See "Food Inc." for free and a great profile of an urban farmer

Will Allen, the ultimate urban farmer and a truly larger than life figure, was profiled in last week's New York Times Magazine. It's a great read and indirectly poses an important question: Can the good food movement be sustained without some sort of subsidy, whether it be in the form of private grant or government pay?

Michael Pollan, when I saw him speak at the Herbst Theater (click here for video), argued that no food system has ever been successful without some sort of subsidy. That's why some have argued it's important that we redirect our government emphasis on commodity crops like corn and wheat and soybeans and reward more complex systems that grow a variety of plants, such as vegetables.

My grandmother told me that she would love if it were economically viable to grow something else besides GMO corn*. Is there any reason the Farm Bill won't pay Will Allen a dime and would discontinue paying my grandparents if they planted a row of broccoli next to the corn?

*Whether it is realistic for octogenarians in South Central Kansas to switch to organic farming at this point is a question better left for another day.
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http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/07/free_screening_of_food_inc.php

Free Screening of 'Food, Inc.'

By Tamara Palmer in Events, Palmer

Wednesday, Jul. 8 2009 @ 1:30PM

Still haven't seen Food, Inc.? Your procrastination is paying off, for once. Catch a free screening of the startling film -- sponsored nationwide by the burrito chain Chipotle -- on Thursday, July 16, at Embarcadero Center Cinema (One Embarcadero Center) at 7:30 p.m. Get there super early to guarantee yourself a seat; you know how people can be when it comes to free things.

More info on Chipotle's screenings is here, and to get in the spirit before you go to the theater, read SFoodie Editor John Birdsall's conversation with Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner.

Rooftop Farming; Change Comes to Kids First

First, the New York Times reports on rooftop gardens, which I have been saying for a while is the best way to bring health and change to the food desserts in inner cities. We still need to reclaim some of the urban sprawl for farmers--especially for small animal farms--but producing food in the middle of the city on existing infrastructure makes so much sense that I imagine it will sell itself.

Inner cities have become hotbeds for childhood obesity and family disconnect, but the acts of gardening, cooking and eating have been community-building activities for millenia. Bringing back real food and family meals could help rebuild some of our most impoverished. According to Shawnee Mission School District nurse, Nancy Nicolay, who is occasionally prone to hyperbole, some of the worst neighborhoods in Kansas City have been transformed by the simple act of planting a community garden.

Speaking of schools, it looks like the cafeteria might be seeing some of the most attention from the Obama administration. While the President has made some minor concessions to the growing number of food activists, such as a White House organic garden and whathaveyou, I have yet to hear anything that makes me think radical change is coming to the industrial food complex.

Michelle Obama, on the other hand, seems to be the one who will be spearheading this issue. She recently said:

"To make sure that we give all our kids a good start to their day and to their future, we need to improve the quality and nutrition of the food served in schools. We’re approaching the first big opportunity to move this to the top of the agenda with the upcoming reauthorization of the child nutrition programs. In doing so, we can go a long way towards creating a healthier generation for our kids."

It's great to hear that the First Lady wants to put healthy and safey on the top of the agenda. She has said that her own children, representatives of our next generation, have been lecturing her about what to eat and have encouraged her to change her eating habits. Hopefully, Mrs. Obama will have the chance to speak with Ann Cooper, the revolutionary lunch lady who tranformed the Berkeley school lunch system and is now headed for Boulder.

Though the dark forces who want to keep things the way they are will come up with a thousand reasons why it's impossible to change our agricultural system, it will much harder to argue that we shouldn't be feeding our kids better while they're at school. The school lunch reauthorization is a great opportunity to fight obesity before it's already hit and to set up the future generation with knowledge about what food actually is.

Coming attractions

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/books/12book.html?_r=2&ref=books

A new book on urban farming has shot straight to the top of my To Read list. Novella Carpenter's "Farm City" chronicles a city girl's attempts to make food right in the city limits of our neighbor to the east, Oakland.

Like me, Carpenter is a city dweller at heart. She likes to eat but she can't imagine trading the comforts of city life (restaurants, young people, and music venues for me) for the relative solitude of country life. Unlike Barbara Kingsolver, who wrote an amazing book called "Animal Vegetable Miracle" about moving her family into a small farm in the middle of Virgina, I'm guessing this book will be filled with more stories that I can relate to.

If there is sufficient interest, maybe some other urban farmer wannabes out there will read this book along with me and we can discuss it on here chapter by chapter.

Take back farmland from the city

From the often despicable SF Weekly comes a story about reclaiming urban land for green purposes. Apparently there are laws on the book that will allow you to tear up the sidewalk in front of your property--even if you are a renter so long as you get your landlord's signature. PlantSF, an organization dedicated to urban renewal, will even link you to the forms you need to alert the city of your plans.



There are, of course, several catches: 1. There must still be four feet of sidewalk left for people to walk on, and 2. There is a one-time fee of $215 (less if you can get more of your neighbors to go along with your plan).

Certainly, this will take some time to recoup your investment (especially if bums or other interlopers run off with your crop), but what a great way to turn some worthless concrete into some productive green space. And if you have received a 30-day Notice to Repair from the city, then there really is no excuse not to put that repair money toward the permit fee.

PlantSF will hook you up. Get on it.