SuStainable PhiladelPhia

towardS a

august 2009 / issue 6 gridPhilly.com

A new pAththe east coast greenway rolls out the green carpet for cyclists in Philadelphia and beyond

second time aroundSavvy Shoppers Find durable décor

sweet as Honey

how to become a Philly

beekeeper

6 RecipesMouth-Watering

ta k e o n e

HAPPY HOURMon-Fri, 4-6pm

All Drafts $3 & Belgians Too!

BRUNCHSat & Sun At 10am

KARAOKEEvery Sunday 10pm-2am

2 WHEEL TUESDAYS

Ride Your Motorcycle For Drink Specials!

QUIZZOEvery Thursday starting at 10pm

215.627.6711 Come Visit Us Soon!

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!–your friend The Abbaye

owning a car is so pre-recession

Cars by the hour or day. Gas and insurance included.Join at zipcar.com and get $75 FREE driving. Use promo code GRID75

3august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.comcover illustration by greg puglese

publisherAlex Mulcahy

215.625.9850 ext. 102 alex@gridphilly.com

director of marketingStephanie Singer

215.625.9850 ext. 107 stephanie@gridphilly.com

art directorJamie Leary

jamie@gridphilly.com

distributionClaire Connelly

215.625.9850 ext. 114

associate editorWill Dean

will@gridphilly.com

copy editorsAndrew Bonazelli,

Patty Moran

production artistLucas Hardison

distributionClaire Connelly

215.625.9850 ext. 114

customer serviceMark Evans

mark@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 105

writersDynise Balcavage

Phil Forsyth Ashley Jerome

Einav Keet Allison Kelsey

Natalie Hope McDonald Samantha Wittchen

Nicole Wolverton Micah Woodcock

photographers Shawn Corrigan Lucas Hardison

Albert Yee

illustratorsJ.P. Flexner

Melissa McFeeters Greg Puglese

published byRed Flag Media

1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107

215.625.9850

g r i d P h i l ly . c o m

Try It!It’s August and the full splendor of

the CSA is upon us. For the uninitiated, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

(This acronym is somewhat obtuse. I would sug-gest replacing it with BFF, Buying From a Farmer.) The way it works is you sign up before the farmers’ harvest, usually in the late winter or early spring, and then you receive a weekly subscription to their fresh fruits and vegetables that you pick up at a lo-cation in your neighborhood.

This turns the cooking paradigm on its ear, or at least it has for me. Typically, I would search for a recipe that looked interesting and then shop for the ingredients. With a CSA, you get the ingredients first, dealt to you like a hand of cards, and then you need to quickly figure out what’s for dinner.

The weekly challenge has stretched my vegetable

vocabulary considerably. Veggies that I would not have had the courage to look in the eye at the mar-ket are now my friends. Beets, cabbage, kale and rainbow chard no longer intimidate me; in fact, they thrill me.

That said, there have been some failures. In the very first share I received, there was a batch of unfamiliar red and green stalks: rhubarb! Why I panicked, I don’t know, but I did. I planned to foist these alien antennae on to my girlfriend and let it be her problem. Days passed, the rhubarb slipped from my mind, and it died a lonely death in my re-frigerator. The very fruit-impersonating vegetable that Barbara Kingsolver praises as her family’s salvation in this month’s Grid Classic book (page 28) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle had been carelessly neglected.

Five weeks later, much to my relief, the myste-rious stalk returned to my CSA box. It was time for some rhubarb redemption. My girlfriend sug-gested a compote, which was shockingly simple. Chop up the stalk, sauté it over medium heat with some red wine and sugar, remove the rhubarb after seven minutes, boil the wine and sugar until it’s a little thicker, then pour the sauce on the rhubarb. We used this glorious compote to top our French toast. Mmmm!

I’m always imagining the perfect version of my life—or in this case, my diet—and it’s frustrating to fall short. Along the way, some leafy greens turn into slimy browns, despite my best intentions. But, with each vegetable that is demystified and learned, a gap is filled, and I get one step closer.

If there’s something we want Grid to do, it’s to encourage people to try. You can be a beekeeper (pages 8–9); you can shop secondhand (16–17); you can cook with seasonal produce (22–26); you can be part of the city’s metamorphosis. It will take time, and the failures are necessary to fuel the successes.

Eighteen years ago, 10 people met in New York City to discuss a bike path that would run the en-tire length of the Eastern Seaboard. A fool’s errand, right? Now the East Coast Greenway (pages 18–21) has over 600 miles of paths, about 22 percent of the total trail. With the news that bike lanes are being planned to run through Pine and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia is taking one step closer to the city we want it to be.

There has never been a better time or place to dream big. What will you do this month to live the life you imagine?

Alex J. MulcahyPublisheralex@gridphilly.com

Printed in the usa on Leipa’s 43.9 lb Ultra Mag gloss paper. It’s 100% recycled, 80% from post-consumer waste.

4 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

#01, Feb 2009 #02, mar 2009 #03, apr 2009 #04, may 2009 #05, june/july 2009

Word on the Street Praise of inspiration

I wanted to let you know how appreciative we are to have opened the latest issue of Grid Magazine to see a feature on our company

with such wonderfully chosen words describing us. Grid is a fantastic publication with a promis-ing future so it means a lot to be associated with your magazine. We look forward to reading it each month and have easily grown to see it as a source of inspiration in the work we do here at Metropolitan Bakery every day. Thank you for making the steps to build a relationship with us, and for the required hard work of publishing a magazine of such high caliber in this day and age. All the best to you, your staff and all your contributing writers.—sasha swayze dews, Director of Retail

ride the el

I don’t want to make a big deal about this but the Food Desert article [“Food Desert,” May ‘09, #4] repeatedly makes the assertion that

a Kensington resident without a car is stuck with whatever the corner store has to offer. A small bike trailer would probably be the ideal solu-tion until more options become available in the neighborhood. David Adler, whose “If you don’t have a car…” quote dominates the page, mentions

back issues Miss an issue? Call us at 215.625.9850 x105 to complete your collection!

SuStainable PhiladelPhia

towardS a

Apollo’s CreedMike McKinley talks about Philly’s solar future

sAve Money on energy Bills!

TrAsh inTo TreAsure

→ What everyone in Philly needs to know

→ Your old computer, their new start

feb 2009 / issue 1 gridPhilly.comfree

SuStainable PhiladelPhia

towardS a

march 2009 / issue 2 gridPhilly.com

LocaL Round-upPeach turnovers, soft bowls and insects

BeeR HeRe!Philly reclaims its proud brewing tradition

Food Buzz The blog that has locavores talking

a new Kensington?

North Philly’s quest for sustainability

→sandy salzman, executive director of the New Kensington community Development corporation

ta k e o n e

have something you’d like to share? Write to us at feedback@gridphilly.com

don’t forget, you can read back issues online at gridphilly.com

FRee how-tosI was using the restroom in a coffee house on South Street, and when I came out my

friend was avidly reading a free magazine’s useful article on how to recycle a TV [“See-ing Clearly,” June-July ’09 #5] (it turns out her boyfriend has an old TV that he didn’t

know how to get rid of). The magazine, of course, was Grid—and it looks great! I especially like the how-to department. I hope you do really well with it.—chelsea wald

the Reading Terminal Market but doesn’t seem to realize that you can get to it from Kensington very easily by taking the El. Not a single mention of any form of transportation other than cars.

