I run the CSA in the Yorkville area, its a great program benefiting NY family farms, and community residents that don't want to pay whole food's prices for quality organic vegetables. All CSA's work differently, but the one I work at runs like 99problems is talking about. Check out the site http://www.justfood.org/jf/ and look for CSA's in your neighborhood, the programs are expanding, but they are all different so I can't speak for the one in your area. Anyways check out the site, I'm leaving work now, but if you want to talk further about this drop me a pm or I'll check the thread later tonight. I use to intern for JustFood too, and they're trying to do good things. Support the local!
it's funny this came up, it's a subject that has been on my mind lately... all this information is appreciated
question for some of you aware folks: what do you do about restaurants? do you only eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources? if so, how do you find out? do you just make an exception when you eat out (i eat food at home/from home a lot more than restaurants)?
Theres 2 little china towns that ive discovered. Theres the one in sunset. The one on Ave. U that stretches only 3-4 blocks which is actually inexpensive and a nice fish selection. No record shops within miles though.
Ave U and what cross streets? My wife likes to shop at the Korean spots in Queens but Avenue U is probably closer to us (we are in Park Slope)
I would say its def. closer. Ave. U and I would say est 11 th - 15 th (if your on the Q line you can take the Q to Ave U) Its one of those huge oriental food markets. They have veggies, fruit, fish (some still swimming), tons of different noodles and sauces. oh and the real GINSENG behind the counter hehe. There are 2 very large markets so the prices are on point. Theres this little vietnamese restaurant thats worth hittin up if your there too. You can also check out that flatbush food co-op on Cortelyou Road. Theres also a farmers market in the schoolyard on cortelyou during the spring/summer. Just south of the park).
it's funny this came up, it's a subject that has been on my mind lately... all this information is appreciated
question for some of you aware folks: what do you do about restaurants? do you only eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources? if so, how do you find out? do you just make an exception when you eat out (i eat food at home/from home a lot more than restaurants)?
Thats a good question!
You can start by avoiding all national chains... but there aren't many places that advertise the fact that they only use local/organic/whatever produce... Irregardless does, and I've seen cooks from the Players Retreat buying high-quality ingredients from the Fresh Market (which surprised me), but beyond that I have no idea...
There's a whole lot of reasons I don't (often) shop at Whole Foods, but here's a real good one: they have the worst employee benefits of any company in the US other than Walmart
I worked there for a longass time as a youngin, so I'm also a hatter cuz I have inside knowledge of how screwy they really are... its absolutely about those who are runnin thangs making the most $$$
Damn, what's the knowledge on this? I don't really shop at WF, but I didn't think it'd be that atrocious of a company to work for.
I run the CSA in the Yorkville area, its a great program benefiting NY family farms, and community residents that don't want to pay whole food's prices for quality organic vegetables. All CSA's work differently, but the one I work at runs like 99problems is talking about. Check out the site http://www.justfood.org/jf/ and look for CSA's in your neighborhood, the programs are expanding, but they are all different so I can't speak for the one in your area. Anyways check out the site, I'm leaving work now, but if you want to talk further about this drop me a pm or I'll check the thread later tonight. I use to intern for JustFood too, and they're trying to do good things. Support the local!
damn garcia!! you work with justfood!!! i work with UNI in philly...dont know if youve ever heard of us (you prolly heard of the foodtrust down here). basically iive been slaving away in high schools trying to get people to get on that realization bus with sun fortune (proppppps dude!!!!) uphill battle...i go between fully elated to depressed every day. one day i'll post some pics on here.
sun, youre on it bro. food is a the heart of human existence and is fundamental to so many cultural, social, economic, political, environmental and justice issues. took me many years to figure that simple shit out. many committed activists (my folks) overlook the implications of their food choices!! a critical movement in america these days is for local food security...basically reestablishing local food infrastructure.
it's funny this came up, it's a subject that has been on my mind lately... all this information is appreciated
question for some of you aware folks: what do you do about restaurants? do you only eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources? if so, how do you find out? do you just make an exception when you eat out (i eat food at home/from home a lot more than restaurants)?
avoid chains. even if you know that a restaurant isnt buying local/ organic/ using wholegrains/ etc.... put it on their radar, make a point of asking "do you use local produce?" the more the waiter has to ask in the back, the more they will have to at least figure out what the fuck the customers are talking about. my friends pizza shop had a whole wheat pizza one night, then never again. it was pretty good. as a joke, i asked about it every time i went in. half a year later, i saw the owner and asked about it...he said "yeah, we should bring that back regularly, some people like it" ha!
