crazysalad

San Diego Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids Backpack Program Holiday Drive

This morning I packed my 11-year-old daughter’s lunch: a turkey sandwich, an apple, veggie chips, and carrots.  She has a good lunch program at her school, but she prefers to bring her lunch, partly for variety, partly because she gets to choose her favorite foods, and partly, I suspect, because she likes me preparing the food for her.  I love food and share that love with her.  It’s an important part of our family life and we take great pleasure in preparing and sharing food together.

By the time she gets home in the afternoon, it’s been three hours since lunch and she is hungry again.  So hungry that she is cranky and can barely talk to me until I have gotten some food into her.  It’s astounding how much she eats in the afternoon--she has another full meal between lunch and dinner--but not surprising considering she has grown 3 inches this past year.  Her body needs the fuel.   To grow, to do her homework, to even carry on a conversation. 

So I can’t imagine what it must be like for kids that have no food at home.  Literally.  Without the school lunch program they would not have any food that day.  And what about weekends when there is no school lunch program to feed them?

San Diego Food Bank's Food 4 Kids Backpack Program was launched in 2007 to provide food to get chronically hungry elementary school students through the weekend.  Every Friday, participating children receive a backpack filled with child-friendly items such as peanut butter, pop-top canned goods, cereal, juice boxes, fruit cups, raisins, pudding cups, granola bars, shelf-stable milk and macaroni and cheese. Each bag contains a minimum of 10 items.

The children receive free or reduced-cost meals while school is in session, but do not have food available on the weekends or school holidays for themselves and their siblings. Food 4 Kids provides food directly to the children, without requiring their parents to receive a referral to a local food pantry, pick up food at the pantry or prepare it at home.  In order to qualify for the program, students must attend a school where at least 80% of the population receives free or reduced-cost lunch, and receive a referral from their teachers. Each child must also return a signed permission slip from their parent/guardian.

During the 2008-2009 school year, the program served just 200 chronically hungry elementary school children in eight schools located throughout San Diego County.  The need is much greater.  As an example, the pilot program at one school in 2006 served 250 children alone.

The economy has been hard on all of us this year, but it has been hardest on those who were already struggling.  Charitable donations are down, and hunger in San Diego County is up.  Those of us who love food and view it as a pleasure are so fortunate to be in that position. The least we can do is try to ensure the children of our community don’t – quite literally - go hungry. 

With this goal in mind, San Diego’s food bloggers and other members of the local community are coming together to raise funds for the San Diego Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids Backpack Program. 

A little goes a long way: the program costs approximately $7 per week per child to fund, and a donation of $250 will fund a backpack for a child for the entire 36-week school year.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1. Donate online at our First Giving website.

2. Spread the word at your Thanksgiving gathering, your place of business, on your blog, via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

3. Get together with your friends, family or business and sponsor an entire school!  To find out how, call the San Diego Food Bank at 866-350-FOOD (3663)

4. Donate a prize for the raffle.  A full list of prizes can be found on Alice Q. Foodie's site.

5. Come to the Food and Backpack Drive at the Little Italy Mercato on December 12, 2009 from 9 am-12 noon. Alice Q. Foodie and Caron Golden, who are spearheading this event, will be giving away prizes in a drawing at our booth at the Little Italy Mercato that morning. 

We will also be collecting non-perishable, child-friendly food items and backpacks.  Come and meet your favorite food bloggers, drop off your donations and celebrate the Holidays at the Mercato! 

Suggested donation items:

• A medium-sized neutral design backpack, preferably red in color.
• Toothbrush and kids' toothpaste
• Coloring books
• School supplies (pencils, paper, sharpeners, markers, crayons)
• Nutritious kid-friendly foods, such as fruit roll ups; granola bars; boxed, packaged food items like cereal, crackers, or nutrition bars; pop-top canned goods such as applesauce or other fruit; ready-made macaroni and cheese; and other easy, convenient items.  
  

Thank you so much for your contribution. Happy Holidays!

