After writing about the ridiculous farm raids on backyard farmers, I noticed a post by fellow blogger El on Fast Grow The Weeds. Apparently, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is about to sign two cottage industry farm bills that allow home producers to make or package certain foods in their kitchens instead of having to use a commercial food operation. Baked goods, jam and jellies, candy, vinegar, dried fruit, herbs and mixes made in your kitchen could all be sold publicly provided they are properly labeled to reflect that they are homemade and identify all ingredients under guidelines provided by the state. An individual residence could make up to $15,000 gross annually from such sales. Michigan Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Dist. 52, co-sponsored the bill package.

Specifics on House Bill 5280 (2009), (PA 112 of 2010)

Specifics on House Bill 5837 (2010), (PA 113 of 2010)

You can read about the Michigan Cottage Food Law at the Michigan Department of Agriculture website.

This makes me wonder about the history of legislation for dairy products. Why do cow/goat dairies have such stringent regulations? Looks like I have something to research.

I’ve heard of farm raids in Humboldt County and the like, even stings for illegal workers. However a recent article in Grist (click to read) claims raids are increasing on farms and private food supply clubs for the FOOD being supplied. Undercover agents are going to farms to expose criminal milk and eggs. Hmm, does law enforcement ever go undercover on big ag farms to discover criminal working conditions? No, you say? Oh, I didn’t think so.

The article does offer tips for surviving a farm raid:

1. Be wary of strangers who want to join your private buying group or herdshare: Before they seek out a search warrant, regulators invariably nose around and infiltrate private buying groups or raw milk herdshares to gain information on “probable cause.” They’ll often make up sad stories as to why they should be allowed to join. Gary Cox of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recalls how an undercover agent from the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets infiltrated Meadowsweet Dairy LLC, a private organization of 120 Ithaca consumers who bought shares to gain access to raw dairy products, in 2007: “He was insistent. ‘I live so far away, and I only come here so very infrequently, so can’t I at least have some (milk) today, PLEEEEEEEASE, because otherwise I won’t be able to get any for a long time.’ Barb Smith felt sorry for him and relented. We know what the consequence was of her kindness.” The consequence was an open-ended search warrant that agents used several times in late 2007 and early 2008 to confiscate product, leading up to a legal challenge to the LLC that is currently under appeal following rulings in New York state courts against Meadowsweet.
2. Have a video camera at the ready: Since search warrants are usually specific as to what can be searched and/or seized, a video recording of events inhibits abuses by regulators and other law enforcement personnel. Regulators and law enforcement officials definitely don’t appreciate being videotaped, and sometimes will simply disconnect videos or order targeted individuals to put the videos away. According to Aajonus Vonderpanitz, in the June raid of his Rawesome Foods outlet, “They unplugged our surveillance camera to hide their actions. They threateningly refused video capture of their raid when members commenced filming.”
3. Have a plan of action: Much like planning how your family might escape a fire, decide in advance who will handle the video camera, who will collect business cards or take down the names of all agents, and who will interact with the regulators. The regulators and police count on the element of surprise to sow confusion, and keep the targets from responding intelligently.
4. Read the search warrant fine print: Sometimes there are limitations on the search warrants that targets can exploit. Vernon Hershberger, the Wisconsin dairy farmer, was able to slow the regulators down because he knew the search warrant in his case likely wouldn’t allow forcible entry, so when agents returned a second time, after he cut the seals on his fridges, he locked his farm store doors and they were forced to leave. They eventually returned with an amended warrant that specifically allowed them to take his computer.
5. Keep computer backups: In nearly all such raids, the authorities confiscate computers so they can document transactions and customer interactions. If you don’t have a backup of what’s on your disk, you can literally be put out of business. Moreover, it’s advisable to monitor what information you keep on the computer in the farmhouse or in your food club. There’s something to be said for backing up every few days onto another computer kept off-site.

I had the excellent opportunity of participating in the dinner event Outstanding in the Field this holiday weekend. Their mission is to “re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.”  For this most recent Bay Area dinner this translated into amazing chef Nicole LoBue creating a masterpiece of a dinner with my rabbits.

The weekend started with my processing the first litter I raised. I had a helper along the way with the care and handling (thanks Ellie!). Dressing the rabbits went exceedingly smooth and I discovered they are much faster to process than even chickens. Via Nicole’s magic, the rabbits were transformed into grilled rabbit confit with plum and preserved Meyer lemon, with greens’ they called “everyone’s greens.” This I am assuming meant they took the collective greens from the various urban farmers.