Grid is great but I just had to say something about that.—steve beuret, West Philly

5august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

· food · policy · craft · news · design and more

where to go

the beach. → Margate’s sunny shores are free on Thursdays. We recommend Huntington or Washington Avenues. margate-nj.commargate Farmers’ market. → Taste the local flavor with farmers, bakers, coffee purveyors and more on Thursdays in August from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Traveling with kids? They even have childcare and entertainment while you shop. 9700 Amherst Ave. in the Steve and Cookie’s parking lot steveandcookies.comPamela’s health & harmony. → No need to worry if you forget your chemical-free SPF sunscreen lotion. Pamela’s selection of natural and organic products will keep you living well on vacation. 8508 Ventnor Ave., 609-822-8828 pamelashealth.com

i → ❤ lucy… the elephant. Lucy the Elephant is an historic attraction that no tourist should miss—and at six stories tall, you really can’t. $6 for adults, $3 for children 3-12, free for children under 2, 9200 Atlantic Ave., 609-823-6473 lucytheelephant.orgdune restaurant → . Started by a restaurant veteran of Philadelphia, this BYOB specializes in seafood. You’ll taste the freshness of the local cuisine at this exceptional eatery. 9510 Ventnor Ave., 609-487-7450 dunerestaurant.comcleo’s Fish Palace → . The variety of fresh fish is always changing at Cleo’s. You can dine outside or take a fish home to cook yourself. 7307 Ventnor Ave., 609-822-5858 cleosfish.com

Margate, NJ dig your toes in the sand at the Jersey shore

Summer hotSPot

P icture waves crashing, the smell of salt in the air and vitamin D nourishing your skin. Pack your beach bag for a day trip down the shore.

getting there

take the Walt Whitman bridge to route 42. Follow signs for the ac expressway.

stay on expressway for about 36 miles ($3 toll) and exit at 7s. then, take exit 36 to north-field/margate. turn right on tilton rd. and fol-low signs for margate bridge. cross the bridge ($1.50 one-way).

ride nj transit’s ac line from 30th street station to atlantic city ($8 adult

one-way, $3.50 child/senior/disabled one-way). yes, you can bring your bike and go the five miles to margate or take the #505 bus ($1.35 one-way).

if you are an ambitious cyclist, then take the trip in the cleanest, greenest and

least expensive way possible. For the best route, visit bicyclecoalition.org.

•

••

•

lucy the elephant celebrates her 128th

birthday this year.

6 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

Bike Part Art Show

Bike parts normally go on bikes, as na-ture intended, but occasionally they can find other homes, like on your walls. At the Bike

Part Art Show, local artists have sifted through the unusable parts left over from Neighborhood Bike Works’ (NBW) community and youth cycling pro-grams and created pieces of sculpture that entrance the eye and engage the mind.

NBW is a nonprofit that hosts free youth cycling classes and summer camps where local youth learn how bikes work, how to repair them and, in the pro-cess, build a bike of their own to take home. The pro-grams are free and serve kids who would not have access to bikes or classes otherwise. NBW also hosts free bike repair nights every week at the Bike Church

(3916 Locust Walk). The bikes and parts come from donations and dumps, but there are always some parts that just will not work anymore.

That’s what the art show is for. It’s a fundraiser for NBW to support their programs, so when you buy a piece you’re helping kids as well as adding to your art collection and recycling bike parts. The show will open at Studio 34 in West Philly on Aug. 28 with limited displays, and then on Sept. 18 the full show opens with a big party. Kiss Kiss Kill and DJ Ross of Love will per-form; there will be beer from Victory and Dock Street, and snacks from Bacchus Market.

→ Bike part art show, aug. 28- sept. 18, 7 p.m.-10 p.m., studio 34, 4522 Baltimore ave., 215-387-3434. studio34yoga.com

/news & events

above alice gonglewski

Steer, 200922"h x 22"w x 8"d

handlebars, rack, pedal, wire

below right

tremain SmithFreewheeling, 2009

12” x 12”acrylic, collage, &

pencil on panel

7august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

chill in the ParkAs you’ve probably noticed, the summer is upon us, and while holing up inside with the AC cranked might be appealing, there’s plenty going on in Philly’s green spaces to keep you do-ing something almost every night. From movie nights to free music, the parks system is bursting with life, and it’s all free!

There’s Zydeco-A-Go-Go at Gorgas Park, flea markets at Clark Park, a viewing of the 1921 Charlie Chaplin classic The Kid at Liberty Lands, the West Philly Orchestra’s Balkan music at Gold Star Park and so much more. For a full list, visit pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org.

→ uhuru flea market, aug. 8, all day, clark park, 43rd st. and Baltimore ave., clarkpark.info

→ The Kid, aug. 11, dusk, liberty lands, n. 3rd and west wildey sts., nlna.org

→ west philadelphia orchestra, aug. 13, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., gold star park, 7th and wharton sts.

→ Zydeco, aug. 28, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., gorgas park, ridge ave. and Hermitage st., gorgaspark.com

beat itBelying the old adage that quiet solitude is the best way to create, Art Beat is a night of hand-made music, food and crafts. Bring whatever project you’ve been working on, or some instru-ments to play at the open mic, and hang out with like-minded crafters. Food will be provided by Sheila and Sharon’s Cookies, and the first 50 at-tendees will get a free cookie.

→ art Beat, sat., aug. 15, 6 p.m.-11 p.m., $5, studio 34, 4522 Baltimore ave., 215-387-3434 phillyartbeat.com

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August september

m a r k y o u r c a l e n d a r

don’t PaSa over thisThe Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) is hosting a few events in the coming months that revolve around the most delicious parts of their mission: food and beer!

On Aug. 2, there will be a grass-fed beef cook-off where local farmers will talk about the differ-ent ways to raise cows on just grass, and show off their wares with grilled steaks and braised beef stew. Judges will try the beef and select the best, while Stoudt’s of Adamstown will be providing beer, like their American Pale Ale and the Scarlet Lady Ale, to wash it all down.

To work off some of that beer and beef gut, PASA’s hosting a bike tour of Chester County, ending with a meal at Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown. You can choose a 25, 50 or 75-mile ride, with a meal of local food and Victory beer once you’ve puffed your way to the finish.

→ grass-fed Beef cook-off, sun., aug. 2, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., $15-25, glasbern inn, fogelsville

→ Bike fresh Bike local, sun., sept. 27, $35-$40 chester county, pasafarming.org

to paraphrase a well-known quote, “Sometimes you just have to dance… about the environment.” This year’s Live Arts Festival will embody that maxim with two dance shows highlighting the connection between people and the natural world.

Tide, by the Scrap Performance Group, is an always-changing piece of experimental dance that both celebrates the company’s 15 years of operation and looks at how distanced people are from the natural world.

Bessie Award-winning choreographer Merián Soto will also be premiering her new work, Postcards From the Woods. This piece will feature dancers moving with branches in front of a background of photos from natural places, including our own Wissahickon.

→ live arts and fringe, sept. 4-19, livearts-fringe.org

Just DAnce

Meet Philadelphia’s New Director of Sustainabilityon july 17, mayor nutter announced Katherine gajewski as the replacement for mark alan Hughes’ Director of sustainability position. “With the greenworks philadelphia framework in place, we now turn to its implementation and Katherine is the perfect person to lead this next phase,” said mayor nutter. “she has a proven track record of working across government, collaborating with outside partners, and implementing major initiatives in a wide range of policy areas. these are exactly the skills that will help us meet our greenworks targets.”

ne wSFl aSh

8 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

In many ways, honeybees are the perfect urban livestock. They can be kept in small spaces—even on rooftops. They are quiet and unaggressive (most “bee” stings are actually perpetrated by bumblebees and hornets). They require relatively minimal time and financial

investment: an average of four hours a month and a few hundred dollars to get started. Above all, they produce wonderful, abundant honey, which is a much healthier sweetener than the highly refined sugar products now ubiquitous in processed food and on grocery store shelves. Eating unfiltered, raw honey from your imme-diate locale is also widely thought to help with seasonal allergies. Furthermore, when stored in airtight containers, honey has a shelf life of a few thousand years. Beekeepers at Mill Creek and Greensgrow Farms will tell you that their homegrown honey often sells out within weeks of harvesting. With the adaptability of beekeep-ing, Philadelphia could easily fulfill all of its own demand for honey.

Honeybees provide other useful products as well. The wax used for comb construction can be harvested along with the honey and has countless uses ranging from candlemaking and cosmetics to batik and moustache wax. After the honey is harvested from the comb, it can be placed in a nylon stocking or fine mesh bag and boiled very briefly to remove impurities, such as dirt and larval casings. The impurities remain in the stocking, which can then be removed, and the wax solidifies on top of the water as it cools. The wax can be melted again and poured into molds to make candles, or combined with other ingredients to make soap. Having a surplus of honey around can also provide an easy avenue into the art of home brewing; mead, wine made from honey, is a very simple and delicious al-coholic beverage easily tackled by folks new to the craft. Propolis, an anti-microbial substance the bees use to seal and sterilize their hives, has a long history of being used medicinally in the treatment of colds, sore throats, aching teeth and the flu.

