Posts Tagged ‘ Rachel Carson ’

Rachel’s Sustainable Feast – Savoring the Best of Western Pennsylvania

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

KissMyCountry connected with The Rachel Carson Homestead Association last month with a link to ‘Rachel Carson – Would Rachel Work at BOEMRE or Greenpeace Today?’  We spoke with Fiona Fisher, Director of Communications – a wonderful individual – and Rachel’s Sustainable Feast caught our eye on their site.  A sustainable feast made by local chefs sounds irresistible – and it’s always better to save the planet on a full stomach!  This year the fourth Feast will be held on Sunday, August 29 from noon to 5pm on the Rachel Carson Bridge in Pittsburgh, PA.  Tickets are $10 per person and children under 5 are free.  We encourage our Pittsburgh readers to attend if you haven’t already bought a ticket!

 “It’s the end of the season so everything’s in season.  Corn and tomatoes, maybe peaches.  We have one farm that has the best peaches, McConnell’s Farm.  The weather this summer was perfect for peaches.  It’s also one of the best tomato seasons.” – Bill Fuller, Executive Chef, big Burrito Restaurant Group

Rachel’s Sustainable Feast and the Rachel Carson Homestead Assocation
Rachel’s Sustainable Feast  is an annual event celebrating sustainable living and all things local, held in honor of Rachel Carson (1907-1964), a scientist, author and Pittsburgh native who helped found the modern environmental movement.  The Feast is organized by The Rachel Carson Homestead Association, a private non-profit organization operating since 1975 and dedicated to preserving Rachel Carson’s birthplace and childhood home and developing educational programs in keeping with Rachel’s environmental ethic of 1) Living in harmony with nature, 2) Preserving and learning from natural places, 3) Minimizing the impact of man-made chemicals on natural systems of the world, and 4) Considering the implications of human actions on the global web of life.  The Homestead is listed as a site on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bill Fuller, Executive Chef, big Burrito Restaurant Supporting the Feast
Chefs who support local and sustainable eating are the focus of this event so we had to talk to a chef who will be cooking that day.  Fiona Fisher connected us with Bill Fuller, Executive Chef of the big Burrito Restaurant Group, a chef with over 20 years experience in the restaurant industry.  Bill stepped away from a batch of gazpacho last Friday to talk with KissMyCountry for a few minutes and we thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.  Bill’s been using local and sustainable ingredients in his restaurants for years and was involved with the Feast since its first year.  Given the size of the Big Burrito Restaurant Group – fourteen restaurants and a catering division that includes Kaya, Casbah, Soba, Eleven, Umi and nine Mad Mex restaurants.  Bill’s had a big influence on the growing interest in local and sustainable in Pittsburgh.  “Our company has a big presence here, we have a newsletter, and a big tradition with local and sustainable farmers.  I believe I was the first person on board.  It fits what we do.”  Bill said his expectations were low the first year of the Feast but was pleasantly surprised.  “I thought there would be 50 people – foodies, a few friends – but 750 people showed up the first year.  It’s grown every year, and this year it’s going to be huge.”  The Feast has quickly become the ‘go to’ event in the area.  “I see a lot of old chefs, a lot of old customers and a lot of old friends.”  What can we expect from Bill at the Feast?  “I guess I’d better start thinking about that!  It’s the end of the season so everything’s in season.  Corn and tomatoes, maybe peaches.  We have one farm that has the best peaches, McConnell’s Farm.  The weather this summer was perfect for peaches.  It’s also one of the best tomato seasons,” says Bill.  Bill, we can taste what you’re going to serve already – there’s nothing like local summer produce for taste and flavor!

A Move to the Rachel Carson Bridge as the Homestead is Outgrown
This year the Feast will be held on the Rachel Carson Bridge – also known as the Ninth Street Bridge – in Pittsburgh.  “We’ve outgrown the Homestead,” says Fiona Fisher, Director of Communications, “It’s going to be exciting to hold the Feast on the Bridge.”  The Feast will offer local and sustainable dishes prepared by a group of Pittsburgh area chefs – including Chef Bill Fuller.  In addition to eating, Feast goers will have the chance to visit eco-friendly vendors, local farmers’ markets, groups who work to protect our land, water and air, and learn about sustainable living practices while enjoying the fruits of the chefs’ – and local farmers’ – labor.

It’s great to see how popular this event has become in Pittsburgh, and is the perfect way to celebrate Rachel’s legacy.  Rachel Carson Homestead Association, we definitely like your style and will be thinking of you on August 29.  We know it’s going to be a great day!

The Rachel Carson Homestead Association is located at 613 Marion Avenue, Springdale, PA.   Contact the Association for tickets to Rachel’s Sustainable Feast which will be held on the Rachel Carson Bridge in Pittsburgh, PA on Sunday, August 29 from noon to 5pm.  Tickets are $10 per person and children under 5 are free.

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Rachel Carson – Would Rachel Work at BOEMRE or Greenpeace Today?

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life.  But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.” – Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us

“No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world.  The people had done it themselves.”  – Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

As BOEMRE (Bureau of Ocean Management, Regulation and Enforcement) replaces the MMS I wonder if their staff knows the work of Rachel Carson, an employee of the US Fish and Wildlife Service over 50 years ago.  Would Rachel place herself among their ranks today - or elsewhere?

I keep thinking about Rachel Carson, and her books The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring, first published in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the negative impact of chemicals like DDT began to be understood.  If you’re a marine biologist, a Baby Boomer or unusually well read you probably know Rachel Carson, but her books are for everyone.  Her command of science and history, and her respect for all living things flows from page to page.  Her desire to teach us how we are connected to even the smallest creatures makes us aware of our actions and the results of our mistakes.  You can’t help but be drawn into her world.

My father gave me a copy of The Sea Around Us when I was seven.  ‘She’s a smart lady’, my father said.   I can still see myself holding the large book in my hands, the ocean on the cover.   She was a woman who did something to change the world when that was different and curious.  I could only read the photo captions then, but from that book I learned to love the sea.  Her writing, her passion made the sea alive and interesting and mysterious – and the most important thing on earth.  Read that book today and you’ll see her writing is as fresh, as clear and relevant as ever.  Her words could easily grace Treehugger, Mashable or The Huffington Post.

I wonder what Rachel Carson would say and do today.  Her concerns were radioactivity and pesticides, battles long fought, but it’s still the same old saw - the unintended consequences of human action that boomerangs back on everyone.  The cosmic ‘oops’ we never think about until it’s too late.

It’s ironic that Rachel Carson, whose work gave life to the ecology movement and sparked the creation of the EPA, made her contributions while working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  They actually encouraged her when they realized her talent for reaching the public through her writing.  We’re frustrated today with agencies who are supposed to protect our environment and protect us.  It’s hard to believe these agencies were once the source of solutions and inspiration.  I think that Rachel Carson would be just as frustrated today as we, and I wonder where she would stand.  Would she be at BOEMRE or Greenpeace?  I’m not sure.

Can our agencies get back to leading and inspiring instead of back pedaling and finger pointing when it comes to the environment?  Can BOEMRE, as they form, use what’s happened in the past few years to establish a better footing and move ahead?  We’re at a crossroads.  Our fingers crossed, we are waiting to see how BOEMRE responds to the opportunity in their hands.

Rachel’s words were helpful 50 years ago and they are helpful now.  A reminder of someone who did something good when she had the power and the platform.  Someone whose efforts stemmed from a love of the sea and a desire to protect everything in it for generations to come.  We’re waiting and watching.

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