VeggieDag Thursday: Farm to Table

Today: two links to audio of radio programs on food and food issues.

National Public Radio (NPR) Morning Edition ran a story on Zucchini Blossoms. "Squash blossoms are nature's way of giving you ravioli."

The edible flower of a zucchini is a delicate and ephemeral treat. Blossom fans at a farmers market in Washington, D.C., recommend them stuffed with cheese and baked, fried in batter or eaten raw. But prepare them quickly —they won't last longer than a day!

Audio here.

WAMU —the Washington, D.C., outlet for NPR— hosted a radio forum on the logistics of eating locally. (I detest the ugly sound of the neologism 'locavore'.)

Over the last decade, restaurant owners, food lovers and public health advocates have placed a new premium on eating fresh, nutritious produce from nearby farms. But they encounter major obstacles trying to bring fresh seasonal ingredients to consumers in the Washington region. We get a local perspective on the challenges of getting healthy food from the farm to the dinner table.

Host Kojo Nnamdi's guests were

• Michael F. Curtin, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, D.C. Central Kitchen
• Ann Harvey Yonkers, Co-Director, FRESHFARM Markets
• Lee Hauter, Owner, Bull Run Mountain Vegetable Farms (The Plains, Virginia)
• Mark Toigo, Owner, Toigo Orchards (Shippensburg, Pennsylvania)
• Cathal Armstrong, Owner and Chef, Restaurant Eve (Alexandria, Virginia)
• Anthony Chittum, Executive Chef, Vermilion Restaurant (Alexandria, Virginia)

Audio here.

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Thursdays at Yours For Good Fermentables.com are meatless Thursdays —as inspired by Veggiedag in Ghent, Belgium.

Tom Balthazar [mayor of Ghent, Belgium] has officially declared Thursday meatless in his city of nearly a quarter million people. In an effort to make the connection between meat consumption and greenhouse gases (18 percent of which come from livestock production), Balthazar has asked his fellow civil servants to abstain from meat every Thursday.

Kim O'Donnel
Mighty Appetite
Washingtonpost.com

Keeping with the 'good fermentables' aspect, I'll often inveigle beer or wine (or spirits) into the posts.