Yapo’s Food Revolution Supper Club Part 3

Yapo’s Food Revolution Supper Club Part 3

Fri 23 Mar 2012

Story by Yapo
 

Food Revolution Supper Club (FRSC) Valentines 2012 was our best yet…



Sunset, appetizers and cheers started the night when all 33 people arrived (I even had to turn away 7 couples!). Course after course of local, organic foods were served. Between courses the farmer and rancher shared thoughts, answered questions and made Valentines toasts. By the end of the night, we raised over $600 for fellow revolutionary Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution.

Some comments from the night included…

“I’m Italian and this is one of the best ravioli I’ve had.”

“I ate with Bill (Be Wise Ranch farmer/owner) having been his CSA subscriber for years, thanks!”

“Now we know Phil (Sage Mountain Green-Fed Beef) and can get local, organic beef!”

“We have wanted to step up living greener and because of you …We’re getting a worm bin!”

“It was exactly the night we wanted!”

The advanced planning, the challenges of food and non-food prep, the final preparation and finally sharing the rewards of living “green” with the group was absolutely worth it! I hope Bill, Phil and Justin Mund of Orfila Winery feel the same, especially since my challenges pale in comparison to raising organic plants, grass-fed cattle and creating fine wine.

The Story Doesn’t Stop There, We’re Only Half-Way…



Our best opportunity to “step up” living more sustainably is clean up! Managing clean up is what you can do to significantly reduce your household footprint and start living in-sync with our food cycle and ecosystem. Adopt a Food 360 Kitchen!

Nothing is scheduled the day after big events, especially FRSC. These events require thorough cleaning and diversion for a zero waste, good earth event.

The first behavior change with adopting a Food 360 Kitchen is diverting all vegetable, fruit and paper scraps during food prep and post service from going to the garbage. It requires intentionality collecting and safely storing scraps for adding to your compost or worm bin. No worries… That is part of adopting a Food 360 Kitchen. Great news, it’s free to adopt and within months, rather than years, you will begin experiencing the rewards of these new behavior habits.

To share a mental picture of what a Food 360 Kitchen looks like, here’s a recap preparing for the FRSC Valentines 2012 menu. We cleaned, removed and diverted skins, peels and side cuts of Be Wise Ranch vegetables and fruits. This generated a couple bins of food scraps. Following our No-Odor Compost Bin Recipe, we kept dairy products, butter/oil sauces and meats out of the diversion “storage” bins. Trust me, when you follow this recipe, your compost will have the aroma of good earth and not attract varmints.

A neighbor recently raked his leaves and knowing me, he gave them to me to divert to my compost. Those leaves (or browns) were plenty to meet the volume of “browns” needed to incorporate the scraps from the FRSC Valentines event. I layered scraps then leaves (greens then browns) then rinsed bins, poured rinsed bucket water over browns and repeated until all the scraps were added to the compost bins and all the collection bins were rinsed out. The future benefits are good for our environment and our health.

This recipe of layering greens and browns to manage the decomposition process hasn’t changed since it was originally shared with the world in 1940, in the book Agricultural Testament. The author and organic food movement founder, British Agronomist Sir Albert Howard called the process Indore Method since he first witnessed it while living on assignment in India leading up to World War II.

Adopt A Food 360 Kitchen And Start Living More Sustainably.



Justin & Amy Horvath were already thinking about living “greener” and attending the FRSC Valentines made it a done deal. Later this month, we are meeting at their home to get more information and customize a Food 360 Kitchen solution for them.

Not knowing what to expect, we will come prepared for either or both compost bin and worm bin. Good news… When our next Food 360 Kitchen episode goes live in April, you will get to see it all happen. Stay tuned!

Read part 1 and part 2 of Yapo’s Food Revolution Supper Club’s for more tips on hosting your own.

About the author: A graduate of San Diego Culinary Institute in California and experience in the food industry, owner/chef David "Yapo" of San Diego's local, organic, sustainable Yapos Home Catering serves clients from SDGandE, US Green Building Council, Surfrider Foundation, Aaron Chang Ocean Art Gallery to smart households and more throughout the area. Yapo is a husband, dad of two boxer-lab mix pups, surfer, activist and a San Diego Zoo master compost educator.

Images: From Yapo’s Food Revolution Supper Club Valentines 2012, and Bill Brammer handing Yapo an organic beet he just pulled while while walking his farm (Be Wise Ranch) talking about what vegetables would probably be ready for the event.