It is difficult to fathom that in a country as wealthy and industrialized as the United States, over 17 million households are without proper access to fresh, healthy food. Many US cities with a large impoverished population, with little access to food, rely on a strong network of nonprofit organizations to help increase food security. While these nonprofit efforts are admirable, the best way to bring the community together to increase food access for all citizens, is the implementation of a Food Policy Council (FPC). The advent of food policy councils began in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1977, when Bob Wilson, a professor at the University of Tennessee challenged his landscape architecture class to examine planning issues related to food availability within their city. This assignment spurred a resolution to be passed within Knoxville’s local government in October of 1981 to form a food policy council. The resolution declared that food policy and issues were a governmental responsibility and concern, and that Knoxville’s food system was to be monitored and acted upon as needed. The initiation of Knoxville’s food policy council inspired the implementation of at least five other food policy councils over the past twenty years within the US. As food policy councils became more prevalent in the United States, their function became clearer. A council’s mission is to strengthen the economic vitality of the local food industry, ensure that an adequate and nutritious food supply is available to all citizens, increase local food production, and minimize food-related activities that degrade the natural environment. A council’s members consist of government officials, local restaurateurs, members of local businesses, farms, and food distributors, as well as volunteers from a diverse set of policy development and community bodies. A number of policies must to be enacted in order for an FPC to accomplish these goals. The specific state and local policies that affect the survivability of a local food system address transportation issues that hinder food access and farm viability, nutritional programs available to citizens, institutional and nonprofit involvement, and sound economic strategies that promote a sustainable local economy. The organization of urban farming programs by a city’s food policy council not only improves access to food for impoverished residents, but also improves the environment with the creation of green space, as well as provides a source of income for local citizens. One area where this is being done is Boston, Massachusetts. There, the statewide food policy alliance is supporting an extensive campaign encouraging citizens and institutions to buy and eat local produce. The promotion of urban and backyard gardens in Boston have improved the area’s land and soil quality, boosted the local economy, and provided impoverished citizens with greater access to fresh, healthy food. Meanwhile, back in Knoxville, TN, home of the first ever food policy council, members of local government collaborated with policy developers from the department of transportation, re-routing bus routes, in order to provide impoverished citizens with greater access to supermarkets. In addition to altering mass-transit routes, the Knoxville food policy council also pushed to install bicycle racks on the front of buses so that citizens without cars could access food a little easier. Without governmental sanction and strong ties to the local nonprofit network, many Knoxville residents would still be without sufficient food access, today. Bringing together specialists and key players within a food system helps to improve the system as a whole from the beginning of growth and manufacturing, to distribution, to consumption and ending with waste management. The implementation of Food Policy Councils offers the best opportunity for any urban area to accomplish the goals of strengthening the local food network, aiding in increased food and nutrition policy effectiveness, and also in creating an overall balanced food system for producers, consumers, and the environment. In addition, councils strengthen food security for the residents of an urban area. The implementation of a food policy council is the best way for a city to improve its local food system and move toward the ultimate goal of sustainability. Please welcome Haley VanderMeer who is a new addition to our team of South Philly Food Co-op volunteer bloggers. Haley first published this article at GreenAnswers.com on March 28, 2011. Haley has done work promoting various local food events including photographing food at farmers' markets for social media promotion for the Jefferson Farmers' Market and has written and distributed recipes at its educational booth.

A big round of thanks goes out to Shruthi Bajaj of Cardamom Kitchen for spending the evening of April 24th with five Co-op fans and helping us "demystify spices." (And trust me, for someone like me whose experience with spices is the cinnamon on my toast and the black pepper on my eggs, it was a demystifying experience.)

Shruthi started the evening off by having us each take a quiz (good thing I studied!) to determine our constitutional type (or dosha). Our group had a healthy mix of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. (For the record I was a Vata with a side of Pitta, meaning that I when I am out of balance I can be a little scattered and anxious.)