Our recent urban beekeeping survey and tour revealed that the majority of Philly’s two dozen or so beekeepers started within the last five years. Why? We know that bees are essential pollina-

tors for gardens, farms and orchards. Other than wind-pollinated corn, the vast majority of our vegetable, fruit and nut crops are highly dependent on bees for pollination. Commercial beekeepers rent out their hives all across the country, moving as the harvesting season changes. In recent years, these “rental” hives have been devastated by Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon in which a hive’s worker bees suddenly disappear en masse. No one knows for sure what causes it, but home scale beekeepers have been almost entirely unaffected and there have been no reports of CCD within the Philadelphia beekeeping community. That seems to point to a correlation between the stresses of commercial beekeeping and CCD (kind of like the problems associated with factory farming). Considering the vital role bees play in pollination, relocalization of beekeeping may be vital to the future of our food production.

become a Philly beekeeper

What’s the Buzz?

by phil forsyth & micah woodcock

Relocalization of beekeeping may be vital to the future of our food production.

/how-to

below backyard beekeepers in germantown inspect a healthy bee frame

9august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

and should be conducted weekly during the spring when risk of swarming is highest. This is of particular importance in the city. As much as everyone loves bees (even if they don’t know it yet), having a swarm of thousands hanging from a telephone pole in front of your house might make some people a bit nervous. As the season progresses, inspections need not happen as frequently.

5 extract your honey and beeswax. The simplest method of harvesting honey from the hive is to cut out sections of comb and eat it! If you want liquid honey, you can cut out the comb, crush it and strain it to separate the wax from the honey. The most common means of harvest-ing honey, both commercially and by hobbyist beekeepers, is an electric or hand crank extrac-tor. Cut a thin layer of beeswax cappings from the surface of a full frame, then place multiple frames in the extractor, and spin rapidly to re-move the honey. This method will allow you to harvest honey without crushing the comb, which can be made into other products or returned to the hive for reuse by the bees. Extraction is often done twice a year and typically involves a full day’s work. An extractor costs between $350 and $800, but can often be shared or borrowed from beekeeping groups. ■+

recommended reading: The Backyard Beekeeper, Kim Flottum and Natural Beekeeping, Ross Conrad. more info: beesource.com, bushfarms.com, biobees.com, anarchyapiaries.org

for around $250. Assembling your hive will take several days of work. Alternatively, a more rustic top bar hive (an older form still commonly used in the tropics) can be built for as little as $7.

To get into your hives, you’ll want to spend another $50 or so on the following supplies:

Smoker (burns leaves or pine needles to mask alarm pheromones and suppress stinging)

Hive tool → (a useful implement for opening hive bodies and moving frames)Bee veil → (a mosquito net works just fine to protect the face)

A starter colony of bees, including a queen, will cost about $100.

4 inspect your hive regularly. After lightly smoking the entrance, open the hive and closely examine each frame for the following:

Adequate room → for the rearing of brood and the storage of food (nectar, pollen, honey) as the season progresses and the hive in-creases in size. Add frames and hive bodies as necessary. Enough nectar and pollen → coming into the hive throughout the season and going into winter. It is sometimes necessary to supple-ment their food supply with sugar. Health of the laying queen → and signs of hive diseases or pests that may require interven-tion on the part of the beekeeper.Signs that the hive may be preparing to swarm. →

Bees instinctively like to swarm—it’s how they perpetuate the species. If not preempt-ed by the keeper, a large number of bees will leave with the queen to start a new hive.

A hive inspection typically takes 15-30 minutes

➊ location, location, location. You can keep bees in your backyard or on your rooftop, and at community gardens, urban farms, public gar-dens and schools. 2 nothing beats learning from someone experienced. If you don’t happen to know any beekeepers, you can connect by taking classes or attending meetings of Beekeeping Associations. Neighboring Montgomery County (montcobee-keepers.org) and Chester County (chescobees.org) both have established groups. PASA is hosting a class, “A Taste of the Extracting and Bottling Process for a Small Honey Business,” on Tues-day, August 11 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Greenstone Gardens and Apiary in Malvern, PA. For more information, go to pasafarming.org. Also, a South-eastern Pennsylvania Honey Bee Symposium is being held November 10 at the Temple Ambler Campus. Visit the Montgomery County site for more information.

3 acquire equipment, supplies and bees. To build a Langstroth style hive, the most com-mon type of hive, you will need:

6-8 hive bodies or supers → (stacked boxes that contain the hive)9-10 frames per hive body → (rectangles of wood that hold the honeycomb)Wax foundations → (pre-made hexagonal framework to get the bees started)Bottom board and outer cover → (to protect the hive from the elements)All of this can be mail-ordered from vendors

like the Walter T. Kelley Company (kelleybees.com) or acquired from local beekeeping groups

how to join Philly’s beekeeping revolution

Far leFt micah’s rustic top bar hive Floating Honey from mill creek Farm leFt

colorful signage at mill creek Farm in West philly below mill creek bees at work

10 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

4th Annual GreenFest PhillySunday, September 13

11am-6pm2nd and South Streets

greenfestphilly.org

Join more than 200 exhibitors and 25,000 patrons

in Philadelphia’s largest & most visible “green” event!

**This year’s theme is sustainable FOOD**

ORGANIC, Chemical Free & Non-GMO BUYING LOCALLY vegetarian, VEGAN, or free-range DIET

Write down everything you eat for 3 days and get a FREE consultation with a nutritionist!

Learn about the impact our food choices have on the environment from the green leaders in the Organic Food Industry at our Food Symposium. Come and try some of the eco-friendly foods available. Find out

how easy it is for you to grow your own food- even if you are living in a studio apartment in Center City!

GreenFest Philly is looking for interns, VOLUNTEERS, and SPONSORS & is currently accepting applications for EXHIBITORS. To get involved: email jen bendik at greenfest@urbangreenpartnership.org or call 215-764-6182.

We look forward to partnering with you to make a GREENER Philadelphia!

11august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.comillustration by j.p. Flexner

Philadelphians have been conditioned to prepare for a typical hot and humid summer. Windows are filled with those ubiquitous boxes that crank out cold salvation for us

city dwellers. Perhaps this is the year you decided to upgrade your old energy-sucking air conditioner to a newer, Energy Star-rated unit. According to their website (energystar.gov), if everyone switched to a more efficient cooling device, it would prevent 1.3 billion pounds of greenhouse emissions. Additional good news: You’re helping to con-serve energy during one of the peak electrical consumption periods of the year. The bad news: You now have an old air conditioner on your hands.

Air Conditioner

Window air conditioning units contain Freon, a refrigerant created by DuPont in the 1930s for refrigerators and other cooling apparatus. After Freon chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were shown to deplete the ozone layer in the ’80s, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) were used as interim replace-ments. Although HCFCs cause less damage to the ozone layer, the eventual replacement will be hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have no known effects. In the ’90s, almost all Freon CFC uses were phased out, but it

is still illegal to release Freon into the atmo-sphere. Proper disposal is required to make sure this doesn’t happen.

For air conditioners that still work, con-sider donating them to a local shelter, day care or summer camp, or use freecycle.org or craigslist.org to find a sweaty Philadelphian who will take that air conditioner off your hands.

For non-functioning air conditioners, the first step is getting the Freon removed from the unit responsibly. There is usually a small disposal fee for this, but our ozone layer is worth it. Both Northeast Philadelphia-

based Safe Disposal (7333 Milnor St., 215-332-3134) and Recycle

Metals Corporation (407 Alan Wood Rd., Con-

shohocken, 610-828-5553) remove Freon

from appliances. Once the Freon is re-

moved, you can take the unit to most

scrap metal yards for recy-cling. Recycle

Metals Corpo-ration is a one-stop

shop that will remove the Freon and accept the

unit for recycling, and a quick search on earth911.org will yield you a wealth of scrap metal re-sults. Call first to

make sure they ac-cept all metals. ■+

We’ll be at Greenfest Philly!