 

“I like backpack because I can have food on Saturday and Sunday.”

– 3rd Grader, Bobier Elementary

Bulthaup Chef Series

Last week marked the inaugural dinner of the bulthaup San Diego Chef Series, a monthly dinner party held in the bulthaupSD downtown showroom.  

 

The series is the brainchild of bulthaupSD owner Aleka Kim and local chefs Pete Balistreri and Rian Brandenburg, of Tender Greens.   The small, intimate dinner party setting (only 24 guests) allows guests to mingle while watching Balistreri and Brandenburg cook in the nearby open kitchen. 

The meal is prepared with locally-grown, seasonal ingredients and is served, family-style, at three tables set up in the showroom.  Last week's Oktoberfest dinner included local (Poway) beer maker, Lightning Brewery, pouring samples of their hand-crafted, European style beers and a menu that featured sausages, braised pork belly and duck confit.  

Next month's "Celebrating Harvest" dinner will be held Thursday, November 19, at 7 pm.  The menu will include seared sea scallops with brown butter, hand-made fettuccine with rabbit bolognese, slow-cooked short ribs, roasted vegetables, and apple crumb pie. 

A third of the proceeds from each $60 ticket go toward sponsoring the 2010 Cultivating Food Justice Conference in San Diego.  Seating is limited, so be sure to call and reserve your spot today. 

Banned Books Week 2009

September 26-October 3, 2009 is Banned Books Week.  Celebrate your freedom to read by picking a book that makes you cringe, cry, squirm, angry, sad, uncomfortable, happy.  Challenge yourself.  Challenge your beliefs.  Think.  Be thankful you still can.  Breathe.  Love.  Read. 

It's interesting looking over this list of books and the reasons why they were challenged.  As a mother, I have certainly felt some of the same concerns about the books my three daughters read (or the TV programs or videogames they watch and play).  And I have withheld certain materials from my girls because I felt they were inappropriate.  To me that's good parenting.  But that ban didn't extend to my friend's or neighbors kids or the entire school district. 

Now that my kids are older and I have less control over their world, I will occasionally find them reading or looking at something online or listening to music with lyrics that surprise me.  Having been raised Catholic, my first reaction is, oh, they shouldn't be reading that!  Old habits die hard.  It's easier to control someone if they don't ask questions.   It's easier to forbid something than to examine or discuss it.  Heaven forbid you might actually change your mind.  Your belief system.

The funny thing is when I do look a little deeper into what my kids are reading, listening to, and thinking, it has generated some great discussions with them.  Brought me closer to them.  Introduced me to lots of new music and books I never would have picked up on my own. LIke Richard Siken's Crush, collection of poems about longing, love and pain.  I can't wait to read it.

American Library Association’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008 (out of 513 challenges as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom--love that name!):

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
   Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group
2. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
   Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence.  Retained by the publicly funded Dufferin-Peel Catholic School District in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada in 2008 with a sticker on the inside cover telling readers "representations of the church in this novel are purely fictional and are not reflective of the real Roman Catholic Church or the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
4. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence
5. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, and violence. Banned from the Orestimba High School's English classes in Newman, California in 2008 by the superintendent after complaints that the book is profane and anti-Catholic.  Teachers claimed that the superintendent circumvented the district's policies on book challenges and set a dangerous precedent.  The book is about a boy maturing, asking questions about evil, justice, and the nature of God.  
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group
7. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
8. Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
   Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group
9. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
10. Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
    Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group

The World According to Monsanto

Joyce Beers Community Center

Saturday, August 22, 6pm | FREE!

3900 Vermont St., San Diego 92103
Uptown District Shopping Center
1.5 blocks north of University Ave

The World According to Monsanto is an in-depth documentary that looks at the domination of the agricultural industry from one of the world’s most insidious and powerful companies.

This is one of the most powerful, must-see films for anyone interested in the behind the scenes world of the food industry, and how just one world-dominating corporation holds the keys and patents to much of the world's food supply.

