHEN TEST PREPARATION

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in
practice there is" -- Yogi Berra

Last week was a crazy week of over-planning on my part. It is easy to get carried away. I wasn’t sure how to organize so many of us in the kitchen at once, so I had “on paper” separated each step of each recipe into Prep, Mix, Stovetop, and Oven sections. And as a followup I made little evaluation forms to record our pronouncements like judges at a food competition (not that I’ve ever been to a food competition mind you). It was hilarious because once in the kitchen I’m not sure we even looked at my plan and at the end of the evening, I forgot to pull out the evaluations.

The one exception to tossing the planning aside entirely was the shopping list we used beforehand. Obviously you need to know what to buy and the quantities before heading off to the market. The list was compiled assuming we would be producing one batch of each recipe on the menu, with the exception of the onion tart which we decided to not include at the last minute because of the complexity of preparation.

Paul and I split the shopping. We were able to find everything at the farmers market except the following: avocado, celery, sprouts, milk, nutmeg, mustard, butter, and red pepper. With the kitchen test scheduled on a Friday, we had to rely on a smaller set of farmers at the Thursday market rather than the larger Saturday market where we would have perhaps otherwise been able to find everything. We bought what we couldn’t find from local organic grocers.

Berkeley Bowl was a good source for milk and butter. Strauss (www.strausfamilycreamery.com) is organic and locally produced near Tomales Bay and previously recommended by Paul (see his response to the blog posting dated March 31, 2008). I thought the nutmeg would be a problem, but again at Berkeley Bowl, I found an entire rack of organic and local spices, Spicely Organic from Union City (http://www.spicely.com). The original source of the ingredients though is not indicated, so maybe it is not locally sourced, but locally produced?

You have to really read between the lines when buying anything other than directly from the farmer. Deciphering the labels can be tricky. For example, the mustard took at least a half hour of reading labels to finally find one produced locally, although I don’t believe it is 100% organic. During this treasure hunt, I was outraged to even find a product labeled Napa Valley mustard that wasn’t even made in Napa, but in Oregon! And now, sigh, as I re-read the label on my local mustard, I realize it may not have been produced in Berkeley afterall. It states that it is produced for “Berkeley Bowl” and calls itself “Berkeley Dijon”, but there isn’t any more information on the production source.

To make one batch of everything, it cost approximately $120... a bit more than we had anticipated (we had budgeted $75).


THE KITCHEN TEST

The actual “kitchen test” was staged on Friday with Jess, Scooter, Michael, Paul and myself in the kitchen. Over the course of the evening, we prepared three rounds of food to sample.

The first round included the fava bean puree and garlic toasts with the lettuce wraps. We did not have almond butter for the lettuce wrap marinade, so we substituted with the orange dressing intended for the baby vegetables.

The lettuce wraps were delicious, but messy. We were concerned about the feasibility of being able to manage them without utensils at the reception. In the end, we decided they were just too good to not include on the final menu and that hopefully the messiness would simply add to the festivity of the opening event.


The fava bean puree was lovely, really lovely after Scooter, our “tv cooking show trained culinary expert”, came to the rescue. He added a few additional spices – red pepper flakes, tarragon, salt, and a bit more olive oil - (not entirely local, but from our spice rack) to the puree that perfected it.

Preparing the fava beans themselves though was very time consuming. First, we had to shell five pounds of beans. We needed two pounds unshelled for the puree. Next the shelled beans had to be blanched and then the outer skin from each little bean had to be removed. Here is Jess, holding up the paltry amount of beans left after such an extended effort, only weighing in at 1 ½ pounds, a bit short of our goal.


Initially we concluded that this puree just wasn’t practical for the reception, timewise. However, after tasting it, we decided if the beans were prepared a day in advance, then it could be done and was definitely worth the end result.


Round 2 included the avocado and hard cooked eggs with orange dressing (instead of the lemon dressing) and strawberries. We substituted the orange dressing for the lemon because we simply had so much of it! It was very tasty, but as soon as we reached for the first morsel, we were running to the kitchen for knives and forks. It was a nice dish, but far too impractical as reception food.

Scooter suggested tossing the strawberries in a bit of balsamic, a combination that sounded surprising, but worked nicely. It also had the added benefit of being very simple to prepare!

