Secretary of Agriculture chosen for new administration

By Luci Beachdell | Thursday, January 8, 2009, 09:21 AM

President-Elect Obama chose a new Secretary of Agriculture, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, in mid-December (sorry I didn’t get this to you as it happened). There had been lots of talk in the food community about who would be chosen for this position, and there has since been more talk about Vilsack’s capacity to do the job.

From the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s weekly update:

Obama Names Vilsack Secretary of Agriculture: On Wednesday, President-elect Barack Obama officially named former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as the incoming Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack, who previously served two terms as the governor of Iowa, has worked most recently as a lawyer in Des Moines since ending his brief 2008 presidential bid in 2007. This fall he served as a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and worked for the Iowa State Biosafety Institute. In making the nomination, Obama indicated his intent “that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers, but family farmers and the American people.” During the press briefing, Vilsack mentioned the importance of nutrition and is expected to work with fellow Iowan, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, on the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act this year. As governor, Vilsack was a strong supporter of conservation programs (and an early champion of the Conservation Stewardship Program) and alternative energy, including ethanol and wind. In recent interviews he has mentioned the need for the enforcement of payment limitations and livestock market reform.

Center for Rural America’s blog reviews Vilsack - An overall favorable view of Vilsack with a few hesitations: http://www.cfra.org/blog/2008/12/16/vilsack-appointed-ag-secretary-interview-redux

The Organic Consumer Association’s reviews Vilsack - An overall unfavorable view of Vilsack: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16156.cfm

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Taking local food to the White House

By Luci Beachdell | Tuesday, January 6, 2009, 08:02 PM

For all of you who haven’t yet seen this, there’s a fabulous guy named Roger Doiron who’s been advocating like crazy to get an organic Victory Garden going on the White House lawn… And let me just add here, that if it weren’t a security nightmare, a community garden on the White House lawn would be even cooler!
For more details on “Eating the View”, check out this article (I’d have sent you right to the facebook page, but couldn’t navigate there easily myself & why try to send you someplace I couldn’t even get to myself): http://www.womensradio.com/content/templates/?a=3257&z=11

Doiron’s also done some really wonderful stuff in the advocating-for-local-food world, like creating Kitchen Gardeners International, empowering people to grow, cook and eat their own food & to develop more sustainable food systems. Incidentally, he was a keynote speaker at last year’s Ohio Community Gardening Conference. If you weren’t there (and I saw you if you were) you missed a rousing good show. This year, Columbus Ohio’s Franklin Park Conservatory will be hosting the American Community Gardening Association Conference August 6-9, 2009: http://communitygarden.org/learn/training/annual-conference.php

To find out more about Kitchen Gardeners International, check out the website: http://www.kitchengardeners.org/

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Possum Creek MetroPark hosts 2009 Your Best Vegetable Garden series

By Luci Beachdell | Monday, January 5, 2009, 11:00 AM

from Vickie Benson, Education Supervisor at Possum Creek MetroPark

Your Best Vegetable Garden series

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced gardener, you are bound to learn something new that will aid you in achieving “your best vegetable garden.” The series will be held at Possum Creek Farm, begins Tuesday March 10, 2009 and concludes Tuesday, April 14, 2009. Classes run from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. The sessions will consist of a guest presenter from the horticultural or commercial field. The topics consist of: Composting and Soils, Planning, Planting, Pests, and Preserving and will include a lecture and hands-on activity. The sixth session, Tips or Projects, will be class participation. Fee: $20 covers the manual and handouts specific to vegetable gardening. The culmination of the series will be a combination of a hands-on work day and field trip. Participants are requested to complete 25 hours of volunteer service to Five Rivers MetroParks. Call Kevin Kepler prior to March 10 at 275-7275 X 1212 to register and schedule an interview to participate.

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Local “Harvest” - finding locally made gifts

By Luci Beachdell | Tuesday, December 23, 2008, 11:12 AM

If you’re out looking for gifties before this upcoming holiday & want something locally produced/made/crafted (i.e., like me & unlike Terry Smith, you are not a crafter) here are two of my favorite places in Dayton - if you have others, please post them on the comments list!

National City 2nd Street Market http://www.metroparks.org/Parks/SecondStreetMarket/Home.aspx

Dayton Visual Arts Center ArttoBuy Gallery http://www.daytonvisualarts.org/exhibitions/2008A2B/2008arttobuy.html

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Room for a retail food co-op downtown Dayton?

By Luci Beachdell | Thursday, December 18, 2008, 08:52 AM

Kate Ervin has recently opened a Facebook page to discuss forming a retail food cooperative downtown. For more information and or to add your comments, check out the website: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57039471816

From the Facebook page:

This is a Facebook experiment to gauge interest in the formation of a food cooperative in downtown Dayton. A food co-op is basically a natural foods grocery store that is owned and operated by its members. Therefore it generally has lower overhead than most grocery stores, which usually means quality foods at bargain prices. Co-ops also tend to function as centers for their communities in ways that groceries typically don’t. Here’s a good guide to starting one: http://www.cgin.coop/how_to_start . Just to get a feel for the interest out there, tell your Dayton friends to join this group, and LEAVE COMMENTS about why you want to see one open up here!

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Easy to Make Christmas Decorations

By Rick Musselman | Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 02:51 PM

Christmas is a time of year that kids, and adults, like to make their own cards and decorations. One Christmas decoration that looks and smells great is a pomander. Pomanders have a long history and have been around for some time. All that you need to get started are the following items:

Supplies: Whole cloves; fruit (oranges; lemons); ground cinnamon (1-2 oz); orris root (1-2 oz)

First wash and dry the fruit. Second, mix your cinnamon and orris root together and set it aside. Now plan out a design on your fruit. The more of the fruit that you can cover with cloves the longer it will last. Also, this will keep it from molding. Next take a large needle, or round toothpick, and poke holes in the fruit to get started. Next you will push the whole end of the clove into the fruit so that the rounded end is pushed right up against it. Continue adding cloves until you are happy with the design or the number that have been added. Finally when you have finished with the cloves, roll the entire thing in your dry spice mixture. Place in a dry dark spot and let it sit for a couple of days or up to two weeks. It is especially nice to put in a drawer or closet, as the aromatic smell will last for some time.

Make several of these and fill a small glass bowl with them during the holidays! They are a great airfreshener and very Christmassy. Add a few sprigs of mistletoe to the bowl or some leaves off of any evergreen plant you already have (snip a branch from low down on your tree). Or, make one and embellish it with netting and a long ribbon to hang from a doorway.

Over time, if you pomander starts to lose its smell, simply add some more of your powdered mixture to it, or add another scent like sandalwood.

Have a Happy Holiday Season.

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Farmer’s Market in Oxford Ohio

By Luci Beachdell | Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 09:00 AM

from Lucy Goodman

There is a farmers market in Oxford this Saturday from 9:30 til noon. There will be organic meats, eggs, goat cheese, backed goods, soaps, etc.

Located in the public parking lot at main and Church Sts. this market is held the 3rd Saturday of the month Nov though Apr. http://www.oxfordfarmersmarket.com

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