Will you?Now in its 4th year - Greenfest Philly

is Philadelphia’s biggest annual street festival for all things

green - this year that relates to Sustainable Food!

Visit SCA Americas’ booth at Greenfest Philly on September 13th!

www.greenfestphilly.org

SCA makes Tork® towel, tissue and napkin products and TENA® bladder

control protection solutions

Our products are essential and improve the quality of everyday life.

Our strong commitment to

sustainable practices has been recognized worldwide.

Together, let’s make Philadelphia

The Greenest City in America.

SCA Americas, Cira Centre, Suite 2600, 2929 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19104

610-499-3700 www.sca.com

Proud manufacturer of Towel, Tissue, Napkin and Personal Care products

by samantha wittchen

12 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

“It is happening, and the numbers prove it,” says Andrew Auwerda, president of Philadel-phia Distilling (PD), about the growth of craft distilling.

Auwerda has more than just his own belief in his business going for him, though; his com-pany’s flagship liquor, Bluecoat gin, just won the 2009 Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Made with mostly organic ingredients, including the juniper ber-ries that give gin its dry kick, Bluecoat is both homage to Philly’s revolutionary past and a very flavorful and smooth spirit. Its fragrant smell, and iconic deep blue bottle with gold lettering exude class.

“People really like the spirit,” says Auwerda of the gin, which is now distributed in 20 states and two foreign countries. “They like the taste and the idea of a spirit like Bluecoat coming from Philly.”

If you’re looking for a truly local spirit, they

also feature the Penn 1681 rye vodka (the date commemorates the year when King Charles II signed the charter for the Pennsylvania colony). Made from locally-sourced organic rye, 1681 is smooth and crisp, perfect for sipping or mixing at your next green event.

“We were asked by so many people to make vodka, and we think it has the most relevance to sell it in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey,” Auwerda says of their decision to only distribute the vodka locally.

Pennsylvania farmers use rye as a cover crop, meaning it helps maintain good soil, among oth-er things. So, in a way, the more shots you down, the more you help our local farmland.

Everything at PD is made in small batches to preserve quality and freshness. Bluecoat is made in a unique copper still designed for the company, and Penn 1681 is distilled four times, so only the most pure elements make it into the bottle.

The decision to create an absinthe (the first to be legally made in this area for over 100 years), though, speaks more to the company’s commit-ment to stand out in the liquor world. “We like to zig when other companies zag,” Auwerda boasts. “For Robert [Cassell, master distiller], absinthe is like a master’s degree. It’s challenging.” Another Double Gold Medal at the World Spirits Com-petition for their Vieux Carré absinthe shows that, for PD, it really isn’t much of a problem. (And if you like the flavors of anise and fennel—not to mention pretending to be a 19th century bohemian—you should give it a try).

All of PD’s offerings are available at liquor stores throughout Philly, and they are planning on expanding into the beloved land of brown liquors within the next five years. Meanwhile, they’re happy just carving out a special place in Philly’s local drinking history. “We believe in the Buy Local movement,” says Auwerda. “Don’t all of those people deserve a local, green spirit?” ■+

Bluecoat gin and Penn 1681 rye vodka are available at all state stores; Vieux Carré absinthe is available at Premium Collection stores like 1913 Chestnut St., 724 South St. and 1940 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. Or, ask for them at your local watering hole.

Philly Distilledthe city’s first craft distillery hopes to replicate beer’s success by Will Dean

Craft beer has transformed the drinking scene in Philly over the past decade, growing from a niche tipple to a fixture at most bars. Now, the more rarefied—or just more determined at getting drunk

faster—world of craft spirits is hoping for the same luck. At least, it will if five-year-old, award-winning Philadelphia Distilling has anything to say about how you spend your Friday nights out.

profile Vieux carré absinthe, Bluecoat gin and penn 1681

rye vodka, distilled in the northeast, photographed at

the sidecar Bar & grille at 22nd and christian sts.

pHoto by lucas HarDison

13august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

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Sept 2 - 13$20–$30 ($15 for students) 50 minutesThe Pool at The Gershman YBroad + Pine Streets

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redesign

The Science of Retrofittingone of the oldest museums in the country strives to become more efficent by will dean

When a fire broke out at the Wagner Free Institute of Science last February, they decided it was

time to do something about their 100-year-old heating system.

“Right now we have one steam boiler and it will be replaced by four high-efficiency boilers,” says Museum Educator and Communications Coordinator Lauren Zalut. “Before, we had no zone control, and because of problems with the system, it would be 40 degrees in some sections during the winter.”

Like the heating system, the Wagner building is old, and has the unique distinction of having its permanent collection being unchanged since the early 20th century. This makes part of the museum a museum about Victorian science mu-seums (if that’s not too confusing). The Wagner has a natural history section with thousands of preserved specimens, a research library chroni-cling the history of science, and it looks just like it did 100 years ago.

Despite its focus on the past, though, the mu-seum is concerned with present issues. “Being a science museum, we [present] information about climate change and we want to stay relevant,” Zalut says of the Wagner’s efficiency upgrade.

The museum also stays current with lecture se-ries on new topics in science, like the Colony Col-lapse Disorder that recently decimated bee popu-lations, and hosts free adult science classes on the weekends and evenings on everything from botany to paleontology. The Wagner also funds the award-winning GeoKids science education program with four Philly schools.

With their focus on retaining their turn-of-the-century look and design, upgrading the building up to LEED standards—the Wagner’s eventual goal—presents unique problems. “We’re trying to be a model of how to retrofit a small historical site without changing the look,” says Zalut. “But it’ll take a long time.”

For now, the Wagner is upgrading their fire-starter heating system, which will save a lot of energy and keep the building warmer, instituting a recycling program and using a worm bin com-poster (fed by employees’ scraps) as a demon-stration to visitors. Over the years, the museum intends to retrofit the whole building to make it more efficient, and hopefully no one will notice a single change. ■+Wagner Free Institute of Science,1700 W. Montgomery Ave., 215-763-6529, wagnerfreeinstitute.org

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william wagner founded this natural history museum in the mid-nineteenth century to provide free science education to the people of philadelphia.

16 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

try thatsecondhand

Conscious consumers are spending wisely, and don’t compromise on quality

by stephanie singer

17august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

try thatsecondhand

For more and more of us, saving money and reducing ex-penses has become a priority. The surprise that many people are learning is that a low budget does not necessarily mean you need to skimp on quality. In fact, shopping secondhand often means discovering living artifacts from the not-too-distant past, when furniture wasn’t designed to be left behind when you moved. Beyond the appeal of owning quality, buying secondhand is an excellent opportunity to differentiate your home. A particularly unique piece will add a spark that you can’t get off-the-shelf, and then struggle to assemble with an Allen wrench and glue.

Feelin’ CraFty?While there are times when the perfect piece emerges from secondhand shopping, other items require imagination, creativity and a little industry. By adding paint, stains, fabric or something as simple as new knobs, you can personalize your find in a way you never thought possible. A recent project of mine was taking a table left on the street and covering it in a mosaic of discarded broken tiles from the outlets on Washing-ton Avenue by 22nd Street. Glue and grout cost less than $10, but the final product is, as they say, priceless.

If you feel inspired by a piece that needs new fabric, then head to historic Fabric Row (4th St. between Bainbridge and Cath-erine). Looking for something a bit more modern? Try Spool (1912 South St., 215-545-0755). They even offer classes or one-on-one support to help you create your own instead of buying it ready-made.

Perhaps projects like these don’t fit into your busy life or skill set. Don’t worry—there are locals who can help. Mike Piontko of Rejuvenated Furniture & Finds (7430 Frankford Ave., 215-624-

2707) in the Northeast started his business seven years ago after experiencing frustra-tion shopping for durable, stylish furniture for his kids’ rooms at an affordable price. “I checked thrift stores and everything seemed to need work. I was really looking for some-thing that was ready to put in my home.”