Round 3 included the Greek spinach balls, the asparagus leek frittata, and the steamed asparagus. By round 3 we were flagging, unable to eat any more. We decided to have only a small taste and package the rest as takeout. At this point, though, Michael announced that he had just finished peeling all of the baby carrots. Oops we totally forgot about the baby vegetables and vinaigrette! I thought he might actually try to force feed them to us since it had taken him so long to peel. Hopefully he has forgiven us for finding it all so amusing.


The Greek spinach balls were disappointingly bland. We decided they could be remedied with a few additional spices (suggestions forthcoming from Scooter!) and perhaps a bit of mustard. Also, we thought they would be more manageable and go further if half the size.

You could tell we were running out of steam because we forgot to put the leek into the frittata from the start, and added it later, but it still was quite good, if a bit thin. We concluded
that we should double the ingredients to bulk it up a bit.

Our final menu remained intact with the exception of the avocado and egg dish which did not make the cut due to the “utensil” factor. Otherwise, Paul and Jessica (and any other cooks who volunteer) will make one batch of everything with a double batch of the frittata. The food they prepare will be supplemented with local breads, cheeses and fruit brought by the other participating artists in the exhibition.

It was a fun and enlightening evening and we did manage to achieve our goal, that is, to create, sample, and shape the menu!

Reducing Waste

The Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture's weekly newsletter had a great article about reducing waste from packaging. Here's a great quote from the article, "According to a US EPA statistic from 2005, 31.2% of municipal waste is generated from packaging."

http://www.cuesa.org/cuesa/e-letter/archives/webmail-041108.htm

Packaging has multiple problems. The energy being used in generating the plastics plus the landfill space when disposing of this very temporary item. The Farmer's Market at The Ferry Building in SF is giving away free tote bags and encourgaing sellers/buyers to use reusable packaging. Great that this farmer's market is taking the next step in sustainability. Hopefully Oakland's markets will follow.

I notice when I cook more using fresh veggies we generate less trash. Take-out/fast food always generating the most. We can tell how healthy we are eating by looking in the garbage at the end of the week.

I'd say the majority of our plastic comes from those bags for fresh veggies. We try not to use them when possible but still do on smaller items like mushrooms. They are a pain in the ass to wash and reuse. I wish somebody would come up with a cheap sustainable alternative to these ubiquitous veggie bags.

For our exhibit, our classmate Chelsea is creating a tablecloth and napkins out of reused fabrics. It's Art and can be used again! We're asking fellow students to bring in cups/plates for themselves and another to share. That way we dont have to buy or throw anything out. Plus it makes us responsible and hopefully shows this skill to others attending.

The Menu

Today is April 1 – the official beginning of our kitchen test month. I have to reign myself in and settle on a menu. I believe we have enough recipes to select from, but with a plan of thirty people and only a budget of $75, can we really make this happen?

Chris , a fellow eco-artist, has offered to help us with food donations. He is a produce manager in a specialist organic food shop and we are profoundly grateful for his generosity.

Paul, my partner in this project, and Jessica, another eco-artist, will be preparing the fare. Paul is a professional gardener and we know he will be our source for good wholesome and nutritious eggs, colorful too. I suspect he has a few other things, like herbs in his garden as well.

Over the weekend I took a list of ingredients to the Berkeley farmers market to get a sense of cost, availability, and locality. With that information I then revisited our candidate recipes and determined which were the most suitable given our constraints. I eliminated some recipes due to expense and/or ingredient access and drew up the following menu proposal. Note, however, that as we kitchen test this menu may again change due to things like the "sog" factor (i.e. how well do each of these hold up over an evening?), complexity (are there too many dishes to prepare with only 2 chefs in the kithcen? is any recipe simply too time consuming?), and convenience (can certain dishes be prepared in advance?).

