Comments on: Our Food, Ourselves: Michael Pollan on the Next Farmer in Chief http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2008/10/our-food-ourselves-michael-pollan-on-the-next-farmer-in-chief Daily dose of women's health news and media analysis Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:46:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Christine C. http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2008/10/our-food-ourselves-michael-pollan-on-the-next-farmer-in-chief/comment-page-1#comment-711 Christine C. Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:49:49 +0000 http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/?p=1746#comment-711 Hi Pixie -- Thanks for sharing your family story! As for links that might be of use for your own gardening plans, check out Local Harvest: <a href="http://www.localharvest.org/" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.localharvest.org/?referer=http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-comments/php/comment-editor.php?action=editcomment&p=1746&c=711&KeepThis=true&');pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.localharvest.org/?referer=http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-comments/php/comment-editor.php?action=editcomment&p=1746&c=711&KeepThis=true&');" rel="nofollow">http://www.localharvest.org/</a> They link to farms and CSAs around the country. I'd contact folks at farms in your region, and ask them about local resources that might be useful for starting your own garden. If you have a local food co-op or health food store, you might consider advertising there for neighbors interested in working with you. Good luck! P.S. Here's an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/14harvest.html?pagewanted=all" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/14harvest.html?pagewanted=all&referer=http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-comments/php/comment-editor.php?action=editcomment&p=1746&c=711&KeepThis=true&');pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/14harvest.html?pagewanted=all&referer=http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-comments/php/comment-editor.php?action=editcomment&p=1746&c=711&KeepThis=true&');" rel="nofollow">inspirational story</a> (from the NYT) of small groups of people making a difference -- backyard gardeners harvesting excess fruit and vegetables in their neighborhoods and donating the bounty to food banks. Hi Pixie —

Thanks for sharing your family story!

As for links that might be of use for your own gardening plans, check out Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/

They link to farms and CSAs around the country. I’d contact folks at farms in your region, and ask them about local resources that might be useful for starting your own garden.

If you have a local food co-op or health food store, you might consider advertising there for neighbors interested in working with you. Good luck!

P.S. Here’s an inspirational story (from the NYT) of small groups of people making a difference — backyard gardeners harvesting excess fruit and vegetables in their neighborhoods and donating the bounty to food banks.

]]> By: pixie http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2008/10/our-food-ourselves-michael-pollan-on-the-next-farmer-in-chief/comment-page-1#comment-708 pixie Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:23:53 +0000 http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/?p=1746#comment-708 Fascinating! I find the idea of sustainable gardening a thrill (perhaps I'm easily amused?!). However, when I was growing up, my mother had a garden that fed half of our church congregation during a drought that caused half the farmers in our rural, agricultural area to lose their shirts. It was situated at the end of a field (where extra topsoil was tossed by the plow), in a former cow corral (well, you can guess what fed the soil there), beside an old natural spring that never dried out (and had a handy hose for irrigation) in the middle of Illinois with it's glorious black earth. However, I now live in a bug-infested, drought-prone state, which has me befuddled. Anybody have any good organic gardening links? I'm on a well, so anything placed on the ground goes into my drinking water, and the sheer volume of WORK I'm finding in most organic gardening sites is overwhelming, when placed against the work I do with three small children and a house full of needed repairs. Any tips? Anyone? I do consider myself blessed by having lots of space (nearly three acres of terraced semi-farmland), and I'd love to use it. I wish there was some way to connect to other local folks with less land to share the work and produce with. I really do believe that gardening could save the economy and a lot of lives and healthcare costs. But it would also involve a big swing in our attitude towards food, cooking and eating. Fascinating! I find the idea of sustainable gardening a thrill (perhaps I’m easily amused?!). However, when I was growing up, my mother had a garden that fed half of our church congregation during a drought that caused half the farmers in our rural, agricultural area to lose their shirts. It was situated at the end of a field (where extra topsoil was tossed by the plow), in a former cow corral (well, you can guess what fed the soil there), beside an old natural spring that never dried out (and had a handy hose for irrigation) in the middle of Illinois with it’s glorious black earth.

However, I now live in a bug-infested, drought-prone state, which has me befuddled. Anybody have any good organic gardening links? I’m on a well, so anything placed on the ground goes into my drinking water, and the sheer volume of WORK I’m finding in most organic gardening sites is overwhelming, when placed against the work I do with three small children and a house full of needed repairs. Any tips? Anyone?

I do consider myself blessed by having lots of space (nearly three acres of terraced semi-farmland), and I’d love to use it. I wish there was some way to connect to other local folks with less land to share the work and produce with.

I really do believe that gardening could save the economy and a lot of lives and healthcare costs. But it would also involve a big swing in our attitude towards food, cooking and eating.

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