I was startled when I read that statement in a yestereday's NY Times because I'm remembering some pretty horrible incidents of drought and famine in Africa over the last 60 years. Last week U.N. agencies monitoring a severe drought in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti…
CNN has the story of a growing, but still small urban farming movement in Hong Kong. For just $15 per month, Lam rents out toolbox-sized planter boxes to businessmen, elderly couples and families alike, and even runs horticulture classes. He uses imported soil from Germany…
Reviews keep coming in for Year of Plenty. I really like David Crumm's review at Read the Spirit. More than anyone else, he grasped the way our focus on local living in Spokane opened us up to our global connection in Thailand. In describing the…
I'm a couple months into my first Spring season of foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles. I'm still alive and I'm not on a liver transplant waiting list so I figure I'm off to a good start. I've dabbled in foraging for wild mushrooms…
Neighborhood farmers' markets are popping up across America. According to the USDA, there has been a 250% growth in the number of farmers' markets in the U.S. (1,755 in 1994 to a total of 6,132 in 2010). The growing popularity of farmers' markets is leading…
The Food Desert mapping tool at the USDA has received a lot of attention lately, but I'm more impressed with the USDA Food Atlas that offers a whole variety of ways to map America's food landscape. Here are some screen grabs of my favorites. (Note…
It looks like there is one eastern Washington city made the cut on the list of worst city slogans. Walla Walla Washington's slogan reads, "The city so nice they named it twice." Go here for the full list and map. My favorites: Gas, KS: "Don't…
I wrote a post a few months ago about the role of bread prices in the Egyptian uprising. Foreign Policy has a new article on how rising food prices and increasing food scarcity around the world could mean there is more severe political unrest on…
All the locavore haters will be dancing with joy at the results of a new study done by UC Santa Barbara. The premise of the study is that if any place can pull off a truly local food economy it should be Santa Barbara County…
This Wednesday, May 18 the Millwood Farmers' Market will open for the season from 3 to 7 pm in the parking lot of Millwood Presbyterian Church. Here is the line-up of vendors signed up so far: Rocky Ridge Ranch Arabesque Bakery SuzieDavid Beef Pacific Produce…
After a couple weeks of looking for morel mushrooms in Spokane wilderness areas I finally came across two blonde beauties today. I've seen an abundance of poisonous false morels so be careful if you're on the hunt. I won't reveal my new secret area but…
By all appearances the Future of Food event organized by WashingtonPostLive was an all-star gala featuring some of my favorite writers and food-movement activists. I am a card-carrying member of the choir to whom the speakers of the conference were preaching. Marion Nestle, one of…
I'll be at the Book Parlor tonight, April 28, at 7pm (1425 West Broadway Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201 (509) 328-6527) discussing year of plenty. I will be in Seattle this weekend at the Inhabit Conference, and I'll be doing a book signing at Baker Street…
This story is a couple weeks old but I think it's worth highlighting here given past posts on school lunches. In the latest salvo in the school-lunch wars, Little Village Aacademy in Chicago has let parents know they are no longer allowed to pack a…
In a fluke of this year's calendar, Earth Day and Good Friday both converge today. I wrote an article for CNN Belief Blog arguing that these two events aren't such a bad pairing. The wider context of the article is that the Christian church and…
Here is a round-up Year of Plenty book items for this week: Mother Nature Network is featuring an excerpt from Year of Plenty on the front page of their site today. Beliefnet has a slide show on "Becoming a Family of Plenty" that shares some…
A few weeks ago I wrote a post highlighting the book, Superbug by Maryn Mckenna. The book tracks the emergence of antibiotic-resistant MRSA and claims that the heavy use of antibiotics in industrial animal agriculture has contributed to the rise of these resistant strains of…
Here's the scoop from Gary and So at Rocky Ridge Ranch about the upcoming season of CSA offerings. They are my favorites. Go here for more background on CSA programs. Just a reminder to let you know we are taking new applications for the CSA…
Bolivia lawmakers are taking an interesting approach toward environmental protections. They are working to pass what they call the "Law of Mother Earth." There are 11 rights that the legislation will formalize into law. The Guardian UK reports: They include: the right to life and…
Via Mother Nature Network: Go to MNN to get thefull run down.
The AP has a nice piece of reporting on the emergence of "local" as the newest hot commodity in food labeling and marketing. The No. 2 official at the Agriculture Department recently got a real-life lesson in the loose definition of the trendiest word in…
The AP has a nice piece of reporting on the emergence of "local" as the newest hot commodity in food labeling and marketing. The No. 2 official at the Agriculture Department recently got a real-life lesson in the loose definition of the trendiest word in…
I'll be at Auntie's Bookstore tomorrow, April 2 at 2pm. Along with signing books, I'll speak on the Mezzanine about the process of writing the book, and offer some thoughts about the importance of telling the story of our experiences in the Inland Northwest. Second…
We had a great work day today at the Pumpkin Patch Community Garden in the west valley of Spokane. As you can see from the picture even the little guys were putting their muscles into preparing the soil for a new growing season. We added…
The Year of Plenty blog was created by Craig Goodwin in the winter of 2008 to chronicle the experiences of his family as they sought to consume everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. That journey was a wonderful introduction to people and movements in the Spokane area who are seeking the welfare of the community through local foods, farmers markets, community gardens, sustainable transportation, and more fulfilling and just patterns of consumption. In 2009 and beyond the blog will continue to report on these relationships and practices, all through the eyes of a family with young children. Craig manages the Millwood Farmers' Market, is a Master Food Preserver and Pastor at Millwood Presbyterian Church. Craig can be reached at goody2230@gmail.com
| Dec. 2011 | Nov. 2011 | Oct. 2011 | Sept. 2011 |
| Aug. 2011 | July 2011 | June 2011 | May 2011 |
| April 2011 | March 2011 | Feb. 2011 | Jan. 2011 |