Catherine Cifonelli, of Behind Closed Doors (752 S. 4th St., 215-238-9055) also saw opportunity in this market. She uses her tal-ent to reupholster shabby old furniture into something “new” and fabulous with design-er fabric. “They don’t make furniture like they used to,” Cifonelli says, so she seeks out older pieces with quality craftsmanship and intricate design.

Do your researChCraigslist.org, the free classified ad website that has revolutionized buying and selling, is a great place to start. Go to the “for sale” section on Philadelphia’s page and refine your search by using keywords like “dresser” or “pine” to find the item you’re seeking. You can often name your own price. Selling is just as easy—simply upload pictures of your items for sale. No luck selling before your move? No need to trash it, just post under “free” and let others know what you have and where it will be sitting on the curb. Bye-bye, futon!

For those of you who enjoy the in-person shopping experi-ence, you can click the garage sale link to see where random

sidewalk vending is for that day. All of the big Philly flea markets are always posted here. (The Uhuru Flea Market at Clark Park is on Saturday, August 8, starting at 7 a.m.) Or push your stuff on your corner and post the hours that you’ll be outside. Take the extra step and organize a multi-family yard sale with your neighbors. Chances are the collective selling will drive more foot traffic your way.

Whether you find yourself as a seller, buyer or perhaps both, the secondhand economy provides an outlet for commu-nity exchange. I’ll bet you 50 cents that you find something you love. ■+

the quest began two months before my sister’s wedding. I wanted to buy her the perfect gift, but unfortunately

I was in a personal recession, between jobs and with shrinking funds. I decided to try my luck finding something used. Every weekend I scavenged flea markets and garage sales. Weeks went by, and though I saw plenty of treasures, I was beginning to lose hope. ¶ That’s when I saw it: a wrought iron Singer logo from an old, disassembled sewing machine table. Singer is my family’s name, and very soon it would be my sister’s maiden name. I gave the seller a dollar; he gave me the beautiful piece of iron and my 50 cents change. As you might imagine, this symbolically rich gift brought tears to my sister’s eyes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

shopping secondhand often means discovering living artifacts from the not-too-distant past, when furniture wasn’t designed to be left behind when you moved.

recommends these local

secondhand stores:oliver’s antiques → 2052 Fairmount Ave., 215-232-8377 uhuru Furniture & collectibles → 1220 Spruce St., 215-546-9616antiquarian's delight → 615 S. 6th St., 215-592-0256reStore → 3016 E. Thompson St., 215-634-3474Philadelphia → aidS thrift 514 Bainbridge St., 215-922-3186the 2nd mile center → 214 S. 45th St., 215-662-1663gilbert’s upholstery →

& antique gallery 4529 Frankford Ave, 215-744-5385 green Pad living → greenpadliving.com

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GReeninGthe wAy

The urban Appalachian

Trail is coming through Philly

by will dean

19august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

“We think of it as the opposite of the Appalachian Trail, which has only one use,” says Michael Oliva, Mid-Atlantic Trail Coordinator. “This is an urban Appalachian Trail, for all types of non-motorized users.”

Anything without a gas engine is welcome on the Green-way, including bikes, wheelchairs, skateboards, rollerblades, horses (on some sections) and even that dorkiest of all methods of travel, Segways.

More than just an alternative way of getting around, though, the Greenway is a blueprint for a different kind of travel. In the way the interstate system defined America’s mid-20th cen-tury expansion and car culture, the Greenway hopes to make it easier for people to give up their internal combustion friends in favor of something, well, for lack of a better word, greener.

a highway without carSTwenty-two percent of the Greenway is completed nationally, which means that it is paved and free of motorized vehicular traffic. Forty percent is complete in the mid-Atlantic area, which includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Maryland.

It is possible to bike along a route laid out by the East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGA), the umbrella group that is organiz-ing the entire effort, but it means a lot of travel on some often very busy roads. The ECGA has a route available on its website with tips on how to make the entire trip. Recently, a couple on recumbent bikes completed the trail in 55 days.

However, the Greenway isn’t just for the long-distance trek-ker; it’s designed for the everyday use of residents who live along it.

“It’s not only the tourist; it’s not only the weekend warrior; it’s not only the recreational user—it’s also the commuters—people can use it to go to work,” says Spencer Finch, who has worked on Pennsylvania’s section of Greenway trails for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC).

To help urban residents get around—and to showcase the Greenway to the large groups of people focused in cities—the route will go through all the major metropolitan areas on the east coast, including New York City, Washington, D.C. and Phil-ladelphia.

For people without cars, the Greenway could be a way of getting around quickly without the danger of riding on roads dominated by fast-moving tons of metal and plastic.

According to Oliva, “It’s especially important in urban areas that people have access to a path to go to work, to get groceries and things like that.”

Although that will probably sound outlandish to many in Philly—where it sometimes seems like bikers, drivers and pedestrians have formed armed camps against one another—Finch takes the long view.

“We don’t have to convince anyone,” he insists. “It’s like any trend—you have the early adopters and they’re already out there, and unfortunately, those are some of the people getting run over by cars and buses in accidents, but just in the past few years we’ve seen a huge increase in people biking to work. There’s a lot more people wanting to do it, but they’re scared of competing for space with cars.”

For its proponents, the first step to encourage the use of a sys-tem like the Greenway is to build it. To paraphrase the famous line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will bike it.”

“When you start providing better services, like bike lanes that are buffered from traffic, as they have in some parts of New York, then you’ll get my mom and my little nieces and nephews to go biking,” Finch says. “They’ll go bike to the store for some milk, go bike to work, go bike to the park. It’ll happen. Where you provide the services, people will use them.”

The Greenway imagines a way of traveling where alternative modes of transport aren’t just painted in as afterthought, like bike lanes with speeding cars on one side and parked ones on the other (where a hastily opened door can end your ride [↘]

if you run across someone who has biked across the country, or even across state lines, one of your first thoughts might be of admiration—both for

the difficulty of such an endeavor and for the uniqueness of it. A long-distance bicycle trip is kind of a novelty, only ventured by a few hardcore cyclists. On the east coast, though, that might change. ¶ The East Coast Greenway is a planned trail system connecting Calais, ME with Key West, FL. In total, the Greenway will span almost 3,000 miles and provide a safe and reasonably quick way for people to travel along the east coast without motors. And it’s not just for sightseeing and long trips—the designers of this massive road-but-not-a-road envision people using it for everyday travel.

20 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

pretty quickly). The Greenway wants roads that are offset from car and truck traffic, but

allow for quick and necessary travel (work, errands, etc.). And it wants to run that kind

of travel right through the city.

right through the center The Greenway enters Pennsylvania around Morrisville (right by Trenton, NJ) and travels along the Delaware through Levit-town, Tullytown and Bristol until it enters

the city at Poquessing Creek. The future trail will go along the riverfront until it reaches

Center City. There, the planners had an audacious thought: bring the trail through the busiest section of

the city and out to Cobbs Creek.At the East Coat Greenway Summit, held in Philly on May

8, the presenters talked about three possible routes to bring the Greenway through Center City. Spring Garden was chosen as the present route, because it’s wide and has existing bike lanes. Mere bike lanes, though, aren’t enough for the scope of the Greenway. Proponents want to use this opportunity to leverage change in Philly’s traffic system.

First up is another of the proposed routes: Spruce and Pine. These streets currently have two traffic lanes and space for parking. One plan is to convert one of the traffic lanes on each street into a buffered bike lane, meaning there would be a median between the traffic and the bike lanes, while re-taining a parking lane and sidewalk space. The city will be

undertaking this in August—probably by the time you read this—by repainting one of the lanes into a bike lane. Next year a buffered bike lane could be added, using existing repavement funds .

In the interim, Finch and others want to move the bike lanes on Spring Garden to the center of the street and have

a buffer median between them and traffic lanes.The ideal route, though, would travel along Market Street

and the Ben Franklin Parkway, connecting riders to muse-ums and other cultural attractions. This route would involve extensive changes to Market and the Parkway, which means confronting both bureaucratic headaches and the ire of Philly’s motorists (neither a group to treat lightly).

If completed, the plan—which includes buffered bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and plenty of trees—would be the first of its kind in any major metropolitan area in the US, and a symbol of Philly’s commitment to being the greenest city in America. Could it really happen here, though?