community gardens, CSAs, farmers markets are all getting a lot of attention here in philly. My local coop is so dope cause members get a key and can access the grocery 24 hours a day!!! we just sign out the food we want. dont know how that system stays afloat, but it has for two decades. i do 2 hours of volunteer work a month. there are barely any fees. i know that 90% of the produce and products in the place are made/grown/packaged in accordance with my values. thats a good feeling.lots of the produce is local...my high school youthworkers even sell their collard greens and kale there.
i shop less and less at whole foods. keep in mind that their produce that is not organic is no different than any other supermarkets conventional produce. just costs more (it might undergo a little bit more visual quality and freshness control?) Trader Joes has generally great prices. a lot of families on limited budgets, who are aware of food issues, are happy shopping there.
an important point to remember, if yall want produce when its out of season, you gotta be ready to pay more. the shit shouldnt be cheap!!! and it probably wont taste that good either (tomatoes are the best example). when possible: grow your own, buy local, buy organic, buy seasonal.
agribusiness. i ask the high school students what impression they get from dick cheyney. would you want him in charge of your food for the rest of your life? now picture who is in charge of all these big companies: kellogs, kraft, yum brands, phillip morris, etc. Pretty similar people. And they most definitely give a lot of money to get the Dick Cheyneys elected. Usually provokes some good discussions.
critical issues. agribusiness is the devil and they control our food supply. opt out if you can or be opiated by cheaper prices
question for some of you aware folks: what do you do about restaurants? do you only eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources? if so, how do you find out? do you just make an exception when you eat out (i eat food at home/from home a lot more than restaurants)?
I definitely make the effort to eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources, but I wouldn't say I eat at such places exclusively. Like with beef and pork, for example, I vastly prefer eating at places that get their meat from Niman Ranch. Fortunately, that leaves me plenty of options in the Bay Area, including some local chains (Bistro Burger, for example). And I do prefer places that use local farmers and/or organic growers for their fruits and vegetables, but this is not exactly a non-negotiable point, either.
As for how I find out, well, around here, most places will proudly trumpet their sources if sources are worth trumpeting...like Niman Ranch meat or locally grown veggies. It's something of a selling point for restaurants around here. Failing that, it never hurts to ask.
damn garcia!! you work with justfood!!! i work with UNI in philly...dont know if youve ever heard of us (you prolly heard of the foodtrust down here). basically iive been slaving away in high schools trying to get people to get on that realization bus with sun fortune (proppppps dude!!!!) uphill battle...i go between fully elated to depressed every day. one day i'll post some pics on here.
sun, youre on it bro. food is a the heart of human existence and is fundamental to so many cultural, social, economic, political, environmental and justice issues. took me many years to figure that simple shit out. many committed activists (my folks) overlook the implications of their food choices!! a critical movement in america these days is for local food security...basically reestablishing local food infrastructure.
Man I just wrote a long fucking response to this only to see that it had timed out. I'm not writing all that again so I'll just say a few things. Tripledouble, I only interened at Just Food in the Spring of 2002. I applied for a full time position abotu a year a go and they hired someone else, I'm a little salty about that but life goes on. They did hook me up with the CSA in Yorkville and I've been managing their site for four years now, but unfortunately I'll have to drop out because of other life demands.
Sun Fortune you've picked a interesting topic that deals with an essential and universal need, we could talk for days. In regards to your statement of food co-ops and CSA being the life boat of the rich, well, in some ways you're right, but thats how it always is, things start with the elite, and then filter to the masses. I don't know about the co-ops but CSA's are pro-rated, so the ones in high income neighborhoods are more expensive than the lower income neighborhoods, making them subsidized by the upper classes. If not, there is no way a farmer would be able to make a living from low income CSA's alone. Still when I worked with Just Food we did a lot of outreach programs in lower income neighborhoods, tried to create awareness and start CSAs, but people just weren't hearing it, they're too busy with other things as you said. It also stands that in changing food habits you are really changing food culture, and that is quite an undertaking. People are use to eating certain things at certain times and now they look for conviniece whether that is good for the environment or not. Could we create a sustainable, local, agriculture system? Yes, but it would take a lot of work and sacrifice, and most people don't want to do either. It has been done before, its just people forget their history. It must be noted that during WWII, it was in NYC that the concept of community gardens was revived, in part because of necessity, there wasn't enough fuel to ship food around the country. Meat was once seen as a priviledge, but now its a right and people eat meat at every meal. But for a while NYC grew most of its fruits and vegetables, and the only meat available was horse meat which was scarce and you'd be lucky to eat some on your birthday. Can community gardens work today? I don't know, defintaley not if the realestate market has anything to say about it. Plus we are now use to comfort, who wants to spend time working a garden when you can go to McD's or C-Town. Unless there is a large change of perspective where we look at changing our food system as something we gain not something we are going to lose, it will never work. Still I don't think its a question of accessibility more than it is a changing the cultural food habits of a population, and that is where the real challenge lies.
