Archive for the 'Locavore' Category

How now should we eat: Michael Pollan and the Rule of Food

Published on January 6, 2010 in Local, Locavore, Video and food. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

FoodRulesBookCoverIf you’ve been following the Locavore Movement for any length of time then you will surely be familiar with the name Michael Pollan.  Well, thanks to a timely Tweet I caught him being interviewed on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart yesterday.  He was promoting his newest book “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual“.  In his previous book “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” he expounded on the simple mantra “To be healthy, Humans should eat food, not too much and mostly plants“. With such a simple mantra you’d expect a short book.  However as the page count grew and as Pollan expounded on the travails of industrial food system I began to realize that his simple mantra was an impregnable ideal.

To that end, to help demystify how to eat ethically, healthfully and to avoid the “edible food like substances” being marketed to us, Pollan has come to our rescue with a pocket sized “eater’s manual.”  It is a shame that an eater’s manual is even necessary but when our local grocery store offerings are 85% processed, non-whole food, food substitutes, finding the genuine article can be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.  So I’m going to pick the book up tomorrow and will write a proper review once I’ve given it a read, but to tide you over below is his interview on the Daily Show.  Enjoy and eat consciously.

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Eat Local Week January 25th – 31st – A Slow Food Orlando Event

Published on December 22, 2009 in Event, Farming, Local, Locavore, Markets, food and orlando. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

SFLogoIf you follow me on Twitter or have checked into any of my blogs over the last few years you would undoubtedly have heard me championing the work of Slow Food Orlando.  Back in 2007 when I filmed a documentary about the burgeoning Local Food movement in Central Florida, I had the good fortune to cross pas with Slow Food Orlando’s Vice President Rebecca Reise-Miller.  You can catch her segment of the documentary at the 20 minute mark.

FruitsSince meeting Rebecca, Kamrin and I have made an effort to both attend Slow Food events as well as incorporate many of its tenants into our family’s food practices.  We now have a 300 Sft vegetable garden where we grow our own produce organically and with heirloom varieties.  We also have made an effort to buy from artisan and locally sourced food producers like Big Wheel Provisions, Olde Hearth Bakery, Wild Ocean Seafood, Lake Meadow Naturals, Winter Park Dairy, Winter Park Honey and others.

EggsEating locally is more than just buying food that is at the peak of freshness and not shipped cross country from California, more importantly it is about supporting our local food economy, its community and its unique culture.  By doing so it becomes normal to know your producers, to build relationship with the local farmers who supply your free-range eggs and organically grown produce and to know that you are getting the highest quality food for your food dollar. By supporting the “local” farmer’s markets like Audubon Park Community Market you are strengthening the bonds that connect each of us to the land from which our food comes and to the caring hands that provided these food stuffs for our consumption.

EatLocalWeekLogoSlow Food in an effort to champion this vital connection is sponsoring an Eat Local Week January 25th – 31st.  Below is an excerpt from their promotional materials for this event.  You can be sure Kamrin and I will be fully supporting this week long event and you can expect to see a few write ups and videos on our site about it.  So take a look at the excerpt below and let us know in the comments what you are doing to participate in Eat Local Week.  Following an excerpt is a video of the mother of America’s Slow Food movement Alice Waters to give you a bit more insight into what Slow Food is all about.

EAT LOCAL WEEK -  January 25th – 31st

Participate in a week-long celebration promoting connection, community, culture and cuisine in Central Florida.  Grab your family, friends and neighbors and head to participating dining establishments during the last week of January, 2010
Continue reading ‘Eat Local Week January 25th – 31st – A Slow Food Orlando Event’

Jennifer Farhat Part Deux: Locavore Instillation Art at Lake Eloa, Orlando, FL

Published on December 17, 2009 in Art, Locavore, Video and orlando. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Jennifer

A couple weeks ago I reported about the thought provoking artwork of local artist Jennifer Farhat.  She has produced another locavore inspired instillation on the shores of  Lake Eola in downtown Orlando, FL.  On top of that she how has a shiny new home for work on the web called Know The Roots.  Besides serving as a portfolio of her locavore artwork, the site also provides a great primer for why we all believe supporting an organic local food economy is so critical to the health of our families and the health of our nation.

Jennifer Farhat – Locavore Instillation Art

Published on November 19, 2009 in Art, Event, Locavore and orlando. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Locavore - Jennifer Farhat - Instillatin ArtLocal artist Jennifer Farhat has produced a very thought provoking piece of instillation art that has been appearing on the streets of Downtown Orlando.  Most recently her work graced the sidewalk at the corner of Central and Rosalind downtown.

Due to its size, pedestrians have no choice but to engage with the artwork;  and with a recent survey claiming 64% of American’s as being overweight or obese, there is no better time for such confrontational social commentary.

Somehow Michael Pollan’s simple mantra of “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” has been lost on our Fast Food Nation.  So much of what “we” consume is not so much “food” as it is the product of “food science”.

I have to believe the remedy begins with education and education doesn’t begin until the learner is ready.  So here’s to the thought provoking work of Jennifer Farhat and here’s to hoping it sparks awareness.  Her next showing will be Sunday at 11am at the Downtown Farmer’s Market.

Farm to Table Retrospective – Central Flrorida Locavores FTW

Published on November 18, 2009 in Event, Farming, Local, Locavore, Markets, Ourlando and Video. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

What an exciting time to be a Locavore in Central Florida.  It appears that during our baby hiatus the movement has grown real roots.  There is no better example of this than at last Sunday’s Farm to Table event at the Enzian.

The excellent people over at Ourlando cooked up this idea of showing a thought provoking film like “Food Fight” (Which was excellent BTW) and paring it with the outstanding locally sourced kitchen creations of Chef Josh Oakley.  I want to say a few things about the event  but I figure the best place to start is with Lance Turner’s opening words before the “Food Fight” film.  So poignant!  I love this guy’s passion!