Just after the quiz, Shruthi shared with us a sprouted mung salad that included one of the four spices she would go on to talk about later - cumin. The salad was fresh and delicious with an herb and spice mix that really made it pop. And, as her recipe notes, the sprouted mung beans enhances their digestibility and increases the content of vitamins C and B complex. (Considering what else I had to eat that day, it was good that I got something this healthy in my system!) I'd share the recipe but since I don't have Shruthi's permission to do so you'll just have to email her if you're interested.

Shruthi then went on to talk about the types of food one should eat depending on the season of the year and how eating the wrong types at the wrong time can throw a person out of balance. A Vata person who eats light foods in the spring or fall will almost float away and should balance themselves out with foods that have heavier textures.

Does this seem like too much for you to keep track of? No worries. Shruthi can do it for you. Check out her website where she offers customers a service in which she'll visit your home and give cooking classes based in Ayurvedic insights or she can cook meals for you either as one-time deal or on a continuing basis.

Finally, we talked about Shruthi's four "go to" spices: coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cardamom. In fact, she was so convincing about the healing properties of turmeric when mixed with sesame oil and applied as a balm that I came home yesterday to find the bottom and sides of my bathtub stained yellow because a certain someone used this on her ailing ankle.

Rather than re-hash what we talked about, I refer you to Shruthi's website where she explains what makes these four spices so special.

Thanks again to Shruthi and everyone else who made it out on Sunday.

With the good fortune of having enough volunteers, we're in two places at once today! Come visit us at the LoMo Spring Flea Market and Community Fair and support the Co-op by purchasing one of the many baked goods that our volunteers prepared for today. I was down there setting up and made sure to leave some cookies for everyone else. We're under the blue tent on Broad between Snyder and Jackson. The fair goes until 3pm but come by soon while we still have baked goods to offer! Also, another crop of volunteers will be at a table along Passyunk Avenue for the Flavors of the Avenue event between noon and 5. We'll be handing out brochures, answering questions and asking people to fill out surveys. The surveys are a vital part of the planning process and will be used as part of our market analysis and feasibility study. Hope to see you out there today!

Hello food people!  My name is Sarah and sometime this winter I decided to try my hand at growing some vegetables.  Now, I'm going to document it.  Join me!

One of the perks of living in South Philly is that my roommate and I have a nice little patio with a built-in planter and pretty good sun.  Of course my first thought was:  food!  A little background on me:  I don't know too much about plants but my parents are avid gardeners. My father taught high school horticulture (it's totally a class) and my grandmother still has what remains of her farm, so they are my main sources for any plant-related questions.  I have grown (and killed) various plants in the past, from houseplants to tomatoes, but this is my first time growing anything entirely from seed.  So let's get started!  I hope to learn a lot from this and hopefully you will too.

Sometime in January I started to feel my annual spring fever, so I somewhat erratically ordered a lot of seeds online.  I feel like I have to come clean here and say that this is not entirely local because the seeds are from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  But I wanted non-genetically modified seeds and I figured heirloom varieties would be fun.  That, by the way, is how I make lots of decisions.  I am not a super-green-thumb or anything, but last summer I was too late to the game to start tomatoes from seed so I bought some young plants from the Lowe's on Columbus Boulevard.  I doted on them, then kind of forgot about them, then overwatered them and the resulting fruit was kind of disappointing.  Basically the fruit tasted...bad.  It wasn't horrible but it wasn't the delicious fresh-from-the-garden taste I remembered as a kid.  I chalked up some of this to possibly distorted memories and changing tastebuds, but I decided to grow things from seed the next time around to see if I couldn't get better tasting produce.

