This Saturday, July 24, 2010 is …

NATIVE & HONEYBEE DAY

At Audubon Greenwich

Enjoy an afternoon at Audubon Greenwich this Saturday when the local beekeepers harvest honey and the Audubon screens two ground-breaking films that investigate answers to what is causing the colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honeybee colonies. Below are all the details about the day’s  events. Note: RSVPs for the films are required b/c the space is limited!

Honey Harvesting: With the Backyard Beekeepers Association

11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Visitors are invited to stop by to see how the honey is taken out of the hive and bottled. Help “spin” the honey from the wax combs. Honey may also be available for purchase (while supplies last). All ages. No charge. No RSVP required. Downhill in the red barn. Sponsored and staffed by the Backyard Beekeepers Association.

Film Screenings: ‘Vanishing of the Bees’ & ‘Nicotine Bees’

4:00-7:00 pm

A double-feature of films dedicated to the native bees and honeybees we all depend on.

In 2005-2006, something happened and a sharp, catastrophic collapse of bee colonies in dozens of countries occurred simultaneously. This was unlike anything seen before, even by the oldest beekeepers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. And contrary to popular belief, the jury is not out on what happened. It seems that bees are now being bombarded by pesticides made of synthetic nicotine that is bonded with cyanide. This new material hit the market in 1995 and in 2005, when the patents expired, many companies around the globe released their versions of the same chemicals. Ever since, bees and other insects have been paying the price for this new class of poison. And since these systemic pesticides spread throughout the whole plant (pollen, nectar, leaf, etc.), there is no escape for honey bees or the hundreds of other native bee species that plant depend on for pollination. So, … Come learn what the world’s top beekeepers and scientists have discovered since CCD started and then you can decide for yourself what the causes of honeybee die-offs are.

Space is limited. Advance tickets required. RSVP to Jeff at 203-869-5272 x239. Just $15/person includes admission to both films and refreshments that will include ‘mead’ wine (made from honey) and bee-inspired snacks between movies.  PLUS - DVD copies of ‘Nicotine Bees’ will be available for purchase for just $15.

Vanishing of the Bees is a 2009 documentary film by Hive Mentality Films & Hipfuel Films, directed by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein. The film is touted as the most important film since An Inconvenient Truth and takes a piercing investigative look at the economic, political and spiritual implications of the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee. The feature-length documentary narrated by Oscar nominated actress Ellen Page examines the current agricultural landscape and celebrates the ancient and sacred connection between man and honeybee.  The story centers around the sudden disappearance of honeybees from beehives around the world, caused by the poorly understood phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. Although the film does not draw any firm scientific conclusions as to the precise cause or causes of CCD, it does suggest a link between the Neonicotinoid group of pesticides and CCD. NOTE: THIS WILL BE THE FIRST PUBLIC SCREENING OF THIS FILM IN THE U.S.A. PRESS CONTACT FOR THIS FILM: Maryam Henein at 323-640-9710.

Nicotine Bees is a 2010 documentary film by Kevin Hansen. The goal of the film is to get to the truth about why the honeybees of the world are in big trouble, and why our food supply is in trouble with them.  The answers are clear - and have been for several years. They filmed on 3 continents to find out the real reasons why bees are in catastrophic decline - and why many people don’t want the real story to be told. The answers have been right in front of us: the worldwide, simultaneous die-off’s of honeybees - with a strange set of behaviors seen everywhere. With the continuing bee collapse, one third of our food supply is at risk - yet despite the clear-cut scientific data, especially from Europe, in news reports this is issue is still called “mysterious.” The answers are clear-cut from evidence from Europe and the US, from observations of similar effects from Europe to Canada to India, and in dozens of states across the US. The film systematically rules out the other possible causes of this massive die-off to find the one underlying explanation that really works: all over the world, at the same time, with the same bizarre behaviors: bees simply leave their precious honey and young bees behind. They don’t come home and Nicotine Bees is ready to show what has happened. PRESS CONTACT FOR THIS FILM: Kevin Hansen: 505-818-7217.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FILMS AND THE ISSUES SURROUNDING NICOTINE-BASED PESTICIDES, VISIT:

www.nicotinebees.com & www.vanishingbees.com

FOR SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES ABOUT THE EFFECT OF NICOTINE-BASED PESTICIDES, VISIT:

http://pierreterre.com/page/critical-evidence

Audubon Greenwich

613 Riversville Road
Greenwich, CT 06831
Phone 203-869-5272
Fax 203-869-4437

Choose organic strawberries since they are among the mostly highly sprayed when conventionally grown. IPM is a good second choice.

