Whatevs, this article was in WWeek first.

Thought that sounded familar. Great for the WW to get picked up by the NY Times I guess...

My favorite part was New Seasons boycotting the "Rockstar" beverages because they belong to the son of Michael Wiener aka Michael Savage, the short, fat, balding, self-hating Jew host of a barely-listened to radio show on K-K-K-X-L.

Lars actually cried tears on the air over the boycott, calling it "communist".

We laughed, like usual. Then we saw Lars' winter Arbie ratings and laughed some more!

I love Doc Hatfield's comments about food bridging the urban-rural divide. Come let us break bread together.

Some curmudgeon may write in to say that the growth in farms in Oregon is all due to "hobby farms" for tax write-offs. I can't believe there are more than 13,000 of these in Oregon. If so, we need to really revamp our tax code.

Yes....a WW article picked up by the NY Times...not the first either.

Jenni........yes indeed, there has been an increase in family farms in Oregon and it's good to see! Let's hope they are well supported!

"Michael Wiener aka Michael Savage, the short, fat, balding, self-hating Jew host"

Sid...uhhhh...was that really necessary? Rather poor taste actually.

Oregon farmers are very important to the economy. It's a matter of good people growing some very healthy fruits and vegetables. It's quite wonderful thing, but often taken for granted by people in New York or other cities, I'm sure.

If you want to learn about farms and farming in Oregon, as well as the surrounding states, your best source is going to be the Capitol Press. This paper comes out on Fridays and is 100% agriculture and can be found in farm and feed stores. The current boom in ag in Oregon is most likely due to the nursery stock business, wich is one of Oregon's top 3 industries - not ag in general mind you, but specifically the nursery business. I myself have a small farm in Mulino, but unless you like horse meat, I'm not growing anything to eat. We will however be growing a lot of melons this year as well as corn, squash, etc. We always have way more than we can eat or put up ourselves and will probably be putting up a stand this summer. It's not certified organic, but we control weeds by rototilling as opposed to spraying, and we use horse manure for fertilizer instead of chemicals. Anyone who would be interested in buying produce or learning more about farming, feel free to contact me.

You're right. Sorry. Key stuck. Won't happen again.

BTW, did Michael Weiner, aka Michael Savage, ever apologize for telling one of his very few viewers that he hoped he would get AIDS and die? On the air?

Savage was FIRED by MSNBC-TV and escorted to security for that one. Here's the link for those who refuse to remember the past.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-07-07-talk-host-fired_x.htm

Rock star or fallen star?

Hmmm.......

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The headline put me in a panic that this secret place, Oregon Shangri-la, haven of health, might see upbeat deadbeats beat a path here. Thankfully, the article was gruel -- not enough dream nourishment to live for the journey here.

So nothing's changed. From when the NYT's food editor gourmet chucked it all in Gotham and relocated to Astoria. Delegation after delegation came from NY to ask James Beard why he left them and would he reconsider. He feted them with Oregon's culinary creme de la creme, (to answer Why?), and kept his home here in good health, (to answer Would he?)

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Fred's does carry some local produce and other products. Safeway seems just clueless. What really irritates me about that store is the forced friendliness that management imposes on employees. It's the attack of the the Stepford Clerks. If Safeway created a better environment for employees and customers, there wouldn't be any need to instruct every employee to ask every customer if they are finding what they need.

It is possible for families of ordinary means to buy good local food and not go into hock. In fact, you could save money. There are ways to connect directly with growers for, say, a quarter of a cow or pig. But even if you rely on New Seasons, you can save a lot of money by, in most cases, slightly adjusting your eating and cooking habits.

For example, most whole foods and fresh fruits and vegetables are nutritionally dense. You can eat less and thus buy less. (A corollary: many fresh local foods have more flavor, so you don't feel compelled to eat one thing after another to feel satisfied).

Eating less processed foods will obviously save a lot of money. Sure, you may have to get into a routine of soaking beans or cooking rice well in advance of your meal, but all it takes usually is getting into the routine. It takes about one minute to tear leaves off of a head of lettuce and wash them, and that head is about a third the price per pound of a "salad in a bag." I know there is a time and fatigue element for busy working parents, but cooking simple meals often takes less time than sticking a packaged meal in the oven or microwave. And cooking can be relaxing, given a sufficient quantity of wine.

Eat smaller quantities of meat. That right there saves a lot of money. (By the way, I find that although Painted Hills or Oregon Country Beef steaks are really expensive, they also have a lot less gristle and other inedible parts--and they taste so much better.

Eat more grains and legumes and combine them for complete proteins.

Something else people might think on is that if they want to buy direct from local farms during season for various friuts and vegitables, there are small stands all over the place right near Portland - Oregon City, Canby, Aurora, Molalla, etc., I'm going for those areas as that's where I live and I pass many every day during the summer and fall. Also, if you like asperagus, there are two huge farms in Clackamas Co., one right near Columbia Helicopter in the Canby/Aroura area, and another one on Hwy 211 between Molalla and Woodburn. There are also quite a few ranchers who will sell a half beef to those who have the freezer space for it. Hey, if you know how to do your own cutting and wrapping, you should be able to put up a half beef for less or not much more than $1.00/lb. overall, and it'll be the best beef you'll ever have. Been there done that, going to do it again this year.

I (like others) look for relationships or relevance to other issues and Oregon's local family farms is the one thing that (because of our land use planning and the UGBs) have given us local, close in farms; that might sustain our local economy in a world of ever increasing fuel costs. God forbid an oil disruption or invasions of Venezuela or Iran/Syria for political reasons.

Once the NYT or another national paper writes about that angle we will see an influx of new Oregonians like no one has seen before. Maybe some new Oregonians are already reading the tea leaves.

<h2>Ray</h2>