Post Script

Fresh and local foodie? Here's your book

 If you buy your produce at the coop, farmer's market or you subscribe to a CSA, you want to make the best use of all that fresh, organic leafy goodness before it spoils.

That's why we love this new cookbook, stuffed with recipes to help you make the most of all those fresh ingredients. Eating Local: The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers features 150 recipes organized by main ingredient to help you figure out exactly what to do with all that zucchini or arugula.

And here's the kicker: "Eating Local also takes you on a wonderful editorial and photographic journey to 10 small farms across the country. An up-close look at these noteworthy small farms and the people who cultivate them reveals how hard work and a passion for sustainability yield wholesome and delicious products perfect for eating and living locally."

Oh, and the ultimate locavore/celebrity chef Alice Waters helped write it. Can't be bad!

Via Sur La Table.

Introducing GRAZE!

At the Exchange, we have a fabulous new dining columnist, and we are introducing her column this month. Check out the June issue here and on stands where you can read the debut of GRAZE, Karen Cinpinski's guide to local, organic and otherwise just good Milwaukee eating. 

This month, Karen lets you in on some of the best vendor carts around town, reflects on some newsy changes at local favorites Trocadero, Transfer Pizzeria and Maxie's Southern Comfort and talks up Foursquare. 

Not to be left out, our editor Malcolm Woods reviews some of the best summer beers, and assistant editor Liz Setterfield reports back on her quest for the ultimate headache-and-sulfite-free organic wine.

Summer is here. Huzzah!

Also in the June issue: How to green our apartment, a lowdown on events at the upcoming Gathering Waters festival, and a chat with the owner of Cream City Rickshaw.

When life hands you lemons and oranges...

On the assistant editor's desk at the Exchange: One computer, too many pens, happily up-to-date files, one photograph of husband and... this jar of citrus-sweet goodness which I just picked up at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart in downtown Milwaukee. 

I am a sucker for good marmalade, and I'm a sucker for a well-written piece of copy writing. The label on the jar says: "If a preserve can be sunny, this one definitely is. It practically bursts with light and satisfaction and finishes like a sweet summer day." SOLD.

I couldn't resist lifting the lid a little and finding out who is behind this small batch preserve. The marvelously-named "Quince & Apple" has a website, so off I went, and there read this lovely intro, which made me all happy on the inside to have supported their business:

Hi! We’re Matt and Clare, the founders of Quince and Apple. We make small-batch preserves, carefully hand crafting each jar for your eating pleasure. And when we say hand crafted, we mean that the two of us are actually in the kitchen slicing, dicing and caramelizing until all hours of the night. Matt carefully tests each step of the process, tasting and tweaking to ensure each batch is up to our exacting standards. This artisan-centered approach allows us to always use the highest quality fresh produce, adjusting for the differences in season and variety. Enjoy!!

Now all I need is toast.

~ Liz

Senators need to know we care about school lunches! Can you help?

School lunches are a hot topic these days, thanks to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and our own first lady. And we've had some legislative victories on that front. On March 24 of this year, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to reauthorize child nutrition programs. On the local front, the Farm to School bill was signed into law May 12 by Governor Doyle, creating a council to help schools buy Wisconsin-grown products.

But there is work to be done, and Congress may delay legislation that would bring the biggest improvements to the National School Lunch Program in its 60-year history. Schools may have to wait at least another year for change.

Slow Food USA is trying to keep this issue on the table and is seeking donations and support. The organization has sent more than 35,000 letters to Congress in the last few days. Slow Food USA also funds volunteers in school garden programs across the nation, as well as education programs and initiatives designed to expand fresh food options in underserved neighborhoods.

If you think you can help, or want to learn more, go here.

NYT profiles urban farmer. No, not that one.

The New York Times has an uplifting read on an urban farming pioneer, and this time it's not Will Allen.

This man's name is John Ameroso, and according to the Times, Allen should be thanking him, because he's the grandaddy of urban agrarians:

"You have most likely never heard of Mr. Ameroso. Yet from a rubble-strewn vacant lot in Brooklyn where he showed New Yorkers how to grow food in 1976 to a three-acre stretch of Governors Island that he's helping to sow now, he has been behind nearly every organized attempt to grow and sell food in the city, as well as many of the city's best-known food organizations. (...)

'Anybody doing urban agriculture today should thank him personally,' said Michael Hurwitz, director of Greenmarket," a system of farmers' markets.

Well, we wouldn't argue with that. Enjoy the full story here.

Complete idiot's guide to the weekend

Our Communications Director (who is the gatekeeper of all things interesting to organic foodies) clued us into this great radio station, featuring a whole host of interviews with people in the know when it comes to food, agribusiness and organics.

We love the one titled "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Clean," for its humor and content both.

Plan A: Bring the laptop into the kitchen this weekend and listen to some good food radio while peeling those organic veggies.

Plan B: There's no Plan B. Plan A is so good, there's no need for a Plan B.

Happy weekend!

WI passes "farm to school" bill

Yesterday, a bill to bring Farm to School programs into Wisconsin schools was signed into law by Governor Doyle.

According to Wisconsin Foodie: "The Farm to School program will promote healthy lifestyles, teach Wisconsin students about our state's rich agricultural heritage and support rural communities across the state - all while fighting the critical health threat of childhood obesity, " Governor Doyle said.

The bill paves the way for a council to oversee the sales of state-grown produce to schools. Let's hope they can make it organic, too!

A big thank you to @TheOrganicMom on Twitter who brought our attention to this. Got to love social media!

SharedEarth: Craig's List for gardeners

 "I wanted a garden, but I don't have the time or know-how to garden myself. So I put an ad on Craig's List and within a couple of days I had several responses. The ad said 'I'll provide the land, water and materials if you'll provide the work. We can share the produce 50-50.' I found a person who loves gardening, but lives in an apartment... I love that I have a beautiful garden and I'm getting fresh produce from it. My gardener loves gardening and loves that she gets to take home a portion of the produce."

That's the story of Adam Dell whose idea to share his land with a gardener grew into an on-line service, a Craig's List for the gardeners and landowners out there who want to work together. It's called SharedEarth.com and it's so simple, it's genius. 

And it's effect could be far-reaching. As Dell says: "I think SharedEarth is something that can be meaningful in its impact, and that is my hope. Just imagine if we had 10 million acres of producing land. That would produce a lot of oxygen, consume a lot of CO2 and produce a lot of food."

Via Treehugger.

See ... we knew we liked these ladies

The ladies at Haute Apple Pie are foodies after our own hearts. But of course, we knew that. Today, we enjoyed reading their thoughts on the eat local movement, Braise RSA (a CSA for restaurants) and urban agriculture, Growing Power-style.

A place where the apple pie is "haute"

There is a magical place where the apple pie is served haute (not just hot) and the gardeners aren't just gardeners - they're "new urban agrarians." In this place, there is a pantry raid every month and the fettucine alfredo won't clog your arteries - it's light and healthy (ahem... healthier).

Where is this Utopia, you ask? 

It's between the covers of the May issue of the Exchange magazine, and you can delve in right here, right now.