(Looking for what’s in this week’s box? It’s on our home page.)

River Road Farm gets watered. Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer’s Perspective…

Last Wednesday night, we experienced our first freeze of the season. Luckily, this freeze was a light one — it did get down to 27 degrees, but not for long. We worked hard prior to the freeze to harvest as much as we could. Our resulting tomato harvest was so big that we had to get creative on how to store them. We ended up using one of the intern trailers (thankfully, no one’s living there right now) and filled it with crates of tomatoes.

Our tomatoes find a new home. Photo by Carrie Kenny

Fearful that the freeze would damage our potatoes, Brenton drove out the River Road farm at 11pm Wednesday night to turn on the sprinklers. During a freeze, constantly spraying water on plants can help keep their temperature at or just above freezing. This is because as water freezes, heat energy is released. As long as ice continues to be formed, the latent heat of freezing will provide enough warmth to keep the plant from freezing. The key to this type of frost freeze protection is to keep the water running. If the water stops and ice is no longer being formed, the plant will freeze. Also this method only works if it’s not too windy.

A thankful Brenton takes unloads produce. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Despite the long, unpredictable hours of farming, Brenton says he’s thankful to be doing a job he really likes in a city he loves. Everyone at JBG is thankful for the continued support of our members and the Austin community. You have helped tremendously in our efforts to provide as many people as we can with fresh, locally grown produce. Thank you, too, to all of our members who generously donated produce to the Salvation Army for Thanksgiving. This morning, the Salvation Army picked up about 40 bins of produce. This donation, weighing in at over 1,000 pounds, is a single-day record for us this year. We are happy to share the harvest, and thank all members who joined us in this effort. Happy Thanksgiving!

Harvesting at River Road. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

1. 1) Farm News
   • JBG is now accepting CSA members
   • Changes to Friday CSA Pickup Times
   • Donation Request: JBG needs two microwaves
   • The Nitty Gritty: The Tortilla Incident
   • Give JBG Farmers Market & CSA Gift Certificates this Holiday Season
2. 2) Updates, Meetings, and Events
   • Green Birdie Contest: Vote for JBG as your favorite green business!
3. 3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member
   • Homemade Green Bean Casserole
   • Double Pork Peppers and Greens
   • Cranberry Ginger Chutney

1) Farm News

JBG is now accepting CSA members.

Help us spread the word! Click here to join.

Week of 11.23.10 Box Contents

Changes to Friday CSA Pickup Times

Since we added another delivery on Friday, we need to make 30-minute time adjustments to a few of our pickup sites that day. These changes are listed below:

Hyde Park (2:30-7:00pm)
Zilker (3:00-7:00pm)
Bouldin (3:30-7:00pm)
Brodie/Slaughter (4:00-7:00pm)

All other Friday pickup times will remain the same.

Jeremy loads up the truck for the farmers market. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Donation Request: JBG needs two microwaves

Thanks to a generous a CSA member, we now only need two microwaves. If you have a microwave that works but you’re no longer using, consider donating it to JBG! Our staff would be greatly appreciative. If you have one to donate, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com or call the office at 512-386-5273.

The River Road fields in the morning. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Give JBG Farmers Market & CSA Gift Certificates this Holiday Season

JBG now offers the following options for those wanting to give the gift of fresh organic produce:

Farmers Market Bucks: Give your friends “bucks” to spend at our booth at any one of the farmers markets we attend. This now includes the Triangle Market on Wednesdays, the Downtown Austin, Barton Creek, Sunset Valley, and Cedar Park markets on Saturday, and the HOPE market on Sunday. These “bucks” will be available for purchase in $20 increments (see purchase details below).

CSA Gift Certificates: Give your friends a CSA subscription for (4) pickups or more. Each gift certificate will come with a sign-up form so the recipient can choose the most convenient pickup location.

Thanks for considering sharing JBG with your friends and family this holiday season. To purchase Farmers Market Bucks or a JBG CSA Gift Certificate, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com or call Carrie in the office at 512-386-5273. Purchase options should also be available on our website by next week.

