ihoc speaks on a panel at UGA on alternative food systems, community, and sustainability

here's a quick clip from last week's earth week panel on alternative food systems.  i spoke a bit about my personal journey, as a farmer, as well as where i fit into the larger food community.

farmer>processor>chef>consumer>compost>farmer. 

in this clip, i was answering the question:  what can the individual student do to positively impact the local food community?

again, to get a GREAT read breaking down a new vision for local food communities, read olivia's civil eats article!

balsamic

back at home now—the daily pasta, the gelato breaks, and wine are slowly digesting into my subconscious.  as my thoughts ground back into the reality of a grey, rainy, georgia with work to be done, i enoyed myself a couple days of those jet-lagged, couch-sitting, vacation blues to refocus my energy, and let my body catch up.  asleep at seven, asleep at eight—up at four, four thirty.   a year ago, when surfing the vacation blues in brooklyn, i would find myself depressed, agonizing every decision in a search for something better from my head.  in retrospect, these sessions of rejection from my brain re-entering my (at that time) daily life are some of the real memorable, watershed moments that led me to farming. nowadays, the vacation blues wear a much different hue.  inspired by italy, and terra madre, new reflections, questions, rejections—after sharing ideas and suggestions—whole new swirls of concepts, colors, and ideas are being brushed into little, oily circles on my brain palette. 

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I couldn't give a stronger recommendation...

i couldn’t give a stronger recommendation than to visit agriturismo locanda del gallo.  i wish i had some sort of ihoc rating system i could utilize to describe its greatness.  ebert would excavate siskel to find enough thumbs to express his like.  a truly unforgettable mecca of nature and peace.  this is a shot on our (overcast) approach to the gallo.  the house and jah’s green hills.  nothing else. 

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superlatives

before beginning ihoc i had never read a blog in my life.  and even after i began chronicling my story, i still avoided reading other blogs for fear that being influenced by others’ ideas would somehow make mine less original or unique.  but now, a year and a half after sharing my days with you, i have certainly read my fair share of others’ blogs, mostly food related, and have developed preferences.  one thing that always bothers me about food writing is the tendency towards superlatives.  how can every single dish and every single bite be pure poetry?  i just get easily bored reading about people’s dinners, and how magical and sumptuous they always are.  i know, pot calling the kettle black.

and so with that out of the way, i bring you the BEST lunch, at our new FAVORITE restaurant in the whole WORLD: osteria cassia vetus. 

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terra madre wrap up

today, all i can do is laugh as i realize how impossible it is for me to share my terra madre experience with you in any sort of coherent or informative manner.  it has altered my life, my point of view, and my future course as a farmer, entrepreneur, and activist in deeply personal ways—in ways that shall not be understood in a blog post anytime soon.  this first attempt at wrapping up last weekend will flow from brain to finger with passion—yes—but with directness—not.

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