In light of all the negative press that pesticides in our foods have received lately, it’s time to take evasive action if you haven’t done so already.

According to a May 5 New York Times Op-Ed piece by Nicholas Kristof, The President’s Cancer Panel has recommended we “Give preference to food grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers and growth hormones.” A May 15 article in the Wall Street Journal discussed a recent study showing a possible link between pesticide exposure and ADHD. “Children with higher levels had increased chances of having ADHD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, a common problem that causes students to have trouble in school.”

What can consumers do to avoid pesticides?

1. Buy organic whenever possible and where is matters most. We all have finite resources, so try to choose organic varities of the 12 most highly sprayed fruits and vegetables. Download the pocket-sized Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides listing the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 to help guide your organic vs. conventional purchases.

2. The next best choice after organic is IPM-grown. Integrated Pest Management practices differ by farmer, but stress the avoidance of routine spraying and emphasize preventing crop damage while creating  “the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment” . Farmers’ markets around the county have opened, or will open soon, and this is a great chance to get to know your farmers face-to-face. If you find they haven’t sprayed or only sprayed with organic products, this is an excellent choice.

3. Rinse and peel any conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables to reduce, but not eliminate pesticide residue.

4. Grown your own! If you’re just starting out, lettuces grow quickly and strawberries are a low-maintenance perennial that self seed. Visit a farmers’ market or Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens to buy your organic strawberry plants.

Missed last Friday’s Turkey Tasting & Sustainable Discussion at Whole Foods Market Westport? Sabrina, the demo chef, roasted some beautiful birds and shoppers got to taste three different kinds. Read Eileen Weber’s post on CT Green Scene. Turkey tips included!

Time magazine ran and excellent article on August 21 entitiled “Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh. Early in the article he point out “And perhaps worst of all, our food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous. A series of recalls involving contaminated foods this year — including an outbreak of salmonella from tainted peanuts that killed at least eight people and sickened 600 — has consumers rightly worried about the safety of their meals.” I encourage you to read the entire article but I’m going to focus on food safety for now.

As we head into Labor Day and the final summer weeks of outdoor grilling, I feel compelled to share a very sobering number with you: “an astonishing 1,675,600 plus pounds of beef and ground meat were recalled since June 8, 2009″ for possible salmonella and E-coli contamination according to US Food Safety. Some was distributed to Connecticut and could have been further processed into other products by the stores.

If you have some ground meat in your freezer that you bought at a local grocer, I recommend you follow US Food Safety’s advice to throw it out just to be safe. My motto is “when in doubt, throw it out” because E-coli can be deadly.

You have options for buying local meat! Here are quite a few farmers’ markets that have local meat vendors that do not use hormones, steroids or antibiotics and raise their cattle at least partially on pasture:

Fairfield Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk on Saturdays from 9-12 counts Eagle Wood Farms as a vendor. You can call or email ahead to place a special order for pick up at the market. Call 860-379-5978 and ask for one of the owners, Bryan Woods or Dave Finn, or email them using their web form. My favorite so far is their baby back ribs.

You can also find Eagle Wood at:

• Georgetown Farmers’ Market on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
• Monroe Farmer’s Market on Fridays from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Please visit the Fairfield Green Food Guide’s Buying Guide for farmer’s market locations and other information.

Westport Farmer’s Market at Imperial Avenue on Thursdays from 10-2 features Ox Hollow Farm, which just merged with Greyledge Farm and now bears their label. Contact them to place a special order you can pick up at the market. E-mail Tammie at tammie@oxhollowfarm.com
or call her at 203.263.6807 or 860.354.3315. The last steak we got from her was like butter.

