foodperson.com

It’s going to be easy to feed your interest in food and family farms this week if you’re in the Lawrence area.

Two very different activities are occurring on Thursday—a farm tour and a organic tasting and film series.

The farm tour

In the morning, the Kansas Rural Center is sponsoring a tour of five area farms that market “value-added products.” That means that rather than selling only the raw material, say tomatoes, they sell tomato sauce, too. It may be too late to sign up, and it’s geared to farmers, but you can call the Rural Center to find out, 785-873-3431. The cost is only $10 for the all-day bus tour and includes lunch. Here’s the lineup and lessons to be learned:

• Wakarusa Valley Farm (Mark Lumpe and Julie Waters), Lawrence. Marketing through a CSA and producing mushrooms.
• Kansas Alpaca Company (Bonnie Samuel), Ottawa. Running a farm store and, surprise, producing alpaca.
• Littlejohn Sherwood Farm (Meredith Littlejohn), Richmond. Building a certified kitchen. (Samples available, too.)
• Bauman’s Cedar Valley Farms (John Bauman and family), Garnett. Pasturing chickens and processing them on the farm.
• Pome on the Range Orchards (Mike Gerhardt), Williamsburg. Integrating an orchard and winery. I emailed Mike, and he says he has Gala, Akane and Ozark Gold apples ready for you-pick now, and he’ll have Jonalicious, Golden Delicious and Winesaps later. What a relief! I’d despaired that we wouldn’t get any local apples this year.

Go Organic activities

Local Burger and Films for Action are cosponsoring a local food tasting and the Go Organic! films in conjunction with the arrival of the Sustainable Table’s “Eat Well Guided Tour of America.” For a mere $5 donation, you’ll get food samples and admission to the four films at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St. Here’s the scoop on the movies, based on the sponsors’ announcement:

• “The Meatrix I, II, & II ½” (Louis Fox, 2006; New York): Three farm animal buddies spoof the “Matrix” movie series while exposing industrial agriculture, indecent dairy conditions, factory farm pollution, animal cruelty and the horrors of meat processing. (10 minutes, animated)
• “Frankensteer” (Ted Remerowski and Marrin Canell, 2005; Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and the United States). Frankensteer, a documentary, reveals how the ordinary cow is being transformed into an antibiotic dependent, hormone-laced potential carrier of toxic bacteria, all for cheaper food. (10-minute segment of a 48-minute documentary)
• “Back to the Land…Again” (Gretta Wing Miller, 2006; Wisconsin). This documentary presents the state of organic agriculture today by highlighting a collection of Wisconsin farmers. The film’s topics include the emergence of the organic industry. (20-minute segment of a 57-minute documentary)
• “Good Stewards” (Dulanie Ellis, 2006; Ventura County, Calif.). This film tackles tough questions such as: What is sustainable agriculture? What role does the consumer or the governmental official play in ensuring that agriculture remains viable and we maintain our food security in this country? How can we help our farmers survive in the global marketplace? (19-minute documentary)