Chesapeake Bay Week on MPT

Did you know that the Chesapeake Bay estuary, the largest in the United States, was created by a meteor impact? Can you identify which aquatic life is native, invasive, protected and depleted? Want to know how you and your community contribute to the well-being of the Bay? Lucky for you, this week is Chesapeake Bay Week on Maryland Public Television! Programming throughout April 15-22 2012 will be highlighting some hot topics around the watershed  including several brand new programs:

• Menhaden: The Most Important Fish in the Bay - Exploration of how the harvesting of Menhaden from the Chesapeake Bay is affecting its water quality (Monday April 16th 10:00pm, Tuesday April 17th 2:00am)
• The Maryland Harvest: A Guide to Seasonal Eating - The food-to-table movement in Maryland and its impact on Maryland restaurants, chefs, farmers and consumers (Tuesday April 19th 9:00pm, Wednesday April 18th 2:00am)
• Restoring the Bay: New Solutions for Old Problems - Riverkeeper Fred Kelley faces challenges to help clean up the Severn River (Tuesday April 19th 10:30pm, Wednesday April 18th 3:30am)

These are just a few of the new and returning programs so be sure and check the website for the full programming lineup and set those DVRs! The week wraps up with a live music broadcast in affiliation with all the amazing folks at WTMD 89.7 too. More info on the Concert for the Chesapeake Bay here. Want more facts? Visit: Chesapeake Bay Journal..

Environmental Film Festival in DC

180 Documentary, narrative, animated, archival, experimental, and children's films selected to provide fresh perspectives on environmental issues facing our planet. This year, the festival selections examine the critical relationship between health and the environment with 75 film makers, 115 special guests, and extraordinary cinematic work from 42 countries. Download the full schedule here. Don't you wish you could see them all?!

Food = Art

I've been a fan of Baltimore's own Chef Chad Wells, Executive Chef at Alewife, since I heard he was sauteing snakeheads in an attempt to eradicate the invasive fish and working with the Department of Natural Resources to promote menu items centered around local seafood species. Turns out his sustainable initiatives aren't limited to the sea.

Earlier this month, Chef Wells teamed up with Joe Squared at Power Plant Live to host a "Campfire Dinner" in conjunction with the new monthly event promoting local talent called Food = Art. The inspiration for January's event was to take people camping by using food you can kill yourself - all cooked in a way that can be duplicated deep in the woods - with limited local ingredients, cast iron pans, smoke and fire. And boy did they pull it off!

The constant-campfire vibe of the event, which included an all-evening performance of folky, old-timey, American awesomeness from The Manly Deeds, was authenticated with each family-style entree arriving in foil and with a single utensil per diner - a fork. If that weren't enough, several people at our table were involved with the meal on a personal level. Mike Naylor, the DNR's Chief of Shellfish Programs, foraged the morels that accompanied the trout dish. Austin Murphy, Pro-Staffer for Whackfactor Outdoors, "harvested" the main ingredient in the venison stew in Flint Hill, Virginia.

So in case you haven't heard: wild game dinners are the new black. Here is the full menu for those of you anxious to recreate the deliciousness with your own circle of hunter-gatherers:

Hot Mulled Cider, Honey Comb Infused Bourbon

Hickory Smoked Trout, Pan Fried Wild Morels, Roasted Beets

Wild Duck Cast Iron Mac and Cheese, Two-year aged Grafton Cheddar, Grana Padano, Duck Confit

Fire Roasted Quail, Sweet Potato, Chorizo and Granny Smith Apple Stuffing, Smoked Pork Belly BBQ Baked Beans

Venison Stew, Dutch Oven Chipotle Corn Bread

Smore Dessert, Graham Cracker, Dark Chocolate, Marshmallow, Candied Bacon

To keep up with Food = Art events, 'like' them on Facebook. Most photos displayed in this post, with the exception of a few, are from the artistic view of Sean Scheidt See more of his images from the event here.

New Site is Under Construction

After a rewarding year building the Public Health Garden alongside fellow sustainability steward and founder of Adventures in Container Gardening (and Local Eating), Allison Lilly, it is an honor to announce that our official blog merge is underway and coming soon.

As we iron out the details of the site, one thing is certain: it is going to be an awesome one-stop-shop for thinking globally, acting locally, growing, cooking, eating and learning about Maryland's food and farming foresight and initiatives.

While we are busy brainstorming and building, we encourage interested bloggers, developers and content creators to email us resumes and work samples.

'The Lexicon of Sustainability'

The Lexicon of Sustainability is the most beautiful website I have ever viewed and no words of mine will do it justice. Just go there. Explore it. Learn. Breathe easy knowing that when a movement has a language so evolved, inspired and rich with research and purpose, the momentum of our conversations will carry us forwards and backwards towards a sustainable food system just fine.

Invasivore > Vegetarian

It's no secret that becoming a vegetarian is one of the best things you can do for the environment. Take it a step further and aim to eat local, in-season produce and you may just get a personal thank you note from Mother Earth. Take it several steps further and you may find yourself stepping outside the vegetarian menu and into a growing culinary trend: eating invasive species.

Thanks to some courageous Baltimore chefs, the option to eat invasive may be coming to a restaurant near you.

Last week, I sat down with 49 other adventurous and environmentally conscious eaters who entered their names into a raffle in hopes to win a seat at Alewife Baltimore's Snakehead Fish dinner. The dinner consisted of four courses centered around the invasive snakehead fish. Chef Joe Edwardsen of Joe Squared, Chef Dave Newman of Brewer's Art, Alewife Executive Chef Chad Wells, and Alewife's Grace Gonzalez each contributed a dish. As you look at their delicious, inspired twists on the fish, consider the fact that consuming these critters helps protect native aquatic life.


Chef Joe Edwardsen's Smoked Snakehead Risotto with Arugula



Chef Dave Newman's Tempura Snakehead and Green Papaya Salad
with Peanuts, Spicy Ginger Aioli and Yuzu Scallion Vinaigrette



Chef Chad Wells' Grilled Snakehead, Chimichurri, Blistered Tomato
Chipotle Mecco Salsa with Black Bean Croquette, Micro Salad,
Orange Cumin Vinaigrette

Grace Gonzalez' Coconut Mousse with Caramel Ginger Sauce,
Tropical Fruit Salsa and Candied Snakehead Skin

As always, the saying goes: Everything in moderation - including moderation. Few human beings can completely restrict their diets to local produce and invasive species alone. Life gets busy, the joy of cooking relegated to holidays and Sundays, we have children with nutritional needs paramount to our ideals, and the organic market closes before you can say, "Is it September already?!" So think of it like this: When given the opportunity to do the best possible thing for the environment, seize the snakehead!

Adventures in Local Eating

This week, thoughtful Marylanders participating in the Buy Local Challenge have been flocking to farmers markets and produce stands. While we here at Just Saying have purchased plenty of local produce since the challenge began on July 23rd, we've also had the pleasure of enjoying our very own locally grown produce harvested from the University of Maryland's Public Health Garden.

Thanks to Mother Nature and the hard work of our partners at the garden and dozens of volunteers throughout the growing season, the Public Health Gardeners harvested several pounds of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, and peppers just before dinner time last night. As always, we sent lots of produce home with volunteers, but this time we held on to several pounds of tomatoes and beans and headed to Baltimore City for an extraordinary adventure in local eating and cooking at a restaurant near and dear to our hearts: Alewife.

Alewife has been in the news recently thanks to a brilliant environmentally-sound endeavor by Chef Chad Wells: serving invasive snakehead fish. If you haven't read about it yet, do so here and here. While we hoped to sample some snakehead ceviche, Wells explained that the fish are currently nesting and spawning in shallow, marshy waters which are out of reach of commercial fisherman.

Previously, the snakehead bycatch had been killed and discarded. Thanks to Steve Vilnit, a fisheries official with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and John Rorapaugh of ProFish, Wells is hopeful that snakeheads will be popping up on local menus and the radar of environmentally-conscious eaters within a few months.

Humbled yet excited by all the press, Wells credits Vilnit for the idea of putting invasive species, specifically the Blue Catfish he recommended to us in place of the snakehead, on the Alewife menu. After engaging our inquiries about sustainable seafood, food safety, local markets and food policy, Wells agreed to create a few one-of-a-kind appetizers (just for us) with the produce from the Public Health Garden and we put in our order for the Blue Catfish Tacos (pictured).

What came out of the kitchen from that point forward was pure, delicious joy. For full details of our unique meal, stay tuned to our sister blog: Adventures in Container Gardening and Local Eating.

Goats: Now on Golf Courses Too!

Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, CA has employed a team of 150 grazing goats to clear 80 years’ worth of non-native plant growth (such as pampas grass and acacia trees) from the canyons and barrancas surrounding the course. Read all about it here.

Lecture Series: The Benefits of Eating Green

I will speaking at this lecture series on behalf of Allison Lilly and The University of Maryland Public Health Garden. Representatives from Grow Annapolis, Local Food Beat and attendees will discuss how the local food and sustainable agriculture movement is impacting out health, community, economy and ecosystems. My lecture will highlight the University of Maryland's participation in the movement.

The Benefits of Eating Green
The 7th Installment of Quiet Waters Park Environmental Lecture Series
Thursday, June 16th, 2011 @6:30pm
Blue Heron Center, Quiet Waters Park, Annapolis, MD

Speakers include: Joel Bunker of Grow Annapolis, Sharon New of Local Food Beat and Allison Lilly/Deborah Dramby from the University of Maryland Public Health Garden. Admission is free thanks to event sponsors: Friends of Quiet Waters Park. For more information, visit the event website or contact Natalie Nucifora at rpnuci22@aacounty.org

"Plenty More Fish in the Sea?"

Just came across this disturbing infographic (on grist.org but from Information is Beautiful) revealing the declining biomass of popularly eaten fish. Popularly eaten fish measured include: bluefin tuna, cod, haddock, hake, halibut, herring, mackerel, pollock, salmon, sea trout, striped bass, sturgeon, turbot. Many of which are now vulnerable or endangered. Note that the graphic only measures to the year 2000 so... yikes.

Click on the image to enlarge and here to learn more about the data collection and study.

USPS 'Go Green' Stamps

Did you know the United States Postal Service is the only mailing and shipping company in the world whose packaging, stamped cards, and stamped envelopes meet the (Cradle to Cradle Certification) standards for human health, environmental health, and recyclability? According to USPS Chief Sustainability Officer, Emil Dzuray, that's just the beginning of their commitment to conservation. In 2010, the USPS recycled more than 222,000 tons of material. Thousands of facilities are working together to meet their goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. And most recently, the USPS decided to spread the good green word with their new Go Green stamps.

William Gicker, creative director of Stamp Development, and the folks in the Art Department could have illustrated big concepts, like solar or wind power, but wanted to send the message that the opportunity to live greener belongs to each of us. They were also well aware of the thin line between motivating and guilt tripping, so they teamed up with someone capable of communicating light, environmentally friendly messages without a finger-shaking scold: filmmaker, animator and founder of Climate Cartoons, Derry Noyes. Derry and her older brother Eli.

The Go Green stamps feature "playful but purposeful" illustrative tips that everyone can do. Many of the suggestions, like "use efficient light bulbs" and "recycle more" are things we already do. Others, like "compost" and "maintain tire pressure" inspire a little extra effort. The stamps were released in April and are available for purchase online and at your local post office.

Biodegradable Golf Ball

Although the stunning putting greens and lush fairways that blanket golf courses require quite a bit more input than one could call "sustainable," there is good news on the equipment front thanks to some innovative UMainers: A biodegradable ball made from underutilized byproducts of the lobster industry!

The ball was created in a joint project between the Lobster Institute and a Biological and Chemical Engineering Research Group at the University of Maine. Co-creators, Professor David Neivandt and undergraduate student Alex Caddell intend it for use on cruise ships, since an international treaty banned any plastic-dumping (including golf balls) at sea in the eighties. However, with a production cost as low as 19 cents, while other biodegradables retail around one dollar, maybe we'll see the lobster ball on continental shelves too?

Read the UMaine Press Release here and a great Boston Globe article about the balls here.

Got Goats?

