Visit orchards on August 26 ~ only 5 spots left!

Our next farm tour will visit two orchards in the Central Valley: Lagier Ranches and Hidden Star Orchards. Click here to learn more and register >

Local chefs and farmers pair up at Macy's

The second installment of the Macy's Get Green series, produced in partnership with CUESA and featuring farmers from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, is set for Wednesday, September 5. Stan Devoto of Devoto Gardens teams up with Greg Dunmore of Ame restaurant to prepare a delicious dish using local, sustainably harvested fish and Stan’s heirloom apples. Seating is first-come, first-served starting at 6 pm in the Union Square Cellar Kitchen at Macy's. A $10 donation to CUESA will get you a seat at the demonstration, a sample of the featured dish, a glass of wine from Benziger Family Winery, a Ferry Plaza Farmers Market tote, and a sample of Origins' new organic skin care line.

Want to do more eating in support of sustainable agriculture?

In addition to our Sunday Supper on September 30, here are some other upcoming events that support organizations promoting local food and sustainable farms.

> On August 18 from 5 to 9 pm, The Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group is holding their fifth annual benefit dinner, Celebrating Sustainability. Visit www.nswg.org for more information.

> On Sunday, August 26, from 4 to 10 pm, Marin Organic, and Marin Agricultural Land Trust and Marin Farmers Market are teaming up to put on Taste of Marin 2007—an event dedicated to supporting and promoting Marin’s agricultural bounty. Visit www.tasteofmarin.org to learn more!

Saturday, August 18 ~ Tomato Celebration

10:30 am - Meet the farmer
Talk with Marty Jacobson of Allstar Organics, who grows organic tomatoes in Nicasio.

11 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Rick Hackett of MarketBar will make a seafood gumbo with tomatoes. Try a sample and take home a recipe!

11 am to 1 pm - Tomato tasting
Taste the best tomatoes each farm has to offer in this side-by-side comparison. Location: South Driveway, near Eatwell Farm

Tuesday, August 21 ~ Easy Market Meals

11:45 am, 12:15 pm, 12:45 pm & 1:15 pm - Alison Clement, chef and owner of Square Meals, will demonstrate a recipe using the seasonal, regional ingredients that can be found at the Tuesday market. Every attendee leaves with a sample, a recipe and a suggested shopping list.

Saturday, August 25 ~ Market to Table Programs

10:30 am - Meet the artisan
James Freeman of Blue Bottle Coffee

11 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Bryant Terry, Co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen

All events take place in our Dacor teaching kitchen in the arcade north of the Ferry Building's clock tower unless otherwise noted.

In the past few years, the local food movement has taken root and grown fervently. The “eat local” philosophy has birthed new words (like “locavore”) and generated much media coverage. But as the movement gains momentum, some are beginning to question the local food trend. Is it the panacea some claim it to be—the answer to the problems of our food system—or is it an oversimplified, romanticized notion?

“Food miles” (the distance food travels to get to its consumer), especially, have encountered some criticism of late. Last week, James E. McWilliams questioned their efficacy as a measure of victual virtue. In his New York Times op-ed, “Food That Travels Well,” he addressed briefly the many merits of eating local, but asked, “Is reducing food miles necessarily good for the environment?” Citing a study about the energy consumption resulting from the production and transport of New Zealand lamb imported to the UK vs. local UK lamb, McWilliams makes the point that that food mileage is not the only indicator of carbon footprint. In this instance, the New Zealand lamb was less polluting despite its distant origin, in large part because of the way it was produced. In short, the New Zealand lamb in the study was pasture-raised and grown more ecologically than the grain-fed UK lamb, and was therefore less energy intensive overall.

The question of local vs. ecologically grown has been well explored in the food world and the popular press, even gracing the cover of Time Magazine in March. But as author Michael Shuman suggests in a guest post on the Ethicurean blog (in addition to questioning the science behind the lamb study), this dichotomy is somewhat false:

Real localization means avoiding environmentally unsound inputs of outside fertilizer, feed, and additives. It means pruning away the vast economic waste associated with ad agencies and middle people. It means avoiding trucking food around either nationally or internationally. Account for these items comprehensively and fairly, and local food wins out environmentally over global food almost every time.

Most local eating advocates don’t elevate local above ecological, but bring it up as an additional concern. In California, we don’t have to make the choice—we can have local and ecological both. In a post on the Eat Local Challenge website CUESA staff member Julie Cummins writes in response to McWilliams:

For me, food miles are a convenient measurement. Like choosing organic, eating local is a way to opt out of the overpackaged, heavily processed, nutrient bereft, anonymous, pesticide laden, genetically engineered, multinational, unpronounceable, so-called food that's common these days. I know local is not the only answer, but it's a worthy touchstone. When I choose something local, I'm usually also choosing something fresh and flavorful, grown by a local family farmer.…I hope that nobody gives up on the Eat Local movement just because food miles are an incomplete way to measure our food's environmental footprint. I hope we will keep doing what we're doing, and expand in new directions.

The benefits of eating locally are many: increased food security, healthier rural economies, farmland preservation, and stronger communities, to name a few. Local isn’t the only answer, organic isn’t the only answer, fair trade and policy change are not the only answers. But all are part of the solution to a very complex problem.

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will and won't be attending the market as of Friday, when we send this letter. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. To find out which farmers regularly attend each market, click here. Please understand that there are often last minute changes--it's the nature of farming!

Saturday, August 18

In/Returning: Bernard Ranches, Brookside Orchids

Tuesday, August 21

In: G & S Corn
Out: Snyders Honey, Capay Canyon Ranch