We particularly salivated over the pulled pork sandwich.  Turns out the pork came from Jim Wood’s happy pigs at Palmetto Creek Farms.  As Kamrin and I are part of the omnivore contingent championing of our local food scene it was refreshing to meet Jim after the movie and see that being a Locavore doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a vegetarian.  In addition to ethically raise pork, Kam would like to mention that when she stepped out with our daughter during the film and she talked with Trish at Deep Creek farm.  They are out of Deland and offer grass fed and finished beef and lamb.

We were more than happy to wash down our lunch with a Blonde Ale from Orlando Brewing and a glass of delicious herbal tea from Dandelion CommuniTEA cafe.  Also sipping on some Austin’s fair trade coffee afterward was a nice pick-me-up after leaving the sleepy darkness of the theater.

It was also great talking to some of the other family farmers among the tents and tables wrapped around the Enzian.  We had fun hanging with the Green Flamingo Farms community and talking about small scale sustainable farming.  Also loved their homemade business cards made out of the backs of cereal boxes.

Finally got to catch up with the peeps over at Lake Meadow Naturals our source for Cage Free, Free Range, Free Roaming and Locally produced eggs.  We picked up a flyer and are sure to get out there with our camera a vlog about it soon.  Until then you can check out the video posted on Big Wheel’s site.  Oh yeah we talked with Tony from Big Wheel Provisions too.  Oh let me mention that I just got their e-mail about their offerings at tonight’s Audubon Park Community market and I can’t wait to pick up some of their lentil soup made with their proprietary local vegetable stock and herbs.

So much more to say.  But that’s enough when I have a research paper due this evening.  Procrastination how I love and hate you.  Grrrrrr.

Oh oh I also want to mention Gus with My Yard Farms.  These guys take the typical grass covered lawns and convert them into edible landscapes.  Awesome.

Ok back to work John.  Seriously…..

Audubon Community Market and Big Wheel Provisions

Published on November 14, 2009 in Local, Locavore, Markets and Ourlando. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Kam and I hit up the Audubon Community Market on Wednesday. Every Wednesday the parking log of Stardust is converted into a farmer’s/vendor’s market. Lots of great locally sourced food and craft. A big hit for us was the Muhamra spread from Big Wheel Provisions. Just a short video to thank Chef Tony for the grub.

Farm to Table – an Ourlando Local Food Alliance event at the Enzian

Published on November 7, 2009 in Event, Film, Local, Locavore, Ourlando and Podcast. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Kamrin and I are heading over to the Enzian next Sunday for the Farm to Table event.  Besides catching up with our locally focused friends, we are both excited to see the showing of the film Food Fight.  Oh yeah we’re also pretty stoked about eating the tasty locally sourced food prepared by Chef Josh Oakley and washing it down with organically brewed beer from Orlando Brewing.

This is the first time since the birth of our little girl that we’ll have the opportunity to reconnect with the Orlando’s locavore community and get caught up with what is happening with the local food movement.  Speaking of which, Julie did a great show on the topic this week on Front Porch Radio and it was a great primer for me to get my head wrapped around who the players are and what progress has happened since my 2007 Locavore film.  Take a listen to her show here.

Ourlando is the chief organizer of the event and the goal is to raise awareness about our existing local food sources and encourage the locavore lifestyle.  With a little networking and some passion we can build a wonderful local and sustainable food economy.  This will be a great opportunity to meet local farmers and local food purveyors.  I’m sure the talk around Eden bar after the film will be worth the price of admission.

Hope to see you all there.

Farm To Table – an Ourlando Local Food Alliance event

Sunday, November 15, 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM 
$18 @ the Enzian Theater

Buy your tickets online here.
Featuring the the documentary “Food Fight” by Chris Taylor and food by Chef Josh Oakley.
Tickets: $18, includes hors d’oeuvre, beer, coffee and tea.

Talking Community with Julie Norris on Front Porch Radio WPRK

Published on November 7, 2009 in Local, Locavore and Podcast. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Thor's Sketch of WPRK studio - Front Porch Radio

I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on one of my favorite radios shows Front Porch Radio.  Every Wednesday at noon the host Julie Norris serves up an hour’s worth of interviews and insights regarding the cultural scene in and around Orlando.  Julie is also the proprietor of the seriously influential Dandelion Communitea Cafe, a delicious vegan friendly restaurant off Colonial Dr and if you’ve seen my Locavore film than you saw Julie sharing her wisdom about the local food movement and know why I call her Miss Local.

Julie has a new partner in crime co-hosting the show and it was a pleasure to get to meet the very affable Jeremy Seghers.  The three of us, no wait Maya was in Julie’s arms, kicked off the show by discussing how the community developers/leaders of Orlando are beginning to harness the power of social and digital media to keep their base informed and inspired.  She also let me pimp a community round table I had put together with Florida Creative’s founder Ryan Price, called “A New Media Think and Drink: Focus on Community”.  Julie was one of our distinguished roundtable members and it was awesome to talk community with her while we were on the air.

Then to my surprise Thomas Thorspecken the sketchbook toting urban sketcher popped in.  Since January Thor has been posting his incredible sketches daily from a wide variety of cultural events in Central Florida.  It was a pleasure meeting him and becoming acquainted with his work, mission and website.  Please check out his phenomenal work at Analog Artist Digital World.

Additionally a photographer and journalist from Winter Park Magazine were on site to do an article about WPRK.  What better show than Front Porch to best capture the local importance of WPRK’s presence on the airwaves.

Check out the podcast here.

Local Food Movement – Central Florida

Published on December 1, 2007 in Locavore. 8 Comments