A weekly roundup of food-related news, courtesy of our friends at FoodHub: 2012 Good Food Awards, new urban farming graduates unleashed on Portland, upcoming EcoFarm conference, and more.

Voting is now closed. Thank you to those who cast their votes. We will announce the winners on March 1, 2012.

The orchards of Hood River Valley have a rich family history and an amazing variety of apples, pears, and more. We visit one family farm during the harvest and take a look at their 78 varieties of apples!

Voting is now closed. Thank you to those who cast their votes. We will announce the winners on March 1, 2012.

All 6 Portland-area Whole Foods Markets will donate 5% of their sales to the Ecotrust Food & Farms program!

Goschie Farms has been growing hops for more than 100 years. We visit the farm during the hop harvest and then watch those very same hops being made into beer at Portland’s Bridgeport Brewing Company.

Here we see Shawn Jim, a Warm Springs employee and Yakama Nation tribal member, harvesting lamprey at Willamette Falls in Oregon City.

Join us for a wine tasting and olive oil and vinegar sampling at 5:30pm at the Bridgeport Village Eileen Fisher store.

In celebration of Food Day, Oran Hesterman will present on his book, Fair Food. Book signing and free fall foods tasting to follow the talk.

OSU’s fermentation program trains brewers to determine how hops relate to beer’s aroma, flavor and bitterness.

Ecotrust, publisher of Edible Portland, is turning 20! We’re celebrating with a bang on Sept. 10 with Storm Large and a full spread of Pacific Northwest food and drink.

Video! We visit Zenger Farm’s Cooking Camp for Kids, where kids harvest their own fruits and veggies to cook for lunch – making the connection between farm and plate!

Video! Oregon fisher Mark Schneider and Nostrana chef Cathy Whims make us oh-so-hungry for albacore – a decadent, sustainable choice that supports Oregon fishers – and it’s in season right now.

New video! We stop by the Portland Farmers Market at Shemanski Park to see what’s available at farmers’ markets right now.

Video! John Kallas of Wild Food Adventures takes us foraging for wild foods right in the center of Portland.

Join us for a screening of The Red Wattle Heritage Pig Project, a short documentary about Oregon Culinary Institute students’ experience getting to know pasture and pen-raised pork, on the farm and in the kitchen.

Video! Scottie Jones of Leaping Lamb Farm describes what it’s like to spend your vacation on an Oregon farm.

Video! Bamboo Sushi is committed to serving great food that does not compromise the health of our oceans. Find out more.

Preeminent writer on food science, Harold McGee, sat down with Edible Portland to help us see the contents of our spring issue in terms of the science of cooking.

We’d love to hear your feedback on how we’re doing! Please take our annual Readers’ Survey by April 30.

Gardening with seeds from local plants just makes sense. If they’re grown in the Northwest, seeds are likely to produce better results in your garden. Buy your seeds from these Oregon and Washington seed companies!

More than 2,000 readers voted, and the results are in. Find out who won!

Video! Learn about Portland’s first dedicated gluten-free bakery in this segment that aired on KATU’s AM Northwest.

Video! Local companies offer a diverse array of seeds to help get your garden started. Locally grown seeds are best suited to local conditions and will result in a better garden.

We frequently think about acids in our cooking — like lemon juice and vinegar. But their opposite— the alkalis — also play a major, if unrecognized, place in our food.

In this video, watch a demonstration of how to make soft pretzels and, trickiest of all, how to twist them beautifully, with local baker and chef Jen Rybarczyk and Edible Portland recipe editor Lola Milholland.

Edible Portland is featured on KATU’s AM Northwest! Find out how Portland’s faith community works to connect underserved Oregonians to local agriculture.

Edible Portland received 70 contest entries from kids ages 5 to 12 to answer the question: What is your favorite meal? We were blown away by the drawings we received. Here are the 9 winners we selected in various categories.

Planning your garden? Buy seeds grown by Northwest seed companies! These are just a few of the Portland retailers that carry them.

Cooking times, water ratios, links, and tips for whole grain cooking.

This year at Bridgeport Village, Whole Foods and a capable crew of local chefs and culinary experts will host an hour of free cooking demonstrations, focusing on healthful, delicious recipes that you can prepare with your Thanksgiving leftovers.

The 2011 Organicology Conference will feature an Eating Intensive — a forum for chefs, culinarians, food handlers, deli and produce managers and others who educate “eaters” on the importance of organic foods.

Learn how cranberries are grown and harvested – and why they taste so good – in this Edible Portland segment on KATU’s AM Northwest.

Join Edible Portland at the Eileen Fisher store in Bridgeport for a taste of fall with USA Pears, Vincent Family Cranberries and Whole Foods Market. We’ll be pouring NW wines and sampling local goodies.

Join us in selecting the 2010 Local Heroes of our regional food system. Click here to vote!

Oregon Culinary Institute is partnering with Chehalem Winery to bring you a night of “Swine and Wine,” featuring dishes from both a pen raised and a pasture raised Red Wattle heritage pig, paired with wines from Chehalem Winery.

