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Growing Up in the Garden

Growing Up in the Garden

Tag Archives: sustainable food

A Year Goes By

16 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by Jessica Y in Altadena, Food Politics, Garden, Label GMOs

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

blogging, food politics, food systems, garden, gardening, Proposition 37, sustainable food, sustainable living

Eggplant

A year can be marked by what is growing in the garden, birthdays, the start of school, by anniversaries, by so many things. A blogging anniversary is a milestone, especially the first year. I started this blog not really knowing what to expect. It was a completely new endeavor. I like to write, but need “assignments” to motivate me to actually do it. Blogging seemed like a good way to give myself assignments, and gave me a forum to write about something I am very passionate about.

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For the Love of Celery

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Jessica Y in Garden, Recipe

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

garden, gardening, recipe, sustainable food, sustainable living, winter garden

I have a funny relationship with celery. I really do not care for it in its raw state, but absolutely love the way it smells in its raw state, especially the scent it leaves behind on my hands after I harvest, touch, or chop it up. There is something so pure, earthy, crisp about it. Now, I completely love and appreciate celery as a flavoring in soups, turkey stuffing, stir fry. These things would not be the same without a couple of ribs.

IMG_1470

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Adventures in Chersonskaya: Part II – Pie

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by Jessica Y in Garden, Recipe

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

chersonskaya, garden, gardening, recipe, sustainable food

First, I have to say, I do not consider myself a pie maker. I have made as many sweet pies as I have roasted turkeys. Two, maybe three. But, as I prepared to host the feast holiday in my home this year, and upped the ante by inviting a few guests beyond my family, I planned on making a pumpkin pie that my husband nor my son would be able to eat due to egg allergies. Then, two things happened to steer me from the traditional pumpkin pie. Did I mention that I love pumpkin pie?

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Image

Wordless Wednesday: Neighborhood Grown

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

Tags

crop swapping, garden, gardening, photography, RIPE Altadena, sustainable food, Wordless Wednesday

Posted by Jessica Y | Filed under Altadena, Garden, Wordless Wednesday

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Not Quite Fall

08 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by Jessica Y in Garden

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cucumbers, fall garden, garden, gardening, peppers, sustainable food, sustainable living, winter garden, winter squash

If one was trapped in a windowless room with a connection to the gardening blogosphere as their only outlet to the world outside, they would know that fall (and spring) is just around the corner. Gardening bloggers around the northern hemisphere are dropping hints that the weather is about to change abruptly: cooler nights, harvesting things just in time, savoring the last of the summer bounty.

Here, in Southern California, I straddle two mind sets. The mother and social parts of me have to prepare for at least another month of very warm temperatures and the possibility of another heat wave. No matter what the calendars say, it is still really summer, even after September 21. The gardener part of me, though, is keenly aware that fall is upon us. Continue reading →

Monsanto’s “Hidden Food Tax” Double Standard

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Jessica Y in Food Politics, Label GMOs

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

California's Right to Know, food justice, food politics, garden, gardening, GMOs, Monsanto, Proposition 37, sustainable agriculture, sustainable food, sustainable living

Photo Credit: Peter Blanchard, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Those that know me well know that I am not a person who easily riles. I am contemplative and quiet most of the time. But, when I think an injustice has been committed, my blood boils. Monsanto, the biotech company, produces this effect in me time and time again.

There are so many reasons to despise Monsanto, and the latest campaign against Proposition 37, coupled with an article I encountered in the San Francisco Gate has once again reaffirmed for me that this corporation is willing to lie and bully to increase its bottom line.

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Label GMOs: Everyone’s Right to Know

16 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by Jessica Y in Food Politics, Label GMOs

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

California's Right to Know, food justice, food politics, food systems, garden, gardening, GMOs, Monsanto, Proposition 37, sustainable agriculture, sustainable food, sustainable living

(This post is also posted on the Food Renegade blog’s Fight Back Friday for August 17)

In California we have a process known as ballot initiatives or propositions, by which laws can be created by citizens and passed into law by votes at the polls. This November Californians are voting to require that genetically modified food be labeled as such. I firmly believe that labeling GMOs is a step in the right direction toward a more sustainable food system. This fight is a people vs. mega corporations fight. The “No” campaign is outspending the “Yes” campaign by millions of dollars. Recently the “Yes” campaign asked: What is more powerful – a million dollars or a million people? I am betting on the latter. Out here in the gardening, sustainable food/living blogosphere, I know I may be preaching to the choir, but the time is now to get involved and help California pass Proposition 37. No matter how little or much you know about GMO food, please get informed about the proposition and consider getting involved.

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The View from Here

04 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Jessica Y in Food Politics, Garden

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Broadfork Farm, certified naturally grown, food justice, food politics, sustainable agriculture, sustainable food, Virginia agriculture

Every summer my family takes a trip to Virginia. C’s parents, as well as his sister’s family, live outside of Richmond. Once, a very wooded area, much of the woodland has been cleared (and continues to be cleared) for commercial and residential development. The particular development where my in-laws live has strict rules about cutting trees and is still very wooded. The development includes Swift Creek Reservoir, on which my in-laws own their property. The view of the lake from their house is very pretty. While gazing out over the lake, a bald eagle flew up and landed in a tree along the shore in front of the house. I feel like I am staying in a vacation home. But, venture out onto the main thoroughfare and it is a completely different universe, a perfect example of big box store sprawl.

Until last summer, the only places residents of Brandermill and surrounding areas could buy produce were at the large grocery store chains lining the wide boulevards. So, when I learned a new farmers’ market had opened near by, I had to make a visit. Continue reading →

The “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” – What the Lists Don’t Tell You

23 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Jessica Y in Food Politics

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Clean Fifteen, Dirty Dozen, farm workers, food justice, food politics, gardening, pesticides, sustainable food, sustainable living

Since starting this blog, I have made room in my life to start thinking a lot about the local/sustainable food movement, primarily the localness of it and how it effects (or doesn’t) systemic change. Then, on a drive home from my daughter’s school, my mind drifted to the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen,” the lists the Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out each year (the most recent was published yesterday) documenting the foods that have the most pesticide residues and which have the least. This is a list put out for consumers. Shoppers who want to avoid the “dirtiest” foods can reference the list and opt to buy organic if their budgets allow. The list is widely distributed among green/sustainable living circles and written in major media publications. I use it myself.

But here’s the thing, the list is for consumers and says nothing about how the pesticides on these crops affect the workers in the fields (applying them and/or harvesting the fruit and vegetables). So, I can choose the best for my family, but is this the best choice for the men and women in the field who help to bring this “cleaner” food to my table? I wanted to know, so I did a little research.

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