Recipe: Erin's Mustard Greens Slaw

A great way to enjoy these spicy greens.

1 bunch mustard greens, chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 T. dijon mustard
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Mix well, chill, and enjoy!

Action Alert: Please send an email!

After years of work, Denver's City Council recently passed an overhaul to the city's 54-year-old zoning code. It was a huge undertaking, and we thank them for their work.

For the last several months the Council has been delaying any discussion of a new Food-Producing Animals ordinance until the zoning code passed. Now, the time has come! Sustainable Food Denver will begin working with someone at zoning in July to draft a new FPA ordinance, and eventually City Council will vote on it.

Now is a good time to check in with your councilperson and let them know that you are interested in seeing this issue move forward. Please take a moment to send an email to your councilperson (email addresses are below).

Please put something about supporting chickens & dwarf goats, sustainable food, or Food-Producing Animals in the subject line.

In the body of the email, please be sure to thank your councilperson for passing the new zoning code, then talk about why you would like to see them support a new ordinance making it easier to own chickens & dwarf goats. Feel free to share all of your own ideas, but here are some talking points if you need them:

• Chickens and dwarf goats allow families to have access to affordable, healthy food
• The animals raised in factory farms are treated terribly, are fed antibiotics, and sometimes produce contaminated eggs and milk. Backyard FPAs give families a way to opt out of that system.
• Hen chickens (no roosters) and dwarf goats are not smelly or noisy if cared for properly. If there is a problem with improperly cared-for animals, we can apply our existing animal laws to address the situation.
• Most of the food we consume in this country travels an average of 1,500 miles to reach us. That system is unsustainable and very costly to the environment, and we need to develop local food systems to produce more of our food in urban areas.
• Many cities (like Portland, Seattle, Sante Fe) allow chickens & goats as a use-by-right (meaning you can own them without a permit).
• Our current permitting system is needlessly expensive and time consuming. It penalizes people who wish to produce healthy food for their families.
• Our current permitting system is not respectful of individual property rights. It is currently allowed for a Denver resident to get three dogs (even 150 pound dogs) with no permit and no input from the neighbors. Food-Producing Animals are much smaller, quieter, and have less of an impact on the neighborhood environment.

Be sure to include your address below your name when you sign the email -- it's important that your councilperson knows that you live in their district.

If you don't know your council district, you can click here to enter your address and find out. Here are the email addresses for each councilperson:

District 1: Councilwoman Sandoval - paula.sandoval@denvergov.org
District 2: Councilwoman Faatz - jeanne.faatz@denvergov.org
District 3: Councilman Lopez - paul.lopez@denvergov.org
District 4: Councilwoman Lehmann - peggy.lehmann@denvergov.org
District 5: Councilwoman Johnson - marcia.johnson@denvergov.org
District 6: Councilman Brown - charlie.brown@denvergov.org
District 7: Councilman Nevitt - chris.nevitt@denvergov.org
District 8: Councimwoman Madison - carla.madison@denvergov.org
District 9: Councilwoman Montero - judy.montero@denvergov.org
District 10: Councilwoman Robb - jeanne.robb@denvergov.org
District 11: Councilman Hancock - michael.hancock@denvergov.org
At-Large*: Councilman Linkhart - doug.linkhart@denvergov.org
At-Large*: Councilwoman Boigon - carol.boigon@denvergov.org

*Everyone can write the At-Large councilpersons!

Please contact me at sustainablefooddenver[at]gmail.com if you have any questions. Thank you for your support of Food-Producing Animals in the city!

The Bikeloc Potluck with Grow Local Colorado

Wednesday, July 7th
6:00 - 9:00
The Grow Haus (4751 York Street)

These guys are cool. Robert DuBois and Aaron Zueck (both UNC grads, by the way) are cycling across the country, attending potlucks and sharing stories about the local food movement. They want to bring people together to talk about food, over food. The name of their project is Bikeloc, pronounced Bike-luck -- one part bike, one part local, and one part potluck.

Grow Local Colorado is organizing a potluck event so our local food community can welcome Robert and Aaron when they ride through Denver. Guests are invited to bring food and beverages made with ingredients from local growers, local breweries and local wineries or from recipes by local chefs, highlighting Colorado products. It is a zero waste event and guests are encouraged to bring their own plates, silverware, glasses and napkins.

For more information, go to the Grow Local website or the event's Facebook page. You can learn more about the Bikeloc project on their website.

The First Day of Summer

Tondo Scuro (round) zucchini.

Filming for "The Urban Conversion"

I wrote before about The Urban Conversion TV pilot, and their plan to come and do some filming with Heirloom Gardens. They were here for the whole day last Thursday, filming goat milking, chicken coop cleaning, turnip thinning, neighbor-chatting, worm feeding, salad harvesting, and lots of other good stuff.

It was a great experience. I had a lot of fun talking about urban agriculture, and TUC crew was just terrific. Many thanks to Rodman, Tim, Colin, Christine, and Vidar for making this TV newbie feel comfortable.

Brian took a few photos of the day. Click here to view the slideshow. Also, this is a pilot for a potential show --TUC has to sell the show to a network in order for it to air. If you want to help support their efforts to give urban ag a broader audience, click here to join their Facebook page. Lots of Facebook fans help translate into a larger audience in the eyes of the TV folks.

Colorado Matters Interview

Many thanks to the folks at Colorado Matters, including Ryan Warner (the host) and Shanna Lewis (the producer) for inviting me to talk with them about Food-Producing Animals in the city. We discussed why someone would choose to keep animals in the city, our current permitting process and why it needs to change, and what we'd like to see happen.

As a bonus, I brought some fresh goat milk for Ryan to sample, and I got to talk about why someone who wants to live the way I do would choose to live in the city instead of the country.

Click here to hear the interview on Colorado Matters. Thank you, CPR!

Seattle is trying to ENCOURAGE Urban Agriculture

I admit to doing a double-take when my friend Judy posted this article. Sometimes it seems that we all have to overcome obstacle after obstacle in order to promote sustainable urban food systems, so seeing the words "City wants urban farms, more chickens" is like a dream come true.

It looks like Seattle is joining the ranks of other places (like Kansas City) that are moving to allow on-site selling at urban microfarms. They also want to allow 4,000 square foot urban farms in residential zones, increase the height limits for urban greenhouses, and increase the number of hens allowed from 3 to 8.

All of this is in an effort to "encourage small-scale farming and increase the city's local food system." Wow. Way to go, Seattle!

Click here to read the article.