Includes a discussion about the local food movement in San Diego and ways you can help support the return to locally grown, fresh and healthy food in our community.  

This free film is part of the San Diego Roots Food for Thought Film Series.

Growing Places 2009

Cultivating Food Justice

CULTIVATING FOOD JUSTICE
a FREE conference for everyone!

San Diego City College
Friday, May 1st 530-830pm
Opening Reception and Keynote Speakers
Saturday, May 2nd 8am-5pm

A full day of hands-on workshops and discussions to empower local communities to build sustainable and affordable food systems that maximize self-reliance and social justice.

Food Justice means:  everyone must have access to safe, nutritious and culturally-appropriate food in sufficient quantity and quality to sustain a healthy life with full human dignity.

To learn more and register:  www.sdfoodnotlawns.com
organized by an an all volunteer collaborative

Praise Song for the Day

photo by Karen Ballard

Poem composed for President Barack Hussein Obama
on the occasion of his Inauguration
as 44th President of the United States of America
January 20, 2009

Praise Song for the Day
by Elizabeth Alexander

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others’ eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, “Take out your pencils. Begin.”

We encounter each other in words, Words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; Words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, “I need to see what’s on the other side; I know there’s something better down the road.”

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

What Kids Eat

Kids Photograph the Food They Eat Over One Day

If you get the chance, check out What Kids Eat, a new exhibit currently being shown at several locations around San Diego.  One hundred kids from 10 schools in San Diego County were given disposable cameras and asked to document what they ate over the course of one day. 

It’s fascinating to see not only what the kids ate, but also what they chose to document.  They are many shots of school lunch
trays, fast food, and junk food (cheetos, soda, candy), but just as many shots of fruit and salads, too. 

The kids (age 8) also answered questionnaires about what they had eaten: “Did you enjoy eating your food today?”  “How did the food make you feel?”

 

My favorite question was “If you could have eaten anything else today what would it have been?”
One answer: “it would be spegtey (spaghetti).”  Another: “it would of been brokly (broccoli).”

Not all of the photos are particularly of great quality (many of the images are blurry, partly the limitations of the small lenses on the disposable cameras and sometimes the result of the camera being close to the object being photographed), but there are some images of striking beauty:

Of equal or, perhaps, even more interest than what the kids ate is what is behind the food: glimpses of people and backgrounds in the photos.  There are shots of siblings, parents, classmates, kitchens, dining rooms, the inside of refrigerators: 

 

I’m fascinated by these photos for the same reason I love Peter Menzel’s books Material World and Hungry Planet. 

They offer a brief glimpse into how others live and eat—but this time the subjects control the camera and choose how they are portrayed, an idea employed so effectively by Zana Briski’s Kids With Cameras in their Oscar-winning documentary film Born into Brothels. 

This exhibit, sponsored by the Sugar Musuem, runs through October 31st at the following venues around the county:

Chula Vista Civic Center Library
City Heights/Weingart Branch Library
City Heights Wellness Center
College-Rolando Library
Grants Market, South Park
Mission Hills Branch Library
North Park Branch Library
Pacific Beach/Taylor Library

If you can, visit the City Heights locations—the Wellness Center and Library are on the same block of Wightman Street (at Fairmont, one block south of University).  If you go on a Saturday morning you can also check out the nearby City Heights Farmers’ Market—a culturally diverse, affordable market that is the first in the city to accept EBT (food stamps) and WIC vouchers. 

Oh, and while you’re there, don’t forget the broccoli.

The Real Enemy

Do you believe one person can change the world?

When that question was posed at a recent book club meeting, nearly every hand in the room went up in agreement.

Now, do you believe YOU are that person?

We all looked around.  We were in a room full of at least forty people, mostly older women, in the La Jolla Library.  We shifted in our seats.  One brave woman finally raised her hand.

I believe it. I believe that each person on this earth is capable of changing it. 

So why didn’t I raise my hand?

Was it modesty?  Was I afraid of what people would think of me?   