damn garcia!! you work with justfood!!! i work with UNI in philly...dont know if youve ever heard of us (you prolly heard of the foodtrust down here). basically iive been slaving away in high schools trying to get people to get on that realization bus with sun fortune (proppppps dude!!!!) uphill battle...i go between fully elated to depressed every day. one day i'll post some pics on here.
sun, youre on it bro. food is a the heart of human existence and is fundamental to so many cultural, social, economic, political, environmental and justice issues. took me many years to figure that simple shit out. many committed activists (my folks) overlook the implications of their food choices!! a critical movement in america these days is for local food security...basically reestablishing local food infrastructure.
Man I just wrote a long fucking response to this only to see that it had timed out. I'm not writing all that again so I'll just say a few things. Tripledouble, I only interened at Just Food in the Spring of 2002. I applied for a full time position abotu a year a go and they hired someone else, I'm a little salty about that but life goes on. They did hook me up with the CSA in Yorkville and I've been managing their site for four years now, but unfortunately I'll have to drop out because of other life demands.
Sun Fortune you've picked a interesting topic that deals with an essential and universal need, we could talk for days. In regards to your statement of food co-ops and CSA being the life boat of the rich, well, in some ways you're right, but thats how it always is, things start with the elite, and then filter to the masses. I don't know about the co-ops but CSA's are pro-rated, so the ones in high income neighborhoods are more expensive than the lower income neighborhoods, making them subsidized by the upper classes. If not, there is no way a farmer would be able to make a living from low income CSA's alone. Still when I worked with Just Food we did a lot of outreach programs in lower income neighborhoods, tried to create awareness and start CSAs, but people just weren't hearing it, they're too busy with other things as you said. It also stands that in changing food habits you are really changing food culture, and that is quite an undertaking. People are use to eating certain things at certain times and now they look for conviniece whether that is good for the environment or not. Could we create a sustainable, local, agriculture system? Yes, but it would take a lot of work and sacrifice, and most people don't want to do either. It has been done before, its just people forget their history. It must be noted that during WWII, it was in NYC that the concept of community gardens was revived, in part because of necessity, there wasn't enough fuel to ship food around the country. Meat was once seen as a priviledge, but now its a right and people eat meat at every meal. But for a while NYC grew most of its fruits and vegetables, and the only meat available was horse meat which was scarce and you'd be lucky to eat some on your birthday. Can community gardens work today? I don't know, defintaley not if the realestate market has anything to say about it. Plus we are now use to comfort, who wants to spend time working a garden when you can go to McD's or C-Town. Unless there is a large change of perspective where we look at changing our food system as something we gain not something we are going to lose, it will never work. Still I don't think its a question of accessibility more than it is a changing the cultural food habits of a population, and that is where the real challenge lies.
Garcia, you Rock harder than Slash!
Thanks to everybody for all the information on all this. Ive definately got some work cut out for me, some necessary changes to make and a lot more research to do.
and major gigantic balls propers to all of you who have been doing the right thing for years now. Im humbled by your dedication and fortitude.
Comments
I use to intern for JustFood too, and they're trying to do good things. Support the local!
question for some of you aware folks: what do you do about restaurants? do you only eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources? if so, how do you find out? do you just make an exception when you eat out (i eat food at home/from home a lot more than restaurants)?
Thank you much!
Thats a good question!
You can start by avoiding all national chains... but there aren't many places that advertise the fact that they only use local/organic/whatever produce... Irregardless does, and I've seen cooks from the Players Retreat buying high-quality ingredients from the Fresh Market (which surprised me), but beyond that I have no idea...
Damn, what's the knowledge on this? I don't really shop at WF, but I didn't think it'd be that atrocious of a company to work for.
damn garcia!! you work with justfood!!! i work with UNI in philly...dont know if youve ever heard of us (you prolly heard of the foodtrust down here). basically iive been slaving away in high schools trying to get people to get on that realization bus with sun fortune (proppppps dude!!!!) uphill battle...i go between fully elated to depressed every day. one day i'll post some pics on here.
sun, youre on it bro. food is a the heart of human existence and is fundamental to so many cultural, social, economic, political, environmental and justice issues. took me many years to figure that simple shit out. many committed activists (my folks) overlook the implications of their food choices!! a critical movement in america these days is for local food security...basically reestablishing local food infrastructure.
avoid chains. even if you know that a restaurant isnt buying local/ organic/ using wholegrains/ etc.... put it on their radar, make a point of asking "do you use local produce?" the more the waiter has to ask in the back, the more they will have to at least figure out what the fuck the customers are talking about. my friends pizza shop had a whole wheat pizza one night, then never again. it was pretty good. as a joke, i asked about it every time i went in. half a year later, i saw the owner and asked about it...he said "yeah, we should bring that back regularly, some people like it" ha!
