I had a great time

Really, I did, what a blast! And guess what? I think I came out sounding pretty good for a first time out. I would definitely be open to doing it again. The host Doug Fabrizio and producer Elaine were really a pleasure to talk with and made me feel really comfortable. You can find a link to the audio of the interview here, and the show will be broadcast again tonight at 7:00 PM MST.
I also had the opportunity to be on the show with Sharon Astyk, author and blogger (you can read her blog HERE.) whose writing I've enjoyed for some time and Steven, (I'm sorry I can't remember the last name) owner of a local specialty foods market. I think the discussion went very well, and there really seemed to be an interest in the topic. My biggest hope with suggesting this program was to get a little more dialogue going, particularly in Davis county where I live, and to bring attention to the movement of people that are doing this stuff.

If your just visiting this site for the first time, or are very new, I hope you'll take a minute to read a post I put up just a little while back that gives a pretty good idea what I'm all about. I hope you'll stop by more often and join me in this discussion and even share your triumphs or failures.
Welcome and "Grow On!"
P~

That time again - Local Food Challenge 2008

The folks over at Eat Local Challenge for Salt Lake City are once again sponsoring a local food challenge for 2008. Utah has abundant resources for acquiring local foods and this challenge is well worth at least a partial attempt at participation. I am not going to be "officially" announcing participation in the challenge for the same reason that I haven't ever participated in the Dark Days or One local summer challenges. It's not my place. By that I mean that I don't do our cooking or shopping so I don't feel it's anymore my place to dictate to A~ what she will make and serve than it is her place to tell me what type of joint to use on my bookshelves. I know it sounds sexist, but it's really not. We have our roles in our home and respecting them is part of what makes our home tick away so well. Besides that fact, we try to buy and serve locally produced products as often as possible throughout the year anyway. It just isn't our priority. If you are in Salt Lake City area, and are curious I encourage you to drop in over there and learn more about what it is that they're up to.
P~

Michael Pollans Lecture

Thursday of last week I had the pleasure of getting to go a keynote speech by Michael Pollan in "The nature of Things 2008" lecture series that was being put on by the Utah Museum of Natural History. I read his most popular work "The Omnivores Dilemma" last year, and am currently in the midst of reading his latest work; "In Defense of Food : An eaters manifesto"

I went into the event hoping that it wouldn't be merely a rehash of the same lines from his books, and that I would get a better idea of the man, and his opinions. I was not disappointed. Of course a lot of the big points of the lecture were the same ones that he drives home in his writing, but there were a lot of details that you can really only get from having a face to face, or should I say face to capacity crowd, discussion. At the end of the lecture was a Q & A session that gave him the opportunity to expand on some of the detail points, as well as to let more of his personality come out.
As I alluded, the crowd if not sold out was very very close to it, and this was in a facility with a max capacity 2,768. As I sat there and listened, one of the common things he mentioned is that there is a real food movement going on across America. I really felt a part of it that night. In fact it was one of the first times recently that I haven't felt like the oddball in the room for making my own yogurt or raising chickens in my suburban lot.
After the lecture I had the good fortune to have brought my edition of "The Omnivores Dilemma" and to be able to get in a line right at the start to get it signed. He scribed "Vote with your fork". Mr Pollan was a very sincere person, and genuinely seems happy to be doing what he is doing. This picture was snapped just after he finished signing my book. (Please forgive the quality it was taken on a cell phone.)

This brings me to a very good point of the lecture. He kept mentioning that phrase, "Vote with your Fork." What a concept. Think about it. What if more and more people decide to opt out of the industrial food chain and produce more of their own food. What kind of sway could a thousand or a hundred thousand or even a million people have? This thing that so many of us do; this food production at home thing. It is truly the greatest act of rebellion. We are not merely complaining about a problem, we are actively actuating a solution to it. That really is living "A Posse ad Esse", or moving "From Possibility to Reality." Keep it Up!

Namaste

P~

Volunteering.

I went to a meeting tonight at “The Green Building Center” of Salt Lake, I've mentioned this store before when I was talking about different floor finishing options. Next weekend they are hosting a Green Homes Tour throughout the Salt Lake Valley and Park City. The project is the brain child of Ashley Patterson, owner of the GreenBuilding Center, and will highlight a lot of the different possibilities with regard to green home building and sustainable living. The meeting I went to was for volunteers for the tour. A freind of mine and I will be volunteering at one of the locations for 3 hrs that afternoon. Green Building options and alternative energy are a couple of things that I am really very passionate about. As of right now, there is only so many things that I am able to do in my own home, but I want to help share the knowledge that I have with others and learn from them as well. I think that the whole experience will be a real blast, and of course you know there will be a full review and lots of pics when I'm done. Hope you are all doing well. Till later.
P~

You can read more here.

P.S. I saw that I was tapped by Anandadevika to share some random thoughts about myself and to tap others. The thoughts are easy enough, but I need to figure out who too tap. I'll post later with more.