In case you haven't heard, goats are the new green, weed-clearing machines. Expect to hear lots more about them in the coming weeks. Not only do they love to eat the weeds we hate, they are helping out local turtles (wink, wink)!

The Public Health Garden at College Park

The University of Maryland's latest, greatest community gardening initiative "demonstrating sustainable agriculture and environmental best practices in support of public, environmental and community health" has officially kicked off. MPH student, gardener, blogger and project coordinator, Allison Lilly, has been working with Facilities Management, the School of Public Health, the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, the Office of Sustainability and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to coordinate land plans, generate funds and interest, and gather enough plant and seed donations to get started this spring.

Seeds will begin germination today in the university greenhouse with help from several Institute of Applied Agriculture students and staff. There is even talk of incorporating a goat or two for sustainable, herbicide-free weeding of the plot before planting so be sure to join us and watch the garden grow on the official Public Health Garden blog. And if you are on facebook, "like" the Public Health Garden facebook page.

"Red, White and Blueberries"

“One thing I’ve noticed about agriculture is that you become a creator rather than a destroyer.”

- Mike Hanes, 34, Former Marine, Veteran for Sustainable Agriculture

Just Saying has received more than a dozen reader emails about Patricia Leigh Brown's New York Times article: Helping Soldiers Trade Their Swords for Plows. If you haven't read it, we urge you to do so. And if we haven't responded to your email individually, please know that we deeply appreciate and admire the sentiment as well as the multiple battlefield-to-farm transition programs popping up nationwide.

In short, Brown's article highlights the need for strength, vigor and commitment in farming and the potential for finding it in veterans seeking employment and, well... peace. Colin Archipley, a decorated Marine Corps infantry sergeant turned organic farmer who developed Archi's Acres with his wife, works with Camp Pendleton's transition assistance program teaching planting and irrigating as well as business plan preparation. The University of Nebraska's College of Technical Agriculture is now offering a new program for veterans called: Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots.

Many soldiers are accustomed to working outdoors, find comfort in doing so, and come from rural backgrounds to begin with. Everything about this movement warms my heart yet nothing I am writing today is doing it justice. Perhaps my time would be better spent lobbying for such a program at the University of Maryland and yours would be better spent with the New York Times article.

COFED: Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive

Michael Pollan, Bill McKibben, and Slow Food USA president Josh Viertel are part of the launch committee that will help the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, or CoFed, movement come to a college campus near you. So what exactly is COFED? Well, right now it is much bigger on the West Coast than East Coast - but don't let that stop you from making a donation and getting involved!

The national "training program and research institute is empowering students to create ethically-sourced, cooperatively-run sustainable food storefronts and cafés on college campuses." Treehugger reports:

CoFed grew out of a campaign that successfully blocked the first fast food chain restaurant from opening on the University of California's Berkeley campus. The Berkeley student food co-op opened instead on November 15th and in 2010 alone, six teams on the west coast began working on doing the same at their own schools, from Santa Barbara to Seattle.

Complete with experts ready to help students with everything from retail and dealing with legal issues and incorporation, CoFed "will train a new generation of leaders with experience creating good, clean, fair food businesses and a new generation of eaters who believe in the power of community," said Josh Viertel.

Bill McKibben, 350.org founder, made this enlightened statement: "Colleges around the country are figuring out that they educate their students three times a day about either good food or bad - about a world where local matters, or where food is just a plate full of calories to get you through class. CoFed has the potential to be a crucial part of that process."

Learn more about the program here.

Turkey, Tofu or Pheasant?

Okay, folks. We better get down to the meat of this holiday before everyone runs out to purchase (or hunt) their turkey or turkey alternative. Let me start by reminding you guys that turkeys themselves are a fairly new addition to the Thanksgiving holiday. The birds on the first Thanksgiving tables were pheasants and ducks, a far cry from the six-eight legged super NFL turkey.

