Food for Thought

The Big One is coming. The Pacific Northwest is overdue for a cataclysmic earthquake, one that will measure at the upper end of the Richter scale. This is something that most experts can agree on. Of course, nobody knows when the Big One will actually occur, or just how destructive it will be. Portland residents may be lulled by talk of taking emergency precautions to prepare themselves for a large, destructive more...

Food waste is a problem that escapes the attention of even the most food-obsessed locavores. You may think of food waste as scraps leftover from a home-cooked meal or the uneaten portion of food scraped from your plate at a restaurant, but it actually refers to the now-black rainbow chard or fuzz-covered raspberries sitting in your fridge and the day-old muffins at your neighborhood bakery that are tossed in the more...

Ever since community-supported agriculture (CSA) was introduced in the United States in the 1980s, it has provided an integral alternative method of food distribution that connects growers directly to consumers. CSA subscribers may not think too much about the machinations of running and managing a CSA: A seasonal payment is made, a weekly share is collected, and that's about it. What might surprise subscribers more...

The census tract where Neighborhood Gardens, a 5,000-square-foot cooperative garden, is located had a poverty rate of 24 percent from 2005-09, more than double the estimated 11.7 percent poverty rate for the metro area during those years, according to Portland State University's Institute of Metropolitan Studies. Located in one of Portland’s food deserts, notwithstanding the presence of multiple corner more...

As Portlanders, we love our farmers’ markets. With 21 markets in the city and nearly double that throughout the metro region, the appeal of farm-fresh food as well as the opportunity to interact with our comestible producers makes our markets a place to come together as a community, socializing while supporting local and eating healthy. But, is it easy to start a neighborhood farmers’ market? Does each more...

There are some lifestyle choices that might seem more “Portlandish” than others. Riding around town on a fixed-gear bicycle, for example, or getting together with friends to drink handcrafted, limited-release, imperial microbrews. Although supplementing one’s diet with homegrown food is not unique to Portland, this list would not be complete without the inclusion of gardening. Think about the last more...

Portlanders are a generous people, constantly seeking opportunities to volunteer, help others, and improve their community. Consider the role that Friends of Trees has in keeping Portland green, or the fact that Hands on Greater Portland provides daily volunteer opportunities with 300-plus partner organizations throughout the Portland metro area. According to a recent story in the Portland Tribune, Portland ranks more...

Under a cold gray sky on the first day of spring, Jeremy O’Leary apologizes for the appearance of his backyard garden. “It looks about as good as you can have it after spreading three yards of compost,” says O’Leary, a Multnomah County employee who is involved with Transition PDX and also helped the City of Portland develop its Peak Oil plan. In his Centennial neighborhood backyard, more...