Ox Hollow Farm is also a vendor at these farmers’ markets:

• Darien on Wednesdays from 11-6
• Ridgefield on Fridays from 3-6 pm
• New Canaan on Saturdays 10-2
• Branchville sells their burgers on Saturdays from 10-3, to go or hot off the grill.

Please visit the Fairfield Green Food Guide’s Buying Guide for farmer’s market locations and other information.

Rowayton Farmers’ Market at Pinkney Park on Fridays from 12-5 (new hours) offers Kinderhook Farm’s pasture-raised, grass-fed beef. This Hudson Valley, NY farm boasts “several hundred acres of rolling hay meadows and pastures allow us to raise our beef cattle on a 100% grass and legume diet that includes no grain, antibiotics, growth hormone, or animal by-products.” I haven’t tried this farm’s meat yet, but plan to soon.

What’s your favorite source for local meat?

The First FRESH Screening in Connecticut Was Held on August 12, 2009!

Read Full Story: FRESH: Getting Back to Basics, by Eileen Weber

Join the Eat Local Challenge: 10 Ways to Eat FRESH

Meet the Panelists & Exhibitors and View Event Photo Gallery

This was the positive, uplifting event that we had all hoped for. Thank you to the 200 guests who were the most engaged audience an event organizer could ask for. You rock!

Looking for a FRESH DVD? The copies we had for sale at the event sold out in 10 minutes! Please visit the producer’s web site to order a DVD online.

To join a waiting list for a future screening in the area, please send an email to marketing at fairfieldgreenfoodguide dot com.

The Fairfield Green Food Guide has teamed up with the amazing folks at Pequot Library in Southport, CT to present the first community screening in Connecticut of the newly released documentary food film FRESH on Wednesday, August 12 at 7 pm in the Library’s auditorium.  FRESH, a widely-acclaimed production of documentary filmmaker Ana Sofia Joanes offers “new thinking about what we’re eating” at a time when the potentially lethal consequences of our industrialized food system have become standard items in our daily news diet.

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, a 2008 MacArthur’s “Genius Award” fellow; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, who is creating a new market model for our family farmers. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. FRESH’s focus on these inspiring individuals and their initiatives around the US provides the audience with actionable solutions. FRESH is a call to action.

This film beautifully portrays the rapidly growing local-sustainable food movement and the critical role we each play in supporting local farms and creating a local market for sustainable products. The guest panelists and exhibitors participating in the screening will offer practical ideas about small but important steps we can take to join and strengthen this grass roots movement.

“Screening FRESH at the Library fits perfectly with our commitment to make the Library a greener place and share the newest information about sustainable living with our patrons so we can all reduce our environmental impact at work and at home” explains Dan Snydacker, Executive Director of Pequot Library.

Immediately following the film, I’ll moderate an educational panel discussion by the leaders of our own local-sustainable food movement including Bill Duesing, Executive Director of CT NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut); Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner of Health in a Hurry; environmentalist Janak Desai and Ken Kleban of Kleban Properties, co-founders of Fairfield’s Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk; Deb Marsden, Founder of Connecticut Farm Fresh Express; and Annelise McCay and Amie Hall, founders of three of Fairfield’s organic, edible schoolyard gardens. Following the panel, a wide variety of exhibitors in the Library’s community reading room will offer practical advice about how individuals can contribute to and benefit from the local-sustainable food movement.

Seating is limited to 100 200 guests and tickets must be pre-purchased online for five dollars plus a small processing fee at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/75164. All event profits will be donated to the Pequot Library and a local-sustainable food initiative. The event is being organized and sponsored in part by the Fairfield Green Food Guide, LLC and hosted by Pequot Library. Thanks to a generous donation by Steaz, guests will enjoy a complimentary organic, fair trade beverage. State-of-the art sound is being provided by our sponsor M Communications.

See you at the FRESH screening!

Official movie poster, courtesy Food, Inc.