For some lucky reason, several urban farm purveyors sat at the same table. I had the delight of speaking with Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway from Little City Gardens whose products were featured in the Little City Gardens salad of greens, cucumbers, fava flowers, borage and goat cheese from one of the Pineheaven Farm (an goat farm in Monclair). Next to me were Kevin Bayuk and Ben who provided the duck eggs for the crazy good duck egg, frilled porcini, nasturtium custard.

And across the table was a woman named Lisa who interned with Donkey and Goat Winery and incidentally helped make the 2009 Isabel’s Cuvee, Grenache Rose we had with our first course.

And natch, Novella was there. Her Ghost Town Farm produce made its way into several dishes including a heavenly dessert of grilled figs with berries and green coriander chantilly. Damn that was good.

There was an interesting viewing in the winery from the Edible City series. In preparation for our dinner, this clip featured Jim Montgomery processing a rabbit. The summer night was a typical crisp night, so cold in fact that the organizers moved the tour bus alongside the table to block the Arctic wind.

Aside from the wind chill factor the event seemed a success with lively conversation, great food and connection to how the food was produced.

Both success and failure are hard judgments to measure. They have a tendency to fold in on themselves, churning until they lose their discreet value. Over time what was a failure may be your greatest success and your once highly valued success, a limitation. Eventually, both success and failure just become a fertile mix from which life emerges. In the garden we often call this rich mix “shit.” And in the garden, shit happens, we get shit done, in fact we welcome shit by the truck loads in order to ensure sweet fruit.

After a month of major transitions, identity theft and general confusion, I am reveling in the wonder of lots of shit right now.

That said, lets check in on a few things.

The rabbits:

Of a litter of ten, two were lost within the first 24 hours. An additional little guy didn’t make it at week three. However, the remaining 7 bunnies are growing well. They’ve been weaned naturally and Lisa and Virgil are in good health.

Lord of Rabbit Death: 3; Esperanza: 9

The gorgeous 7′ tall fava bean plants: This year the favas were towering, almost ominously. I was dreaming of a significant fava bean harvest. Fava bean puree on crostini accompanied by white wine on a hot day. Then, the aphids hit. Not being in the garden on a daily basis left my plants to the merciless appetite of the bugs. They obliterated the plants leaving only shriveled black pods behind.

Aphids: 1; Esperanza: 0

However, I forgot, yeah forgot, that I had planted loads of green garlic and was joyed when I harvested them and realized I was now in possession of a delicious heap of fresh green garlic.

Lost crop: 0; Esperanza: 1

I also never mentioned that I attempted to smoke my own bacon. The initial stages worked out well.

Of all the things that could go wrong, I over salted (way over salted) during the curing. So while the meat did not go bad, it was not edible. Even my garbage tummy cat, Rosa, turned her nose to it. In fact, she ran.

Destroyer of Meat: 1; Esperanza: 0

However, quick culinary recovery was appreciated with a stunningly good Chocolate Stout Cake. The triple layer suggested adds a nice dramatic height to the cake.

Culinary Collapse: 0; Esperanza : 1

Lastly, farm cat Fred took a mighty dump on my bed but I got this stupid picture of his righteous feline self:

Fred: 1; Esperanza: 1

Woohoo! That’s 6 for disaster and 12 for me. I win!!

Transition is in the air. Looking to the gorgeous metaphor offered by Shreve Stockton at Honey Rock Dawn. “In every curve there’s a moment that feels out of control. A common reflex stemming from fear, from the feeling of loosing control, is to squeeze the brakes in the center of the curve. Yet if fear is allowed in, trouble often follows. The key to riding curves is in the acceleration, not the breaking. We are meant to join forces with the momentum. A slight, steady increase in speed helps maintain the desired course. Curves ask us to lean into the abyss, to understand that letting go a little is what carries us through. Mastery comes from trusting enough to look beyond where you can see.”

In the spirit of gliding through the curves gracefully, I am focusing on all the love and gardens growing around me. But first, check out this stunning mushroom knife the amazing Lauren Lyle gifted to me for graduation. No more stealing kitchen knives and hoping I don’t slip on the hiking trails.

Speaking of Lauren, I never posted about what I did with the hunks of pork I obtained from TLC Ranch. Some have yet to be cooked but the lovely loin was transformed into a tasty roasted loin accompanied by polenta made flocculant with lots of stirring and butter. At this point, I think Lauren could feed me dog poo and I’d be convinced it was the best dog poo I’ve ever eaten in my life, master chef that she is.

