Photo by Christine Alicino

A FOOD WRITER TO REMEMBER
THE LEGENDARY M.F.K. FISHER
Heidi Yorkshire
For Summer 2008

July 3, 2008, marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer M.F.K. Fisher, whose vivid, impeccably detailed memoirs and essays are among the treasures of American letters. Her first book, Serve It Forth, was published in 1937, yet for decades her works were cherished by a relatively small number of readers. W.H. Auden once called Fisher “the best prose writer in America,” but she remained, in her own words, “a secret little cult figure,” largely because much of her writing is about the transcendent pleasures of eating.

I showed up at her house on August 15, 1989, accompanied by the man who would become my husband. Though Joe was also a journalist, we had never worked together; still, when he heard who I was going to interview, he refused to be left behind. It was lucky he was there: Fisher, a passionate character even in her eighties, clearly loved men, and flirted like crazy with Joe throughout the interview. I suspect it was a much livelier conversation than we would have had if I’d come alone.

KEEP OUT. CROSS FIRE. RIFLE RANGES.

The sign was unequivocal, but no one, it seems, kept out. During the last years of M.F.K. Fisher’s life, an increasing number of the reverent and the curious ignored the warning, bouncing down a rutted one-lane road to a little pink-and-white stucco house with a shingled roof. There, they shuffled respectfully into the presence of a reed-thin, gray-haired woman with a crackly voice and piercing wit, recording her words, noting her thoughts, and making her thoroughly uncomfortable with their praise.

On the eve of her 82nd birthday, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher had become, much to her surprise, an institution. But the greatest food writer of all was not a food writer at all. Her books are filled with stories, not recipes; her ingredients are people and emotions, not flour and sugar. Food is a metaphor for human passion, and writing about meals a way to illuminate relationships, hopes, and desires. “Her subject matter matters not at all,” said Jack Shoemaker, former editor-in-chief of North Point Press, the Berkeley firm that re-published many of her books during the 1980s. “North Point was interested in her as a literary stylist. She writes exquisitely well, and only secondarily about food.”

From 1970, Fisher lived in the Valley of the Moon, a few miles north of the town of Sonoma, on a ranch owned by her friend David Pleydell-Bouverie, an architect who designed and built her house. When I rang her bell, we were ushered into her bedroom office, a long, narrow room with a wood stove at the center of one wall. Red-painted bookshelves, crammed full, lined the alcove around the stove. The shiny black vinyl tile covering the floor imitated Spanish ceramic. Near the door stood a nondescript wooden desk, heaped with papers; at the other end of the room was a hospital-type bed, with two mobiles slowly twisting above it. The brown summer pastures radiated heat, but the room was cool.

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Firefighter Adam Gibson. Photos by Leah Harb

PORTLAND FRIDGE
Vancouver Fire Dept. Station 81
Lucy Fulton
For Summer 2008

The Vancouver Fire Department is made up of nine stations spread out across the rapidly growing city. More than 150 firefighters respond to 20,000 emergency calls each year. At Station 81, the A-Shift is comprised of six men who live and work together for 24 hours straight every three days: Jack Anderson, Paul Coolimore, Adam Gibson, Rick Huffman, John Larson, and Jeremy Stuart.

When the team is not busy taming flames and answering other types of emergencies, they spend their time at the station house, ready to jump into action as soon as they get their next call. One of their favorite things to do while hanging out at the station house is cook.

ADAM: We have a full kitchen. It’s built symmetrically, with two double ovens and two stovetops, one on each side. We’re getting a remodel because the kitchen is not friendly enough. I mean, the kitchen is social, so we want to open it up and put in diner-style flat grills. Still, we use what we have and turn out great meals.

Each shift has its own refrigerator. Then we all share a condiment fridge with tons of stuff: mayo, Tabasco, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire. Salsa, definitely. Groceries we buy daily. We know that the ads change on Tuesday nights, so Wednesday morning, first off, we’ll look at what’s on sale. Collectively we say: What do we want for dinner? We haven’t had lasagna in a while so that’s why we chose it for tonight. Plus, John was craving lasagna.

You might think Adam would pull out a few commercial frozen lasagnas and stick them in the oven, but you’d be wrong: The whole team comes together to create a fully homemade meal. John and Paul pull out the cutting boards to start chopping onions and slicing coins of zucchini. Jeremy is busy opening cans of tomato sauce. When the prep work is done, John sautés the onions while Paul starts constructing the lasagna in an extra-large casserole dish. It doesn’t take long to realize these guys are pretty serious about food prep.

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It’s official, with a proclamation from Governor Ted Kulongoski, July is Oregon Craft Beer Month.

