Member tip: pickle workshop and festival on Sept 14th . Thanks Gabby!

Throughout history, on every continent, humans have been pickling as a way to preserve food in times of plenty and to ensure proper nourishment long after harvests have been exhausted. Today, refrigeration and a global food system have made pickling all but disappear from our kitchens and memory. Luckily we are slowly coming back to our senses — literally. Fresh, seasonal food is back in vogue and so is preserving it! This workshop covers the basics of the art of pickling and shows you just how simple it is to transform any vegetable into a mouth-watering delicacy.

The workshop will be conducted by food and media educator Martha Ma. Martha is Founder and Executive Director of Nani Ola Productions, which uses multimedia to promote local and sustainable agriculture, clean healthy eating, environmentally and socially conscious lifestyle, media awareness and active citizenship. Martha is also a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, and a Community Chef with Just Food.

Martha will discuss the history of pickling, explain basic fermentation and how it works, and address the health benefits of fermented foods. Then she will demonstrate four different pickle recipes and techniques, including sauerkraut, kimchee and miso pickles, and a vinegar-based pickle using produce from the farmer’s market. Light refreshments will be served and samples of Martha’s pickles will be available.

After Martha’s presentation, the program hosts will lead the group to the Eighth Annual NY International Pickle Day on Orchard Street between Grand and Broome Streets in Manhattan’s old Pickle District.

Here are the workshop details…

THE PLEASURES OF PICKLING
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2008 from 12 - 3 pm
Cost: $25 Members, $30 nonmembers; limited to 20
Location: Culinary Center at the Whole Foods Bowery, 95 East Houston

Lots of local food events this weekend!

Skip the Fancy Food Show in Manhattan and check out Brooklyn’s own UnFancy Food Show instead. This event was started last year by a couple of food industry veterans as an organic response to the expensive, marketing-driven show at the Javits Center. This year nearly 20 producers will be on hand, including Vermont cheesemakers Jasper Hill Farm, Mast Brothers Chocolate from Williamsburg, Sixpoint Craft Ales from Redhook, Wheelhouse Pickles , and Bronx Bee Honey. It’s this Sunday at the East River Bar from 12 to 6.

Also on Sunday is the 3rd gathering of the New Amsterdam Market, an organization working to establish a public, indoor, year-round regional market at the Seaport in Manhattan. An assortment of over 50 vendors will be there including Hudson Valley Fresh, Flying Pigs Farm, and Saxelby Cheesmongers. It’s happening from 11 to 4 at New Market Square.

Check out this film shot by local cinematographer (and PLG CSA member) Liz Dory. If you can’t make it to the screening tomorrow afternoon, the documentary will have its broadcast premiere on HBO later this summer, so you can catch it on July 28th at 8pm.

“The Recruiter”
Cinema Village
22 East 12th Street
(212) 924-3636
Showtimes: Wed., May 28th and Thursday, May 29th - NOON, 1:30p.

** 2008 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL - OFFICIAL SELECTION **

The Recruiter takes viewers to a Louisiana coastal community, where we witness firsthand one recruiter’s intense struggle to enlist new soldiers into the U.S. Army. The film offers a glimpse of the human drama surrounding recruits’ decisions to enlist through its remarkable central character: the charismatic Sergeant First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful Army recruiters working in America. Sgt. Usie firmly believes that every American should serve, and that it is his mission to recruit new soldiers from his hometown of Houma, LA. Among the young people on whom Sgt. Usie sets his sights are Lauren, Matt, Bobby and Chris, four teenagers with different reasons and rationales for joining the Army.

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Our CSA host, the Maple Street School invites the PLG CSA to our annual fundraising Gala. This is the school’s most important fundraising event, with all proceeds going towards our operating budget. Come out, dance under the stars, enjoy the open bar and catered, gourmet food and meet fellow CSA members and Maple Street School friends and supporters. It’s a great date night and an even better way to support the organization that helps provide us with organic produce and fruit.

