TIME for LUNCH - A National Campaign to Give Kids the School Food They Deserve

The National School Lunch Program hasn't been updated for years, and schools are struggling to meet the demand for fresh, local food. The Senate has introduced a bill with new funding for healthier food, stronger nutrition standards, and grants for linking schools to local farms -- but it's been stalled by Senate leadership, and may be postponed for another year or two. Instead of much-needed help, school lunch programs could end up with the same old status quo.

Please tell your Senators to make child nutrition a priority.

Farmers' Community Market at Brookside - SATURDAYS 8am-1pm

BROOKSIDE

Sunshine and Rain make happy farmers and a rainbow of veggies and good local cheeses & meats...yum, yum, yum!

Good things happening this weekend in the market:

9 am: Yoga on the front lawn!!!! Bring your mat and maybe an extra towel for cushion. We start at 9 am. This is yoga for everyone - beginners, children, young, old, big and small! And, we'll add a little Pilates for the core.

10 am: Ooey Gooey Worm Composting Demo - Molly Gosnell from Border Star Montessori PTA will be doing composting bin demonstration at "Children's Corner"! If you have any extra shredded paper, we could use some. She'll also be there from 9 to noon to answer questions about worm composting and show you the bin.

Here are the treats that await you from our vendors:

Hi there, friends - Thank you everyone for joining us at the First Annual Crestwood Dog Show last Saturday. It was a Perfect day. It was wonderful to see so many of you. The Crestwood merchants are to be commended for their hospitality. They thought of everything. We'll look forward to the event again next year. This week at the Brookside market we will be offering our all meat treats. Come by to see us and bring your dog. We'd love to see him. You'll want to stock up on treats and indulge your best friend on this holiday weekend.

See you Saturday. Bob & Kay

Green Dirt Farm will be at the market with our usual assortment of

cheeses, including our new Feta, our Dirt Lover, Woolly Rind, and Wee

Woolly, and all of our flavors of Fresh. In one more week we will have

lamb cuts, too. Hope we'll see you there!

Red Ridge Farms

It's national adopt a toad week! And to help your new family member settle in, make  sure you pick up one of our hypertufa Toad Abodes. Spacious, cool and moist, every  toad in the neighborhood will be jealous. Just think of all the extra bugs your  well-rested, new-found, amphibian friend will munch in appreciation!     Just in case you aren't shopping for a new toad house, we are also bringing some great  veggies, transplants, annuals and herb combo pots, and beautiful flower bouquets for  Memorial weekend.  See you at the Market! Ami, Jim, Anna & Andrew

Bear Creek Farms

Ok, now it is summer! And things are really growing - I think the tomato plants are gowing 6 inches a day! Finally! We, on the other hand, are having trouble transitioning from 60 degrees to 90!

This week at market we will have broccoli, beautiful bok choi, lettuce for those cool summer salads, radishes, snow peas, and whatever else is out there.

We'll bring some more plants for those of you still planting your gardens. We have some very cool tomato plants made just for hanging baskets or pots on your deck or patio. They are heirlooms - full of flavor - but just the right size for those with no real garden space or who are fighting the squirrels of KC.

Looks like it'll be another gorgeous Saturday. Hope to see you at market!

Lonnie, Jeanna and Logan
Robbins and Jim

Hello from KCCUA’s Community Farm!

It’s been a great week seeing farmers with worn-out eyes, mulch and grease-stained clothes, blistered-hands, sunburned backs and the widest of grins yet this season. With the hot, dry days it feels like we’ve really gotten some work done. It feels good to eat when you are really hungry and sleep when you’re really tired. It all feels good.

This week we’ll harvest and bring to the market…

SUMMER SQUASH (Zephyr is the variety), beautiful green onions, leeks, scallions, fennel, spinach, salad mix, lettuce mix, head lettuce, microgreens, pea shoots, arugula, Chinese cabbage, Chinese broccoli, broccoli raab, BROCCOLI, Swiss chard, kale bunches, collard bunches, braising mix, cucumbers, kohlrabi, turnips, beets, carrots, radishes and fresh cut herbs.

We’re bringing the transplants for a few more weeks only, so get what you need and want for your own garden now.

Stop by and say hello to Bobby Wright…one of our summer apprentices who farms his own garden on the east side of KCMO.

See you Saturday!

Laura from Blue Door Farms, The Bendict Builder Family, the Gunther Family, The Kim's with Meat and Bread, Luke and the gang from Bread of Life, and Jim, Alex and Aidian from Wood Mood Farms will all be there with their smiles and regular offerings.