After six long years of work, award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner has released his film Food, Inc., an expose of the ugly underbelly of our nation’s food system.  The film opens in Connecticut in Greenwich, Norwalk and New Haven this Friday, June 26. Meet me at the movies in Norwalk at 7 pm this Friday, June 26, at Garden Cinemas Norwalk, 26 Isaac Street. Come early to purchase a ticket since this theater does not sell tickets online. The film has been extremely popular in other cities, so it could sell out. Email me at marketing@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com if you’d like to join the meetup group. Let’s have a drink afterward to discuss. I’ll be in the Fairfield Green Food Guide tee shirt.

Food policy advocate and co-producer Eric Schlosser (remember Fast Food Nation?) and Michael Pollan, best known for his books including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, are the movie’s stars along with the entrepreneurs and farmers that constitute our food system. I’ve heard it said that Food, Inc. will be to food what An Inconvenient Truth was to global warming. Well, yes and no. As Kim Severson of The New York Times astutely points out in her movie review today, “After watching Al Gore explain the horrors of climate change, moviegoers can turn off a few lights, think about a Prius and call it a day. People who leave “Food, Inc.” still have to eat.”

And that leaves us with the daily dilemma of what to eat, where to buy it and how to prepare it so it’s convenient, healthy, delicious and within budget. I built this site for that very reason; I want to be part of the solution! Please visit a farmers’ market, get on a CSA waiting list or visit a farm stand this week. Please use The Buying Guide to search for resources in your town.

The movie is also showing in New Haven at Criterion Cinemas 7, 86 Temple Street, at 7:10 and 9:30 pm; Criterion Cinemas at Greenwich Plaza, 2 Railroad Avenue, at 7 and 9:15 and Garden Cinemas Norwalk, 26 Isaac Street,  at 7 and 9 pm.

See you at the movies! Please come back to post your comments.

Eugenia Bone's "Well-Preserved"

I’ve been wanting to post about “putting up”, or preserving for a while now and the cover article in today’s NYT Dining section inspired me to get going. As we begin to enjoy the harvest from our own gardens and the farms that supply us through farmers’ markets and CSAs, we may well find ourselves inundated with cucumbers, asparagus, strawberries and other fine candidates for preserving. Lucky for us, the book has been written on how to do this and it’s online.

The USDA’s National Center for Home Food Preservation provides step-by-step instructions for home food preservation and processing. Jarden, the manufacturer of Kerr and Ball jars, has free instructional videos on its site that teach us how to “fresh preserve” low-acid and high-acid foods.  This is self-directed learning at its best! If you’re more of a page flipper, Eugenia Bone’s just published “Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Food” is a beautiful treat. She provides recipes and instructions for preserving everything from asparagus to tuna and provides suggestions on how to serve it gourmet style. The poached pears with strawberry preserves piqued my interest!

So the next time you’re fortunate enough to find yourself with an overabundance of ripe tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers or fresh fruit, don’t despair. Find a friend and hold a preserving party. I have fond memories of a long day preserving fruit and peppers with a friend from cooking school in her country kitchen in Princeton. Each beautiful jar told a story of friendship and food.

Will you be joining the growing ranks of consumers “putting up”? If you already preserve, please share some tips and recipes with us.

Weeds are haute cuisine these days. Dandelion greens anyone? Yep, the same ones you try to keep out of your lawn (hopefully without spraying an herbicide) are now in high demand at farmers’ markets and supermarkets.

What’s up? Well, according to today’s Wall Street Journal, it’s part of the search for trendier food, the local-food movement, and the return to home cooking. Our food roots  included foraging - searching for edibles in the wild. Dandelions, purslane and sorrel were part of what we harvested from the wild according to the article. I don’t recommend foraging unless you know the difference between what’s safe and what isn’t. Many weeds that are safe to eat have poisonous close cousins. As do mushrooms.

I’m getting sorrel at the farmers’ market and in salad mixes and never knew it was a weed! What weeds are you eating and how do you prepare them?

by Eileen Weber, guest writer and staff writer for CT GreenScene

Chances are, you came to this site looking for food that’s local, fresh, and organic. You are not alone. Many people have begun to make the connection between fresh food and good health.

But good health may be a bit lacking when your food is contaminated. Recently, we have heard about contaminated spinach, tomatoes, and even peanut butter. Whether it’s salmonella, E.coli, listeria, or a host of other bacteria, your family may be sitting down to enjoy a health hazard rather than a healthy meal.

