Recently, I had lunch with my friend
Rebecca Gerendasy of Cooking Up a Story
(CUPS). She is
such an amazing woman, dedicated to sustainable food and farming,
and an all out foodie. And, she is a tremendous wealth of knowledge. We talked
about a ton of things, but she left me with some resources I just have to
share. In fact, they are so great, I am cross-posting this information on Gardener to Farmer
and Portland Foodie...
I want to start with CUPS' new contributors, The Two Junes. These women are urban
homesteaders with a ton of knowledge...the kind we seem to have lost along the
way to industrialization. Check out the first part of their bio:
"We cook every day, from scratch, a life that seems
perfectly normal to us. Doesn’t everyone tend a vegetable garden? Compost? Make
stock and preserves? Save bacon and duck fat? Make dog food? Put up kumquats
and crab apples? Well, no, apparently not. Jaws drop when we describe anything
related to our kitchen life."
Um, hi Two Junes, can I be your new best friend? No seriously, can I?
Tune in to the Two Junes on CUPS every Tuesday morning...their latest post, Sustainable
Food Movements' Dirty Little Secret is bound to get you talking...
On to Rebecca's next recommendation: Friends of Family
Farmers. This groovy site is about promoting and protecting socially
responsible farming in Oregon. Seriously?? How did I not know about this? I
swear, I have to start leaving the house more often...
Here's their mission:
"We are a grassroots organization promoting sensible policies,
programs, and regulations that protect and expand the ability of Oregon’s
family farmers to run a successful land-based enterprise while providing safe
and nutritious food for all Oregonians. Through education, advocacy, and
community organizing, Friends of Family Farmers supports socially and
environmentally responsible family-scale agriculture and citizens working to
shape healthy rural communities."
I love that they are fostering a conversation about sustainable farming
practices. We can feed people without giant agri-businesses that use
environmentally irresponsible methods.
And finally, she recommended the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project. This is an
amazing site dedicated to the lovely artisinal cheeses produced in the PNW.
Seriously, Tami Parr (site owner) is a cheese lover from day one. She spent
quality time on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, need I say more? Here's what she has
to say about her site:
"My family originally hails
from a small farming community in southern Wisconsin. Growing up, I visited
Wisconsin just about every summer and while there, spent a lot of time on my
aunt and uncle's dairy farm. It was there that I learned about the hard work
that goes into creating the food that goes onto the dinner table, the relief of
getting the milk check in the mail, and the joy of a good harvest.
In Wisconsin cheese is a way of life
so perhaps some of my passion about cheese came from there. Mostly I'm fascinated by cheese as a living, breathing
food and a complex intersection of animal, land and craft. This is what I'm
exploring when I think about, taste and write about cheese."
Tami is also
participating in the Oregon Food
Bank's Blog for Food. In the month of February,
Oregon Food
Blogs are asked to participate in the Blog for Food campaign to help raise
money and awareness for the food bank. We all know that times are tough...but
now is the time to step forward and make sure that everyone in our community
has access to food. Please consider donating by going to the Oregon Food
Bank's secure donation page. If we all pull together, we can make
sure that Oregonian's have access to the most basic of needs: food.
Whew...that was a lot of information, but like I said, Rebecca is a wealth of
knowledge! Be sure to check out Cooking Up a Story on a regular basis...she has
the most awesome foodie videos!