Did you know? Oregon hop farms stretch back over 130 years. Oregon's first brewery, Liberty Brewing, opened in 1852. Portland has more breweries than any other city in the world. And the Oregon Brewers Guild has decided to celebrate this rich history of craft brewing with over 100 events across the state.

Where to begin? How about at the official kick-off event at Portland's Horse Brass Pub, which will be featuring 20-25 taps of all Oregon beers including new releases, world premier exclusives, and rare and vintage beers.

Tuesday, July 1, 5 p.m.
Horse Brass Pub
4520 SE Belmont, Portland, OR 97215

Not in your neighborhood? There are 22 other events to choose from on July 1.

Other Oregon Craft Beer Month events to take note of:

July 9, 7pm, Beer and Oregon Cheese Pairings with Steve’s Cheese, Hopworks Urban Brewery
July 24–27, Oregon Brewers Festival, Waterfront Park
July 25–July 26, 12-6pm, Homebrewing Demo by the Oregon Brew Crew, Waterfront Park

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Thank you to everyone who filled out our Annual Reader's Survey! You were generous with your time, and we promise to make the most of every minute you spent. Hearing directly from our readers is invaluable — we will work with new insights and inspiration.

What did we learn? You enjoy stories that look at real people within the food system — the farmers, ranchers, cheesemakers, food processors, and community activists — rather than celebrity chefs and the trendiest restaurants. We discovered that many of you want to learn more about Oregon’s oyster harvesting and fishing communities. You appreciate the quality of our advertisements. (Hoorah!) And when we hit it right, our photos and recipes make you hungry for farm-fresh food.

Our 1st, 50th, and 500th respondents have received word that we will be treating them to dinner with a sweetie or a pal at Castagna, Nostrana, and Three Square Grill, respectively. We wish them delicious meals.

Please stay tuned for more opportunities to give us feedback. Until then, good luck to all of our little tomato plants that are dreaming of the sun — warm, sunny days are here at last!

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"If our kids forget how to live with the land, how will we survive? Education about ecology and food security is key."
- Cori Longstreet

PSU graduate Cori Longstreet. Photos by Gregor Torrence

PORTLAND'S NEW WAVE OF EDUCATORS
Three Portland graduates are growing the seeds of sustainability through education
Ivy Manning
For Summer 2008

Thousands come to the Portland State University (PSU) campus every Saturday from April to November for the Portland Farmer’s Market, rejoicing in the diverse agricultural bounty that this area has to offer. As shoppers shuffle towards the dozens of stalls full of local vegetables, cheeses, and seafood, they probably don’t notice the University’s motto — “Let Knowledge Serve the City” — carved in stone in the bridge overhead. But for a growing number of students graduating from PSU, the motto speaks directly to another facet of Portland’s strength as a great food city: education.

Students nationwide are coming to Portland State University for its unique programming. Whether enrolled in the School of Community Health, School of Business, School of Urban Studies and Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, or School of Education, among others, students at PSU are studying food. Multiple aspects are covered — from supply chain issues and regional distribution infrastructure for getting food to market to the relationship between food and climate change, diet and health, and gardening as an educational tool.

The School of Business boasts a Food Industry Leadership Center, and the Portland Institute of Metropolitan Studies and the Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices both emphasize food-oriented research and education. In fact, the Institute of Metropolitan Studies asks questions such as: Can healthful food be affordable while farmers make a profit? Will we have enough farmers and workers to produce food in the future? Will our land and water supplies support food production and a growing population?

Still other PSU students take a hands-on approach to their food education by participating in the student-run Food For Thought Café. The café uses sustainably grown ingredients, including some grown on campus, to serve food-conscious faculty and staff. They reduce waste by using nondisposable plates and silverware, and integrate their planning and management into school curricula. Students’ efforts to establish Food For Thought Café led to the incorporation of local, seasonal and sustainable food goals into PSU’s overall food service contract.

Edible Portland caught up with three recent graduates from one program in particular: the Portland International Initiative for Leadership in Ecology, Culture and Learning (PIIECL), an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in the School of Education. The program addresses the emerging field of sustainability education and focuses on teaching in the community through projects like the Learning Gardens Laboratory, a student-faculty run garden in southeast Portland that works with elementary schools to teach youth everything from the biology of worms to helping the hungry.

These three graduates of the PIIECL program have put down roots, literally and theoretically, working in careers that are helping Portland to a brighter, and greener, future.

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CAR-FREE IN PORTLAND

On June 22, join your fellow citizens to celebrate our incredibly walk-able and bike-able city at Portland Sunday Parkways. This 6-mile, car-free temporary park is being created to give people more open space to be active without worrying about oncoming traffic. Bike, skate, jump, or skip your way through the streets to imagine what a city with fewer cars might be like!

June 22, 2008, 8am–2pm
Route Map here
Highlights - including food vendors - here

- Kathleen Bauer

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