The Tortilla Incident

“Avoid products that make health claims!” exclaimed Michael Pollan in his book In Defense of Food. Why? “Because a health claim on a food product is a strong indication it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat.” This particular food rule is nothing new to me after having integrating it into my food purchasing decisions a long time ago. I make my own cereal, drink raw milk, don’t buy fortified or enriched pasta or breads, drink water rather than juice and have never had a TV dinner—all products whose packaging is typically full of health claims.

When at the grocery store a few days later, Pollan’s rule faced testing anew. Zigzagging around carts and shoppers sampling parmesan cheese I made my way over to the tortilla area. Grabbing the local brand I always do, the label caught my attention. I couldn’t believe it: I just encountered the first health claim on a tortilla. The package read as follows: “New! The first probiotic tortilla made in Texas—Digestive Wellness—Promotes digestive health—Great for a healthy lifestyle—Plus antioxidants A, E + C to support health—Good source of calcium and vitamin D—No transfat.” Everything was written in English and Spanish. Curios about the ingredient list I flipped the package over. It was in English only: unbleached flour, canola oil, bacilus coagulans, non-aluminum baking powder, water, natural preservative (salt and citric acid), dough conditioner (rice flour, yeast). There were “Go Texan” and “Made with Canola Oil” logos as well.

I couldn’t believe it, the food industry has found yet another way to alter another basic food into a foodlike edible substance. And a non-profit organization like Go Texan is supporting this. I have never given tortillas any thought in terms of their healthful or unhealthfulness. I found myself thinking, for the first time, about the health benefits of my burrito packaging unit. Shall I buy the ordinary tortilla or the one that’s good for my digestive tract? The omnivore’s dilemma has struck again. As if I don’t have already enough food purchasing decisions to solve.

I decided to buy the “New!” tortillas and put them to the test. I got home and warmed the tortillas on the stove. The ordinary wheat tortillas I usually buy puff up and become elastic at this stage, which makes wrapping them around their content easy. As the probiotic tortilla warmed up it stayed tough.

And then I got to taste it. The probiotic tortilla indeed tasted “healthy” just as the package promised. But this “healthy” was of the kind where you feel you should force it down because you know it’s healthy but can’t stand the taste. It was also very dry and almost crumbled as I bit in. In short, it had lost the properties both in function and taste that I expect of a good tortilla. And so I was left with the question: Why do I want to eat a tortilla that neither functions nor tastes like one? Because it’s healthy? Certainly not. Pollan’s food rule rang true again. A health claim on a food product means it’s not really food, and food is what I want to eat!

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

Green Birdie Contest: Vote for JBG as your favorite green business!

To vote for JBG, click here.

3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member

Ada and Frankie enjoy the sunlight at the Hergotz farm. Photo by Carrie Kenny

(Looking for what’s in this week’s box? It’s on our home page.)

JBG Collards at the Farmers Market. Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer’s Perspective…

At JBG, we are very thankful for a wonderful fall harvest. Given how plentiful this harvest has been, we decided to add another farmers market to our weekly schedule. We are now selling at the historic Travis County Farmers Market located at 6701 Burnet Road. Come by and see us — we’ll be there every Thursday (except Thanksgiving!) from 3pm to 7pm.

JBG will be closed Thanksgiving Day; consequently, Thursday deliveries will be rescheduled for Tuesday, November 23th (same pickup times, same locations — just a different day). All other pickup days and times that week will remain the same. However, if you would like to pickup your share early to have for holiday cooking, you can reschedule for one of our Tuesday or Wednesday locations by emailing or calling the office.

Ordering an Extra Box and/or Eggs for Holiday Cooking: Need additional produce or eggs for your holiday meal? Order an additional box and/or eggs by emailing or calling the office at 512-386-5273.

