Only 1% of the total food grown and harvested in the United States is sold at farmers markets.  2% of the nations farms “raise” 40% of our food animals.  That means agribusiness, factory farming, monoculture and global food distribution are the Goliath to the sustainable movement.  Radical change would require dramatic force and collective action.  Sustainability starts at the source: from seed to the soil and from harvest to the market.  Imagine a world where communities thrived on the food sources from their region and global distribution gave way to low-impact farming.  I welcome the day that as a nation and a world, we all realize that if it takes 2,500 gallons of water to create 1 pound of table-ready meat, it is NOT sustainable. We are approaching the second decade of this century. The sustainable movement will grow and it will become the antidote to factory farming and the grocery list of serious issues it is responsible for:  from public health issues, environmental impact, water pollution, disregard for animal welfare, soil erosion to just plain food safety, factory farming is rife with risks and it is ultimately an unsustainable system.  Change is inevitable. Sustain at its core means the ability to survive. There are internal conditions within the factory farming institution that will cause a breakdown.  Maybe it will have something to do with the fact that 70% of the antibiotics distributed in America are given to animals on factory farms.  Sooner or later the bacteria that these antibiotics are fighting off will evolve and become immune to the antibiotics.  It could become a public health disaster at best.  What if one of the hidden costs of cheap meat is an epidemic of drug-resistant infection?  There would be a food revolution. Until then, If you ask someone if they would rather support a factory farm or a sustainable farm, general answers, of course would be, “Oh, I am all for sustainability!” because it sounds like a nice word. But the real answer is in the action.  When more people put their money in the hands of a responsible farmer, grower, purveyor, grocer, restaurateur who walks the sustainable walk with them then we will turn the tide and sustainability will actually mean more than words.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WINTER CROPS:

Bacon, Mexicola and Gwen Avocados, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Cardones, Baby Cauliflower, Celery Root, Cherimoyas, Citrus:  Buddha’s Hand, Grapefruit, Meyer lemons, Mandarins, Kumquats (late winter), blood oranges, Pummelos, Tangelos, Dates, Dragon Fruit, Escarole, Fennel, Kale:  Black, Peacock, Kohlrabies, Leeks, Mushrooms:  Black Trumpet, Chanterelle, Oyster, Shitake, Nettles, Parsnips, Radicchio, Radishes, Sapotes, Sorrel, Sweet Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Turnips, Winter Squash

Allow this to be your navigational guide to menu-making and spontaneous cravings, getting what’s in season locally and just one chapter of living, breathing sustainability.

MARKET FORECAST:

WINDROSE FARM HAS BEAUTIFUL CHINESE AND JAPANESE CABBAGE AS WELL AS AN UBER SWEET “Dollhead” ESCAROLE

(Chinese Chirimen Hakusai 12″ Spinach-Like Cabbage)

WINDROSE ALSO HAS UNIQUE SQUASH VARIETIES AS WELL, INCLUDING THE SWEET AND DELUXE MOROCCAN FAIRY SQUASH!!

RANCHO DEL SOL IS BRINGING US THE CITRUS OF THE GODS:  KISHU TANGERINES – SWEET, PETIT AND SEEDLESS!!

ALSO TANGELOS SO SWEET AND JUICY (YOU WILL WANT TO BE SOMEWHERE SAFE WHEN YOU BREAK INTO ONE…..)

NEXT UP:  15 PRIZED TREES ON RANCHO DEL SOL’S ORCHARD GROW THIS SPECIAL CITRON – BUDDHA’S HAND!!! EXOTIC, YET LOCAL!! NOW AVAILABLE!

GARCIA ORGANICS – GUAVA FOR 2 MORE WEEKS, MEYER LEMONS ARE IN!! AND SATSUMA MANDARINS ARE BACK!!

YASUTOMI – MINERS LETTUCE IS BACK!!!

PUDWILL FARMS HAS PINEAPPLE GUAVA!!! AND BLUEBERRIE$ ARE BACK!

COLEMAN FARMS – TOKYO LONG JAPANESE ONIONS ARE GORGEOUS AND A GREAT WINTER FRESH ONION, BEAUTIFUL DRAGON FRUIT IN LIMITED SUPPLIES! PEACOCK KALE, PORTUGESE KALE AND SCOTS KALE, FRENCH SORREL, CARDONES, FRISEE, RED FRILL MUSTARD IN BUNCHES, SPIGARELLO AND THAI “DRAGON” CHILES

MCGRATH FARMS HAS THE BABY RED AND WHITE SCALLIONS BACK AND TONS OF KABOCHA SQUASH!! THEY ALSO HAVE BUTTERNUT SQUASH,RAPINI and MY PERSONAL FAVORITE: PEA TENDRILS!!

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