Also been spending lots of time with Stefani. She is such a whirl of hummingbird energy. Its only been by luck that I’ve ever spent time with her. She hosted a coop tour this weekend with apparently ~400 attendees arriving in a steady stream, by bike no less.

You have to go to her blog Sicilian Sisters Grow Some Food for the full story. I’m going to be an “apprentice” in Stefani’s massive backyard production farm this Spring/Summer.

I will also be giving a friendly hand to others who are eager to feed their family fresh beautiful home grown food. In fact, Saturday was spent digging some root bound agapanthas and a tree stump out of the way of a large garden bed.

Oh and let me not forget. A big thanks to Brad Burger, the manger of the Grand Lake Farmer’s Market. Brad allowed me and another volunteer organizer (thanks Diana) for Retire Ronald to talk to market goers and invite them to sign a petition asking McDonalds to stop targeting children with their marketing. The signed petitions are going to the Micky D’s shareholder meeting May 20th to demonstrate the level of community support nationally asking to retire the clown. If you haven’t signed click here to do it now. Ran into Bryant Terry and his lovely fiance, Jidan, there. Cool people. Great weekend. Excellent community.

Ok, so last week got away from me and I meant to share with you ways in which you too can take action to turn the tide of obesity in the United States. As mentioned, check out the Value [the] Meal campaign Retire Ronald.This campaign is asking McDonald’s to:

1. Stop using their marketing to undermine parents and manipulate youth

2. Stop interfering with public policy for better health

3. Develop healthy products, not “healthier” but healthy…nutritionally defunct salads and apple slices dipped in caramel don’t count

If you’d like to take action now, sign a petition asking McDonald’s to stop using the clown to manipulate young minds into wanting their junk food. Contact the Retire Ronald organizers at: retireronald@stop corporateabuse.com to schedule a house meeting in your location so you can share the effort with your community. Give to the campaign to help keep it going! This effort takes staff and resources to implement. I’ve met two organizers behind the campaign and can tell you they are highly organized, extremely well spoken, and can get the job done! When I donated, it was toward their skilled advocacy as well with confidence in Corporate Accountability International’s great track record with success.

If you have a shred of doubt that the marketing of McDonald’s truly uses insidious manipulation tactics to target kids- check out the book Kidfluence where the author discusses “Pester Power” and “Nag Influence.” There is also apparently a Kidfluence documentary.

Another blogger out there shared a great idea that’s been floating around! Junk Food Taxation, check it out.

Down with the Clown: Why Ronald McDonald Has No Business Talking to Children

Alternet, April 12, 2010 by Raj Patel.

“Here I am kids. Hey, isn’t watching TV fun? Especially when you got delicious McDonald’s hamburgers. I know we’re going to be friends too cause I like to do everything boys and girls like to do. Especially when it comes to eating those delicious McDonald’s hamburgers.”

It’s easy both to wince at how crass this sounds, and to overlook its audacity. With entire TV channels premised on direct marketing to children, it seems impossible that there might have been a time where kids were considered anything other than shorter, louder, more pestering versions of adult consumers. But it wasn’t always thus. It took a canny cabal of admen to tap the pockets of a newly affluent generation of youngsters. They wanted to redefine the frontiers of what advertising in television age could be. And they succeeded.

Today, the McDonald’s corporation boasts that their frontman is more recognizable than Santa Claus. He’s the champion of a $32 billion brand. With a wink and a smile, Ronald has charged into neighborhoods around and inside schools, targeting children with a range of unhealthy food, plumbing every depth to keep his parent company’s arches golden and bright in the minds of impressionable young eaters.

McDonald’s and other fast food corporations shelter behind the fact that their advertising is ‘free speech,’ as protected by the First Amendment and that, in any case, the corporations clearly declare their commercial intentions. So, for instance, when children go to Ronald.com to play McD-themed games they’ll see in small white letters on a pale background at the top right the words “Hey kids.This is advertising!” This isn’t terribly helpful. Although children may know that something is advertising, they are unlikely to understand what, exactly that means.

Michele Simon, a lawyer and author of Appetite for Profit, tells it straight: “McDonald’s knows that vulnerable children are the perfect advertising audience, since they don’t even know they’re being marketed to.” She suspects that for the group brave enough, and with deep enough pockets, there’s a huge and successful lawsuit to be brought against McDonald’s (and against all advertising against children) for deceptive practices. She’s backed up by the medical profession: the American Academy of Pediatrics says that “advertising directed toward children is inherently deceptive and exploits children under eight years of age.” In other words, the very idea of advertising to children is a fraud. Children are simply unable to generate and entertain rational opinions about goods and services, which cuts away the argument that advertising is just a more entertaining version of truth-telling. When it comes to children, advertising is far closer to brainwashing.