“New York did it on Broadway,” says Oliva, referring to the creation of buffered bike lanes and a pedestrian mall on the famous—and busy—New York avenue. “With the right politi-cal will, it can happen quickly.”

barrierS and beneFitSIn Pennsylvania, almost 20 percent of the Greenway is complete, but in reality much of it is bogged down by obstruc-tions. A high embankment, a railway crossing, a busy highway and a recalcitrant land owner are among the different hurdles the trail faces.

Enormous amounts of planning go into every mile of the Greenway, and each section requires different approaches and different partners.

In most of the northern sections of the Pennsylvania trail, it follows the old Delaware Canal, which the state administers. In those sections, the state already has the right of way, so it’s just a matter of getting funding, most of which comes from state conservancy departments and the federal Department of Transportation.

Another obstruction near US Route 13 in Bristol caused a bit of local controversy because the original plan to cross the highway involved building a tunnel, which locals thought could lead to an increase in muggings.

The tunnel plan has been changed to a bridge, but it’s just those kind of small problems, considering the size of the entire project, that can stall something like the Greenway.

“You have to have a lot of patience,” says Finch. “You have to be able to talk to a lot of different people and address their concerns. Sometimes, though, people are already doing things and tell us to go away, which is great.”

The benefits the Greenway can bring, though, are enough to keep up the spirits of the faciliatators. In addition to the travel elements, the trail creation is a way to bring improve-ments to underserved areas. In North Philly, the trail will turn abandoned industrial areas into green spaces, and includes the creation of a new park in Tacony, the first added to the Fairmount system in several decades.

PEC is currently working on adding a Greenway section to Southwest Philly along 58th Street to help connect the trail from Grays Ferry Avenue to Cobbs Creek. The area will in-volve the creation of a buffered bike lane and the planting of new trees.

“Southwest Philly is one of the poorest, most underserved communities; they have almost no green space to speak of,” says Finch. “Someone who wants to open a store there might think, ‘maybe not,’ but then they see the strip of green and take another look at the strip mall near our 58th Street con-nector.”

The Greenway will also connect with other existing trails out into the suburbs of the city, perfect for commuting to work or visiting historical sites like Valley Forge.

“We can start connecting people from Delaware County and Darby to commute to work in University City or Center City,” says Finch.

Organizations like PEC and the national coalition have been

Spine Route

Alternate Route

LEGEND the east coast greenway is a planned trail system connecting

calais, me with key west, Fl. In total, the Greenway will span almost 3,000 miles and provide a safe and

reasonably quick way for people to travel along the east coast without motors.

the lack of bicycle parking racks is obvious around much of philadel-phia; not only in front of commer-cial storefronts, but inside office buildings as well. this bike parking shortage makes biking to work or other destinations difficult, but addi-tionally, it leads to more bike theft. in 2008, when Kryptonite locks released its list of top 10 bike theft cities, philadelphia won the dubious distinction of being the nation’s number one. Despite the lack of enough bike parking, bicycling as a mode of transportation is growing by leaps and bounds in philadel-phia. in fact, the bicycle coalition of greater philadelphia found that

bicycling doubled within a three year period from 2005 to 2008.

the bicycle coalition also docu-mented in 2008 how many public and private venues have either no (pennsylvania Hospital), too little (art institute of philadelphia), or poor-quality (temple university center city) bicycle parking. phila-delphia’s bicycle parking shortage is evident to anyone walking around commercial corridors and restau-rant rows. bikes are chained to trees, poles or gates, or doubled up on every available sidewalk inverted u rack.

tackling the city’s bike parking shortage requires a two-pronged

solution: first, to convince public and private property owners to install more bicycle racks through-out the city; and second, to require any new construction to create bike parking spaces as part of their building permit. this latter strategy was adopted by other cities with progressive zoning codes, including new york city, chicago, Washing-ton, D.c., portland, or, and arling-ton and alexandria, va. philadelphia joined its peer cities this past may when the city council unanimously passed bill #090190. the bill, intro-duced by councilwoman blondell reynolds brown, councilman james F. Kenney and councilman curtis jones jr., was developed by the nutter administration in conjunction with the bicycle coali-tion through the pedestrian/bicycle plan steering committee, which is charged with revising and updating the city’s pedestrian/bicycle plan (due out in 2010).

the new zoning amendment, which will go into effect january 1, 2010, amends the parking sec-tion of the zoning code by creating three classes of bicycle parking spaces according to how they protect against theft and inclement weather, and requiring that bicycle parking spaces (in numbers accord-ing to how large the uses are) be provided by:

all non-residential uses with →

gross floor area larger than 7,500 square feet multiple-family dwellings when 12 →

or more are provided on a lot public parking lots →

low-occupancy facilities with six →

or more employees

the code also allows owners that provide sheltered (class 1) bicycle parking spaces to reduce the number of off-street automobile parking spaces that they are re-quired to provide by one for every five bike spaces provided on a lot, with a maximum reduction of 10 percent.

it’s encouraging that, going forward, any applicable develop-ment or construction project that pulls a building permit will have to install bike parking spaces. this guarantees that bike parking will no longer be an afterthought, but a key feature of philadelphia’s archi-tectural landscape. this new zon-ing code amendment contributed to philadelphia winning a bronze award for being a bicycle Friendly community from the league of american bicyclists in july, and that is an important step toward making philadelphia the “greenest city in america.”

Park That BikePhilly struggles with bike parking by sarah clark stuart

working on the Greenway for a long time, and will be working on it for much longer. “The Appalachian trail took 80 years,” notes Oliva.

After the planning summit in May, Mayor Nutter joined at-tendees for a bike ride along the path of the Greenway. The ride went along the Schuylkill from Locust to Eakins Oval and onto Spring Garden (although Nutter only rode for a few minutes before stopping for a photo op and then leaving).

Nutter was a fan of the Greenway plan, especially since almost all of the funding comes from state, federal and private sources and not the city, and the different routes through the city mesh with his promises to make Philly more bike-friendly.

On the trip along Spring Garden, though, some motorists yelled at large groups of bikers for blocking right hand

turns while crossing intersections, and other perceived slights. That reaction demonstrates both the existent antagonism be-tween the differing modes of transport in Philly and the in-adequacies of our present bike infrastructure.

All the more reason to add the Greenway to the city, accord-ing to Finch. “Wouldn’t you love to have a greenway right at your doorstep?” •

greenway signage in central washington, d.c. the national mall is the official mid-point of the east coast greenway.

without proper bike parking,

this could be your bike remains.

21gr i dPh i lly.comaugust 2009

22 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

/fire in the kitchen

6 cups water1 bunch scallions, chopped roughly2 sprigs rosemary2 sprigs thyme3 stalks celery, chopped roughly 3 carrots, chopped roughly 1 jalapeno, seeded and cut in half 2 bulbs garlic, with tops cut off3 lbs. tomatoes olive oil, about 2 tbsp. salt and pepper, to taste1 cup red wine (optional)

JalaPeño yogurt2 cups pequea valley plain yogurt 1 jalapeño, seeded a finely minced juice from one lime

(Be very careful when handling the jalapeno peppers, avoid any contact with your eyes and wash your hands thoroughly).

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup with Jalapeño Yogurt

fire in the kitchenwith Ashley Jerome

terhune orchardsThe tomatoes used in this recipe come from a farm in Princeton that offers a variety of twen-ty-two different heirlooms. Take a drive north on a beautiful summer day and shop at their onsite market for fruits and vegetables. In August, they offer educational programs for parents and chil-dren called Read and Pick, where stories are read to children about a particular fruit or vegetable and afterward, then they pick their own (check their website for details). Terhune Orchards not only has delicious, ripe heirloom tomatoes, but it is also a fun family destination not too far from home. 330 Cold Soil Rd., Princeton, NJ; 609-924-2310; terhuneorchards.com

Pequea valley Farms Plain yogurtStraight from Lancaster county, this smooth and rich yogurt is made from the milk from grass-fed Jersey cows. Using all natural in-gredients, these yogurts come in different flavors including vanilla, maple, strawberry and blue-berry. It’s also perfect breakfast treat with a little bit of granola. Pick yours up at any Metropolitan Bakery location or the Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market. 116-D S. Ronks Rd., Ronks, PA; 717-687-6592.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring the first ��seven ingredients to a boil, then simmer. Let re-duce by half. This takes roughly one hour.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut-side ��down on a baking pan with the garlic, cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Put in oven for one hour.