Save the Date: Friday, June 6, 2008
At the Picnic House, Prospect Park Brooklyn
7p till midnight

tickets 65.00 per adult

*The Maple Street School is a 501(C)3 non profit - Proceeds from the Gala directly benefit the Maple Street School

Contact Liz Dory (CSA member)
917.916.8518

Need to do some shopping? Stop by any Manhattan Whole Foods store on Wednesday April 9th, when five percent of their net sales will be donated to Just Food’s Fresh Food For All Program, which brings much needed locally grown produce into food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC.

Last year, the Fresh Food For All Program provided 63,000 pounds of farm fresh, locally grown produce to clients at 17 food pantries and soup kitchens city wide. The program also provides food education, teaching families how to incorporate more fresh, nutritious food into their diets.

Just Food was a huge help in getting our CSA started, so this is a great opportunity to return the favor and help bring fresh healthy food to other New Yorkers!

The average New York City household throws away two pounds of organic waste each day. This adds up to over one million tons of organic waste per year, most of which is transported to landfills. The transportation of waste is very expensive and causes pollution. When organic waste is buried in landfills, it is cut off from oxygen and decomposers. By throwing away compostable materials we not only use up precious landfill space, we also discard a valuable resource that can help to grow beautiful gardens, lawns, and houseplants.

Join Green Edge Collaborative this Sunday March 30th at Rebar for dinner and composting advice. Experts from the Queens Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanical Garden will be there to discuss how we can compost in our urban homes!

What to Bring:
• Your favorite organic seasonal dish to share
• Your recipe for a chance to win a copy of The Real Food Revival by Sherri Brooks Vinton
• Your ConEd account number to sign-up for WIND Power and receive $10 off your next Eco-Eatery Tour

The second annual Food For Thought Film Festival is coming up in April. This year’s program will include three feature films: King Corn, Life and Debt, and Black Gold. There will also be a screening of the trailer for Asparagus: Stalking the American Life, an excerpt from Birdsong and Coffee, and other short films.

The free screenings will be followed by discussions exploring issues regarding our current food systems, including modern food production, distribution and consumption, and their effects on our health, the environment, human rights, and local and global economies. Several local and national organizations working towards sustainable, clean, healthy food and fair access will also be attending the event, and will be available to provide information and support to community members who are interested in taking immediate action.

Check out the schedule here.

Just Food will be holding their annual CSA in NYC conference on Saturday, March 29th.

* Come together with over 100 CSA members and regional farmers.
* Choose from a variety of informative and dynamic workshop topics.
* Share best-practices.
* Have your questions answered by our farmer panel.
* Network at our end-of-day CSA Expo and wine and cheese reception!

This is your chance to find out how your farmer grows organically, discover ways to strengthen your existing core group, learn about New York’s food system and more! You won’t want to miss this event!

Just Food is a non-profit organization that works to develop a just and sustainable food system in the New York City region. We do this by fostering new marketing and food-growing opportunities that address the needs of regional, rural family farms, NYC community gardeners, and NYC communities.

Workshops topics and Expo participants will be posted soon on the Just Food website: www.justfood.org

One of our CSA members has started up a cool new dining experiment in the neighborhood. Here’s what she has to say about it…

“I am starting an exciting venture here in NY, one that’s been talked about and tossed around and fried in the cast iron many times. For several years, friends have been urging me to start a “restaurant” of sorts, and now K.R.A.K. (Kate’s Renegade Aboveground Kitchen) has come to fruition. It’s SO happening! I’m extremely excited– it is truly a social, artistic, and culinary experiment! I’ll spare you all the details — you can find them on the website at www.chezkate.com.”

There’s still room for the brunch on March 16th and the dinner on March 21st!

New Amsterdam Public — the proposed, year-round sustainable market to be housed at the old Fulton Fish Market — will be holding a trial-run called Wintermarket on Sunday Dec 16th. Purveyors, butchers, fishmongers, farmers and cheesemakers will all be on hand, selling food grown within a 500-mile radius like meat from a whole black angus steer, sheep’s milk cheese, wild ginger, and fresh baked foccacia. Brooklynites like the chefs of Marlow and Sons and Applewood, and Kelly Geary of Sweet Deliverance will also be in attendance with heavyweights like Mario. 11am to 4pm.

from Brooklyn Based