News & Views

New Orleans Farmers Market Reopens

On November 22, 2005, New Orleans' Crescent City Farmers Market re-opened after being closed in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Twenty-six vendors, several thousand shoppers, and numerous media outlets, including NPR and CBS news, attended the event, signifying that local farmers and food producers are getting back on their feet. Vendors received grants totaling $5,000 from Farm Aid and Oxfam America to help offset lost income; farmers also received a donation of 2,500 packs of heirloom vegetable and flower seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange to further help them recover from their losses. The market will be open every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1p.m.

Visit them at http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org.

Slow Food USA Teams Up with Edible Communities

Slow Food USA, an educational organization dedicated to land stewardship, ecological food production, and regional, seasonal cuisine, has formed a new partnership with Edible Communities. Edible Communities is a network of regional food publications working to define local food culture and to build ties between farmers, fishers, food and wine makers, chefs, and the rest of the community, while fostering the belief that "every person has the right to affordable, fresh, healthful food on a daily basis and that knowing where our food comes from is a powerful thing."

Edible Communities is encouraging its readers to join Slow Food USA, and Slow Food is encouraging members to consider the pages of Edible publications to promote their activities, products, and ventures—whether it's farmstead cheeses, wines, or cooking retreats—through contributing stories or by advertising in the publications.

Visit both organizations online at http://www.slowfoodusa.org and www.ediblecommunities.com.

Study Finds Toxic Pesticides in Umbilical Chord Blood

In a study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in collaboration with Commonweal, researchers found twenty-one organochlorine pesticides—including DDT, chlordane and other substances banned in the U.S.—in umbilical cord blood from ten babies. The samples were taken in August and September of 2004 in U.S. hospitals. The study found an average of two-hundred industrial chemicals and pollutants per sample and revealed a total of 287 chemicals in the entire group. The blood, collected by the Red Cross after the cord was cut, also contained consumer product ingredients, as well as wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage. According to EWG, 180 of the detected chemicals are known to cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. The dangers of pre- or post-natal exposure to this complex mixture of carcinogens, developmental toxins and neurotoxins have never been studied.

Read the full report at http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php.

Seed Swap at the National Arboretum to be Co-hosted by Washington Gardener Magazine

Washington Gardener magazine is partnering with the US National Arboretum to host a seed exchange on Saturday, January 28, 2006 from 12:30-4:00 p.m. at the arboretum in Washington D.C. Gardeners will have the opportunity to trade seeds with other gardeners, as well as take home donated seeds from other sources. Trading tables will be divided into the following categories: perennials, annuals, edibles, tropicals, natives, and woodies. The afternoon also includes presentations by experts, including arboretum staff, on the value of seed banks and heirloom varieties and on the best methods for collecting and propagating. Registration is required.

For more information, visit http://www.usna.usda.gov/ or http://www.washingtongardener.com/.