I started three crops inside:  two varieties of tomatoes (beefsteak and an heirloom called beauty queen) and eggplant.  The instructions told me to start them inside 4-6 weeks before the last frost.  A quick Google search revealed that the last frost for Philadelphia is usually around the middle of April, so I started my seeds in early March.  Now I know that there are seed starting kits and all sorts of special trays and planters, but I don't have that much money or space and I'd rather recycle what I already had.  In our backyard there were a few pots leftover from previous tenants and I gathered a few of my own from thrift stores - I started with three, one for each crop, and then gathered more along the way.  The only thing I know about pots for plants is that they should have some drainage holes in the bottom in case you are like me and tend to overwater - that way the excess water will drain out instead of flooding the plant.  Some of the containers I got from thrift stores didn't have holes in the bottom but it's easy to drill little holes or, in my case, just poke some holes with a knife (be careful!)  Again, going on instinct and various tips, I washed all the pots I was using with all-natural soap (Dr. Bronner's in my case) because I knew that even if I didn't quite get it all washed out it wouldn't be as horrible to the plants as a chemical-laden detergent-based soap.

The first nice sunny weekend in March I walked to the hardware store and bought two bags of potting soil.  I had planned on doing a soil test of the soil that was already in my backyard but since it's all in a raised bed and I had already added potting soil to it last year I decided to skip it.  Plus I am doing most of my planting in containers since a lot of the raised bed is occupied by a wonderful little Japanese maple tree which I wouldn't trade for the world but which also doesn't allow for lots of sun.  So plants like tomatoes, that need full sun, will be planted in containers on the sunny side of the yard, away from the tree.

 

I basically just filled up each pot (loosely) with soil, sprinkled the seeds on top, and topped with a little more soil.  Then I watered each one until water ran out the drainage holes, since when you first plant seeds the soil is very dry and seeds need water.  Duh, right?  Seeds also need sunlight, which can be hard to come by in a rowhouse.  We get pretty good light, and it's a good idea to be aware of which way your house or plot is oriented before you start planting.  Philly is kind of at an angle, by which I mean that streets going north don't actually point due north.  But it's pretty close, so facing the Schuylkill is vaguely west and the Delaware is vaguely east.  With that knowledge (and no compass) I've determined that my backyard is about ESE and the front of the house is therefore WNW, or something like that.  Obviously if you have real person tools like a compass you can figure this out exactly.  The only other note on this is that the strongest sun is from the south and the weakest from the north, so for something like tomatoes that need full sun, south sun is best.  Do be careful though, because south sun in the summer in Philly can be very strong and plants will dry out very quickly (as I learned last year) and the sun can even burn the leaves if you're not careful.  Sun is about amount (hours per day) and also strength, so get to know your planting space and how the sun moves through it.  I am lucky to have dealt with this space last year so that I know the sunniest spots and how the sun moves according to season, but a little trial and error doesn't hurt.

With that in mind I put my three pots in the front windows, right against the glass (even though they don't need sun until they sprout) and waited, making sure to keep the soil damp.  In about a week I had little beefsteak sprouts!  And about a week after that the beauty queen and eggplant followed suit.  Because the little seedlings were so delicate, I bought a 99 cent spray bottle so that I could mist them and not just dump water on them and knock them over.  They seemed to respond well to the misting (and it was pretty fun) so I kept that up until each plant had two sets of leaves, which is when you can transplant them.  I actually think it was better for me to use larger pots rather than little seedling trays since larger pots hold more dirt which holds more water and therefore doesn't require constant watering like the trays would (although a self-watering system for those would be easy to assemble and would reduce the watering work also.)  Personal preference, I guess.

 