And now, a word from our Season Sponsor (te he he):

Go green this Memorial Day weekend! Rent a Vespa from Vespa Crossroads for as low as $29/Day, and enjoy the holiday weekend in a new, greener way. The spring rains have caused our roses and gardens to bloom furiously, and you can truly enjoy the sights and scents of Kansas City from a scooter as you make your fun rounds through town this weekend. We're proud to be part of the Farmers Community Market at Brookside this year - introducing you to greener ways to get around KC. Did you know a Vespa gets upwards of 80 miles per gallon? Spend your dollars on locally-grown arugula instead of high priced gasoline! We look forward to meeting you at the market - Gail & John Redmond. p.s. my raspberry bushes are FULL this spring, and the Missouri fig I bought at the market two weeks ago is thriving! I see locally-grown honey, yummy local goat cheese, and figs from my own backyard in my future.

...and remember to Buy Organic, Buy Local, By Brookside!  Open Saturdays through October from 8 am to 1 pm at 63rd and Wornall,  in the heart of Brookside!

Farmers' Community Market
at Brookside

Saturdays, 8am to 1pm
under the white tents at theBorder Star Montessori School
63rd & Wornall, Kansas City, MO 64113

The Farmers' Community Market at Brookside is Dedicated to Creating a Unique Partnership between the Community and Farmers who provide High Quality, Local and Organic Products in an atmosphere that is mutually beneficial, wholesome and fun.The Market also helps to support the Border Star PTA.

Market Friends! We are on Facebook. Please, take a minute to visit our page and suggest it to your friends!

If you are on Facebook, do a search for Farmers Community Market.

If you are not on Facebook, click on the direct link listed below:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Kansas-City-MO/Farmers-Community-Market-at-Brookside/115620695123742

Thank you for your continued support!

Pam

Pam Bramlett – Market Manager

Farmers’ Community Market at Brookside

Pam (a) farmerscommunitymarket.com

Phone 913-217-8535

Buy Organic, Buy Local, By Brookside

www.farmerscommunitymarket.com

FüD Review on LEARNING TO COOK-ONLINE COOKING SCHOOL

FüD and Jack Fruit

27MAY

Wow, I wanted to share something with you guys that happened today! I went to this really awesome place for lunch called FüD. (Vegan Organic, but that is a whole ‘nother post.)

So, I had this really awesome ice cream minus the cream. It is made out of raw cashew nuts and it even had a carob chocolate syrup on top. It was truly amazing! (If you are wondering I did eat this before I ate my meal:)

I had something called the rainbow wrap. Basically it was a yummy salad on a nori wrap. (nori wrap is a piece of seaweed; the kind they wrap sushi in.) So there was a variety of mixed greens, red and yellow bell peppers, sliced cucumber, slices of apple, thinly sliced sweet red onion, topped with pieces of avocado and dried oregano. Rainbow Wrap is served with this yummy cashew sauce-dressing stuff. It was so beautiful to look at and delicious. It was so good that I forgot to take a picture of it. DOH!!! Oh well.

Again, the place is called FüD. (Sustainable, Organic, Local, Food) I think that is what it stands for?? FüD is located at 813 Summit, Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. You must go there if you enjoy healthy yummy food!

Something else that I would like to share with you that I have discovered at different times of visiting this restaurant is something called Jack Fruit. Sometimes people call it dragon fruit. They have several things that they serve it with at FüD. They make something called Tuna Rahh. It goes in place of where you would serve meat. Like in the Tuna Rahh it is the star of a mock tuna fish. It doesn’t taste like our traditional fruit (however, I haven’t tasted it alone) It takes on the flavors that you mix it with very well (kind of like tofu) and the texture is that of tuna fish. Pretty wild when you are eating it and remembering that it is actually fruit!!...

See the full article, and more, at
http://howdoyouroux.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/fud-and-jack-fruit/

Check out FUD on Facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136855907984

Troostwood Youth Garden Market - FRIDAY & SATURDAY at 52nd & Paseo

Troostwood Youth

Garden Market

5142 Paseo, Kansas City, Missouri 64110

Friday nights, 5 – 8 PM

and

Saturdays, 8 am to 2 pm

May 22nd thru late October

Contact

816-699-1803 ~ http://www.troostwoodyouthgarden.info/

eMail: Managers (a) TroostwoodYouthGarden.info

Neighborhood youth are providing fresh and healthy vegetables from A to Z. All foods grown on-site using organic methods. We are members of JJ Farms. Please call if you have questions.