What were the others thinking?  (Who am I?  How can I make a difference?  Why should I bother recycling when most people don’t?  Why bother voting?  My one vote won’t change anything.  Why should I worry about someone else’s problems?  I’ve got my own problems to take care of.)

Or was it peer pressure that silenced me?  No one else had their hand up so I wasn’t going to be the first to stick mine out.  I didn’t want that kind of public scrutiny.

Why not?

How can I believe I can change the world if I can’t even take that first step?

If I can’t even raise my hand to speak for myself, how can I expect others to do so?  As Isabel Allende has said, with all of the privileges we have in this country, we have an obligation to help others, especially other women, who have less than we do--less money, less education, less power.

That takes courage.

No, more than that.  It takes audaciousness:

1.    A willingness to defy the status quo, the restrictions put upon us by society in the form of laws, religion, manners or tradition.

2.    A sense of adventure.

3.    A spirited fearless daring.

That’s what it takes.

Are we so wrapped up in our own world (work, relationship, TV) that we can’t be bothered to step outside our comfortable little boxes?

Well, one person can make a difference.

One person has.

The book in question at that discussion was Three Cups of Tea, the selection for the One Book, One San Diego program this year. The idea behind the program is to get everyone in the city to read the same book.  (Talk about audaciousness.  Getting everyone in the city to read a book would be a miracle.  The same book?  That would be a revolution.)

"How can Americans say they are making themselves safer?"  Pakistani Brigadier General Bashir Baz is quoted in the book, as he and Greg Mortenson watch a live CNN feed from Baghdad in the fall of 2003 of wailing Iraqi women carrying children's bodies out of a bombed building.  "Your President Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years."

"...Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America.  Thanks to America, Osama is in every home.  As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard.  You have to attack the source of your enemy's strength.  In America's case, that's not Osama or Saddam or anyone else.  The enemy is ignorance."

Greg Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote, volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  He has established over 61 schools, which provide education where few education opportunities existed before.

Mortenson has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs from his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls.

When the porcelain bowls of scalding butter tea steamed in their hands, Haji Ali spoke.  “It you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways,” Haji Ali said, blowing on his bowl.  “The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger.  The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest.  The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die,” he said, laying his hand warmly on Mortenson’s own.  “Doctor Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea.  We may be uneducated.  But we are not stupid.  We have lived and survived here for a long time.”

“That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life,” Mortenson says.  “We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly.  We’re the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their ‘shock and awe’ campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started.  Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects.  He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.”

If you want a truly amazing story of how one person can make a difference, read the book.  Even better, go hear Greg Mortenson himself.  He will be in San Diego this week, speaking at various places around town. 

I want to go to Camp Pendleton.  For one, in all my 18 years in San Diego, I have never once stepped foot on a military base.  Second, I want to hear what Mortenson has to say, especially to a room full of Marines.  Finally, I want to hear the questions that the audience has for him.  I have a lot of questions myself.  And this time, I will be there, with my hand up in the air. 

That’s the first step.

The largest fire ever known

Everyone in San Diego has been touched by these fires.
We all know someone who has been evacuated, who has been forced to leave their home, not knowing if they will have a home to return to.

San Diego County Fire Map

Those not affected directly sit at home and wait. 
We have been asked not to use freeways, cellphones, power.  We email friends, offer our houses as shelter for evacuees. 
The schools are closed for the week.
The sky is grey with ash. 
The air burns our eyes and leaves our throats raw.
We watch the news, watch and wait for the weather to change. 
And the fires continue to burn.

photo Sean M Hafffey/San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press

I think of the firefighters who are out there night and day and night.  The word hero doesn’t even begin to describe them.

And I think of how lucky we are to have evacuation shelters and stadiums and friends to turn to (and homes to return to).

And while 250,000 residents of San Diego have been evacuated, I can’t help but think how that compares to 4 million other civilians who have been forced to flee their homes.

If your house isn’t burning, what do you do?  Do you go and help your neighbor?  How far do you go?  How big is your neighborhood?