The last weekend in March was transplanting time for the beefsteaks, which were getting quite crowded.  I gathered all my pots and two more bags of potting soil and headed outside.  As I was doing this, I remembered reading (in Grid, I believe) that Green Aisle Grocery on Passyunk had local compost for $5 a bag.  Now I know that you can make your own compost and that it's a great way to cut down on waste and all that, but I didn't have any started and I'm not particularly keen on worms and Green Aisle is just a short walk from my house.  I rationalized that at least it was local (South Philly) compost, I was supporting a local business and it was a way to fertilize without using chemicals.  A quick walk to Green Aisle and twenty minutes later I mixed some compost into the potting soil and got to work.  Now this is where something like individual seedling trays would have come in handy - it was very hard to get the first few seedlings out of the pot without breaking them since they are so delicate.  I ended up lifting up the top layer of the soil (the roots only went down two inches at most), setting it on the ground, and gently separating each plant by knocking the soil away from the roots and then very gently pulling the plants apart.  I cannot emphasize enough how gentle I was - even just gripping the seedlings with barely any strength would have killed some of them.  That said, I had so many I wasn't afraid to lose a few and got rid of the smallest ones.  But seeing as how I had raised them from seed I really didn't want to just throw over half of my little babies out.  I ended up saving too many (I do have limited space) but I just couldn't bear to part with them.  So, more pots were gathered - thrift stores are great for this and also I found some groundspeople working at Penn and they offered me as many plastic pots as I needed from the little plants they were planting so it doesn't hurt to ask around.  In the end I ended up with eight pots with anything from three to...many seedlings in them.  And this is where my lack of plant knowledge comes in:  two seedlings were significantly larger than the others, so I put each of those in a pot with only one smaller plant thinking that the biggest ones would be the hardiest, or at least the hardest to kill.  The rest of the normal-sized ones just got a little more space.  The beauty queens and the eggplants were still too small - each plant only had one or two leaves - so I just left those.  I'm still not entirely sure why the beefsteaks are so much larger than the beauty queens or the eggplants, but I'm assuming that since beefsteaks are big tomatoes then the plants must be big plants.  Again, some research beforehand might have been helpful but that's not really how I roll.

 

Fast forward a month and here we are!  I'm planning to move them outside this weekend since I think we're frost-free (cross your fingers!)  I'm assuming its the compost, but after transplanting the beefsteaks really took off.

This past month I've switched from misting to actually watering with a watering can with one of those drip heads so that I don't just dump water on them.  They got too big for the mister (heh) probably about two weeks after I transplanted them, and they needed more water.  Again, I'm using fairly deep pots but with lots of sunshine I still have to water them every two days or so.  (That week that was gray and rainy I only watered once or twice all week.)  I'm trying really hard to stick to my grandmother's advice of watering little and often, as opposed to a lot and rarely.

I'll be back next week with another update!  Also I'll be planting things directly outside, like rosemary, basil, thyme, summer squash and a few various flowers.  I told you I have a lot of seeds.

Sarah DeGiorgis has lived in Philly for five years and is finally starting to feel like a true Philadelphian, though she still detests cheesesteaks.  She enjoys reading, watching bad tv, eating and cooking good food and digging in the dirt.

Now that we have completely skipped over spring and it seems that summer is firmly in place,  it is time for my summertime beverage of choice. For the last two years it has been 21st Amendment Brewery's Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer.  It is the perfect beer to quench your thirst on a hot summer day because of its light refreshing taste. You have to try this for your next BBQ.

We're raising money for a market analysis, feasibility study, incorporation costs and insurance! Our next fundraiser is TONIGHT from 5pm to 7:30pm. Come enjoy an appetizer tasting happy hour at Hawthorne's Beer Boutique and Gourmet Eatery (738 S. 11th Street). Meet fellow co-op supporters and enjoy a sampling of Hawthorne’s tasty appetizers as well as $5 off growlers and $1 off drafts. The suggested donation at the door is $15 and includes butlered appetizers and drink specials. This event does not require the purchase of the growler container. Loaner growlers (about 4 pints per growler) will be available for on-site consumption. To make it easier for our host, this will be a cash only event. Please be sure to visit an ATM machine before you arrive. The menu for tonight's Happy Hour is as follows: Smoked Salmon with cream cheese on crostinis Pulled pork on slider rolls Roasted red pepper hummus on Pita Pico on tortilla chip Bruschetta on Baguette Tuna tartar on won ton BBQ chicken quesadillas Oven-roasted turkey on multigrain with sauerkraut and poblano aoili And we have some awesome door prizes. Come out for a chance to win: Gift certificates for Calm Massage, Yoga, and Reiki Studio Gift certificate for Zipcar 4 pack of tickets to Eastern State Penitentiary You can RSVP at our Facebook event page or just show up!