Savory

Caramelized Onion Tart

Greek Spinach Rice Balls

Garlic Toasts with Fava Bean Puree

Asparagus Leek Fritata

Thai Starter OR Crispy Lettuce Rolls

Baby Vegetables with Orange Dressing
OR Shaved Raw Asparagus with Lemony Vinaigrette


Sweet

Strawberries and Oranges

Liquid

Water infusion with orange and lemon slices

And of course, I’ve added yet another new recipe into the mix found only last night -- the shaved raw asparagus with lemony vinaigrette (pg. 23, asparagus, lemon juice, olive oil, salt/pepper, parmigiano-reggiano cheese) from The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market Cookbook, a comprehensive guide to impeccable produce plus 130 seasonal recipes. How had I missed this one? It looks like it has been around for a few years with a copyright of 2006. My pile of cookbooks is getting out of hand, but it does make a nice addition. It is conveniently organized by season and ingredient. For example, the Spring chapter includes apricots, asparagus, blueberries, cherries, dandelion, fava beans, fennel, green garlic, lamb, peas, potatoes, rhubarb, sorrel, stinging nettles, and our favorite strawberries. And it is filled with advice on choosing, storing, and preparing these ingredients with a handful of delicious looking recipes. But I did say I had to reign myself in, so I perused only the Spring chapter for finger foods and found that it complimented my previous recipe selections. That is, I found a few recipes for asparagus with vinaigrettes and also a fava bean crostini recipe.

Bon appetitio! We'll see you soon on the test kitchen front.

The Milk Moon

After reading the Milk Moon chapter in Jessica Prentice's book Full Moon Feast , I felt compelled to swear off pasteurized milk so I began doing more research to find out if I could actually find a source of non-pasteurized milk, i.e. raw milk. The deeper I dug, though, the more hesitant I became. There is a lot of controversy swirling around the safety of raw milk. Yet in the 1920s in this country raw milk was readily available and consumed. What changed?

The industrialization of the milk industry led to increased overcrowding and unclean conditions which in turn led to a need for pasteurization. In the pasteurization process, Dr. Mercola explains, the delicate good proteins in milk are changed into not so good proteins that are thought to cause things like allergies and asthma (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoPiNASGeWo&feature=related). Even lactose intolerance is thought to be caused by over pasteurization. Jessica Prentice tells us that in pasteurization “lactase, the enzyme naturally occurring in milk that digests lactose, is destroyed but not the lactose.”

In building a case for raw milk, Jessica Prentice also cites a number of studies that have shown certain cultures known for their robust health as cultures where they have access to and drink lots of raw milk. The emphasis in these societies has been on quality not quantity of milk. In our culture there has been a “minimum of emphasis on the health of cows and the nutritional quality of milk and a maximum on quantity of milk at the lowest cost production.” This has essentially left us with miserable cows and over processed milk.

While there are convincing arguments in favor of raw milk, personally I need to do more research before I’m comfortable fully committing myself. For the moment, I am sticking with organic milk which I hope (although I'm not confident) ensures that I will not be supporting inhumane farming practices.

And if I change my mind, I know that I do have a choice. California is one of the states where raw milk is legal and I could buy it conveniently in a grocer. If you want to find out if raw milk is legal in your state and/or where to find it, Campaign for Real Milk (www.realmilk.com) is an excellent resource.

Paul, my partner on this project, is much less hesitant than I am about raw milk. In fact, he is in the process of buying two goats. I’m looking forward to hearing about his raw milk experiences.

I am adding one recipe from the Milk Moon chapter to our reception menu:

Creamy Salad Dressing, pg. 94
(crème fraiche, egg yolk, olive oil, white wine, salt, pepper)

Full Moon Feast

Oddly there can be a certain beauty in being trapped inside a construction project. It can force you to complete tasks that you would otherwise find all sorts of distracting reasons to avoid. In my case, I have faced the onerous task of unpacking boxes without any escape. My office in fact is almost fully re-established. And in the process, I have unearthed a useful book I forgot I had ordered prior to the move. It is called Full Moon Feast, Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice (http://www.wisefoodways.com/moons/).

Full Moon Feast, as you might surmise, is organized around the cycles of the moon. According to Deborah Madison’s introduction, “The moons in the title refer to food times, times of the year when certain foods assume prominence, and they make perfect sense, if you can imagine – and with the author’s help, you can – a world in which human cultures are exactly in tune with the places they occupy on the planet.” To find seasonal recipes that correspond to the April/May timeframe, I consulted the chapters in her book that related to Egg Moon (early spring) and Milk Moon (falls near May day).

Jessica Prentice tells us that during the Egg Moon hens start producing more eggs on old-fashioned farms. The longer days provide more light, and light is what hormonally stimulates the hens ovaries to produce. In factory farming, they use artificial lighting to trick the hens bodies into non-stop egg production – not what mother nature had in mind.