Donate Your Box Over the Holidays: We recognize that many people go out of town over the holidays to visit family and friends, and you may be considering canceling your box for the week of Thanksgiving. If you need to cancel your Thanksgiving CSA pickup, we understand. However, to save the farm a big financial hit over the holidays and to help provide food for those in need, please consider donating your share to the Salvation Army, or having a friend pick up your share for you. This way, you can keep supporting the farm, while sharing fresh, organic vegetables with others. To donate your box, please send us an email at farm@jbgorganic.com or call Carrie in the office at 512-386-5273.

JBG Sweet Potatoes at market. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1. 1) Farm News
   • JBG is now accepting CSA members
   • Changes to Friday CSA Pickup Times
   • Welcome to Maura Ambrose, our new Greenhouse and Market Coordinator
   • Donation Request: JBG needs three microwaves
   • The Nitty Gritty: Barolo Wine Tasting at Salone del Gusto, Turino, Italy
2. 2) Updates, Meetings, and Events
   • Green Birdie Contest: Vote for JBG as your favorite green business!
   • Farm to Table Lunch and Tour: Monument Cafe and Sandcreek Farm Saturday, November 20th
3. 3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member
   • Late Summer Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage and White Beans
   • Green Beans with Salsa and Mexican Oregano
   • Quick Sautéed Greens and Peppers

Beets line up to be washed. Look for them in your CSA box!

1) Farm News

JBG is now accepting CSA members.

Help us spread the word! Click here to join.

Week of November 16th box contents.

Changes to Friday CSA Pickup Times

Since we added another delivery on Friday, we need to make 30-minute time adjustments to a few of our pickup sites that day. These changes are listed below:

Hyde Park (2:30-7:00pm)
Zilker (3:00-7:00pm)
Bouldin (3:30-7:00pm)
Brodie/Slaughter (4:00-7:00pm)

All other Friday pickup times will remain the same.

Welcome to Maura Ambrose, JBG’s new Greenhouse and Market Coordinator.

We are very glad to have Maura as part of our crew!

Maura in the greenhouse with lettuce transplants ready for planting.

Donation Request: JBG needs three microwaves

Have a microwave that works but you’re no longer using? Donate it to JBG! We need three microwaves — two for our intern trailers and one for our workers to use at our Cedar Creek location. If you have one to donate, please email us at farm@jbgorganic.com or call the office at 512-386-5273.

Barolo Wine Tasting at Salone del Gusto, Turino, Italy

Although I deeply enjoy drinking wine, I feel I’m only at the beginning of understanding it. To try to learn something about Italian wines, I signed us up for a wine tasting event at Salone del Gusto. It featured one wine, Barolo, and its maker, Aldo Conterno.

Barolo is made from the nebbiolo grape which is one of the world’s most site-specific grape variety and one of the most difficult to master. This wine is produced exclusively on selected hills of the Langhe region of Piedmont, a stretch of land south east of Turino with the small town Alba at its heart. The name nebbiolo comes from nebbia, the fog that often settles over Piedmont in late October during the harvest. The wine maker was a gentle, gray haired man and old friend of Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food, who also took part in the event and conducted the interview. Today, Aldo doesn’t make the wine himself anymore but has given his business over to three managers that produce the wine in his fashion.

The wine...

Aldo told us that 75% of the quality of the wine depends on the terroir — the soil and its nutrients, the solar exposure of the hill, the weather etc — and only 25% on the skill of the wine maker. Modest words from one of the world’s great wine masters. When asked what it is that a winemaker needs in order to create an excellent wine, he answered with simply one word: Luck. To illustrate his point, the old winemaker told the following story of his past. As a young man, he signed up to serve in the US army during the Korean war. On the way to the airport to catch a weekly plane ride, his military vehicle broke down. Cussing and cursing he fixed the car. He continued the drive until the car broke down a second time. Now very late and very upset about the delay, Aldo fixed the car again and got to the airport just in time to see his plane take off without him. A moment later that plane was shot out of the air, killing all passengers aboard. He wept on stage at the memory.

The old winemaker recommended to let his wines age in the bottle for about 10 to 15 years in order to obtain the most complex flavors. As a matter of fact, the nebbiolo grape tends to be so high in tannins that only after such an extended aging period the tannins have mellowed enough to make the wine palatable.

