Green Eats

This upcoming Sunday, March 27th from 2pm-5pm Durham Central Market will team up with Elodie Farms and Benjamin Vineyards for a Family Farm Day at Elodie Farms in Rougemont. Bring the kids, a picnic lunch, and try out some of Elodie’s goat cheese and sip on wine while you tour the farm and play with the goats. Locopops and Dolly Mama Chocolates will be on hand to sell some tasty treats, and there will be games for the kids. The cost is $10 for those 21+, $5 for under 21, and children 3 and under are free.

For more information and directions to Elodie Farms check out the Facebook page for the event.

Catch a free screening of the acclaimed, Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. this coming Wednesday, March 10th, 7pm,  at American Tobacco Campus in Durham. The screening is sponsored by the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. (Who knows – by Wednesday Food, Inc. could be an Oscar winner!)

Check here for more details and directions to American Tobacco Campus

One April 24 and 25 the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association will host its 15th annual Piedmont Farm Tour. A great way to meet your local farmers and see how they work, CFSA’s Farm Tour has grown over the years to become the largest farm tour in the nation. They even created a Google map of farms on this year’s tour! Check out the CFSA website for more information and to buy tickets. See you on the farm!

Photo by David La Spina for the New York Times

The Triangle’s very own band of agriculturally-minded brothers (and sisters!) were featured in this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Check out the article, Field Report: Plow Shares and learn more about how you can mob with the best of ‘em at the Crop Mob website. Also check out Dee Reid’s account of cooking for Sunday’s Mob on her blog, Sustainable Grub.

Got some free time this upcoming Sunday, February 28th? Want to help out some local farmers, have some fun, and get a free meal? Grab your shovel, work gloves, and rubber boots and head out to Edible Earthscapes in Moncure with the Crop Mob! You’ll be helping them create the terraces for their rice paddy and doing some structural work on existing buildings.

Who: ANYONE!

What: Building rice paddy terraces, intern housing rehabilitation

Where: 4803 Moncure-Pittsboro Rd., Moncure, NC 27559 (look for the yellow sign)

Why: why not

When: 12 pm – 5 pm Sunday, February 28th (dinner to follow)

For more information check out the Facebook invite, or get in touch with the Crop Mob folks or get in touch with Jason & Haruka of Edible Earthscapes.

This past weekend the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association held their 24th Sustainable Agriculture Conference up in Black Mountain, NC. I wasn’t able to attend, but I hear from Will of Ever Laughter Farm that it was a great success. He raved about the keynote address by Timothy LaSalle of the Rodale Institute and sent along this link to a video of his presentation, entitled How To Take CO2 Out of the Sky, given at Climate and Agriculture Summit in California earlier this year. Enjoy!

How To Take CO2 Out of the Sky, Timothy J LaSalle from CA Climate and Agriculture on Vimeo.

Check out what the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association has to say about their upcoming conference:

I visited the conference venue just this week. The Blue Ridge
Assembly is not your average conference site… it’s a retreat center. 
Acres of Carolina mountains, nice accommodations, hiking trails and
lots of places to relax. As always, we’ll source food from area farms
to provide conference attendees with organic food.

The Sustainable Agriculture Conference draws foodies and farmers
from all over the South to focus on our sustainable food future. It’s
an important networking and educational opportunity, so make sure to register early to join us. Hope to see you there!

I'm planning on going! Are you?

Ag Fairs are a great way to find great local food and meet some of your local farmers. Here are few upcoming fairs:

IREDELL CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Statesville

Smokey Mountain Amusements

September 7-12, 2009

LEE REGIONAL AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Sanford
Playworld Amusements
September 15-20, 2009

CABARRUS CO. AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Concord
Powers Great American Midways
September 11-19, 2009

CENTRAL CAROLINA FAIR

Greensboro

Deggeller Attractions

September 11-20, 2009

CHATHAM COUNTY FAIR
Pittsboro

Fun Rides

September 30-October 3, 2009

CALDWELL COUNTY AGRICULTURAL FAIR
Lenoir
Smokey Mountain Amusements

October 7-11, 2009

N.C. STATE FAIR
Raleigh
Powers Great American Midways
October 15-25, 2009

(For a full list of upcoming NC Ag Fairs check out the NC Association of Agricultural Fairs)