Heritage Turkeys: For Food Activists and Slow Food Friends

These gobblers are the ancestors of the common Broad-breasted White industrial breed of turkey you will find in most grocery bins and their breeds (including the Standard Bronze, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Jersey Buff, Slate, Black Spanish, White Holland, Royal Palm, White Midget and Beltsville Small White) have been preserved alongside their quality of life. Raising heritage breeds is more costly and time consuming for the farmer but better for biodiversity, the turkey and the consumer. Supermarket turkeys grow to an average of 32 pounds over 18 weeks. Often times they can't even walk and their narrow genetic base leaves them highly susceptible to disease. Heritage birds, on the other hand, take 24-30 weeks to reach their market weight and live their lives with far more dignity. Read more about Heritage turkeys here. And click here to browse the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Turkey Farm listings.

Pheasant and Small Game Fowl: For the Hunters

Those of you who stay basic and dine on self-caught meat like the Pilgrims get the award for being the most sustainable. John Manikowski, the creator of the Wild Fish & Game Cookbook, wrote a wonderful essay for the Global Gourmet back in 1996 that is a great how-to as well as why-to for those of you plan to dine on pheasant or another kind of small game fowl.


Tofurky: For the Vegetarians

Having spent quite a few Thanksgiving holidays as a vegetarian, I think it is safe to say that even a conventional store-bought feast offers more than enough for a great "side item sampler." But of course I realize that our vegetarian hosts out there may want to have that main dish in the center of the table so in comes the notorious Tofurky. Kudos for the fact that no animals were harmed in the making of your meat-substitute, but please remember that the Tofurky, like the common Broad-breasted white turkey found on the shelf nearby, is probably not the most sustainable choice.

Turducken: For Heaven's Sake, How Are You On This Blog?!

Visited Wikipedia for this one. Their definition is as follows: "A turducken is a dish consisting of a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed into a de-boned turkey. The word turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken or hen. The thoracic cavity of the chicken/game hen and the rest of the gaps are stuffed, sometimes with a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird. The result is a fairly solid layered poultry dish, suitable for cooking by braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing."

Our definition: A gluttonous dish consisting of several factory-farmed meats shoved into one another (likely by machine) that may have some historical and traditional relevance to the very wealthiest of 18th century diners but now caters mainly to the growing obesity epidemic in America (not to mention heart disease and many other health problems associated with a western diet).

Sustainable Agriculture: At UMD's Institute of Applied Agriculture

Walk around any college campus in autumn, and you’ll see sidewalks illustrated with neon, chalk‐written invites to rush sororities and attend student government rallies‐‐but if you want the real news on the University of Maryland, College Park campus, you’ve got to look up as well. Up to the roof‐top community gardens, that is.

Fruits, veggies and herbs are growing as strong on the top of the campus diner as they are in the Greenhouse. Soil nurtured by student volunteers this summer produced more than just delicious heirlooms and a sense of community scarce in modern society. It produced a group of students interested in sustainability.

The Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), in the college of Agriculture and Natural Resources, partnered up with the Accokeek Foundation to create a program designed specifically for Sustainable Agriculture that officially began this fall semester.

Brian Hughes, a University of Maryland graduate in Landscape Architecture with nearly 20 years farming experience, teaches the new course required for the major but open to allstudents: Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture. Interest in the course this fall was sogreat that students found themselves waitlisted.

Wednesday nights, earth‐conscious students pile into a small classroom in Jull Hall to learn how to integrate sustainable conservation practices into their respective courses of study and perhaps most importantly: their own farms and gardens. The class met on Hughes’ organic CSA Shaw Farm in Columbia, Maryland once this semester already. Seeing the health of carefully nurtured soil on a bio‐diverse farm enhances students’ understanding of soil health, compost practices, and the rich atmosphere of community supported agriculture.

“I’m excited to be at the beginning of a shift like this,” Hughes said while waiting for students to arrive on the farm. “I feel like the university needs to catch up with the students on this creeping awareness. Interest in sustainable and organic agriculture used to be the fringe but it’s becoming common now.”

The enthusiasm and activism of students interested in this resurgence of community‐supported, sustainable agriculture is contagious. Class discussions allow for spirited and constructive debates between students from varied backgrounds and courses of study. Many have spent summers working on organic farms while others come with a strong background in economic and environmental policy. A handful have grown up on or worked on conventional farms and offer a grounded perspective for the fundamentalist organics. Hughes encourages cutting‐edge Urban Farming and Aquaculture majors to share their perspectives and concerns about farm run‐off and the importance of small, local farming ventures. Several students have even begun a small, honor‐based book exchange in the computer lab of the IAA’s main building, Jull Hall, to which local author and conservationist Ned Tillman has agreed to gift copies of his award‐winning book The Chesapeake Watershed: A Sense of Place and a Call to Action.

