Roger Doiron

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the...

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:47:56 -0400

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the devastating tornado that struck Oklahoma yesterday. Recovering from this tragedy will not be fast or easy, but it will happen. As one sign of hope, consider this before and after image of the Piermont Community Garden in New York (one of KGI’s Sow It Forward grantees) which was all but washed away last fall by Hurricane Sandy and which now thrives again. We’re rooting for you, Oklahomans, to do the same!

kitchengardeners: Here’s some great news from the Positive...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:38:13 -0400

kitchengardeners:

Here’s some great news from the Positive Energetics Foundation of Hawaii, one of our Sow It Forward grantees. They’re using their grant to grow a bountiful garden which supplies the local WIC program on the north shore of Oahu with vibrant, fresh veggies. Keep up the good work!

Who’s ready to start gardening? Sign up for KGI’s...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:17:35 -0400

Who’s ready to start gardening? Sign up for KGI’s monthly newsletter to get the info and inspiration you need:http://bit.ly/11yzNcN

Photo credit: Friends of Hope Community Garden, Wilmington, OH taken by Randy Sarvis

a school bus conversion into a mobile...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:56:20 -0400

a school bus conversion into a mobile garden via gardensinunexpectedplaces:

"The White House chefs have been leading school groups on educational tours through First Lady..."

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:03:30 -0500

“The White House chefs have been leading school groups on educational tours through First Lady...

I’m relatively young and in good health, but not too young to...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:16:29 -0500

I’m relatively young and in good health, but not too young to start thinking about my edible garden bucket list. What food gardens in the US or abroad would like to see if time and money were no object? The gardens pictured here are some of the famous ones, but maybe there are some lesser-known ones that should be considered for their inspirational power. Sound off in the comment section below or here: http://kgi.org/blog/roger-doiron/10-kitchen-gardens-visit-you-die

Today marks my return to the world of no-knead bread-making...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:56:00 -0500

Today marks my return to the world of no-knead bread-making after a year-long hiatus. This loaf just came out of the oven and will soon be co-starring with potato leek soup for lunch. Lately, I’ve been making sandwich loaves and flatbreads and forgot just how gorgeous these crusty, no-knead beauties can be. You can find the recipe here. I upped the flour to 4 cups, water to 2 1/6 cups, and yeast to a teaspoon. If you do make some bread of your own, let me know how it went. It’s a great thing to know how to do.

Insects habitat via mixgreen

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:29:01 -0500

Insects habitat via mixgreen

The New York Times Magazine is running an important feature...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:18:22 -0500

The New York Times Magazine is running an important feature article this weekend entitled “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.”

What’s important about it is that it’s not just about foods traditionally considered junk foods like candy and fluorescent orange snacks, but foods that historically have been considered healthy and nutritious like yogurt and tomato sauces that have been re-engineered to make them less healthy and more addictive.

Tomato sauce:
“Many of the Prego sauces — whether cheesy, chunky or light — have one feature in common: The largest ingredient, after tomatoes, is sugar. A mere half-cup of Prego Traditional, for instance, has the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar, as much as two-plus Oreo cookies. It also delivers one-third of the sodium recommended for a majority of American adults for an entire day.”

Yogurt:
Under his leadership, General Mills had overtaken not just the cereal aisle but other sections of the grocery store. The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms. And yet, because of yogurt’s well-tended image as a wholesome snack, sales of Yoplait were soaring, with annual revenue topping $500 million.

Please spread the word about this article. The more people who know what they’re really eating and the manipulative tactics that are being used, the better our chances are of directing them towards healthier options.

It’s still too early for homegrown happy hour, but...

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:04:46 -0500

It’s still too early for homegrown happy hour, but here’s a hugely helpful 13 minute video about homebrewing. I had a chance to watch this process in person this past summer when visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Long Beach, CA. My brother-in-law is taking his own brewing to the next level by growing some of his own hops. Cheers, Roger

From the New York Times: “A study in the March issue of...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 05:45:54 -0500

From the New York Times:

“A study in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases estimates that 1,451 people died from 1998 to 2008 in outbreaks of food-borne illness. Meat and poultry accounted for 28.7 percent of deaths, dairy products (including eggs) for 14.5 percent and vegetables for 16.4 percent. But more than half of all food-borne illnesses were caused by plant foods, which made more than 4.9 million people sick. Leafy vegetables like spinach, above, led the list, with 2.1 million people falling ill after eating them.”

So should we stop eating leafy greens to “protect” our health? No, but we should pay closer attention to where are greens are coming from, how they’re grown and what happens to them along their way from field to fork. The advantage of homegrown foods is that it’s a very short trip.