Its terroir...

We tasted a 2001 and 2006 vintage and by tasting them side by side, I could make out a much more complex bouquet of flavors in the older one. Also, it tasted more smooth and less acidic. What it boiled down to in the end though, is that the wine tasted just like wine. Unexpectedly, Aldo and Carlo commented on how wine tastings have turned into experts dissecting the wine into all these different flavors, nuances and words. With the result of loosing track of the whole. Because in the end what we were drinking was a good glas of wine. Let’s enjoy it as such! Cheers!

2) Updates, Meetings and Events

Green Birdie Contest: Vote for JBG as your favorite green business!

To vote for JBG, click here.

Farm to Table Lunch and Tour: Monument Cafe and Sandcreek Farm

This Saturday, come out to Sandcreek Farm in Cameron to see their raw milk dairy, grassfed beef cattle, other livestock and vegetable crops, and, if we play our cards right, possibly a hay ride! Everyone will have the opportunity to purchase farm goods. Then we caravan to Monument Cafe in Georgetown, nationally celebrated for seriously good diner food featuring sustainable farm goods products, much of it sourced locally. The cafe’s owners will soon open Monument Market, featuring naturally raised meats, produce, dairy and more, all made or grown in Texas. Cafe chefs will prepare and serve a harvest lunch featuring Sandcreek’s delicious meats, dairy and produce.

Don’t miss this one — Betsy will be taking a farm tour organizing break until early spring, so this is your last chance to give a Slow Food Austin thanks for local food until then! Here is the ticket purchasing link with map, directions and schedule.

3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member

Recipe Card: Late Summer Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage and White Beans

This soup makes use of a wide variety of veggies, giving it lots of texture and flavor. This recipe works well with kale, chard, collards, beet, or kohlrabi greens. A trick of trade – try simmering the soup with a parmesan rind to impart extra richness.

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 link Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 onion, diced
• 3-4 sweet peppers, diced
• 6 medium button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed, drained
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 bunch greens, tough stems removed, chopped
• 1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
• Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
• Parmesan, grated
• 1 loaf crusty bread

Directions
Place a soup pot over medium heat, add the oil and sausage and sauté until cooked through and crumbled.

Add the onions, peppers, and a pinch of salt and sweat until the onions start to become translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned. Add the zucchini and cook 4-5 minutes more. Add the garlic and sauté while stirring until fragrant, about 1 min. Add the red pepper flakes, beans, broth, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer.

Once the soup is simmering, add the chopped greens and green beans. Cook until the greens and green beans are tender, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot; topping the bowls with grated Parmesan and serving with a few slices of bread.

Recipe Card: Green Beans with Salsa and Mexican Oregano

It doesn’t get much simpler than this! Try serving this light side dish alongside enchiladas or tacos.

Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1/3 cup salsa (Jaime’s is nice)
• 1 pinch dried Mexican oregano
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the salsa, oregano, and a pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet. Cook until just heated through. Toss to coat the beans thoroughly. Serve hot.

Recipe Card: Quick Sautéed Greens and Peppers

This works great as a side dish or as a lasagna/pasta filling with ricotta and Parmesan. I used kale and paired it with spiced lamb and feta pita pockets.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
• 2 cups assorted sweet and hot peppers, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups greens, chopped
• ½ cup water
• 1-2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions, peppers, and a generous pinch of salt. Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chopped greens and water. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the greens have wilted. Add the vinegar and cook 1 minute longer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot.

Packing shed manager Matt visits with Frankie.

(Looking for what’s in this week’s box? It’s on our home page.)

