Episodes
Thursday Sep 24, 2015
Thursday Sep 24, 2015
Ashlen Busick- Community Organizer- ashlenb@sraproject.org
As the granddaughter of Terry Spence and neighbor to a massive hog operation, Ashlen has been immersed in the issues of factory farming from the age of 5. She joins the SRAP Team now, 20 years later, to lend her passion to the movement for sustainable agriculture.
Ashlen graduated with a BSBA from the University of Central Missouri and has worked as the Director of Fundraising and Development for the Central Missouri Christian Campus House. While in Warrensburg, she served alongside local non-profits as the secretary for Johnson County Cares and helped organize various community events for people in poverty and for environmental sustainability.
Her husband’s hire as the high school choir director for Trenton, Missouri brought her back to the northern part of the state and provided an avenue for her to join in her grandfather’s legacy of advocating for the small farmer.
Kendra Kimbirauskas, Chief Executive Officer- kendrak@sraproject.org
Kendra grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest. After earning her degrees from Michigan State University, she became a community organizer for the Sierra Club, helping communities threatened by factory farms. Kendra’s community organizing work took her to rural communities in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota before she moved to Oregon in 2003. Kendra took a brief hiatus from anti-factory farm organizing and worked on political campaigns for the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. In 2005, Kendra co-founded the group, Friends of Family Farmers, an Oregon-based non-profit that organized to fight Threemile Canyon Farms, a 55,000-head dairy factory outside of Boardman, Oregon. In 2006, she began consulting work for the Grace Factory Farming Project and started a small farm in Colton, Oregon. Kendra later joined SRAP, and in 2012, she became CEO of SRAP. Kendra and her husband currently farm 70 acres, in Scio, Oregon where they raise heritage breeds of pigs, chickens, goats and turkeys. Kendra is an avid equestrian, and in her spare time, she’s usually riding her horse.
Terry Spence - tespence@nemr.net
owns and operates a livestock farm in northeast Missouri, near the Iowa border, where he was born and raised. Terry is president of Citizens Legal Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) and of Family Farms for the Future (FFFF), and is a certified level III volunteer water quality monitor for Missouri Stream Team # 714. He has been active over the last 18 years in organizing and working with groups throughout Missouri, and various other states which are facing the factory farm problem. He has presented testimony before the U.S. House Sub-committee on CAFO's, and at numerous Missouri Clean Water Commission Hearings, Missouri Air Conservation Commission Hearings, and has worked with various environmental organizations on a state and national level.
Terry was selected as one of the Thirty Heroes for each of the thirty years of the Federal Clean Water Act, and received the 2010 Justice Award from the Missouri Attorney General for dedication and commitment to Environmental Protection, and has served two terms as a member of the USDA Agriculture Air Quality Task Force. Terry is a former advisory board member at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins and has presented an online lecture relating to Food Production, Public Health, and the Environment.
Terry is an independent consultant for the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP) which focuses on working with rural citizens and groups throughout the United States that are being impacted by Industrialized Agriculture Operations. He also is associated with the Renewable Harvest Project of SRAP that focuses on sustainable alternatives that benefits small farmers and rural communities.
Pear Ginger Chutney
16 cups of peeled, diced pears
½ cup unsweetened, organic, pomegranate juice
1 Tbs. Lemon juice
½ cup ginger, grated
¼ t. sea salt
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
¼ cup honey
½ t. pepper
½ t. cumin
1 t. ground cardamon
½ t. garam masala
½ cup fresh cilantro
In a heavy saucepan, combine the pears, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, salt, ginger, cinnamon, honey, pepper, cumin, cardamon and garam masala. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pears are soft. Using an immersion blender, puree the chutney, either smooth or chunky. Add the fresh cilantro and serve as a condiment for samosas, potato pancakes, macaroni and cheese, or eat alone. Can be served hot or cold.
Thursday Sep 17, 2015
Thursday Sep 17, 2015
Robert E. Graham is Board Certified in Internal and Integrative Medicine. Dr. Graham received his medical degree from the School of Medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Lenox Hospital in New York City. Dr. Graham received a Master’s of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health while completing three additional fellowships in General Internal Medicine/Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies at Harvard Medical School and Medical Education at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In March 2015, Dr. Graham presented a talk, “FAREWELLNESS: Back to Our Roots” at TedxManhattan where he described one doctor’s attempt to incorporate his roots in integrative and traditional medicine into our modern healthcare system with an emphasis on having greater respect for food, cooking, farming, meditation and their healing properties. Follow his work @FAREWELLNESS on Facebook and Twitter.
Dairy Free Potato Leek Soup
10 organic Potatoes, cut into large chunks
4 organic leeks, tops cut off, cleaned and cut
Olive Oil
1 cup Vegetable Broth
1 can coconut milk
¼ cup dried tarragon
1 Tbs. salt
¼ t. white pepper
Chopped Parsley for garnish
In large pot, sauté leeks in olive oil until they become soft. Add potatoes, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Add more water if necessary, to keep potatoes covered. Add the salt, pepper and tarragon.
Remove pot from heat and puree soup until smooth. Add the coconut milk and vegetable broth and continue blending, until thoroughly mixed. Add more salt and white pepper, if desired.
Return to heat, and cook for 10 more minutes, allowing flavors to meld together. Garnish with chopped parsley, and serve immediately. May also be served as a cold soup.
Thursday Sep 10, 2015
Thursday Sep 10, 2015
Ava Chin is the author of Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love, and the Perfect Meal (Simon & Schuster), which won 1st Prize in the 2015 M.F.K. Fisher Book Awards for Excellence in Culinary Writing. Kirkus called Eating Wildly “A delectable feast of the heart,” and Library Journal chose it as one of the “Best Books of 2014.” Her writing has appeared in The New York Times (“Urban Forager”), the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Marie Claire, Saveur, The Village Voice, and Eating Well, among others. A former slam poet, she is an associate professor of creative nonfiction at CUNY and a fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities at New York University. The Huffington Post named her one of "9 Contemporary Authors You Should Be Reading."campaign
Spicy Eggplant and Seitan in Garlic Ginger Sauce
Ingredients
1 pack of Seitan (1 lb, 2 oz.)
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 jalapeno peppers, diced small
1⁄4 cup Tamari
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Aji Mirin
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
4 medium Japanese eggplants, sliced at an angle into 2" thick pieces
1 onion, cut into slivers
½ red pepper, cut into strips
½ green pepper, cut into strips
2 Tbs. minced garlic
1 Tbs. minced ginger
½ tsp. red chili flakes
1 tsp. sesame oil
1⁄4 cup diced scallions
Instructions
Cover bottom of wok with 1” of water, bring to a boil. Place cut eggplant into bamboo basket and sit the basket over the water. Cover wok with lid, and steam eggplant until soft, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, mix Tamari, Mirin, honey, vinegar, and salt in a bowl; set sauce aside. Sauté seitan in heavy skillet with 2 Tbs. of olive oil. Add the 1 t. of garlic, 1 t. of ginger and jalapeno peppers and cook until seitan is golden brown. When eggplant is soft, remove basket from wok, and dry the wok over high heat. Add the other 2 Tbs. of olive oil to the wok, followed by the onions, and cook until translucent. Add the red and green peppers, garlic and ginger, and cook for a few minutes. Add the eggplant, ½ t. red chili peppers, and sautéed seitan, and stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir in sauce and cook until sauce is thickened, 3–5 minutes. Remove from heat and drizzle with dark, toasted sesame oil; garnish with diced scallions.