If you are not aware of the methods used in egg factory farming, you may want to read up on it (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/eggs/). In the past I have bought only cage free/range free eggs. However, after reading this book, I now know that just because my eggs are labeled cage-free/free range, my idea of what that means and the corresponding organic standards may not mesh. I now realize it is best to buy your eggs from a small farmer who practices free-range agriculture or to trade with a friend who raises hens like Paul (see his blog entry dated March 23). Or, of course, as Paul recommends, raise your own.

Jessica offers a few recipes in each Moon chapter. From the Egg Moon chapter, I have selected the Avocado and Hard-cooked Eggs with a Lemony Dressing, page 69, as a possibility for our menu. The ingredients include eggs, olive oil, mustard, lemon, avocadoes, salt and pepper, and lettuce.

Another promising recipe is the Asparagus Frittata, page 66. The ingredients include asparagus, leeks, butter, eggs, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cheese. The idea of a frittata was also recommended by Sally Weare, an eco-artist and member of WEAD (http://www.weadartists.org/weare/weare.html). She sent us an email with the following two suggestions:

I just want to add 2 ideas into the mix:

one is a frittata --usually made with eggs, zucchini or broccoli, possibly cheese, herbs. Recipes vary and zucchini may not be available until June or July, but other veggies can be used, and it can be made in a large quantity and cut into squares--easy and tasty to eat!

two is a Thai starter (can't remember the name): lettuce or spinach leaves, individually filled (or can be filled by each individual out of a common bowl) with a combination of interesting things, such as marinated mushrooms, shredded carrots, garlic, walnuts? and something crunchy.

They both sound delicious! Thanks Sally.

That’s all for today. I’ll next be exploring what Jessica has to say about the Milk Moon.

Ingredient - Eggs

Bottom Line....Store bought eggs suck! Before having chickens, I would normally buy organic free-range eggs. These are "better" than the larger commercial factories. If you have to buy eggs, then get them from a farmer's market. Talk to the farmer about how their chickens live. If they can tell you an interesting story, then most likely their eggs are decent.

Luckily, I haven't had to buy an egg in a few months. I bought my chicks last summer and the last of my four chickens started laying on good friday. She's a polish girl and her eggs turned out to be off white with just a hint of pink. So now I have white, brown, green, and pink eggs. I don't even need to dye eggs this easter!

If you've never tried a true organic free-range egg, you need to now! Find a farmer, a friend with chickens or email me if local. You'll never feel the same way about store bought eggs again. These eggs are a deep orange, the yolks stand tall on top of the whites, and the shells are thick. These are proud eggs. And I know from which one of my chickens each egg came from. When making breakfast I can thank that chicken who produced it for me. Now that's local!
Anyways, Egg choices can be quite confusing. I recommend people check out Mother Earth News' Egg Page
http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx Their tests show that free range eggs have 1/3rd less cholesterol than normal.

And if you want to start keeping chickens. Most cities in the bay area allow them. No roosters though. And if you think you don't have enough space just remember that anything you give the hen will be larger than a commercial cage. A good place to start research is www.backyardchickens.com

Unearthing Recipes

My recipe research has gone on a bit of a hiatus since yesterday. The decibel of clanging dueling hammers sent me packing. I have now braved re-entry and am back, ensconced in my seat in the office, trying to ignore the absolutely gorgeous weather knocking at the window, at least momentarily. Where are those ear plugs?

I am thinking pleasant thoughts about organic local foods. After thumbing through several cookbooks, I concluded that the raw food cookbooks held the most promise. However, it has been surprisingly difficult to find recipes that can be fully sourced within our radius. Will we be able to find staples such as salt, pepper, baking powder?

Actually the whole salt issue is quite interesting. Those beautiful patterns you see from the plane flying into San Francisco are the salt evaporation ponds near Mountain View. I always photograph them, every trip without fail.

Oddly though, the salt is not available to us. It is only available for industrial use. I discovered this after reading an article in the Times www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1595245,00.html. The author mentions Café 150, a restaurant on the Google campus that sources all of their food within a 150 mile radius (or at least attempts to do so). Even Cafe 150 finds salt a bit of a problem and they are only ¼ mile away from the salt flats. To supplement their pantry, the Café staff grow their own food, can, and preserve all year round. Impressive.