Broccoli at River Road. Photo by Scott David Gordon

From the Farmer’s Perspective…

We continue to have a bountiful crop yield over at River Road, and CSA members can expect to find broccoli and baby carrots added to their boxes next week. We also have new potatoes in the field that we hope to harvest just after the first frost. Growing these potatoes has proven to be quite a challenge, though, and we are still uncertain of what our yield will be. Before we started farming at River Road, the land was a Johnson grass hayfield – a type of grass/weed that is particularly difficult to eradicate. Our efforts to eliminate this weed failed prior to planting the potatoes, and the Johnson grass re-emerged before our potato plants had even broken the soil. So, for the few months, we have been engaged in an ongoing war against the Johnson grass. Finally, after many, many hours of work, the potato plants have been successfully weeded and hilled. Now, all we can do is hope that these plants will make potatoes prior to the first heavy frost — keep your fingers crossed!

New potatoes, weeded and hilled.

While we wait to discover the fate of the potatoes, our other plants continue to thrive. Below are some images of what’s cropping up right now at River Road. Many thanks to Scott David Gordon for these photos.

Napa cabbage. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Rainbow chard. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Spinach. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Integro cabbage. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1. 1) Farm News
   • JBG is now accepting CSA members
   • The Nitty Gritty: Steven & Grit Europe 2010; Day 20 – Torino: Aceto Balsamico
2. 2) Updates, Meetings, and Events
   • Thanksgiving Week CSA Schedule Changes
   • Gift from Capital Farm Credit
3. 3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member
   • Mediterranean Veggie Burgers with Olive Thousand Island Dressing
   • Olive Thousand Island Dressing
   • Napa Cabbage Slaw

Red Russian Kale transplants await planting. Photo by Scott David Gordon

1) Farm News

JBG is now accepting CSA members.

Help us spread the word! Click here to join.

Week of November 8th CSA Box Contents

Day 20 – Torino: Aceto Balsamico

We ventured back into Salone del Gusto’s Taste Pavilion, where hundreds (if not thousands) of vendors from all over Italy and the world displayed their products. It was huge and slammed with people and we abandoned any attempt to work through it systematically. We found ourselves in the Italy section and wandered past vendors with wheels of cheese, shelves of wines and racks of cured hams bound with twine and with the hoof and ball of the femur still attached.

Then we came to the vinegar producers. Until that point, my experience with vinegar was based only on what is commonly found in American supermarkets. I had no idea of the Italian products and traditions and perhaps had heard of but didn’t know anything about what is here called aceto balsamico. This traditional product, made from a reduction of cooked white Trebbiano grape juice is aged for generations in an assortment of casks made from specific types of wood. Made in Modena and Reggio Emilia since the Middle Ages, this vinegar is today highly valued by chefs and food lovers. All you have to do is taste it to know why.

We talked to several vendors and tasted their vinegars and I was blown away. Onto a tiny plastic spoon they allowed a single drop of the black, syrupy liquid to fall. The smell was rich and sweet and sour and floral. Your mouth immediately flushes with saliva and the flavor fills your whole head in an incredible explosion of sweet and sour with a dense and complex rainbow of flavors. I had never had anything like it and even as a non-cook could immediately see the huge potential: on meat, bread, fruit, cheese, ice cream and much more. Words hardly do it justice but 55 € ensured we’d be able to bring back a handful of deciliters of the quarter-century old elixir to enjoy and share.

That afternoon we attended the second of our three prepaid Salone del Gusto events, this one on aceto balsamico. We sat at a table in front of three small vials of the black liquid. For more than a hour several experts explained how it’s made, being transferred each year into smaller and smaller casks as evaporation slowly concentrates the vinegar. Each cask is made from a different type of wood, oak, cherry, juniper and others I had never heard of. Like other foods, it’s deeply ingrained in the Italian culture and some families keep their own set of casks in their attic, each year taking some out to enjoy and transferring the rest between the casks as necessary. When babies are born some families purchase new sets so that when the babies turn 25 and are married the vinegar is finally ready for consumption.

Grit too was blown away and highly inspired by the experience. This vinegar has now become the highlight of our time in Torino.

