Livin' in the Blurbs: With Food, Knowledge is Power

What could be more appropriate for one of the hottest and most progressive food regions in the U.S. than a film festival featuring six new films covering topics of sustainability, food supply, nature and the environment? Just such a series, the Portland Ecofilm Festival, is queued up and ready to roll starting tomorrow and continuing through the summer at the Hollywood Theatre, starting with Symphony of the Soil from director Deborah Koons Garcia (Jerry Garcia's widow) in attendance with a Q&A hosted by Naomi Montacre of Naomi's Organic Garden Supply. Other films in the series include The Fruit Hunters, Elemental, More than Honey, Musicwood and Cafeteria Man. What a great idea for summer entertainment!

Details: Portland Ecofilm Festival. Schedule and tickets for individual films or a festival pass to all six available online. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. 503-281-4215.

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If you know beans about beans but want to know more, or if you're a bean aficionado and want to hobnob with three of Portland's top bean queens, you absolutely must make plans to attend Beautiful Beans: Grow. Cook. Eat. on Thursday, April 18. Sponsored by the Portland Culinary Alliance, Edible Portland and the Better Bean Company, it features a moderated panel of "Beanthusiasts" (their word, not mine) including Hannah Kullberg of Better Bean Company, the beautiful and talented Carol Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm, pantry maven and teacher Katherine Deumling of Cook with What You Have and Dr. Samantha Brody, founder of Evergreen Natural Health Center, who will address the nutritional aspects of the legume. As if that weren't enough, there will be a tasting of various beans grown at Ayers Creek and a borlotti bean bruschetta from the good folks at Ava Gene's.

Details: Beautiful Beans: Grow. Cook. Eat. Thurs., April 18, 6:30-8:30 pm; $15 (tickets online). Event at Ecotrust, 721 NW 9th Ave., Suite 200.

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There's nothing better than going to the source for the food you put on your table. With more than 60 farmers' markets in the Portland metro area and a market every day of the week during peak season, we have ample opportunities to talk directly with the people who grow our food. One of those, the Beaverton Farmers' Market, sits smack-dab in the middle of one of Oregon's most bounteous agricultural areas and draws heavily from farmers and fields within miles of its suburban location. Unusually, it also features a stunning array of plants for vegetable gardens, yard and home, due to manager and dedicated plantswoman Ginger Rapport, who has made it her mission to gather the best of the best small nurseries to her market. The debut of the market's 25th season is on Saturday, May 11, and it'll be a bang-up celebration with food demos, music and a plethora of special events. Put it on your calendar!

Details: Beaverton Farmers' Market Summer Market. Sat., May 11; 8 am-1:30 pm. On SW Hall Blvd. between 3rd and 5th Sts. in downtown Beaverton. 503-643-5345.

Livin' in the Blurbs: Farmers, Markets & Farmers' Markets

Not only have they given the bridge-and-tunnel crowd a new reason to cross the river, and caused this already pork-obsessed city to double down on its intake of cured meats (particularly Spanish-style chorizo), but Olympic Provisions is now storming the barricades of Portland's farmers' markets. Look for them and their dangerously addictive dry and fermented sausages, as well as other cured and fermented meats (see: bacon) at the Hollywood Farmers' Market and the Beaverton Farmers' Market on Saturdays, and the NW 23rd Market on Thursdays.

Details: Beaverton Farmers' Market, Saturdays, 8 am-1:30 pm; SW Hall Blvd between 3rd and 5th Sts. Hollywood Farmers' Market, Saturdays, 8 am-1 pm; NE Hancock between 44th and 45th Aves. Portland Farmers' Market on NW 23rd, 3-7 pm; SE corner of NW 23rd and Savier. Get a complete farmers' market list and schedule for Portland or click on the link at left.

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Keith Kulberg developed a passion for beans in college when, as a vegetarian, he began looking for an alternative to refried beans containing lard. He began experimenting with finding the best way to prepare them, and found that cooking them in safflower oil caramelized them in a way that brought out the unique flavor of each bean. You can taste the result of his (so far) 30 year passion at the Better Bean Company stall at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, and enjoy his black beans from the Oregon Snake Valley, red beans from Idaho Magic Valley and borlotti (also known as cranberry) beans grown in the Washington Central Valley, all cooked in safflower oil from Central Oregon and ready to use as is or in recipes. Talk about local!

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Take a walk on the wild side, through fields filled with Kincaid’s Lupine, an endangered wildflower in the state of Washington, when Organic Valley hosts the Lupine Pasture Walk on June 12. It takes place on the Mallonee family's 320-acre organic dairy farm, and will feature a free lunch and presentations by Joe Arnett, a rare plant botanist for the Washington Natural Heritage Program, Dr. Joe Harrison, a Washington State University professor and nutrient management specialist and Maynard Mallonee, the farm's owner. An optional family-oriented, self-guided Botany Bike Ride begins at 10 am and makes a 20-mile loop around the region’s moderately hilly terrain. “The same approach that allows our dairy cattle to thrive has made our pastures an ideal home for the lupine,” says Maynard Mallonee, a third-generation dairy farmer. “We credit our organic and sustainable practices with the lupine’s success on our farm.” Amen.

Details: Fourth Annual Lupine Pasture Walk, 11 am-3:30 pm, June 12; free with reservation on the website. For more information on the Botany Bike Ride contact JD Miller at 253-905-6681 or by e-mail. Walk begins at Baw-Faw Grange Hall, 995 Boistfort Rd., Curtis, WA.

Top photo from Olympic Provisions; middle photo from Portland Community College; lupine photo by Charlene Simpson.