Back from the salt detour and now onto the recipes that may be possibilities. This is what I’ve uncovered so far:

From Everyday Greens by Annie Somerville (Greens restaurant here in SF)

Grilled Asparagus, page 14
(asparagus, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil)

Garlic Toasts with Fava Bean Puree, page 20
(fava beans, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic, baguette)

From Moosewood Restaurant Lowfat favorites by the Moosewood collective (in fabulous Ithaca, NY)

Greek Spinach Rice Balls, page 35
(spinach, scallions, olive oil, brown rice, dill, lemon juice, pepper, bread crumbs)

From Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen (a great raw food reference)

Baby Vegetables and Zingy Orange Dressing, page 481
(oranges, olive oil, honey, sea salt)

From Food and Wine online:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/caramelized-onion-tart-with-whole-wheat-crust

Carmelized Onion Tart with whole wheat crust

(flour, salt, butter, water, olive oil, onions, thyme, pepper, bleu cheese)

From Vegetarian Times online:

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9870?section=

Strawberries with lemony whipped topping

(tofu, honey, lemon juice, vanilla, strawberries)

Is there a local source of tofu? Vanilla?

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9363?section=

Strawberry Rhubarb crumble squares

(orange juice, rhubarb, cornstarch, strawberries, sugar, orange zest, rolled oats, flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, slivered almonds, orange juice, vegetable oil) – this one might be a stretch as far as ingredients, sadly.

I’m not sure all of these will work, but they just sound so delicious I thought they would be worth investigating further. Are you getting hungry yet???? I’m still searching and hope that you are too. I’d love to receive recommendations on other possibilities.

Seasonal Ingredients

After consulting both the CUESA seasonality charts and the Local Foods Wheel, I’ve compiled the following list of potential ingredients. As noted though on the Wheel “nature is unpredictable and every year is different. An especially rainy spring or an extraordinarily hot and dry summer can have a dramatic impact on planting and harvest times on local farms”. With this in mind, I’m now off to peruse a stack of cookbooks, online resources, and ask friends about recipe ideas that meet the following critieria:

1) Vegetarian
2) Finger Food (we would like to avoid dishes and cutlery)
3) Moderate to low expense (our budget will be rather limited)

If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

VEGETABLE

Artichokes, Arugula, Asian Greens, Asparagus, Avocados
Baby Vegetables, Beans, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli
Cabbage, Cardoons, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collard Greens
Dandelion/Chicory, Dried Chilies
Endive
Fava Beans, Fennel
Garlic, Green Garlic, Garlic Scapes
Herbs, Horseradish
Jams, Marmalade
Kale, Kohirabi
Leeks, Lettuce, Lemon grass
Mushrooms (morels), Mustard Greens)
Nettles, Nopal Cactus
Onions
Peas, Pickled Vegetables, Potatoes, Purslane
Radicchio, Radish, Rapini, Rhubarb
Scallions, Snow Peas, Sorrel, Spinach, Sprouts
Watercress, Wheat

FRUIT/NUT

Cherimoyas, Cherries, Cider and Juices
Dried Fruit
Grapefruit
Lemons
Nectarines
Oranges
Peaches
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Walnuts, Wine

CHEESE AND OTHER

Almond Butter
Cow’s Milk Butter (spring pasture butter), Cream
Eggs
Fresh and Aged Cheese from Goat Milk and Cows Milk
Goats Milk Yogurt
Honey
Milk
Olive Oil
Rice
Vinegars – Balsamic, apple, cider
Walnut Oil

Step One - Research the availability of seasonal ingredients

My local farmers market (until recently) was at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It is a huge market where there is an overwhelming abundance of fresh, lovely, lively, organic food available year round. When Paul and I embarked on this experiment, I wondered if indeed we had actually set up enough of a challenge for ourselves. I thought the food choices and recipes might not be dramatically different from my current lifestyle.