   

The largest Fire ever known
Occurs each Afternoon --
Discovered is without surprise
Proceeds without concern --
Consumes and no report to men
An Occidental Town,
Rebuilt another morning
To be burned down again.

--Emily Dickinson

America Unchained

Think about where you spend your money. 

It makes a difference. 

When you buy food, books, or toys, do you go to a local merchant or a big box store? 

When you buy from a locally-owned business, that money stays in your community and gets recirculated three-and-a-half times more than if you bought from a chain store.  That means you are helping your friends, your neighbors, your local farmers stay in business and live in your community. 

I like buying locally because I like supporting my local economy, but the best part is that I get to talk to people who care about what they are doing.  At the locally-owned  bookstores where I shop, the clerks there actually read the books they are selling and can recommend something they think I will like.  When I visit my favorite restaurant, I get a hug from the hostess and the chef comes out to say hi to me and my kids.  At the farmers’ market, Barry from La Milpa Organica tells me that he just saw my mom at his stand at an hour ago.  While he scoops up a bag of his salad mix (the best in San Diego), he tells me about the corn harvest festival he hosted at his farm last week.

Today, for at least one day, free yourself from the American corporate chains.  Better yet, this holiday season, give thanks and support to your local independent businesses by buying from them.  (Thanks to Jeff Mariotte for this link.)

Chain, chain, chain, chain, chain, chain
Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools
... I found out I'm just a link in your chain
You got me where you want me
I ain't nothing but your fool
You treated me mean oh you treated me cruel
Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools
© Don Covay (1967)

For more info on the real cost of the mega-retailers, see Stacy Mitchell’s book, Big Box Swindle, and check out the film, Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop.

Terra Madre Workshops

“Biodiversity can be seen as a life insurance policy for life itself-- something especially needed in this time of fast-paced global change.”—Kofi Annan

The first full day at Terra Madre featured 15 workshops spread out over 3 time periods (10 am, 1 pm, 3pm).  Workshops were divided into categories such as economics/market access, products and producers, agro-ecology, resources, cultures, and strategies.  There were also regional meetings, where all the delegates from one country gathered together in one room (more on the U.S. meeting to follow in a later post). 

Practically speaking, for each time slot one was forced to choose among 5 different workshops and topics, a daunting decision.  Friday morning, for example, offered the following:

1. “More than consumers: the power of co-producers.  The buyer’s role is much more active than what the word consumer suggests.  The final link in the food chain has its place in production, education, markets and the environment.  Farmers’ markets, buyers’ groups, community-supported agriculture and many other initiatives demonstrate that eating is an agricultural act, producing a gastronomical act and purchasing a political act.”

2. “Cheese: The importance of raw milk, the significance of animal feed and the quality of milk, the defense of traditional techniques and market access for small-scale producers: what can be done to preserve the dairy artisan heritage?”

3. “Fresh and cured meats: Breeders, slaughterhouses and butchers, processing companies and cooks.  Many different skills and factors contribute to the quality of fresh and cured meats, from animal feed to the cut to curing techniques.”

However, the brief descriptions in the program didn’t list any of the speakers and, as much as I love cheese, I was reluctant to give up two hours of my time for a discussion comparing animal feeds.  I finally hit upon the strategy of wandering from room to room with my headset on (picking up the voices of the translators broadcasting in the back of each room).  If the speakers caught my interest, I sat down and stayed.  If not, I moved on to the next workshop.  A rather arbitrary approach, but one that proved surprisingly effective.   Many of the workshops I thought I would be interesting (i.e., that I had highlighted in my program) turned out to be disappointing, while the ones I wandered into ended up being the ones I enjoyed the most. 

Terra Madre 2006 Opening Day

Terra Madre 2006 officially opened on Thursday, October 26, with a parade of nations, one representative from each country bearing his or her flag.

The event recalled the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, which Torino hosted earlier this year.  The representatives marched in alphabetical order and took their seat on the main stage facing the audience.

Once all of the national representatives had been seated, the speeches began.  Everyone in the audience had been given headsets, so simultaneous translation was available in several languages (English, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese).

