On Wednesday, November 8th, Slow Food NYC will host its annual big bash fundraiser, the Slow Down, at bg视讯’s Project Farmhouse steps from the Union Square Greenmarket. Slow Food NYC will honor their sixth Snailblazer, June Russell, 表彰她在创建可持续和公平的区域农场和食物链方面的杰出领导. Since 2004, June通过bg视讯的绿色市场区域谷物项目帮助建立和支持繁荣的区域粮食经济. 区域谷物项目致力于为东北地区种植和加工的谷物创造一个市场, by educating and bringing together growers, processors, bakers, brewers, distillers, chefs, and eaters in a regional grain chain. Their mission begins at Greenmarket, 哪里面包师的标准包括使用由bg视讯地区种植和碾磨的谷物制成的面粉.
bg视讯和琼坐下来谈谈她在振兴东北粮食种植方面所做的令人难以置信的工作.
Did you ever think you’d be working with grains for 10 years?
Laughs. No. I had no idea what I was getting into or where it would lead. 起初，当Greenmarket让我解决“面包师问题”时，我很失望.” I wasn’t sure it mattered. Boy was I wrong. Early on, 我意识到在区域层面上种植主要作物对健康土壤的潜在巨大影响, to system resilience, and to what ends up on our plates. Now, 我有一种敬畏之情，能参与到一件事中来，这件事已经变得比bg视讯想知道是否有当地面粉这种东西的小小探索要大得多、范围要广得多.
Do you think about where you’ll be in another 10 years?
I’m just starting to think about that now that we’ve laid some groundwork. bg视讯建立了一个社会企业——谷物站——现在bg视讯正在深入制定战略计划，以确定下一步该做什么. We have terrific, dedicated staff, ready to take things to the next level, 哪些是关键，因为有些长期目标需要一代人的时间才能实现. 但是饮食文化和农业正在同步发展，这是不可思议的. Consumers in NYC are helping to create a stronger, more viable regional food system, 这些变化在这些领域和新兴的基础设施中是显而易见的. This includes everything from crop diversity to soil health, 碳封存和发展分散的基础设施，超越市场，成为未来的粮食主权和弹性. 然而，这种增长与市场有着明确的联系，因此这是bg视讯的重点.
启动绿色市场区域谷物项目的最初火花是什么?
The initiative predated my time in my current role. It came from the Greenmarket Farmer and Community Advisory Committee (FCAC) as an effort to make bakers more mission supportive. There were several starting points, and there was a lot of foundational work and conversations that happened, but I can pinpoint two key moments that really gave us momentum. One was Indrani Sen’s 2008 NYT article about northeast grains, 一群农民和面包师正在努力消除纽约的农业条件不利于种植优质小麦的神话. 那篇文章真的播下了一颗种子，可以这么说，不只是对bg视讯，而是对整个国家. Ironically, bg视讯向她推销这个故事是为了把她的注意力从她在绿色市场正在探索的其他话题上转移开, as new management, we were not ready for. Greenmarket主管迈克尔·赫维茨说:“给她写一些积极的东西，比如面包师.“我刚刚开始认识那些将成为bg视讯长期盟友的人. That story really rooted in the national imagination.
第二次是bg视讯与纽约东北有机农业协会(NOFA-NY)在2010年初举办的会议，邀请了绿色市场的盟友——购物者和面包师, and chefs—into the conversation. Things really took off after that day, bg视讯开始接受拨款来研究粮食方程式的各个方面. Meanwhile, 以及bg视讯的面包师(他们被要求使用15%的本地面粉，以保持在绿色市场上销售的资格), 这些盟友开始购买并创造需求，以帮助推动最初的市场. There were a few distillers in the room that day as well, who, along with farm brewers, were just getting started. (Craft bev. came along in 2012.)
It’s important to view this in the context of the local foods movement and, perhaps, the recession of 2008. I think we would have failed ten years prior. But by 2010, 有些人完全致力于尽可能多地利用当地农场的资源, 此外，由寻求创新的企业家支持的小型手工企业也出现了爆炸式增长, take risks, and launch commercial mills and distilleries, malting facilities, things that had not been done for over 100 years. And things keep going…
As a region, we are still in startup phase.
I could go on and on. If you want to know more, I recently talked about these early years on a podcast for Heritage Radio.
What’s your favorite local grain?
Emmer. Of course.
What grain has the most potential?
Emmer. Of course.
Why?
它富含蛋白质，在野外对天气和气候波动具有很强的适应力. 对于那些想要远离食用大量动物蛋白的人来说, emmer is an excellent, plant-based replacement. It should be a staple on local menus. It’s delicious. I’m very fond of buckwheat too, and it plays an essential role on farms, and we can produce way more then we can sell right now.
Who is your Grains inspiration?
在基层有很多无名英雄，大部分是女性(惊讶，惊讶). They are really the backbone of systemic change, 与农民密切合作，引导极其缓慢的研究工作, field trials, and technical assistance to growers. Julie Dawson, Lisa Kucek, Heather Darby, Elizabeth Dyck, Ellen Mallory, Eli Rogosa, to name a few on the east coast. And then there are our amazing female entrepreneurs like Andrea Stanley, lady maltstress (can there be a cooler occupation?) Amber Lambke of Maine Grains, and Mary-Howell Martens of Lakeview Organic. 东北可持续农业工作组(NESAWG)大力倡导区域方法和系统思维, which has been helpful.
My grains guardian angel is Karen Hess. I met her at the 97th St. Greenmarket when I was a manager there. Before she passed away in 2007, she gave me a paper she had written on bread and flour, which has become our guiding document. 它也为bg视讯提供了一个框架:用bg视讯能种植的东西和土地想要给予的东西来工作.
Did you encounter any resistance at first?
That’s what the local bourbon is for.
Has rebranding the image of Grains been a challenge?
Huuuge! 直到最近，谷物和面粉在烹饪界都是不存在的. Getting people to take them seriously, not only in the cooking realm but by other food and agricultural advocates, 还会是一场斗争吗——尽管已经有了一个案例，bg视讯有大面包来证明这一点. Still, 在bg视讯继续教育消费者和开发市场的过程中，还有大量的工作要做.
Grains and flour in our food system, and on our plates, 既包罗万象又看不见——就像沉浸在水里一样. 我开始意识到，商品是如何让每个人都按照同样的规格进行校准的, and we have lost what we now recognize as grain “literacy,” something that has been missing for almost 100 years. Happily, we are seeing some terrific new grain based products come into the market, and bakers are reconnecting to their primary ingredient. I can’t think of a better time to be a baker.
What’s your favorite craft beverage?
I’m super excited about all the rye whiskeys that are coming along. 有些在4-5岁时才开始流行(考虑到Cuomo州长的手工饮料计划在2012年左右才开始实施)。. 见证一个全新的食品和农业领域的诞生和随后的成熟，真是令人难以置信, to see producers and consumers sprout up, 共同创造一个bg视讯希望的更可持续、更有弹性的未来. 酿酒厂和磨坊在本地化的食品系统中有其重要的地位. Cheers!