Okay, now let’s talk delusion. What I did not consider is that although I buy organic food, the choices I was making were not necessarily seasonal, nor carbon-wise (i.e. the food traveled quite a distance to reach my local food supplier). I also realized I had been sleepwalking through my food shopping in a disconnected way from the natural rhythms and cycles of nature. For example, if you ask me when artichokes are in season, my grandmother could tell you but I can’t. I simply let what is available at the market direct me to my next meal. This can work on a week by week basis, but is a bit happenstance if you are attempting to plan for a future event.

With these three dimensions in mind: 1) organic 2) seasonal and 3) local, within a 100 mile-radius, I embarked on Step One of The Plan.

The first resource I found did not even require leaving my desk. Four seasonality charts at the CUESA website (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) document what is anticipated to be in harvest and available during each month of the year. I made a copy of the charts and highlighted the relevant crops that should be organic, seasonal, and local during April (when we kitchen test) and May (the actual performance).

The next tool I stumbled upon at the Ecology Center booth during a visit to the Berkeley Farmers market. Along with a plethora of other very useful free information, I found for sale an aesthetically pleasing Local Foods Wheel for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a colorful visual aid that identifies what is in season throughout the year.

With these two tools in hand, I am now off to plot out a list of local ingredients.

Websites:
http://www.cuesa.org/seasonality/charts/vegetable.php
http://www.localfoodswheel.com

The Plan

Time is evaporating. Paul and I wrote the initial proposal for the Loca Lifestyle Experiment over two weeks ago. I have just finished moving house and am still sitting in the midst of unpacked and beckoning boxes. And today there is a construction crew beginning work on our foundation. As boards are clanking heavily outside my window, I am reminded of Eric Maisel's (http://www.ericmaisel.com) advice on creating in the middle of things – “suit up, show up, drop everything”. So here I am. Finally.

In preparation of the food performance, I have signed up to do the research. Paul will be preparing the final feast with Jessica. Sadly I am out of town in May when the actual event occurs and will miss out on the culmination of our efforts. However, I am joyfully here for part of the journey.

Most of my projects in the past have been a solo act. One of the things I have been learning more about recently is the beauty of collaboration. Not only is it fun to work in community, but it also just makes so much more possible.

For now, this is The Plan:

1) Research the availability of seasonal ingredients in April and May
2) Discover recipes for finger foods that use seasonal local ingredients
3) Find sources for the ingredients within a 100 mile radius
4) Kitchen test the recipes
5) Develop a shopping list for the feast

Institute of Urban Homesteading

Today I met with Ruby of Wisefool Community Arts better known for putting on the Puppet Love Festival of Radical Puppetry in the bay area. Her puppetry always seems to involve food politics in some form or another. This past year she did a piece called "Buzz Buzz" about Colony Collapse disorder in bees.

I ventured over to her north oakland home to learn about her latest project Institute of Urban Homesteading. As food costs go up more and more because of oil, many of us locavores are relearning skills to grow and preserve our own food. Ruby was doing just that when one of her friends suggested she teach other people these skills.

For now, the institute is a one season experiment to see how it all works out. But Ruby is already getting inundated with people wanting to teach new classes and people signing up for her first class on beekeeping. i'd love to teach the chicken class but many others want that too. Isn't it great that we live in a city where multiple people want to teach chicken raising?

On a tour of her garden, I got to see all the wonderful fruit trees [apples and apricots], artichokes, rows and rows of garlic, strawberries, onions, hops, tomatoes, and soil waiting for a spring crop. One section is reserved for a friend teaching about medicinal herbs.

Our conversation kept returning to bees. I've begun to believe bees are the new chickens for 2008. I'm getting mine next month at a green gulch zen center bee workshop.

Ruby's been fermenting various types of honey for over a year now to make mead. Star Thistle being the most coveted. I was even lucky enough to go home with a jar of her honey.

So check out her new website and classes.

Institute for Urban Homesteading
http://www.sparkybeegirl.com/iuh.html

Wise Fool
http://www.zeitgeist.net/wfca/wisefool.htm

welcome to the loca-lifestyle experiment

Greetings everyone. The ritual of food at art openings puts us in a place to be more receptive to what we are viewing. But rarely do we think about what we are consuming. This blog is for an eco-art experiment using the 100-mile diet as a means for art openings.

Kelly and I will be sharing recipes, local food sources, interviews with farmers and other people trying to do things locally.

The project will culminate in an art opening reception taking place in May. Stay tuned for details

Paul + Kelly