Thank you for sharing your honest audit of bread ingredients. Local grain is one of the last significant challenges for us Western Oregonians as well. We can get hard red wheat from Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon, but not really in the Willamette Valley. Luckily the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project was started by a couple of farmers to increase the Bean and Grain acreage in the valley, primarily through converting grass seed farms back into growing food. We are crossing our fingers that more farmers will jump on board.

Harriet - Thank you for putting words around my thoughts and ideas. I resigned from an intense executive position in a software company a year ago thinking I just need a little time to relax and “reprioritize”. Along the way, I discovered many new things - that my idea of what a career looks like was very limited, that we can live on a lot less than I thought, and that I’m not bored at home (even without kids). I am grateful for being blessed enough to be able to make this choice. Unfortunately our society is not setup to allow a majority of our families to make this type of choice. I am hopeful that the changes we are in the midst of will realign our cultural priorities so that we can all make choices like this.

Great, thought provoking post, Kathleen. I agree with the previous responder that having organic seed companies (and hence organic farmers and organic consumers) pay for strict GMO testing of their seed is a bit backwards. But what is a realistic solution? It seems like forcing this type of testing on organic seed companies could make the organic industry actually take steps backwards. The industry already experiences costs that industrial seed companies and farmers never even think of. All of this makes organic seed and food less accessible to lower income people. Adding more costs would make it even worse. I agree that having GMO-free seed is important, but we need to consider all of the factors.

I also listened to his interview. I thought he was thin on specifics of what he would do to change our problematic industrial ag system. I am cautiously optimistic of the results he will bring. The appointment of Merrigan certainly made me a little more hopeful.

Since it was also recently featured on this site, I thought I would mention another great recipe with radicchio in the Heirloom Beans cookbook called Bean Salad with Fennel & Radicchio. It’s one of our favorites and really easy.

My husband bought this book for me on a visit to the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market over the holidays and we have made at least half a dozen recipes and loved every one of them. We have used a lot of Ayers Creek Farm (Gaston, OR) heirloom beans for ours in addition to Rancho Gordo’s that we picked up in SFO. Both grow fantastic beans. For Oregonians, you can also get local beans from Stalford Seed Farms in Talent, OR and Sunbow Farms in Corvallis, OR.