While you wait, prepare the jalapeno yogurt. ��Simply mix all ingredients and refrigerate, un-covered.

When the stock is finished, remove from ��heat, drain out the vegetables and reserve the stock.

In a large stock pot add the roasted garlic and ��some of the residual oil from pan containing the tomatoes. On high heat combine the vegetables and wine. Add the tomatoes and stir for about five minutes. Add the stock and bring to a sim-mer for about 20-30 minutes. Blend in a food processor, blender or a hand blender. Serve hot or cold, with a dollop of yogurt in the middle.

23august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

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24 august 2009g r idP h illy.com pHoto by lucas HarDison

Simply Summerenjoy the bounty of the warmest part of the year with this simple and delicious local meal recipes by Nicole Wolverton and Allison Kelsey of FarmtoPhilly.com

[salad]

Uzbek Tomato & Onion Salad1 pint large cherry tomatoes

(or three big slicing tomatoes)3 large spring onions (or one medium onion)2 sprigs fresh dill (or one tsp. dried)¼ tsp. salt¼ tsp. ground chili pepper

(can be new mexico, turkish, aleppo)⅛¼ tsp. ground cumin fresh chives, snipped

Slice the tomatoes and onion thinly, includ-��ing the green part of the onion. (If you wish, you can mellow the raw onion by soaking the slices in cold water for 15 minutes.) Chop the dill. Mix salt, chili and cumin together. Combine all the in-gredients and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with snipped chives.

[appetizer]

Fresh Sage Gougères½ cup water3 tbsp. unsalted local butter

[green meadow Farm]½ tsp. salt4 tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour

(Fair Food Farmstand)4 tbsp. white pastry flour

(Fair Food Farmstand)2 fresh local eggs (countryside organics)3 oz. hard, sharp local cheese

(lesher from Keswick creamery)4 tbsp. fresh sage, thinly sliced, then

chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the wa-��ter, two tablespoons of butter and salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter melts. In a small bowl, combine the flours and

empty into the saucepan. Whisk quickly, until the mixture forms a loose ball that pulls away from the side of the pan. Continue to stir over low heat for another minute, then remove from the stove. Empty the dough back into your flour bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet and add the sage. Stir well and cook over medium heat until the sage becomes slightly crispy.

Add one beaten egg to the dough, mixing en-��tirely, and then add the next egg. Add the cheese and the fried sage, mixing well. Place the dough in a pastry bag or a sealable bag with one corner cut. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper then pipe the dough out onto the sheets. Make each gougère about two inches in diam-eter, and leave at least an inch of space between each puff.

Place the cookie sheets in the oven and bake ��for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the gougères from the oven and immediately pierce them in the side with a small, sharp knife to release the

/ farm to philly

25august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

steam. Serve immediately, or reheat for five min-utes before serving in a 350 degree oven.

[main course]

Dutch Oven-Roasted Pork Shoulder1 2 lb. pork shoulder (pork butt, boston butt)

boned or bone-in (country time Farm) For the rub1 ½ tsp. kosher salt½ tsp. pepper2 tbsp. marjoram, tightly packed (red earth

Farm)2 cloves garlic For the Sauce1 tbsp. marjoram, chopped and tightly

packed (red earth Farm)½ cup white wine or dry vermouth

the night beFore:

Make the rub for the pork shoulder. Finely ��chop the marjoram leaves. Using the flat side of a chef’s knife, smash the garlic. With a mortar and pestle, combine the marjoram, garlic, salt, and pepper, and grind into a paste. Rub all over the pork shoulder, cover and refrigerate overnight. the day oF:

Arrange the racks of the oven to make enough ��clearance for the Dutch oven, and preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Remove the pork shoulder from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature as the oven preheats.

Place the pork shoulder in the Dutch oven ��and cover. Alternately, you could use a deep baking dish tightly covered in aluminum foil. Cook for three to three-and-a-half hours. Allow for variations in time based upon the size of the pork shoulder and the presence or absence of the bone. Look for the meat to be nearly falling apart or, in some cases, falling away from the bone. Remove from the Dutch oven, place on a serving dish and cover with foil.

Pour the pan juices into a tempered glass ��bowl and refrigerate the bowl for 15 minutes, al-lowing the juices to separate. Remove the bowl and spoon off half of the fat that has risen to the top.

Place the Dutch oven over medium-high ��heat and pour in the wine, scraping at the bot-tom of the Dutch oven to remove any browned bits. Add the pan juices and marjoram, and stir. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens. When it is sufficiently thick, you should be able to drag a spoon through it and see the bottom of the pan in its wake. Pour some of the sauce over the shoulder and the rest in a gravy boat, and serve.

[side dish]

Simple Oven- Roasted Potatoes2 lbs. waxy potatoes (new, fingerling, etc.)

(culton organics)4 cloves garlic, peeled2-3 sprigs of rosemary (red earth Farm)3 tbsp. olive oil salt and pepper, to taste

Wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized ��pieces. (The exact dimensions of “bite-size” are less important than the uniformity of the cut-ting.) Place the potatoes in a pot of cold, salted water. Bring the pot to a boil and continue for five minutes. Meanwhile, remove the rosemary leaves from the sprigs. Drain the potatoes and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cover the ��bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. (The pan should be big enough to fit all of the potatoes in a single layer without overcrowding.) Add the potatoes, garlic cloves, rosemary, and salt and pepper. Stir to coat.

Cook for 20 minutes. Remove, stir and cook ��for an additional 15-20 minutes. The potatoes should have a golden brown crust. A note on timing: To cook this dish concurrently with the pork shoulder, have the potatoes boiled, mixed with the other ingredients and spread in the pan. As soon as the pork is removed from the oven, set the temperature for the potatoes. Then, con-tinue preparing the pan juices as the roast sits covered in foil. ■+

a casual, affordable, neighborhood

belgian brasserie

Full menu availlable‘til 1 AM nightly

200+ world-classbottled beers

No Crap On Tap!

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“The Soul of Belgium in the Heart

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Tom Peters and Fergus Carey, proprietors

serving fine Belgian

ales since 1985

26 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

Eat a Plant, Save the Planetreduce your footprint by changing your diet

Choosing a vegan (or vegetarian) diet has a positive im-pact on our health and environment. Summertime provides a fresh opportunity for us to enjoy our garden gifts in a myriad of

meatless ways. Try this vegan recipe below. recipe by dynise balcavage

Mix any vegetable with a prop-er al aglio e olio sauce (best quality extra-virgin olive oil slowly infused

with plenty of fresh garlic) and you have perfec-tion on a plate. It’s a breeze to prepare—a real plus during August’s steamy dog days when no one wants to spend excessive time in the kitchen. Al aglio e olio dishes are especially fun for cooks who like to improvise. You can use

virtually any vegetable you like here, mixing and matching depending on what’s in season—this month, tomatoes. Here, the subtle sweetness of the spinach and acidic sweetness of the roasted tomatoes play nicely against the assertive and briny Kalamata olives.

* Nutritional yeast has a cheesy aroma and a creamy texture when mixed with water. It’s rich in protein, B vitamins, phosphorus and other minerals. You can find it at most health food stores.

8 tbsp. best quality olive oil, divided1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped8-10 cloves of garlic, sliced evenly30 Kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped6 cups organic spinach, roughly chopped 1 lb. of spaghetti, cooked al dente salt and pepper, to taste nutritional yeast* for sprinkling (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cherry toma-��toes with two tablespoons of oil and the basil. Roast, covered with aluminum foil, for 20-25 minutes, or until the tomatoes have wilted

Heat the remaining oil in a large pan over me-��dium-low. Add the garlic and sauté until soft. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add olives, parsley and roasted tomatoes, along with any pan drip-pings. Cook for about 10 more minutes.