On Edible Portland’s newest segment on KATU’s AM Northwest, we visit the Home Orchard Society Arboretum.

Portland area experts compiled a list of 43 fruit and nut tree varieties ideal for our backyards.

AM Northwest video! We feature fall’s iconic fruit, the pear. Kelley Swenson of June mixes one of his favorite pear cocktails.

This U of O conference explores the history and future of our food system, focused on community, equity, and sustainability. Free!

What’s your favorite meal? Send us a drawing, and be entered to win fabulous, amazing prizes! Ages 5-12.

Hardy Kiwis (kiwi berries) are amazingly easy to grow. They are disease and pest free and yield abundant crops. Click through for growing tips!

Veteran grower Jim Gilbert, owner of Mollala-based One Green World is an incredible source of hard-to-find fruit and nut trees, rootstock, ornamentals, vines, and natives. Here are Jim’s Top 5 recommended kiwi varieties for home growers.

Indulge @ the Jupiter invites guests to savor, sip and nibble on the Eastside’s finest foods. The premier edible event stars chef-owned restaurants, boutique wines and spirits, artisan chocolatiers and the best tasty treats from over 20 local restaurants and distilleries.

Join Ecotrust, Edible Portland and Salmon Safe for a celebration of Northwest abundance, seasonal flavors, and responsible land stewardship in a round-robin evening of artisanal wine, pear and cheese pairings.

Edible Portland is excited to partner with KATU’s AM Northwest! These segments are brought to you by Food Services of America and Whole Foods Market.

Buy raffle tickets, and support this year’s Terra Madre delegates! This August and September, Slow Food Portland is raffling an amazing assortment of prizes, generously donated by past and current Terra Madre delegates.

Get your hands dirty! Registration opens August 9th for the Oregon Tilth Organic Gardener Program, a unique and popular hands-on course that introduces beginning gardeners to the dynamic world of organic gardening.

Learn how to replace those harmful garden chemicals with natural gardening techniques at Metro’s free workshops.

Get the "Real Dirt" on your gardening questions from OSU Extension Service Master Gardeners, who are available by phone, email, or in person.

This day-long summit will invite food system stakeholders in Multnomah County to network and help shape an action agenda to create a sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system for our community.

Find the perfect perennials for your garden among the incredible selection at this large annual plant sale.

During April, Portland Public Schools will feature Oregon-grown frozen blueberries on its menu twice. Parents, you can give critical support to the school district’s efforts to source local ingredients by sending your kids with lunch money on Harvest of the Month days.

Melty mozzarella and creamy ricotta are at once simple and impressive cheeses to make from scratch. Learn to make these Italian standards on your own.

Learn the knowledge and skills of organic gardening with OSU Extension Service and Oregon Tilth in a hands-on and active learning format.

Food Alliance is hosting a fun and challenging scavenger hunt that will forever change how Portland thinks about its regional, sustainable food systems. In this event, teams of two adults will use a map and clues to find locations in the Portland Metro region, find food system trading cards, hear stories about Food Alliance Certified products, meet Food Alliance Certified farmers, ranchers and processors, and complete tasks to earn points and win prizes.

The hunt is on! Light the way while your child searches for eggs—bucket provided! Craft activities, prizes, and more for those who hop over.

Ruth Reichl, who was a long time editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine as well as a former food critic for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, will visit Portland as she moves on to new adventures.

Spend a full afternoon preparing rich French chicken stew—from killing and butchering your own rooster to chopping onions and measuring cups of red wine. Then, sit down with your classmates to a meal of coq au vin, good red wine, and other homemade French treats.

Become familiar with companies that make earth-friendly products—from clothing to detergents to cars—and find many small ways to make meaningful material changes to your everyday life.

Learn how to turn your food scraps into garden compost using red wiggler worms and build your own worm bin to take home, full of the little wigglers. Kids can join parents or participate in other fun activities.

For the young aspiring chef, ages 7–12: You may be staying in Portland for Spring Break, but don’t let that get you down! You can hop continents by learning to cook cuisines from around the world.

Three miles: It’s the average distance traveled in sub-Saharan Africa to obtain water and also the distance along Waterfront Park and the Eastside Esplanade that participants will walk as part of this fundraiser for the construction of a water pump in Tanzania. Come celebrate spring and walk for a great cause!

Come celebrate local cheeses at the Oregon Cheese Festival! Oregon is home to world-class cheese making talents, and for one full day, these regional artisan, specialty and farmstead cheese makers will set up booths, offer tastes of their delights, and sell limited-run sheep’s, goat’s and cow’s milk cheeses.

Enjoy the agricultural bounty all around us by purchasing directly from local farmers, fishers, and food artisans at this weekly hullabaloo.

The generation bridging Baker Street Band brings their home grown folk-rock crossover sound to Coelho Winery in celebration of the vernal equinox and the release of the newest vintage of Renovação Pinot Gris. