Looking Forward to
Next Week
Anticipated for September 28th
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Dear CSA Members:
The National Biodynamic Conference, recently held at
I am honored and a bit horrified that Rachel asked me to help wrap up
this conference. Where would I start? Probably because I am a conference
producer myself, I decided to start by looking back at the conference brochure
because it usually tells the early thoughts and intentions of the organizers.
So, I’d like to begin with a reminder that – according to the brochure –
this conference was planned around 3 pillars: the Farmer/Producer pillar; the
Distributor pillar; and the Consumer pillar.
Rachel asked me to introduce this panel not because I am a farmer, because
I am not; not because I am a distributor, because I am not; but because I fit
into the category of consumer. So here I am: the consumer poster child…and I
don’t like this word.
And while I don’t want to spend any of your time ranting about how
badly we need another word – let me focus on one of the worst things about it:
it ultimately disconnects me as a non-farmer/producer from the land. It implies and in fact creates a huge
distance, a lack of relationship, a lack of responsibility. It connotes
passivity and acceptance.
So we all need a better word. Is
it, as suggested by Paul Hawkin in The Ecology of Commerce, customers instead
of consumers? What Hawkins is talking
about is seen so clearly in our own CSA – where Hawthorne Valley Farm staff and
managers and our own Riverdale group of 100 households have evolved in
relationship to each other and this specific farm, modifying our behavior and
expectations, solving problems, working out delivery schedules and fair
pricing, expanding our network of additional farms, caring for each other and
trusting each other for 11 years. Isn’t
this what associative economics is about?
So I‘d like to speak more about language and how we describe or name
our roles in all of this. I’m thinking
about the fact that on Friday evening, in his amazing talk about Roxbury Farm
and the 1000 member CSA, Jean Paul spoke about how he no longer thinks of
himself as a producer. Hmmm. So if Jean Paul and others like him are now
part of the group formerly known as producers and I’m now part of the group
formerly known as consumers, how can we best communicate about this?
Being able to communicate about the characteristics of our
relationships to each other and the characteristics of the food we are sharing
has to be a paramount concern in these days of such things as the co-option and
denigration of the word organic. In fact, there has been a lot of discussion
here about the term local and how soon IT will probably be defined …and
ultimately be co-opted by both the government and certainly by the mega food
industry.
I have to admit that the concern expressed here about the fact that we’re
hearing about local food all over the media right now really gave me
pause. On the one hand, as an obsessed
year-round local food advocate, I am thinking this is an unbelievable
opportunity in the marketplace for our farmers.
On the other, I am realizing with my relatively new biodynamic
perspective, the word local is not telling the story the needs to be told. There is not enough meaning embedded
here. So, guess what? Maybe they can
have the word. But they’ll not be able
to tell the story as well as we can and they’ll never spend the time.
So what’s the story? I think the
story uses a lot of the phrases and ideas that I heard at this conference. How about a value-based food system that
finds its inspiration in the biodynamic food chain as described in Steffen’s
opening talk? One that begins on the individualized farm, humanized by many
people
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walking the land, a culturally rich landscape, where sustainable and
ethically produced and distributed food is fairly priced and full of vigor and
health, food that expresses its true context, its relationship to the land and
the people, food that is truly nourishing.
I think other elements of the story discussed here would include the
potential embedded in the fast growing CSA movement, where expanding networks
of relationships can be clustered to augment and deepen its benefits to the
community. Food in the context of
community, the need to teach and share cooking experiences, the passion of
young people to follow the path of right livelihood through farming, the
pronouncement that agriculture cannot thrive in a vacuum, that agriculture
cannot be disconnected from food, and food cannot be disconnected from
nourishment… and much more.
I just have to say that in anticipation of this conference, I couldn’t
prepare myself for the magic of TRULY BEING HERE. Steffen spoke on Thursday of the farm as a
being. On an early morning walk, I
encountered its presence first in the sweet peacefulness of the milking barn,
then in the sunlit vegetable garden among the tomatoes, the celeriac and
especially in the high energy of the leeks, and again in the starlight each
night. (Except, of course, last night!).
I have also come to appreciate Hawthorne Valley Farm for its fantastic
potential as a place for education. These last few days have shown the power of
bringing people together ON THE LAND, ON THE FARM for deep learning, building
relationships, and experiencing being right HERE, right NOW.
This conference dramatizes the
immediate need – and responsibility – we have to reconnect others to
agriculture and food by inviting the larger community in to this place and
these ideas AND by advocating for and participating in programs and policies
that further urban agriculture, community gardening, farm-to-school and overall
increased access to nourishing food for everyone. These actions contribute to preserving the
connection between food, land, and community: values I think we all share.
I feel so nourished. Thank you.
Hilary ,
Butternut Squash
Soup
From
2 lb unpeeled butternut squash
4 c. chicken broth
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/8’s
1 large onion, quartered
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 t. curry powder
½ t. salt and pepper to taste
Cut
squash into 2” pieces and discard seeds and stringy part. Bring broth to boil
and add squash, onion and apple. Reduce
heat, cover and simmer 20 mins. or until very tender.
Stir in peanut butter, curry, salt and pepper
until well blended. In blender,
processor or food mill, (I use an immersion blender and do it right in the
pot.) puree soup until smooth. Serve
hot. NOTE This soup freezes well.
Kale with Tomatoes & Onions
2
lbs. Kale or cooking greens
1
Tbsp. oil
1
medium onion, cut into ½ inch squares
3
medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2
to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
several
pinches red pepper flakes
salt
& vinegar
Croutons
(optional)
Wash, trim and roughly
chop kale. Steam over boiling water for
about 5 minutes, or until tender. Set
aside. Heat oil in a wide skillet, add
onions, cook over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and chilies. Salt lightly, cook another minute, then add
kale. Mix everything together and
continue cooking until kale is thoroughly warmed. Taste for salt, season with a splash of
vinegar. Serve with croutons, if
desired. Makes 4 servings.
From The