Salone del Gusto 2006

I came to Italy this year to participate both in Slow Food’s Terra Made and Salone del Gusto.  Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Salone del Gusto is a international fair held in Torino every 2 years to celebrate the diversity and quality of food, an eco-gastronomic response to the standardization and globalization of our food system.

Well, ok, I have to confess.  Mostly I came to eat. And speak Italian.  And to travel around Italy for a week with friends afterwards.  But it was because of the Salone del Gusto that I came here.  I've been wanting to come for years, ever since I first heard about this amazing global food fair.

Salone del Gusto runs for 4 days and attracts tens of thousands of people, including large groups of schoolkids. The event is held in the Lingotto, the former Fiat factory turned convention center.  It’s a food lover’s dream come true.  Imagine an entire convention center filled with table after table displaying the food of farmers and producers from all over Italy and the rest of the world.

Terra Madre 2006

Greetings from Turin!

I am in Italy for Terra Madre 2006, a world meeting of food communities. There are 5000 delegates-- chefs, university researchers, farmers, food producers, and observers--representing 1500 food communities in 183 countries.  We are here to discuss and set forth a system of producing food that is good, clean and fair for all--an alternative to fast food culture and the dominant industrial model of agriculture.   

I’ll post more in the next week, but in the meantime you can read more about the conference on the Terra Madre blog or at the Terra Madre website.  There are some beautiful portraits of the delegates here.

 

Eat In--Act Out!

For anyone that is interested in exploring the idea of eating locally, there is a great opportunity coming up next week.

San Diego Food Not Lawns and the International Rescue Committee have done a great job of organizing a series of events to get people talking and thinking about our food choices here in San Diego. 

The week kicks off Monday, July 31, with a Tomato Taste-off at Horton Plaza from 11:30-1:30. 

The following days Tuesday, August 1-Thursday, August 3 will feature a mini-film festival to be held at locations throughout the city. 

For more information, see the San Diego Roots website or contact San Diego Food Not Lawns.

The Ultimate Road Trip

It’s summer!  You know what that means, right?

1. No school!
2. Watermelon, peaches, and cherries!
3. Road trip!

As you may know, when I’m not eating food, cooking food, taking pictures of food, reading about food or talking about food, my other obsession in life is my job as mother of three kids.

One of our favorite family traditions is an annual road trip. 

Each year I load up the minivan and take to the highway.  Gypsy wanderer that I am, this trip appeases my restless nature. It’s a great chance to see the country—and there’s so much of the U.S. I haven’t seen.  (I’m embarrassed to admit I have seen more of Europe than my own country.) 

But, honestly, the real purpose of these trips is food.  Despite my laments about the culinary homogenization of American food, there is still a joyful, regional diversity.  You just have to work a little harder to find it.  Hint: it’s usually not at the nearest interstate exit. 

As you have probably guessed from the links on my blog, I am a passionate supporter of Slow Food.  Not just because it started in Italy (although that is how I discovered it), but because their philosophy about food so closely matches what I believe.  Slow Food celebrates the joy and diversity of food.  It encourages a respect for the land and for the people who grow and prepare food.  It recognizes a sense of place and of community. 

The Slow Food movement has really grown in the last few years, especially in the United States.  One of the most exciting developments was the formation of Heritage Foods USA, which was created to celebrate and protect U.S. food traditions and farmers.  (Their first project, the Heritage Turkey Project, has brought several breeds back from the brink of extinction and has allowed many of us to experience what real turkeys taste like).   

A few months ago, as I started planning my road trip for this summer, I came across what I consider the ultimate American food road trip.  After reading this, I was ready to pack my bags.  Fortunately for my family, however, the tour included a stop in San Diego.  So, much as I would have liked to, I didn’t need to drive all the way to Omaha, for example, and show my kids a week in the life of a USDA butcher/slaughterhouse. (They’ve read Fast Food Nation—that was enough information for them!)