To follow our travel blog go to:

http://web.me.com/stevenmattern/StevenGritEurope2010/Home/Home.html

2) Updates, Meetings and Events

Sweet potatoes. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Thanksgiving Week CSA Schedule Changes

JBG will be closed Thanksgiving Day; consequently, Thursday deliveries will be rescheduled for Tuesday, November 23th (same pickup times, same locations – just a different day). All other pickup days and times that week will remain the same. However, if you would like to pickup your share early to have for holiday cooking, you can reschedule for one of our Tuesday or Wednesday locations by emailing or calling the office.

Salvation Army Donation Request

Fall, like Spring, is a very productive time for JBG, and our harvests are at a peak. We realize that Thanksgiving is also a peak travel time. If you are going to be out of town that week, we ask that you consider donating your vegetables to the Salvation Army instead of rescheduling your pickup. Such a donation helps in several ways: it provides healthy, great tasting vegetables to people in need, it leads to less waste as we do not reduce our harvesting, and it carries JBG through what can be a difficult time financially. When lots of CSA members reschedule their pickups at the same time, it means a reduction in revenue without a corresponding reduction in expenses for the farm. This happens especially during Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.

To donate your vegetable share for Thanksgiving or the Winter Holidays to the Salvation Army, please email Carrie at farm@jbgorganic.com or call her in the office at 512-386-5273.

Brenton and Rob Randig of Capital Farm Credit

Gift From Capital Farm Credit

Last week, Rob Randig, our loan officer from Capital Farm Credit, brought an unexpected gift to the farm. It was a framed copy of the feature story on JBG that ran in Landscapes, Farm Credit’s regional magazine. This article, titled Green Thumb in a Green City and included in the Summer 2010 issue, highlights JBG’s growth from a small backyard garden to the largest CSA in the region. Rob Randig was instrumental in helping JBG obtain some of the credit we needed to grow. We would like to thank Rob and Capital Farm credit for their assistance and for choosing to highlight us in Landscapes.

Slow Food Austin Farm Tour

3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member

Harvested Napa cabbage. Photo by Scott David Gordon

(Looking for what’s in this week’s box? It’s on our home page.)

JBG Staff and Workshares pose in front of one of Ryan Rhodes' creations

From the Farmer’s Perspective…

This week, our trucks got a makeover. Graphic artist and JBG logo designer Ryan Rhodes hand-painted our 16ft and our 14ft box trucks. These trucks make for a big canvas, and the results are amazing. We thank Ryan for all of the time and care he put into turning our trucks into works of art. In case you haven’t seen these yet, here are two time-lapse videos of Ryan at work:

JBG Farm Truck Painting from Bigger Than Giants on Vimeo.

JBG Farm Truck Painting 2 from Bigger Than Giants on Vimeo.

Keep your eyes open when you’re driving around Austin for these beautiful, hand-painted vehicles!

Brenton unloads peppers off of the truck.

1. 1) Farm News
   • The Nitty Gritty: Steven & Grit Europe 2010; Day 21 – Torino, Italy: Carne = Morte
2. 2) Updates, Meetings, and Events
   • Thanksgiving CSA Schedule
3. 3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member
   • Cobb Salad with Hopelessly Blue Vinaigrette
   • Hopelessly Blue Vinaigrette
   • Chipotle Butternut Squash Puree

Jimmy takes a break from riding his John Deere tricycle to eat a cucumber.

1) Farm News

The Nitty Gritty: Steven & Grit Europe 2010; Day 21 – Torino, Italy: Carne = Morte

Sunday was Terra Madre’s closing ceremony and it was there that the day’s most interesting thing happened. An announcer got the ceremony started and introduced eight speakers who took seats on the stage. Just before they were to begin, a young woman with a megaphone and a man in strange clothes rushed the stage. In Italian she started talking wildly while the announcer chased her around stage unsure what to do. I realized she was some sort of activist and had hijacked the stage to spread her message to the 10,000 people in the audience. Grit grabbed my arm and pointed across the stadium, where two others were holding a huge sign that read, Carne = Morte or Meat = Death. I realized she was part of an anti-meat group whose signs and displays we had seen on the street outside the days before. There was confusion and tension in the audience and some shouted to get them off the stage and others seemed to applaud. Security showed up but amazingly the announcer held them back, allowing her to speak. The eight seated speakers sat motionless in their seats while she paced the stage frantically, screaming her anti-meat message. It became clear that her accomplice was dressed as a pig and fell to ground in a mock death, spilling fake blood on the stage. In our headsets the translators didn’t know what to do but eventually translated part of her message. After several minutes, security people had taken hold of the Carne = Morte sign and the protestor finished her pitch. She was escorted off stage and the riled crowd began to calm.