On Saturday, April 30, teams of volunteers from the South Philly Food Co-op will be at a couple events to answer questions about the Co-op, hand out brochures, and just get to meet people who may have only had contact with us through email or Facebook. At the LoMo event we will be reprising one of our most fun fund raisers with a bake sale supplied by our many supporters. So if you're reading this, please stop by one of the two events below (both are GREAT events) and say hi. We'll also be administering surveys which are a vital part of the planning process and will be used during for our feasibility study and market analysis. Below are details about Flavors of the Avenue and the LoMo Spring Market and Community Fair. Flavors of the Avenue Saturday, April 30, noon-5pm East Passyunk Avenue, between Dickinson and Morris East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District invites you to enjoy a true taste of East Passyunk Avenue from its award-winning restaurants, all offering samples of their signature dishes and drinks under the cover of a big top tent, making the event rain or shine!  Outside of the Flavors tent, enjoy a free street festival with live music and a craft market hosted by Crafty Balboa at the Fountain. Noon-1pm: VIP Hour - $50* ticket includes specialty cocktails and first tastes of premium menu items with limited attendance 1-5pm: General Admission - $30* ticket includes wine and beer Tickets will be limited and on-line ordering ends at midnight on April 27 or when the event sells out. After Flavors, East Passyunk Avenue’s boutiques and salons will be holding a Flavors Fashion Crawl, complete with trunk shows, sales, demonstrations, refreshments and other special events and The Bottle Shop will host a Beer Tasting block party between Moore & Mifflin Streets.  Both events are from 5-8pm and are free! For more info and to purchase your tickets, go to: www.visiteastpassyunk.com/flavors.. LoMo’s Spring Market & Community Fair Saturday, April 30, 2011 9 am – 3 pm (rain date: Saturday, May 7). Vendor spaces will be set up along the highly-trafficked area on Broad Street between Snyder Avenue & Jackson Street (streetside in front of South Philadelphia High School).

Back on March 27, the South Philly Food Co-op hosted one of our monthly educational events and welcomed Marie Winters, ND, of Two Rivers Naturopathy who taught about the benefits and medicinal properties of everyday fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins. Marie discussed how eating seasonally helps to keep the body naturally healthy. That point cleared up a concern (at least a concern that I had) that strictly trying to eat local might cause deficiencies if we don't get, say, bananas or citrus fruit which don't grow locally. Not so. All of the nutrients we need, during the seasons we need them, can be found in locally grown foods. The nutrients we need in winter are found in the foods that grow around here in winter and so forth for the other seasons. Nature seems to have figured out what it's doing. Here's one last plug for Marie: her Two Rivers Naturopathy just recently moved into a space at South Philadelphia Acupuncture at 1532 East Passyunk Avenue. One of the goals of the Co-op as stated in its mission is to provide affordable, nutritious and locally sourced food. But it's also important to remember the Co-op's role in educating people in the community about the benefits of buying and eating those types of food. We hope to invite Marie back for more information sessions once the Co-op opens its doors. Eating local has a twofold benefit of supporting local and regional businesses, especially farms that use sustainable practices that try to minimize or eliminate damage to the land AND it improves public health. But it's a battle. Advocates for these practices are up against a system that has vast amounts of resources aimed literally changing people's palettes through marketing. When it's education and common sense vs. flashy commercials and messages and images that appeal to our subconscious, education and common sense aren't going to be able to put up much of a fight. But we press on. And you can help by spreading the word about the Co-op and getting your friends and neighbors in South Philadelphia excited for it. In fact, please direct all of your Facebook friends to "Like" us on Facebook. It might not seem like much, but it'll make it a lot easier for us to communicate with our most loyal fans when it comes time to appeal to them (and you) to become member-owners. In the meantime, here's another take on the benefits of eating locally and naturally from a blog that I've recently started following (and listening to their podcasts) - The Socio Capitalist:

At your local grocery store, think about where that fruit came from. Unless you live in Florida or California, chances are it’s not from around the corner. Is that natural? Of course not. We all know that fruit and vegetables are shipped all over the country, covered in chemicals, and no one wants to eat anything covered in chemicals. But what we don’t realize,is that more importantly than the chemicals (they wash right off anyway), is our food is losing its nutritional value before it even reaches us. What can you do? Buy local. The quality of the fruit and vegetables that are locally sourced – farmers markets are a good option, if you’re lucky there may be a local farm somewhere near you like this one – is markedly better. When you bite into a banana that was grown less than 20 miles away, the difference is immediately apparent, and the cause of that glorious taste is nutrients.

Just a reminder about our event this weekend. See you there! Ayurvedic Cooking: Demystifying Spices Sunday, April 24 · 6:00pm - 7:30pm Philly Community Wellness 1241 Carpenter Street Join Shruthi for a fun evening discovering key spices used in Ayurvedic Indian dishes. Together, we will discuss the nature of essential spices, what spices are best for specific constitutions, and different preparation methods such as frying, dry roasting, and making a masala. The event will also include: a written questionnaire to determine your Ayurvedic constitution, tips for mindful eating, and a hands-on cooking demonstration using fresh Springtime ingredients. www.cardamomkitchen.net Suggested donation to cover the cost of food: $5 You can RSVP via our Facebook event page.

It's getting to be the end of soup season.  A hot bowl of soup is so comforting right when the weather starts to get chilly and then through the winter, but as soon as there's a hint of a warm day here or there, soups can start to seem so heavy, so warm... still appropriate for a rainy day, but burdensome when the sun is shining.

But April showers, right?  We still have a couple more weeks.  Pretty soon we'll be trading leeks for scallions - until then, we have potato leek soup.

---

This is a very straightforward soup, with a short ingredient list.  Leeks, potatoes, stock, salt, white pepper (red if it's what you have), and olive oil.  And a blender.   I've done this with a friend's immersion blender, which works spectacularly, or in batches in my own blender.

To make a stockpile of soup, use two leeks and six russet potatoes.

stored in jars for freezing and distribution, not canned

To serve 4-6, use three potatoes and one leek.

Start by cooking the potatoes.   I scrubbed them, then scored the equator of the potato and then dropped it in boiling water until tender.   Once tender, I used tongs to remove the potato to a large bowl of cold water.  After they've cooled a bit, you can peel them with your hands.

Peel and cut into manageable chunks.

Coarsely chop the leek(s).  Remember everything will be blended in the end.  Add two tablespoons of oil to a soup pot (one tablespoon for one leek, two for two) and set to medium.  Add the leek(s) and cook until they smell great.

Add vegetable stock.  Mine is frozen in cubes (the color reflects the amount of red cabbage in the stock this time).  I think this is about three cups, but really, you want enough stock to cover your leeks and potatoes.  I like my soup fairly thick, but the amount of liquid you add is very flexible - less liquid, thicker soup.

Add the potatoes to the leek(s) and stock with white pepper and salt - one tablespoon of white pepper per leek, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt per leek.  Simmer 10 minutes or so.

Blend the soup - either in batches in the blender or with an immersion blender, until you get a smooth puree.

Serve the soup hot, with maybe a few croutons or a sprinkle of red pepper flake (not pictured).

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday's Mouse, where I'm working on making food out of food.

Potato Leek Soup (4-6 servings)

• 1 large leek, sliced up (white and green)


• 3 russet potatoes, cooked until tender, peeled and chunked


• 1.5 cups vegetable stock


• 1 tablespoon white pepper


• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt


• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Saute the leek with the oil, add stock and potatoes, salt and pepper and simmer together 10 minutes.  Puree with immersion blender, or in batches in regular blender.