Livin' in the Blurbs: Good Causes, but Mostly Fun

Friends of Family Farmers (FoFF) is like my friend, a writer, producer and composer of music who's also been a financial analyst, acupuncturist, erstwhile yogi and is currently dean of a major national music conservatory. I'm sure he must have had an astronaut period in there someplace, but so far he's kept that mum. FoFF, in its many guises, works to support small family farms in Oregon committed to sustainable practices. It's done this by establishing a network of support for existing farms as well as a program to recruit young farmers, connecting them with mentors and avenues for marketing their products. FoFF has also been active in proposing and supporting legislation that affects farmers, advocating on issues and inviting the public to get involved. Consumers are another focus, exemplified by their popular monthly Infarmation (and Beer) gatherings and the Pro-Pasture Fridays campaign that I wrote about for the Oregonian.

All of this worthy activity deserves celebrating, and they're throwing a Farm to FoFF dinner and fundraiser to do just that on August 25th at Dancing Roots Farm. Tickets are $115 per person, which includes a one-year membership in Friends of Family Farmers, dinner prepared by Chef David Anderson of The Original Dinerant, as well as cocktails, mead, beer and wine, with a silent auction and live jazz entertainment.

Details: Farm to FoFF fundraiser and celebration for Friends of Family Farmers. Sun., Aug. 25, starting at 4 pm; $115 includes dinner, drinks and membership. At Dancing Roots Farm, 29820 E Woodard Rd., Troutdale. 503-759-3276.

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Area Whole Foods markets are dedicating the entire month of August to celebrating local producers, bringing them into stores for events they're calling "Meet the Makers from Around Here Taste Fair." The "Makers" include Country Natural Beef, Nancy's Yogurt, Pacific NW Kale Chips, Grandma Chongas Salsa and Heidi Ho Veganics, creators of a vegan cheese that actually melts, and many others. It's all to promote Whole Foods' program called "Eat as Promised," an effort by Whole Foods local forager Denise Breyley (right) to find and fill the shelves at local stores with what she says is "an eye toward bringing the products from local farms to shoppers via Whole Foods Market." It also includes the Local Producer Loan Program, which is committed to providing up to $10 million in small, low-interest loans. Seems like an effort worth supporting.

Details: Meet the Makers from Around Here Taste Fair. Portland area Whole Foods Markets throughout the month of August. Check your neighborhood store website for dates and featured vendors.

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And now for something completely different:

As a native Oregonian, while I consider myself fairly well-traveled, having been to bits of Asia, North America, Central America and Europe, I have no idea what it's like to move lock, stock and Corgis to a completely different country. Filmmaker Robin Willis, who dug up his roots here in Portland and transplanted them in the rich cultural soil of Barcelona, Spain, has been gathering American expats in his new home to tell their stories of what it’s like being over there when you’re from here, and vice versa. On Thursday, Aug. 29, Willis will return to his hometown to reel in a new net full of fish-out-of-water stories called XPatStories with a focus on expats from other countries sharing what life is like for them here in Portlandia. Singer-songwriter Richard Moore will open the show with a few of his very close-to-home songs about living in Portland. See your town described through the eyes of strangers? Count me in!

Details: XPat Stories: Tales From Beyond the Comfort Zone. Thurs., Aug. 29, 9 pm; $8, tickets available online or at the door. Mississippi Pizza’s Atlantis Lounge, 3552 N Mississippi Ave.

Livin' in the Blurbs: Two Books and Some Fish

There aren't many events where eating wodges of meat coincides with a book-signing—pristine pages dotted with blood and meat juice spring to mind—but Oregon writer Lynne Curry, author of the newly released cookbook "Pure Beef,"is going to do just that. Along with her friend and fellow author Cheryl Sternman Rule and the transcendent talents of chef Anthony Cafiero, she's putting on what's promised to be an omnivorous evening comprised of dishes from her book and "Ripe,"Rule's compendium of cooking with fresh, local fruits and vegetables. (You may know Rule from her award-winning blog, 5 Second Rule or the writing she's done for national publications.) In any case, this meal is going to be one you won't forget, whether or not you end up dripping on those pristine pages.