Just before serving, add the spinach and toss ��gently. (The heat will wilt it.) Toss with the pasta, and adjust the seasonings. Drizzle with extra oil and sprinkle with nutritional yeast, if desired.

Dynise Balcavage, author of urbanvegan.net, lives and writes in Philadelphia. Her cookbook, The Ur-banVegan: 250 Simple and Sumptuous Recipes From Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine is available for pre-order on amazon.com and will hit bookstores this fall. She’s been featured in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune and VegNews.

Pasta With Kalamata Olives, Spinach and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes[serves 6]

/urban vegan

pHoto by lucas HarDison

27august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

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28 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of Food life

by Barbara Kingsolver, Harper collins, 2007; $26.95

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle will not rest on your bookshelves with Barbara Kingsolver’s fiction; this book demands permanent residence in your kitchen. Filled with delicious, seasonal recipes and tips from growing

to canning, this stellar book chronicles the Kingsolvers’ move from Arizona to a family farm in Appalachia, VA, as well as their lifestyle shift from end users in a national food chain to central cogs in local food production. For a full year, they decided, they would eat locally and in-season; anything they couldn’t grow or raise themselves was sourced from neighboring local farmers.

Kingsolver combines their personal story—the anxiety her family felt before they made the plunge to local-only, how her daughter longed for fruit that might not be in season—to big-picture commentary on food culture and the realities of industrial agriculture.

For the Kingsolvers, it’s a family affair; though Barbara writes the major-ity of the book, all of the adults in the household take turns writing. Husband Steven Hopp, a college professor, writes about industrial agriculture politics and college-age daughter Camille contributes recipes and commentary. And you can’t help but fall in love with the depiction of second-grader Lily as she launches her own egg business venture.

There have been several landmark books about our current food production—see past Grid classics such as Marion Nestle’s Food Politics and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma—but this is probably the warmest. Read this book and you’ll not only rethink what you eat and where your food is from, you’ll also be reminded that meals are daily opportunities to create with, and for, the people you cherish the most.

exposed: the toxic chemistry of everyday products and What’s at stake for american power by Mark Schapiro cHelsea green, $16.95

There has never been a shortage of books critiquing American govern-ment policy or society, but with the current economic crisis, such books now have a lot more cachet. Exposed, by Mark Schapiro, editorial director

of the Center for Investigative Reporting, is an interesting mixture of two kinds of exposé: environmental dangers and global policy.

Schapiro looks at the dangerous chemicals in products like children’s toys and cosmetics, and dissects changes in international policy—with a major focus on the European Union—that seek to limit the use of such chemicals. One such group of chemicals is phthalates, which are used as plastic softeners in things like shower curtains and rubber ducks. Some evidence has suggested that exposure to phthalates can cause hormone and developmental problems in infant boys and could be causing, as one scientist said, “the feminization of infant boys.”

Throughout the book Schapiro hammers away how slow American government has reacted to evidence about toxic chemicals in consumer products, while the EU—which is then followed by other nations—has passed bans that have forced industries to reformulate their products. He argues that companies have started using the EU as their baseline for what they can put in their products, and if this continues, the US will see its global importance fall.

the cul-de-Sac Syndrome: turning around the unsustainable american Dream by John F. Wasik bloomberg, $24.95

Financial analysts, like the author of this book, have picked out the hous-ing market as the trigger for the current economic downturn. In The Cul-De-Sac Syndrome, John Wasik, a personal finance columnist for

Bloomberg News, agrees with that assertion, but says that our problems with houses go much further back than just a few years, and will require a cultural shift to fix.

Wasik looks at the philosophical and physical basis of the American Dream—doing better than one’s parents and owning one’s own home—and how that dream mutated into some people flipping homes to quickly make money and oth-ers living under crushing mountains of debt. If you dream of owning a home one day, Cul-De-Sac can be a depressing read, especially when Wasik gets into the infrastructure problems of overdevelopment, like running out of groundwater.

The last section, though, is more hopeful, and lays out a way to rebuild the American Dream. With walkable commu-nities that are sustainably designed and mostly self-sufficient, Wasik argues, we can shock our ailing national dream back to life.

29august 2009 gr i dPh i lly.com

from our farm to your home

Fresh produce every Sunday at the

Headhouse Farmers Market, 10am–2pm.

Also available through fine retailers,

restaurants, and CSAs throughout the city.

R www.threespringsfruitfarm.com 717.677.7186

GREEN PROPERTIES GROUP[YOUR AMBASSADOR FOR GREEN REAL ESTATE ]

Contact: David Krupp, LEED® AP, EcosociateTM

226 W. Rittenhouse Square, Suite 102, Philadelphia215.735.2225 office 215.740.8355 direct

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Wood Stoves / Chimney Linerswww.chimney� x.com

610-306-3245

RENEW YOURSELF with Acupuncture Susan Bloch, M.Ac., R.N.Natural Health Care for Body and Mind Mt. Airy & Center CIty Phila-delphia215-844-7675susiebloch@earthlink.net

renew yourself with Acupuncture

Susan Bloch, M.Ac., R.N.Natural Health Care for Body and Mind Mt. Airy & Center City Philadelphia215-844-7675susiebloch@earthlink.net

30 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

Dear Summer in Philly,in your too-brief months, our city really shines. even though you came in this year with rainfall of biblically epic proportions, this didn’t stop any of us from filling our senses with your sights, sounds, tastes, smells or amazing activities.

on memorial Day, inaugural barbeques in Fairmount park immediately gave the city air that signature eau de grill, and we all knew another delicious summer was afoot. With our patio gardens soon sprouting overgrown mint plants, we mixed up icy cold mojitos and sipped them on our rooftops as we watched the late sunset behind the philly skyline. once your notorious heat and humidity kicked in, nighttime walks for capogiro’s frutti di busco gelato or john’s lemon water ice became abso-lutely essential to survival.

nothing was more excruciating than work days spent stuck inside, while outside you were in full glory, so we spent the lunch hour basking in your rays at rittenhouse park. as soon as we left our desks for the day, we hit your streets ready to make some evening fun. We hopped on the broad street line to cheer on our World champion phillies at citizens bank park and watched movies under the stars in our neighborhood park. on weekends we rode our bikes to clark park and Headhouse square to pick up fresh, local veggies that your sunshine helped to grow. We ate hours-long dinners with friends on liberties Walk, followed up with live music—and more phillies games on the big

screen—at the new piazza at schmidts.you just wouldn’t be you without the Fourth of july. is

there a better place to celebrate this country? the art museum’s fireworks show was the place to be. people poured in from cookouts and block parties around the city, showing you and our country so much love.

as wonderful as you always are to us, we can find your perfect complement an hour away, trading asphalt for sand down the shore. it’s nothing against you, but your proximity to the ocean gives us the best of both worlds. even when we leave you for a relaxing weekend at the beach, we already miss the constant action of city life. time apart only makes us appreciate you that much more.

our days together are almost over, and soon we’ll be counting down another nine months until we’re reunited again. Fall will be stepping in for you soon, and with the cool days, sunday football and crunchy leaves, her months can be just as glorious. ■+

by einav Keet illustration by melissa mcFeeters

Chestnut Hill Farmer’s Market: 8229 Germantown Ave 215.753.1991 | cosmicfoods.com

From our commitment to locally grown, Fair Trade and organic ingredients, right down to our compostable utensils (made from corn starch) everything we do is done with your health & the environment in mind.

But our biggest secret to being green? Making every dish so clean-your-plate delicious that there simply isn’t anything left over.

Our four-pronged approach to

green catering.

2009 Philadelphia September 4-19Live Arts Festival livearts-fringe.orgPhilly Fringe

small metal objectsBack to Back Theatre (Australia)Bessie Award Winner!

In short: eavesdropping, public venue, drama, random encounters, headphones, pedestrian traffic.

Sept 16 - 19 / $20–$30 ($15 for students) / 50 minutesThe 40th Street Field, University of PennsylvaniaWheelchair accessible

Buy tickets at livearts-fringe.org

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32 august 2009g r idP h illy.com

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