Parents are being hoodwinked too. One of the reasons that kids are permitted by pestered parents to enter a McDonald’s is the possibility that they might choose a healthy meal when they’re there. As Wendi Gosliner, a Researcher at the Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley observes, “not one of the 24 Happy Meal combinations offered contains the foods and nutrients children need to meet the Dietary Guidelines. Now, they’re promoting processed fresh apples dipped in caramel sauce and sweetened milk as ‘healthy’ choices. Well, these meals and these choices are hurting our children’s health.”

There’s a bigger picture story here too. Ronald isn’t just a clown. He’s not just a pioneer in the marketing of food to children: he’s also an architect. Without him, the food system we have today would look very different. Here and around the world, the way food is grown, subsidized, processed and eaten has been fashioned by the needs of the McDonald’s corporation.

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More on unhealthy marketing to kids, click here.

Continuing on the topic of reversing the tide of obesity in the U.S. and protecting the health of families and children, please meet Value [the] Meal the mothership of Retire Ronald. Value [the] Meal is a Corporate Accountability International initiative holding the fast food industry accountable for a range of abuses that are making our children sick. The hardworking staff behind Value [the] Meal have assembled a compelling body of evidence demonstrating the fact that the fast food industry has prioritized short-term financial windfalls over the health of kids.

For instance, studies clearly show that the closer a fast food franchise is to schools, the higher the rates of health conditions like obesity.^1,2 Value [the] Meal launched a mapping project to demonstrate the proximity of McDonald’s and other fast food chains to schools in three major cities. You can view the map by clicking here.

The summary of their findings from the mapping project are:

National

A recent study found that neighborhoods with a high school were 30 percent more likely to have a fast food outlet within walking distance.

A recent study found increased levels of obesity at secondary schools located within 1/10 of fast food restaurants.

Chicago

In Chicago, nearly 80 percent of schools are within a ½ mile of fast food. What’s more, McDonald’s and other fast food giants have systematically located in or near schools, to make their franchises the breakfast, lunch and after-school destination for our kids.

Approximately 10 percent of Chicago secondary schools are within 1/10 of a mile of fast food, this means tens of thousands of Chicago kids are at an increased risk of obesity.

Additionally, 91 percent of all of the McDonald’s in the City of Chicago are within ½ mile of a school – well within walking distance.

These data suggest that this proximity is more than just happenstance.

Boston

The data for Boston show that – although it is a smaller city – it is right on track proportionally for the amount of fast food restaurants within walking distance to fast food restaurants.

Three of Boston high schools are within 1/10 mile of a fast food restaurant.

Additionally, over 30% of all Boston schools that we mapped are within ½ of a mile of fast food establishments. This is still easily within walking distance.

Bay Area

The data for the Bay Area, which includes Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco shows that 25 schools are within 1/10 of a mile from a fast food restaurant.

There are 53 high schools in the Bay Area that are within a ½ mile of fast food restaurants. This is a short walking distance for high schoolers and gives them easy access to fast food before, during and after school.

Over 90% of Bay Area schools are within walking distance (1 mile) from a fast food restaurant.

Obesity rates have doubled in California since 1990.  Around 30% of school children in California are overweight or obese.

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¹Currie, J., DellaVigna, S., Moretti, E., Pathania, V. (2009). The Effects of Fast Food Restaurants On Obesity and Weight Gain. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 14721. Retrieved 4.27.10. http://www.nber.org/papers/w14721.

²Davis, B., Carpenter, C. (2009). Proximity of Fast-Food Restaurants to Schools and Adolescent Obesity. American Journal of Public Health. 99(3):505–510.

This past weekend I held a well attended house meeting on the Retire Ronald campaign. I was moved by the show of support with a group of twenty friends, neighbors and family coming together to learn ways to stop corporate abuse of food. This is an issue near and dear to my heart. My father and my brother suffer from severe Type 2 Diabetes. A cousin passed away in 2005 after leg amputation from complications with Type 2 Diabetes. My brother is now suffering from neuropathy in his limbs which have led to lesions on his feet that won’t heal.

My brother started working at McDonalds when he was 16. He ate their food for several years until at age 20, he had a series of life threatening seizures due to the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

I am appalled by the obesity epidemic affecting our nation…affecting our children. The earth mama in me that wants to feed everyone food, good loving healthy food, is pissed at the devastating outcome of government support of industrial agriculture and lax regulation of marketing tactics that target youth.