Details: Three-Course Dinner with authors Lynne Curry and Cheryl Sternman Rule and chef Anthony Cafiero. Thurs., Aug. 23, 6-9 pm; $75 in advance, tickets available online. Dinner to be held in ChefStable private dining room, 1223 SW Washington St. 541-263-0347.

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There are few things that go together better than cake and champagne, and both will be in abundance at the celebration of the release of Julie Richardson's new book, "Vintage Cakes."Co-founder with husband Matt of that palace of pastry pleasures, Baker & Spice in Multnomah Village, this to-be-classic contains timeless recipes for cupcakes, flips, rolls, layer, angel, bundt, chiffon and icebox cakes for today's sweet tooth. I'm a huge fan of her first book, "Rustic Fruit Desserts,"which vies with a couple of other fave cooking tomes on my shelf for the honor of most well-thumbed. As if you needed more than cake and champagne to draw you in, they'll also be offering 20% off the cover price of both books at the event.

Details: Champagne, Cake and Book Signing for Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. Thurs., Aug. 16, 6-8 pm; free. Sweetwares, 6306 SW Capitol Hwy. 503-546-3737.

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Not to change the subject too abruptly, but there's another event you won't want to miss, and that's the annual "truckload o' albacore sale" at Whole Foods. This year it's called the Dog Days of Summer Street Fair and is happening at the new Hollywood location on Saturday, Aug. 18. You'll have the opportunity to buy whole albacore fish as well as precut loins, plus they'll be offering grilled albacore and Hatch chiles as a benefit for Oregon's pet food bank, the Pongo Fund. To make the "street fair" descriptor complete, there will be artisans from Handmade NW, some favorite vendors, neighborhood pet services and live music, too. The price for the whole albacore will be an amazing $3.99 per pound, with precut loins selling for just $7.99 per pound, so get there early for the best selection!

Details: Dog Days of Summer Street Fair at Hollywood Whole Foods Market. Sat., Aug. 18; truckload sale starts at 9 am, street fair from 10 am-2 pm. Hollywood Whole Foods Market, 4301 Northeast Sandy Blvd. on 43rd Ave. between Sandy and Tillamook Sts. 503-284-2644.

In The News: Market Closes and MPUs

A couple of news items have come across the digital transom in the last couple of days that I thought were worth sharing.

Portland Farmers' Market has announced the closure of their Thursday market at Ecotrust, the second closure of this market season after the cancellation of the Multnomah Village farmers' market back in July.

Ecotrust "never seemed to reach its full potential," said executive director Ann Forsthoefel, noting that while its four other market locations experienced increased traffic and sales, the Thursday market did not share the same rate of growth.

The press release stated that PFM is "currently evaluating other possible locations for a weekly market in Northwest Portland. The organization describes the ideal site as one that offers high visibility, community engagement and support from neighborhood and business associations."

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A paradigm shift in our ability to access meat produced by small farmers is outlined in an article recently posted at Grist. Titled "Will Whole Foods’ New Mobile Slaughterhouses Squeeze Small Farmers?" and written by Tom Laskawy, the article drops the bomb that Whole Foods, wanting to aggressively expand its local meat sourcing, is working with the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) to develop a fleet of mobile processing units (MPUs).

These units, initially designed to process poultry, would provide small farmers with a way to slaughter their animals on their farms and sell that meat to the public. Because of current regulations, only meat from animals slaughtered at USDA-approved facilities is allowed to be sold.

The development of MPUs became critical because of the closure of many local meat processing plants in the recent economic downturn, making it nearly impossible for some small farmers to get their animals to a USDA-approved facility unless they wanted to ship them hundreds of miles. With a booming demand for local meat and with farmers eager to provide farm-raised meat to a broader public, mobile units seem to provide a solution.

While Whole Foods will not require farmers to sell their meat exclusively to Whole Foods markets, some critics caution that proposed guidelines might cause small farmers to lose their independence because of the strict requirements that all birds produced for the company would need to have "a consistent look and taste." Raising the specter of "contract farming," or farmers essentially becoming indentured servants on their own land, critics are hoping to shape the debate to ensure farmers' access to these mobile units while being able to produce a unique product.