Instead, we are fortunate that the Heritage Foods team will be stopping in San Diego.  They're coming here to deliver a pair of Red Wattle pigs to the San Pasqual Academy. 

So, if you are interested in meeting the pigs, talking to the Heritage team, or just supporting the foster teens at San Pasqual Academy, you can come to Orfila Winery on Monday, June 26 from 3-6 pm.  There will be wine and appetizers prepared by Chef Jeff Jackson, from The Lodge at Torrey Pines.

P.S. For those Charlotte’s Web lovers out there, I don’t think we’ll be eating the pigs after we meet them.  (Not yet, anyway.)

See you there!

Olive Oil by the Bay

Last week I attended the 2nd annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival Grand Event. I had mixed feelings about attending, which I will describe in more detail below, but finally decided to go because of the scope of the event and large number of participants.  I support anything that brings  national attention to San Diego cuisine and shows we are worthy of serious consideration as a food destination.  Also, I missed last year’s (inaugural) festival and I was curious to see what it was all about.

The weather was beautiful and the location, the Embarcadero Marina Park South overlooking San Diego Bay, couldn’t be beat.  Check out the view of the Coronado Bridge behind the chefs:

There were quite a number of exhibitors lining the long circular sidewalk leading around the event.  Restaurants, food companies, art and gift vendors, and…BMW?  According to the event organizers, over 100 wineries participated and were showcased in the main tent located in the center of the lawn. 

Here are some samples of the food:

I wish I could tell you what all this was, but with a camera in one hand and food in the other, it was impossible to take notes.  Besides, the list of ingredients was so long I had already forgotten by the time the chef finished reciting it.  Micro greens, fried vegetable slivers, seafood, wasabi roe...  Very pretty, but mainly I wondered how they managed to wash all those spoons before the next round of tasters came by.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time and by the end there were quite a few people who looked as though they had drunk their money’s worth.  For another report on the festival, check out Scott’s blog, Firefly Fifty Five.

One question I never had answered:  what was the deal with the VIP tent?  Located at the far end of the festival, the tent contained a local wine shop and a vodka distributor, with guards posted at the entranced to keep unimportant people (like me) out.

Festa della Castagna

What I love about Italy is that it is a country that is just as passionate about food just as I am.  And nearly every week, somewhere in Italy, is a festival (or sagra) celebrating local food.  I came to Reggio’Emilia this week to visit friends, but happily my visit happen to coincide with chestnut season.   This past Sunday the main street of the town was blocked off for la Festa della Castagna (chestnut festival). I dropped my bags off at the hotel and practically ran out to join the party.  Hot-roasted chestnuts right this way! 

The chestnuts were easy to find—in the center of the street beneath a plume of smoke and a large, hungry crowd.  I got in line, well, at least what I thought was a line, with everyone else. Raw chestnuts (castagne, or marroni, which means brown) cost 4.50 euro (about $6) per kilo.  Roasted chestnuts (caldarroste): 3 euros for half a kilo.  You want caldarroste?  You need to go over there and pay the lady first.

Celebrating San Diego

Yesterday was a perfect reminder of why I live in San Diego.  We are blessed with a climate that allows us to grow food year round here.  And every year Celebrate the Craft at the Lodge at Torrey Pines brings together the region’s best farmers and chefs to showcase our culinary splendors.  What I really love about this event, however, is the way that restaurants and farms are paired together.  Next to a farmer with a gorgeous display of fruits and vegetables is a chef handing you a plate of that same produce, deliciously prepared.

It was hard to know where to start.  I walked around from table to table admiring the bounty.  The bright sun intensified the already-colorful fruits and vegetables.   The smell of grilled tuna and duck confit wafted across the lawn.  I wanted to eat, but as at the farmers’ market, I got distracted talking to old friends, asking questions, and taking photographs.

For me, Region is the restaurant that best exemplifies what San Diego cuisine is all about. Here Chef Allyson Colwell prepares plates of grilled bread and Crows Pass Farm onions waiting to be topped with grilled tuna.