I have therefore decided to dedicate the next week of posts to the issue of obesity, diet related disease, needed action and how to get involved.

The Issue:

There is a national epidemic of obesity. More than one in six U.S. children is obese.[1]

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) blames obesity in children on improper nutrition, time in front of the television, and lack of physical activity. They warn that childhood obesity can continue into adulthood and possibly lead to an earlier onset of medical problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, reproductive health complications, and arthritis.

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), poor nutrition affects the behavior of children, their school attendance and performance, as well as their overall development.

UCSF Researcher, Robert Lustig, observes that childhood obesity is not a matter of choice for the individual but rather that, “young children, [for] whom obesity is rampant, are not responsible for their food choices and are incapable of accepting personal responsibility.”[2]

It is not enough to ask for the individual to change their behavior (i.e. eat your vegetables and exercise). A comprehensive, coordinated strategy is needed. Policy interventions that make healthy dietary and activity choices easier are likely to achieve the greatest benefits.

Changing our food environment can improve nutrition and reduce obesity through a three-prong strategy: altering relative food prices, shifting our exposure to food, and improving the image of healthy food while making unhealthy food less attractive.[3]

I have chosen to support the Retire Ronald campaign because the campaign specifically addresses the fact that the character Ronald McDonald is one of the most recognized and effective icons in marketing to children and sets them up for a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits and ultimately chronic disease.

Consider this, no marketing icon has done more to drive demand for products that fundamentally alter and devastate our food system.

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[1] Frieden, T., W. Dietz, and J. Collins. (2010). Reducing Childhood Obesity Through Policy Change: Acting Now To Prevent Obesity. Health Affairs. 29(3), 357-363.

[2] Lustig, R. H. (2006). Childhood obesity: behavioral aberration or biochemical drive? Reinterpreting the first law of thermodynamics. Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2(8), 447-458.

[3] Frieden, T., W. Dietz, and J. Collins. (2010). Reducing Childhood Obesity Through Policy Change: Acting Now To Prevent Obesity. Health Affairs. 29(3), 357-363.

Lisa the bunny had her litter. I had the 28-31 day range marked on my calender but I noticed yet again no nesting was occurring on her side. She was definitely pregnant as she was fuller and lumbering, taking frequent breaks. On day 30 I noticed some strange fluid in some of the items in her hutch. I was wondering if bunnies also break water…? Day 31 in the morning I saw the tiniest amount of blood on a leaf below her hutch. There were till no nesting materials (which led to exposure and death for the last kits), I decided to pull some cotton from an old pillow for insulation in case she did not get her act together. Then I left for work. Luckily, my very generous neighbors, Arin and son Harper, agreed to check on Lisa through out the day. Apparently by about 3PM Lisa was in her next box breathing rapidly and moving things around. By 6PM when I arrived to check on them I saw the lovely sight of a next box full of rabbit fur. She did it!

Lo and behold, the fur was moving! I reached in and found a nest full of fresh closed eyed kits. She kindled 10, 8 survived. This is fairly normal as a full healthy litter is 8, one for each teat. After that there is competition for food and its draining on the doe.

Its been a week since and the kits are growing quickly. They are filling out with fur. Their ears are becoming more pronounced and their eyes are open. They are in essence insanely cute. I check on Lisa at least twice a day now. She is very hungry and thirsty these days since she is feeding her young. She has been consuming nearly double her usual amounts. This is important to know for calculating costs of keeping larger meat bunnies. The kits are becoming more mobile but since their dominant motion is hopping, when I move aside nesting materials I am entertained by the site of what looks like big grey Mexican Jumping Beans bouncing straight up. Interestingly, the kits also make squeaky sounds.

Listening to me cooing over the cuteness of the kit, my husband attempted to admonish me for having the intent of eating these rabbits. He asked if the really cute one I’m holding would be the first one I’ll eat. I think his intention was to demonstrate a disconnect between loving an animal, caring for it, thinking it is cute and then killing it for food. This is coming from the man that has eaten meat on and off in his life for decades. The last stint prompted after a month in India at which point he declared he craved raw beef. But this is a blog about urban farming, not contradictions. So lets suffice it to say I don’t see things this way. I see raising my own animals as being intimately aware of what it does in fact mean to eat meat, that is, an animal dies. With that reality, I choose to eat meat but to do so in way that feels honest. Besides, I have no idea if this kit once grown to full size will be “the first” as they all kind of look alike and the probability I guess is 1 out of 8…so a 13% chance. It doesn’t make the little bunbun less cute…are cows not beautiful?

*Kindle means when the doe goes into labor.