Must. Have. Coffee. Woof.

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 11:25:28 -0500

Must. Have. Coffee. Woof.

From tedx: In September, food waste activist Selina Juul gave a...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:41:31 -0500

From tedx:

In September, food waste activist Selina Juul gave a talk called, “Stop wasting food” at TEDxCopenhagen, asking global citizens to be more mindful of the food they let go to waste.

Unfortunately, since Selina’s talk went live, it’s become clear that the problem of global food waste is a lot worse than even she thought.

Just this month the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) published a study that revealed that — as The Guardian reports — “up to half of the food that is bought in Europe and the US is thrown away by consumers,” and almost as much as half of the food produced in the world (2 billion tons worth) winds up in the trash instead of in people’s mouths.

And just yesterday, the UN launched a new campaign to fight global food waste: the Think.Eat.Save campaign. The new initiative seeks to educate consumers and retailers on the issue of global food waste, and provide strategies, ideas, and resources to ameliorate this worldwide endemic.

In her talk, Selina explains the problem, and her hopes for awareness and future solutions:

I was born in Moscow, Russia. When I came to the West some 19 years ago, I was shocked to see the amount of food [available]… I mean, I was born in Communist Russia — we didn’t have that much food … And I was also shocked to see the amount of food waste. People wasted food everywhere, without giving it any second thought.

…We do it all the time: We buy more food than we actually need; we stack it into the back of our fridges, and then we let it die — slowly. And let’s say that after a week or two, when our carrots get all wrinkled and sad, we just take them out and throw them all away, because, you know, you can always buy some more.

Does it matter? It actually does.

Good edible food — your money, your time, farmers’ work, carbon emissions, all of that — [we throw it directly away to feed our garbage can.]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have to be smarter than that. We have to wake up…

In just some 20 years, we are going to need two planets to sustain the demand for our consumption: The population is growing and the resources are already lacking … We are running out of time.

It’s all too easy, Selina says, for people to become “consumer zombies” — never thinking about the choices they make at the grocery store, the office cafe, or the local farmers’ market. Whether it’s buying a super-sized sandwich you probably won’t eat, an extra pint of milk just because it’s on sale, or ignoring perfectly fine leftovers in favor of shopping for more food, so many shoppers in the western world make choices that lead to food waste every day. She wants that to change.

She suggests that people use their leftovers, share food with neighbors, be wise about portion choices at restaurants, even start consumer movements to change how food is sold and bought in consumer markets, and how food waste is perceived in society.

“The power of ordinary people like you and I,” she ends her talk, “is extraordinary … This food .. is not only food. This is your power. This is your personal power to change the future. Don’t waste that power. Stop wasting food.”

For more tips on reducing food waste, you can visit Selina’s website at http://www.selinajuul.com/ or the Think.Eat.Save website at: http://www.thinkeatsave.org/

Photos: Left, by Flickr user szczel; Right, Selina Juul at TEDxCopenhagen

Sunflower seed or a custom-made chipmunk harmonica? Either way,...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:21:12 -0500

Sunflower seed or a custom-made chipmunk harmonica? Either way, this little guy’s in rodent heaven.

My mantra for today. Say it. Breathe. Repeat.

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:38:51 -0500

My mantra for today. Say it. Breathe. Repeat.

Apply now for a $600 grant for a food garden...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:44:00 -0500

Apply now for a $600 grant for a food garden project: http://SowItForward.org Deadline 11 Jan 2013

Please join me in mourning the death and celebrating the...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:17:48 -0500

Please join me in mourning the death and celebrating the amazingly generous life of Russell Libby who passed away this weekend after a long bout with cancer. Russell was the Executive Director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Asso

ciation and a mentor to me. He wasn’t only a highly effective leader, but a good person through and through. Thanks, Russell, for your service to Maine and the organic movement.

I used KGI’s online planner this year for my own garden...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:21:33 -0500

I used KGI’s online planner this year for my own garden and never felt so organized. It’s free for the first 30 days which is more than enough to plan your whole garden and $25 for a year with part of the proceeds going to support KGI:http://kgi.org/planner

Causes.com has a sparkling feature on KGI’s front yard...

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:12:33 -0500

Causes.com has a sparkling feature on KGI’s front yard garden advocacy work in their blog. Check it out!

Awesome news: Jennifer and Jason can keep their front yard...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:18:56 -0500

Awesome news: Jennifer and Jason can keep their front yard garden and, more importantly, helped establish a precedent for other gardeners in Orlando. Bravo!