Join Troostwood Market on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=79989349469

Funky Friday Farmers Market at BADSEED - A MUST ON FRIDAYS IN THE CROSSROADS ~~~~~ 4-9pm

This is Farmer Brooke and I have some very exciting news:

The BADSEED Farmers Market (every Friday night from 4-9 PM) is now accepting food stamps!! We have a fancy little machine that allows us to swipe your EBT card for the desired amount. That amount can then be used towards purchases of fresh produce, artisan goat cheese, breads & treats, gourmet mushrooms, free-range meats, organic coffee, wheat grass, kombucha, and any other mouth-watering delights the market has to offer. Heck yeah! Tell your friends......

This is a BIG deal for me as a (low-income) farmer. To be perfectly honest, I often lament at the fact that I grow food for rich people! Local-organic food should not be exclusive to the upper-middle class. It should be available to everyone. However, that is easier said than done when we have an entire nation addicted to and dependent on factory foods. A big pat on the back should be given to theindustrial food system and agribusiness for managing to make a McDonald's extra value meal cheaper than your average head of cabbage at the expense of our health and integrity..........not to mention the exploitation of our environment and human labor.

The truth is good food just isn't cheap. But it is a lot cheaper than the real costs of the other stuff. Let's put it this way - a head of cabbage is a heck of a lot cheaper than the average medical bill or your monthly prescriptions.

Alright, alright, enough with the "food activist" bit.....let's move on to the "sexy talk":

***Sexy Veggie of the Week***

This
week's
runner-up
is...

none

other

than...

FLAME Gourmet Cutting Lettuce. With her frilly maroon leaves and sweet disposition she is sure to tempt even the most discerning lettuce connoisseurs. Find this hot-red mama in BADSEED Farm's Red Velvet Lovers Mix - an incredibly sensuous (all red) salad mix with ruby accents of baby red chard, bronze fennel, and neon orange nasturtium flowers. This mix is absolutely off the radar. Available in limited quantities. Impress the one you love....

And now the moment we've all been waiting for.....this week's grand prize winner (drum roll please) is RAINBOW CHARD.

So help me God.....this is one sexy veggie. Her ooooh sooooo luscious leaves with neon stalks in fuchsia, canary yellow, burnt orange, and deep red are enough to put a farmer over the edge. She sways gracefully in the field singing "saute me" with olive oil, sea salt, yellow raisins and pine nuts.......or just wear my giant leaves as a hula skirt and dance around.

Pictures are attached. Go crazy.

Moving

right

along....

New Vendor Alert

Please give a buzzing welcome to Les Miller of Millers HONEY!! Boy oh boy does this man know how to charm some bees!! Miller produces pure, raw, extraordinary honey using holistic and sustainable practices. Les has a heck of a story. He grew up in Sugar Creek near the infamous Amoco Fuel Refinery. Due to necessity he spent his child hood in the dirt growing food for his entire family. Today, many of the folks he new back in ole' Sugar Creek suffer from cancer. He attributes his long-standing good health to home-grown foods and a whole lotta' honey. For the last couple years Les has been fighting the City of Independence to keep his bees. The bureaucrats have backed off for now and those bees are still a buzzin'. Good thing for us honey lovers. Bee sure to get as taste this Friday.

Okay, so it is memorial day weekend and I know you have some big plans. How about going "local" for your festive feast. We can help you out with this week's organic offerings:

BADSEED Farm, Brooke Salvaggio & Daniel Heryer (South KC) www.badseedfarm.com

*Heirloom Transplants (last chance to deck out your organic garden)

*Sex in A Bowl (badseed's signature SALAD MIX with chocolate mint, dill, and chive blossoms)

*Arugula (it's back...its bad)

*Asian Invasion (a spicy salad mix or stir-fry mix with tasty asian greens and garlic chives)

*BADSEED Braising Mix (with baby kale and baby chard.....yum)

*Red Russian KALE & DINO KALE (that's right, new this week, eat em' up)

*RAINBOW CHARD (remember what I said about the hula skirt)

*Red Velvet Lovers Mix (with FLAME Gourmet Cutting Lettuce)

*Garlic Scapes!!!! (those sexy shoots that snake out from the garlic stalk)

*Fresh Garlic Chives, Oregano, Thyme, Chocolate Mint, Savory, and Russian Tarragon

