Edible San Diego Winter 2011-12 : Page 2

PUBLISHERS’ RANT No farms, no holiday food We love food—fancy food, plain food, slow food, throw-it-together food, fabulous chef creations and down home cookin’. One of the most delightful aspects of fall and winter is the food. Th ose holiday spreads and edible gift s of special things you usually don’t have. And there’s that off -the-leash, live-for-the-moment attitude that makes it perfectly acceptable to feast with wild abandon. Several things are on the horizon both locally and nationally that aff ect how we eat—what foods are grown, what crops we support with our tax dollars, where crops can be grown, and how they are farmed. Th is is one of those pesky connecting-the-dot-issues that most of us have little time or patience for. We assume the basic stuff of life—food, clean air, clean water—will be there for us. All these basics are aff ected by the way we grow food. 40% of the earth’s land mass is occupied by farming and ranching, 75% of the earth’s fresh water is used in agriculture, and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions are generated growing, processing and shipping food, so how we do it really matters. For those of us who want to eat really good fresh, healthy, local food, it behooves us to know what is being done to aff ect our food system and to weigh in when the big decisions are made. At the national level, what goes into the Farm Bill aff ects our food supply and environment in ways that are obscure and diffi cult for the average consumer to fathom. However, the health of the nation (both nutritionally and environmentally) is aff ected by what goes into the Farm Bill. So it is in our interest to give a darn. Read about it in Jill Richardson’s article. She makes it easy, trust me. edible Communities 2011 James Beard Foundation Publication of the Year CONTRIBUTORS Riley Davenport & John Vawter On the local scene, how do we reconcile the needs of residents and the sometimes confl icting needs and simple realities of organic farmers? Th e recent tempest over the eye gnats at Be Wise is a case in point (see page 7). We need local agriculture, and many of us want it to be organic, but we don’t want to be pestered by bugs. Urban sprawl threatens the very existence of prime agricultural land, so this is going to be an ongoing confl ict we need innovative solutions for. In the bigger picture, agricultural land cannot continue to be sacrifi ced in preference for housing, malls, and freeways. Aft er all, we still gotta eat, and as the American Farmland Trust bumper sticker says, “No Farms, No Food.” We’re not going to try to cover it all, but we hope you want to learn more and participate in the process. Edible Communities Publications 6th Annual Local Hero Awards Vote NOW to join in celebrating the heroes of your local food community! Visit the link below to vote for your “Best Of” in the following categories: $IFG
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'BSNFSt'PPE#FWFSBHF"SUJTBOt/POQSPå U0SHBOJ[BUJPO www.ediblecommunities.com/heroes Click on the link for San Diego to cast your vote. %FBEMJOFJT'SJEBZ&#0d;%FDFNCFS&#0d;&#0f; Edible San Diego P.O. Box 83549 Chris Rov Costa San Diego, CA 92138 Riley Davenport 619-222-8267 Enrique Gili Caron Golden info@ediblesandiego.com ediblesandiego.com Marisa Holmes Karen Kenyon ADVERTISING Lauren Lastowka For information about Lauren Mahan rates and deadlines, call Mike Mahan 619-222-8267 or email us at Jill Richardson info@ediblesandiego.com Vincent Rossi Susan Russo No part of this publication may be used without Clea Shannon written permission of Matt Steiger the publisher. © 2011. All rights reserved. PUBLISHERS Riley Davenport John Vawter Every eff ort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If an error comes to your attention, please let us know and accept our sincere apologies. Thank you. EDITOR Lauren Lastowka COPY EDITORS Doug Adrianson John Vawter Subscribe & support ESD Never miss a mouth watering issue. Support and celebrate our local food community. Subscribe or give a gift subscription to Edible San Diego for just $32 a year (printed quarterly). $52 for two years. $66 for three years. Subscribing online is easy at ediblesandiego.com. Or send your information (name, street address, city, state and zip code) and check made payable to Edible San Diego to the address below. DESIGNER Riley Davenport COVER PHOTO Chris Rov Costa Edible San Diego, P.O. Box 83549, San Diego, CA 92138 2 edible San Diego winter 2011/12

Publishers' Note

Publishers' Rant No farms, no holiday food We love food–fancy food, plain food, slow food, throw-it-together food, fabulous chef creations and down home cookin'. One of the most delightful aspects of fall and winter is the food. Those holiday spreads and edible gift s of special things you usually don't have. And there's that off-the-leash, live-forthe-moment attitude that makes it perfectly acceptable to feast with wild abandon. Several things are on the horizon both locally and nationally that affect how we eat–what foods are grown, what crops we support with our tax dollars, where crops can be grown, and how they are farmed. Th is is one of those pesky connecting-the-dot-issues that most of us have little time or patience for. We assume the basic stuff of life–food, clean air, clean water–will be there for us. All these basics are affected by the way we grow food. 40% of the earth's land mass is occupied by farming and ranching, 75% of the earth's fresh water is used in agriculture, and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions are generated growing, processing and shipping food, so how we do it really matters. For those of us who want to eat really good fresh, healthy, local food, it behooves us to know what is being done to affect our food system and to weigh in when the big decisions are made. At the national level, what goes into the Farm Bill affects our food supply and environment in ways that are obscure and difficult for the average consumer to fathom. However, the health of the nation (both nutritionally and environmentally) is affected by what goes into the Farm Bill. So it is in our interest to give a darn. Read about it in Jill Richardson's article. She makes it easy, trust me. On the local scene, how do we reconcile the needs of residents and the sometimes conflicting needs and simple realities of organic farmers? The recent tempest over the eye gnats at Be Wise is a case in point (see page 7). We need local agriculture, and many of us want it to be organic, but we don't want to be pestered by bugs. Urban sprawl threatens the very existence of prime agricultural land, so this is going to be an ongoing conflict we need innovative solutions for. In the bigger picture, agricultural land cannot continue to be sacrificed in preference for housing, malls, and freeways. After all, we still gotta eat, and as the American Farmland Trust bumper sticker says, "No Farms, No Food." We're not going to try to cover it all, but we hope you want to learn more and participate in the process.

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