In the last several weeks, an initiative to regulate the food industry has been part of a heated debate. Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro has put forth the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, or H.R. 875 as it’s commonly known.

The bill seeks to break the Food and Drug Administration into two separate bodies, one that focuses on food and one that focuses on drugs. It will require food companies to meet certain stipulations for contaminants in the food they sell. It will also offer a system of certifying imports from foreign countries. Stricter food inspections, mandatory recalls, and civil penalties for violations against the bill will be enforced.

Sounds good, right? Not so fast, say many organic farmers and those who support the organic farming industry. Many see it as just one more time big government is sticking it to the little guy. Linn Cohen Cole, a writer and activist from Atlanta, penned a March 3^rd reaction to the bill on the web site OpEdNews.

“Farmers produce something of real value,” said Cohen Cole “and from that base, businesses grow up. Local markets, local food processors, local seed companies, local tool and supply companies, local stores and an economy based on reality and something truly good for us, too, begins to grow…And it is all those things that threaten the corporations, which is why we now have these massive ‘fake food safety’ bills in Congress.”

Her article was read aloud on YouTube along with a number of other video segments against the bill. One of the biggest complaints is the benefit there would be to large corporations like Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, and ADM.

Monsanto, for example, manufactures herbicides and genetically modified seed. The fear is that an organic farm might be considered “unsafe” without the use of herbicides. This puts the little guy out of business while the big guy makes money off it.

But according to an April 9^th article in the Hartford Courant, the bill “doesn’t regulate home gardens and makes no mention of organic farming.” The article points out that, while there has been a flurry of upset over DeLauro’s initiative, she has refuted those claims on her web site as “hyperbole and paranoia.”

There has also been criticism of DeLauro because her husband, Stanley Greenberg, has ties to Monsanto. However, those ties are weak at best. Monsanto was a former client of Greenberg, founder and CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a polling and consulting firm, not a current one.

A recent Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA) newsletter supported the fact that the bill does not target organic farms and gardens. “There is no Monsanto connection to H.R. 875,” it stated in the e-newsletter, “and Rep. Rosa DeLauro has clarified that gardeners and Direct marketers-to Farmers Markets, CSAs, roadside stands, local restaurants, etc-are completely exempt under her bill.”

Organic Bytes, the e-newsletter of the Organic Consumers Association, mirrored that sentiment. They found “misleading headlines” with the anti-H.R. 875 stand point. “Even if this bill were passed as is today,” it was stated in the newsletter, “it wouldn’t criminalize organic farming. The bill would require farms to have a food safety plan, allow their records to be inspected, and comply with food safety regulations. To say this is tantamount to criminalization doesn’t give organic farmers enough credit.”

Regardless of the position taken on either side, food safety is a concern for every family. It is clear that we need an initiative that weeds out the bad and supports the good. The problem comes when the version of what’s good doesn’t necessarily mesh with what’s right.

EILEEN WEBER has been a freelance writer for the last few years. She has a master’s degree in journalism and a professional background in publishing. She has written numerous articles for magazines, newspapers, newsletters and web sites including CT GreenScene. She lives in Fairfield with her husband, three daughters, two dogs and whole lot of chaos.

When time allows, she writes her own blog about food and, occasionally, a little wine (which she wouldn’t mind having a glass of right now). If she’s lucky, Eileen lands a gig here and there doing voice-overs for commercials.

Eileen also spends a good deal of time volunteering. For the last two years, she has run an antique appraisal fundraiser and planned other events, all for charity. Last year, she was the President of the Welcome Club of Fairfield and Easton and is still a current member on the executive board. Very recently, she was part of a group of people from three local churches who helped raise money for an impoverished school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Apparently, Eileen lacks the self-awareness to realize how green she is. Writing for CT GreenScene has definitely opened her eyes. Not surprisingly, Eileen is also a late bloomer.

The Weber crew loves to travel, especially to Europe to visit family. Eileen loves to cook and entertain. So the next time you find yourself in Fairfield, hungry and a tad lonely, stop by.