Good Works
American
Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The nonprofit ALBC works to preserve traditional breeds
of farm animals, most of which were abandoned in the last half of the 20th century as
agriculture has focussed increasingly on mass production. Yet the traditional breeds,
compared with their successors, are especially well-adapted to the conditions of the area
where they originated. In general, they are more hardy and healthy, are more fertile and
give birth more easily, and they thrive more readily on pasture. That means there is less
plowing and erosion and a big saving in fuel and labor. All these qualities lend themselves
to sustainable agriculture. At least as important, the old breeds add enormously
to the genetic diversity of our livestock: they are likely to contribute important characteristics that will benefit future agriculture. It’s true that the old-fashioned
animals tend to grow and produce more slowly and in lower volume, but their meat, milk,
and eggs tend to taste better. The 150 or so breeds that the ALBC focuses on include
Milking Devon cattle, American Mammoth Jackstock asses, Buckeye chickens, Narragansett
turkeys, Pilgrim geese, Santa Cruz sheep, and Gloucester Old Spots pigs. A
membership, tax-deductible, is $30 a year. Besides the satisfaction of supporting the
cause, members receive the bimonthly ALBC News, which reports on issues, breeds, and
projects. (The ALBC was first discussed in AoE 26.)
Breeds Conservancy
Box 477
Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312
tel 919.542.5704
www.albc-usa.org
Seed Savers
Exchange. Local species and varieties of plants are the foundation of traditional
eating around the world. The nonprofit Seed Savers Exchange was founded in the 1970s by
Diane and Kent Whealy and a handful of other gardeners to preserve traditional vegetable
varieties in North America. Many heirloom varieties would have disappeared without SSE
efforts. The SSE has since expanded to cover grains, fruits, herbs, and flowers. In the
Seed Savers 2007 Yearbook, 727 gardeners list 12,920 different
varieties of vegetables and fruits, most of them available to any member gardener who requests
seed and encloses a fee for shipping. In addition, through its catalogue and website, the SSE
sells seed of a number of varieties raised on its Heritage Farm in northeastern
Iowa. Profits benefit SSE operations. Besides the annual Yearbook,
SSE members receive the Summer and Harvest editions, magazines with
thoughtful articles and sometimes unusual perspectives on gardening and agricultural
topics. A tax-deductible membership is $35 a year. (The SSE was first discussed in AoE 7.)
Seed Savers Exchange
3094 North Winn Road
Decorah, Iowa 52101
tel 319.382.5990
www.seedsavers.org
Books and Publications
Prospect Books.
This small publisher in Devon, England, specializes in food history. In addition, the list
includes one of the finest cookbooks ever written — Patience Gray's Honey
from a Weed (reviewed in AoE 5).
Prospect Books
Allaleigh House
Blackawton, Totnes,
Devon TQ9 7DL England
www.prospectbooks.co.uk
Simple Cooking.Written
by John and Matt Thorne, this eight-page letter is close to home and kitchen. The approach
is relaxed yet serious, and the writing is opinionated and unusually fine. Published six
times a year. A subscription is $25.
Simple Cooking
P.O. Box 778
Northampton, Massachusetts 01061
www.outlawcook.com
Food
(a few of the better-known North American suppliers from past issues; one or more suppliers, often small and not widely known, appear in most issues of A of E)
Coffee
George
Howell Coffee Company. The coffees offered by this purist
roaster surely form the most discriminating selection in the US. George Howell
combines the skills of a longtime professional with the passion of a disinterested
connosisseur. He stresses geographic origin, preferring the crop of a single farm in
regions where that is available. Apart from the beans for expresso, Howell seeks moderate roasts
(to the point of risking the occasional underroast) that allow the aromatic qualities of the green beans to show fully.
George Howell Coffee
Company
312 School Street
Acton, MA 01720
tel 866.444.5282
www.terroircoffee.com
Earthenware
Henderson's Redware. Kenneth Henderson produces, by hand, traditional American earthenware (redware) cooking pots and other containers: bean pots,
colanders, bowls, preserve jars, lard pots, pipkins.
Henderson's Redware
2115 Union Street
Bangor, ME 04401
tel 866.376.4475
www.hendersonsredware.com
Meat
R.M. Felts
Packing Company. Producer of my longtime favorite bacon, cured with only salt, then
pepper-coated and smoked with damp oak sawdust. The similarly cured jowls are also
good. Either one is shipped properly wrapped in greaseproof paper, not in plastic.
You can order the bacon sliced, but slab bacon holds its flavor much better.
All the bacon comes, as it should, with the rind on, and you can still get a "rib
side," which is a whole slab with the ribs in. I have never tried the dry-cured
hams, which are sold young, after only ninety days.
R. M. Felts Packing Company
P.O. Box 199
Ivor, VA 23866
tel 888.300.0971
no website
Gatton
Farms (Father's Country Hams). The Gatton family ham cure contains salt, sugar,
sodium nitrate, and sodium nitrite. The hams are smoked with green hickory and aged
nine to twelve months, and in some cases longer. The bacon, which comes without the rind, is a little smoky for my taste.
Gatton Farms
P.O. Box 99
Bremen, KY 42325
tel 877.525.4267
www.fatherscountryhams.com
Jamison Farm. John and Sukey Jamison produce lamb in a tender pale style that recalls milk-fed. They buy just-weaned lambs from surrounding farms and raise them on their 160 acrres of intensively managed pasture. The lambs are finished on grass, not grain, and carefully slaughtered at four to six months. Normally the meat is shipped frozen to retail customers — be sure to ask for fresh.
Jamison Farm
171 Jamison Lane
Latrobe, PA 15650
tel 800.237.5262
www.jamisonfarm.com
Spices
Penzeys Spices.
It's no secret that the Penzey family sells high quality spices and that, as a
matter of course, the ground spices are extremely freshly ground. (I don't like the herb and spice mixtures containing dehydrated
onion and garlic.)
Penzeys Spices
19300 W Janacek Ct
Brookfield, Wisconsin 53150
tel 262.785.7637
www.penzeys.com
Tea
Camellia
Sinensis. The partners in this Canadian tea company visit key growing areas and import directly; they emphasize freshness. There are two shops in Montreal and one in Quebec City
Camellia Sinensis
351 Emery, Montreal
tel 514.286.4002
7010 Casgrain (near the Jean-Talon Market), Montreal
tel 514.271.4002
624 St-Joseph East, Quebec City
tel 418.525.0247
www.camellia-sinensis.com
Upton Tea
Imports. Tom Eck's company offers a wide and discriminating selection of
fine teas.
Upton Tea Imports
34-A Hayden Rowe Street
Hopkinton, Massachusetts 01748
tele 800.234.8327
www.uptontea.com