On top of regular coursework, the unique certificate program allows students to spend six months in a full‐time cooperative position with local farms and organizations to plan, plant, cultivate, harvest and market various products. Upon graduation, students will have the tools to start or manage sustainable agricultural operations or seek employment at established operations, parks, schools and organizations focused on natural resource management and advocacy.

IAA Director, Glori Hyman, hopes that the new Sustainable Agriculture Program will provide a growth area within the Agricultural Business Management Program, which has been stagnant for the past decade. A partnership with the Accokeek Foundation will help place students in co‐ops and internships catered to their specific area of interest.

“Two years ago we met with the Accokeek Foundation and began working on a plan to jointly offer education and training in sustainable agriculture,” Glori explained. “Matt Mulder, the Director of the Center for Agricultural and Environmental Stewardship at the Accokeek Foundation, helped us design the curriculum and the Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture course.”

“This type of educational opportunity in sustainable agriculture has not been available in the Mid‐Atlantic region,” Mulder adds. “Until now, those interested in this style of learning have needed to leave the area to get the educational component or they have had to cobble together information from various programs. The consolidation of information will prove invaluable to farmers whoa re just beginning their careers or those who are looking for ways to enhance their existing operations.”

Established in 1957 to protect the view from Mount Vernon across the Potomac River, the Accokeek Foundation became one of the nation’s first land trusts. The educational nonprofit stewards 200 acres of Piscataway National Park where visitors can hike trails to the wetlands, walk through a native tree arboretum, visit an outdoor living history museum, and observe an award‐winning forest restoration project.

IAA Horticulture graduate Carin Celebuski is currently enrolled in the Sustainable Agriculture course and interned at Accokeek’s Eco‐System Farm last year. “The Integrated Pest Management practices there are remarkable,” reported Celebuski. “Conservation strips and proper irrigation make a huge difference as far as energy consumption and pesticide use.”

The eight‐acre USDA‐certified organic vegetable farm is a model for farming in the future. Its aim is to achieve optimal production per square foot, as opposed to maximum yield per acre.

For now, the IAA’s aim is to pull all these conservationist components together to provide an educational resource for the progressive agriculture student.
 
*Note: For mor information about the program, which yours truly is currently enrolled in, check out the IAA website.

Baltimore's Redefining "Seedy"

Baltimore is highlighted in the Grist's Feeding the City series. Christine Shenot reports:

"For many Americans, any mention of Baltimore conjures up images from two popular TV dramas set in the city: NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street and HBO's The Wire. For nearly two decades, those glimpses of Baltimore's drug trade and violent crime helped define the city.
But that era is fading. In some circles, there's now a lot more talk of sustainability and green living than of the murder rate, and it's an agenda that goes beyond the traditional focus on parks, transit, affordable housing, and other longstanding goals.

Likewise, the hand-wringing over Baltimore's unimpressive high-school graduation rates -- about half those of its suburbs in recent years -- is starting to give way to ambitious planning around workforce training and job opportunities in what some tout as a promising new economic niche for the city's youth.

The common denominator is farming. Baltimore's urban agriculture movement has quietly taken off in the past couple of years, with the twin forces of sustainability and economic benefits providing the boost. Under the eyes of hundreds of visiting school kids, two new multi-acre farms are flourishing at the hands of teenagers who come back to tend seedlings, turn compost, and harvest produce to sell at farm stands. The city also has seen a growing cadre of entrepreneurs launch smaller-scale projects, from container gardens on restaurant rooftops to earthworm-fueled composting, with residents discovering the benefits of worm castings as a nutrient-rich fertilizer that can turn a small garden patch into a prolific source of fresh fruits and vegetables."

(DEFINITELY) Read entire article here.

WWOOFing

JustSaying just found out about WWOOFing: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. We're going to recruit an experienced WWOOFer to write first-hand about their volunteer experience but until we do, here is the website.