Herb"N"Gardener, Lew Edminster (Westside, KCMO)

In the words of the lovely Lew (hence the quotes):

"this week i'll be toting my usual many,many tubs of greens for salads and sauté pan. my standby superior all star mix will be in abundance along with a good load of mild mesclun mix and the larger luscious red rocky top. there will be arugula and the huge hit of multiple mustard greens including the golden frills that matches up with the arugula like a twin edible. you'll have to make up your own mind if it's orgasmic and fit for a food perv, or just plain old damned good eats. my kales are having a hard time catching up to demand of newly committed kaleavores, but i'll have some early at any rate.

i'm bringing the gallon pots of california rosemary that i forgot last week. this is going to be the last week i'll drag out the peppers and tomato transplant, so folks should get their needs calculated this week."

Platte Prairie Farms, Steve Mann (North KC) www.prairietrading.com

Steve is busy with planting this week. Catch him next time!

Bigg Blue Farm, Stan & Carmen Biggs (Mosby, MO)

*Green onions in red, white and yellow

*Mustard Greens

*Radishes - cherry belle, white icicle (hotter than hell!!), French Breakfast & more tasty heirlooms

*Swiss Chard & Beet Tops

*Herbs

PJ's Mushroom Farm, Paul & Judy Miller (Warrensburg, MO)

*A whole lotta' Shitake Mushrooms!! (try em' on the grill on skewers marinated in tamari and tarragon for your barbecue weekend)

*Oyster Mushrooms

*Farm-Fresh Brown Eggs

*Cornish Hens (only three left!!!)

*Hand-made crafts

Parker Farms, Tom and Paula Parker (Richmond, MO) www.parkerfarmsmeats.com

*A variety of 100% grassfed beef and all natural pork including:

*Pork chops,

*Chipotle brats with cheese or cranberries

*Pre-cooked franks

*Chili Cheese Links

*T-Bones

*Rib steaks

*KC strip steaks

*Stew meat

*Beef Roasts

*Homemade soy based candles and gourd birdhouses (compliments of their lovely girls who grew the gourds on the farm!!)

(I don't even eat meat and my mouth is watering!!!......)

Bread Of Life Bakery, The Crowther Family (Stewartsville, MO) www.breadoflifebakery.net

*sandwich breads

*savory breads

*sweet breads

*specialty treats (vegan as well)

**ALL MADE FROM 100% Locally Grown, Organic Wheat!!!!

Puddin' Head Coffee, Harry Lee, (Raytown, MO) www.puddinheadcoffee.com

*Only the BEST fair-trade/organic/micro-roasted coffee in town!!

Get yourself some beans or grab yourself a mug.

COFFEE BY THE MUG IS ONLY $1.00!!!!

....and thats not all!!! Other "Liquid Elixirs" will include WHEAT GRASS SHOTS & TRAYS from the lovely Angela Hoffman. This is hard red winter wheat and it is oh so sweet and oh so good for you. Take a shot and feel groovy.

Other goodies will include:

ARTISAN GOAT CHEESE from Goatsbeard Farm

Aged & Fresh varieties including Moniteau Blue, Prairie Bloom, Taum Sauk,Osage Orange, Herb Crusted Chevre, Marinated Chevre, and Greek-style Feta

**Try the Taum Sauk (a nutty, aged "slice of heaven" with intense and perfectly complex flavor) sliced and drizzled with a bit of Miller's honey for dessert. A common delicacy in Italy. To die for.....

Certified Organic Flour from Heartland Mill

An impressive selection will be available each week including all purpose, whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, golden buffalo, malted (for peak crust coloration), and blue cornmeal!! An artisan bakers dream.

and, of course, Kombucha Mushroom Tea (Brooke's home brew)

Sip while you shop!

LAST CHANCE to sign up for the following Urban Homesteading Course:

Canning & Preserving Workshop: Jams and Jellies!! To read the course description go to: http://www.badseedfarm.com/farm/?page_id=8

Remember:

LIVE NUDE VEGETABLES !! and other organic delights...

EVERY FRIDAY AT BADSEED

Yours Truly,

Brooke

- farmer and mistress of the BADSEED

BADSEED
An Urban-Organic Farm & Market
Celebrating Local Food, Culture, and Community
Fridays, 4-9pm
1909 McGee*KCMO*64108
www.badseedfarm.com

Join the BADSEED
on Facebook! -- CLICK HERE ^^click it!^^

Kansas City Food Circle Blog