The New York Times recently published an open letter written by Michael Pollen to the new President-Elect. He's the author of The Omnivore's Delimna and In Defense of Food, and the letter is a great introduction to and summary of the need for a new food system in America. Pollen makes a great case for our need for a different food system - citing its impact on our health, environment and national security. The most compelling part for me is how this can impact our economy - creating millions of new jobs that directly contribute to the health and well being of all of us.

Please enjoy the article, and share with others.

The Eastside Cannery Project is moving right along! Volunteers are slated to glean from Grant Family Farm's fields tomorrow, November 1st. Canning will begin on Monday, and Kate's Restaurant on 35th is graciously providing her kitchen for canning. The veggies from Grant Farms will include beets, broccoli and squash!

We're very excited to announce the East Side Cannery, a project formed in conjunction with business alliance member SOLAR, and with support from the Denver Foundation's Strengthening Neighborhoods Project. (read more about how the project works)

This project supports our community in several fundamental ways, including:

5280's Elevated Voices blog shared their opinion of MHBA member Oogave Soda's product last week. Oogave is an all-natural soda sweetened with agave nectar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. You can give it a try at Watercourse Foods, City O City and The Mercury Cafe. Try the root beer; it's my personal favorite.

I liked this post from the Eat. Drink. Better. blog about creating healthier local food systems. This paragraph in particular intrigued me:

Communities with a healthy local food base will form the next generation of desirably, sought after places to live, argues Cantrell.

More communities are finding ways to promote local first.

Stumbled upon this article in the Washington Business Journal about the Buy Local Challenge program by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission which encourages residents to purchase food from local farmers.

As stated in the article, "If every household in Southern Maryland spent $12 per week on local produce for 8 weeks, $54 million would go directly back to their farmers, according to Christine Bergmark, director of the commission." The challenge asks residents to eat at least one item from a local farm every day during next week.

I love summer. We leave our stuffy houses, the sun goes down later, and the playground is filled with reckless fun-makers. But I realized today that my favorite part of summer is: fresh tomatoes. I love all sorts of fresh veggies, but there's nothing like a fresh, sun-ripened tomato. Those pasty, flavorless replicas they sell in January just don't cut it.

I have six tomato plants in the garden this year, but I'm still at least a week away from picking any fruit. Which leads me to what this post is really about: Farmer's Markets.