community gardens, CSAs, farmers markets are all getting a lot of attention here in philly. My local coop is so dope cause members get a key and can access the grocery 24 hours a day!!! we just sign out the food we want. dont know how that system stays afloat, but it has for two decades. i do 2 hours of volunteer work a month. there are barely any fees. i know that 90% of the produce and products in the place are made/grown/packaged in accordance with my values. thats a good feeling.lots of the produce is local...my high school youthworkers even sell their collard greens and kale there.
i shop less and less at whole foods. keep in mind that their produce that is not organic is no different than any other supermarkets conventional produce. just costs more (it might undergo a little bit more visual quality and freshness control?) Trader Joes has generally great prices. a lot of families on limited budgets, who are aware of food issues, are happy shopping there.
an important point to remember, if yall want produce when its out of season, you gotta be ready to pay more. the shit shouldnt be cheap!!! and it probably wont taste that good either (tomatoes are the best example). when possible: grow your own, buy local, buy organic, buy seasonal.
agribusiness. i ask the high school students what impression they get from dick cheyney. would you want him in charge of your food for the rest of your life? now picture who is in charge of all these big companies: kellogs, kraft, yum brands, phillip morris, etc. Pretty similar people. And they most definitely give a lot of money to get the Dick Cheyneys elected. Usually provokes some good discussions.
critical issues. agribusiness is the devil and they control our food supply.
opt out if you can or be opiated by cheaper prices
this stuff gets me hyped
I definitely make the effort to eat at places that get their ingredients from certain sources, but I wouldn't say I eat at such places exclusively. Like with beef and pork, for example, I vastly prefer eating at places that get their meat from Niman Ranch. Fortunately, that leaves me plenty of options in the Bay Area, including some local chains (Bistro Burger, for example). And I do prefer places that use local farmers and/or organic growers for their fruits and vegetables, but this is not exactly a non-negotiable point, either.
As for how I find out, well, around here, most places will proudly trumpet their sources if sources are worth trumpeting...like Niman Ranch meat or locally grown veggies. It's something of a selling point for restaurants around here. Failing that, it never hurts to ask.
Man I just wrote a long fucking response to this only to see that it had timed out. I'm not writing all that again so I'll just say a few things.
Tripledouble, I only interened at Just Food in the Spring of 2002. I applied for a full time position abotu a year a go and they hired someone else, I'm a little salty about that but life goes on. They did hook me up with the CSA in Yorkville and I've been managing their site for four years now, but unfortunately I'll have to drop out because of other life demands.
Sun Fortune you've picked a interesting topic that deals with an essential and universal need, we could talk for days. In regards to your statement of food co-ops and CSA being the life boat of the rich, well, in some ways you're right, but thats how it always is, things start with the elite, and then filter to the masses. I don't know about the co-ops but CSA's are pro-rated, so the ones in high income neighborhoods are more expensive than the lower income neighborhoods, making them subsidized by the upper classes. If not, there is no way a farmer would be able to make a living from low income CSA's alone. Still when I worked with Just Food we did a lot of outreach programs in lower income neighborhoods, tried to create awareness and start CSAs, but people just weren't hearing it, they're too busy with other things as you said. It also stands that in changing food habits you are really changing food culture, and that is quite an undertaking. People are use to eating certain things at certain times and now they look for conviniece whether that is good for the environment or not. Could we create a sustainable, local, agriculture system? Yes, but it would take a lot of work and sacrifice, and most people don't want to do either. It has been done before, its just people forget their history. It must be noted that during WWII, it was in NYC that the concept of community gardens was revived, in part because of necessity, there wasn't enough fuel to ship food around the country. Meat was once seen as a priviledge, but now its a right and people eat meat at every meal. But for a while NYC grew most of its fruits and vegetables, and the only meat available was horse meat which was scarce and you'd be lucky to eat some on your birthday. Can community gardens work today? I don't know, defintaley not if the realestate market has anything to say about it. Plus we are now use to comfort, who wants to spend time working a garden when you can go to McD's or C-Town. Unless there is a large change of perspective where we look at changing our food system as something we gain not something we are going to lose, it will never work. Still I don't think its a question of accessibility more than it is a changing the cultural food habits of a population, and that is where the real challenge lies.
Garcia, you Rock harder than Slash!
Thanks to everybody for all the information on all this. Ive definately got some work cut out for me, some necessary changes to make and a lot more research to do.
and major gigantic balls propers to all of you who have been doing the right thing for years now. Im humbled by your dedication and fortitude.