Almost too quickly, the announcer again took control of the situation and attempted to continue as if nothing had happened. The first speaker spoke but I wished the announcer had taken a few moments to address what had just happened. A couple of the other speakers did refer to what had happened and even defended her actions by saying that Terra Madre was a place where we should listen to all voices. I was struck by both the announcer and the speakers’ generosity to the activist and felt that had this happened in the US that she would have been stopped much more quickly.

This episode proved very interesting both in terms of how it was handled and also in terms of her message, her choice of delivery and the audience she chose to present to. Although I didn’t understand nearly any of what she said, I had seen the photos of bloody sheep and pigs while passing their displays outside and felt I got their point via the sign. Of course I found these photos totally unpersuasive since bloody animals themselves aren’t a bad thing. What’s bad is when animals are treaty poorly, not allowed adequate space and natural food and slaughtered inhumanely—but the photos I saw didn’t show that. When I saw her sign, Carne = Morte, my first thought was, so what? Is death bad? Of course not. Death is part of life and is necessary to support it. In terms of delivery, I doubt her stunt changed many people’s minds. She came across as a fanatic, just like the Christian fanatics that used to stand outside the architecture building at UT with a megaphone shouting about Jesus. Whose minds did they change? I thought of the thousands of small scale animal farmers and fisherman in the audience from all over the world, many of whom come from long traditions of animal husbandry and meat eating. Did this change their minds?

See more photos and follow our travel blog at:

http://web.me.com/stevenmattern/StevenGritEurope2010/Home/Home.html

Happy Halloween!

We hope everyone had a great Halloween. Check out the vegetable creatures and costumes below:

Lila's scary squash creation (right) and it's vegetable friends.

Peter Pan (aka Brenton) and Spider/Batman (aka Jimmy)

Waitress on Wheels (aka Beth)

King Midas (aka Drew)

Fairy Princess (aka Ada)

2) Updates, Meetings, and Events

Thanksgiving Week CSA Schedule Changes

It is hard to believe that November is already here, and Thanksgiving is less than four weeks away. We will be closed Thanksgiving Day; consequently, Thursday deliveries will be rescheduled for Tuesday, November 23th (same pickup times, same locations – just a different day). All other pickup days and times that week will remain the same.

Salvation Army Donation Request

Fall, like Spring, is a very productive time for JBG, and our harvests are at a peak. We realize that Thanksgiving is also a peak travel time. If you are going to be out of town that week, we ask that you consider donating your vegetables to the Salvation Army instead of rescheduling your pickup. Such a donation helps in several ways: it provides healthy, great tasting vegetables to people in need, it leads to less waste as we do not reduce our harvesting, and it carries JBG through what can be a difficult time financially. When lots of CSA members reschedule their pickups at the same time, it means a reduction in revenue without a corresponding reduction in expenses for the farm. This happens especially during Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.

To donate your vegetable share for Thanksgiving or the Winter Holidays to the Salvation Army, please email Carrie at farm@jbgorganic.com or call the office at 512-386-5273.

We thank you for taking the time to consider this for both Thanksgiving and the coming winter holidays. If you choose to donate your produce to the Salvation Army, we will mail you a tax deductible receipt of donation for your records.

Interested in becoming a member of our Farm?

Week of Oct 27th, CSA Share Box

Help us spread the word!  JBG is now accepting CSA members.  Click here to join.

All of JBG’s produce is 100% certified organic and is grown on our family farm.

3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member

Don't let your vegetables go bad!