Civil Eats

Happy New Year and welcome back for more Kitchen Table Talks, the monthly conversation series about the American food system. Many thanks to all of you who participated in our discussions in 2009 and we look forward to a fruitful and inspiring year of exchanging knowledge and ideas and building community with you. We’re excited to kick off 2010 with a conversation on Urban Homesteading on Tuesday, January 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at our new location in San Francisco’s Mission district at Viracocha, 998 Valencia St. at 21st St.

As the good food movement grows and urban farming heroes like Growing Power’s Will Allen and Oakland’s own Novella Carpenter pave the way, we will explore the surge towards City self-sufficiency, including growing and preserving your own food; raising chickens and goats; keeping bees and worms; composting, installing greywater and rainwater catchment systems; and a whole host of other DIY activities.

Please join us for a rousing discussion with a few outstanding local urban homesteaders who will share their experiences, insights, and ideas:

Kevin Bayuk is an activated advocate for ecotopian living, whose 3,000 sq. ft. backyard in the Haight is home to some 300 species of fruits and vegetables, ducks, worms, and greywater and composting systems. Kevin serves on the Board of Directors for the Urban Alliance for Sustainability, and teaches with the Urban Permaculture Institute, Urban Permaculture Guild, and UC Berkeley Extension and Earth Activist Training.

Heidi Kooy is a former anthropologist turned small business owner. Her City farming adventures are detailed in her blog, Itty Bitty Farm in the City. She gardens, cooks, cans, preserves, and tends to her collection of small livestock, including chickens and goats in her 1,000 sq. ft. backyard in the Excelsior.

Davin Wentworth-Thrasher is a San Francisco native and co-founder of the Ecology Center of San Francisco, a grassroots non-profit that cultivates community through designing and building experiential, ecological education spaces in SF schools and community gardens. Davin leads workshops on ecological gardening, urban homesteading, natural building, appropriate technology and more. Baking bread, making cheese, butter, and yogurt, caring for ducks, chickens, and honeybees, and foraging for uncultivated foods are a weekly passion for him.

In 2008, Davin experimented with a low consumption lifestyle by living in a tent in his 1250 sq. ft. backyard in the Sunset; using rocket stoves and solar ovens; consuming less than five gallons of water a day; and relying on an outdoor shower, greywater system, and a composting toilet to save and reuse water.

We’re also excited to announce our new, permanent location at Viracocha, a new antique store/art gallery/performance, educational, and community space. We are extremely grateful to Jonathan Siegel for his support of KTT and we know that many of you will appreciate the convenient Mission location.

Kitchen Table Talks is a joint venture of CivilEats and 18 Reasons, a non-profit that promotes conversation between its San Francisco Mission neighborhood and the people who feed them. Space is limited, so please RSVP to ktt@civileats.com or leave a message at 925.785.0713. A $10 suggested donation is requested at the door, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Sustainable food and refreshments will be provided, courtesy of Bi-Rite Market and Shoe Shine Wines

Naomi Starkman is a food policy consultant to Consumers Union and others. She is the co-founder and editor of Civil Eats and Kitchen Table Talks, a local food forum in San Francisco, a board member of 18 Reasons, a nonprofit connecting community through food, and is on the Circle of Friends Council for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. She served as the Director of Communications & Policy at Slow Food Nation ’08 and has worked as a media consultant at The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ and WIRED magazines. She was previously a senior publicist at Newsweek magazine and was the Director of Communications for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). From 1997 to 2000, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the S.F. Ethics Commission. Naomi works with various clients on food policy and advocacy and is an aspiring organic grower, having worked on several farms.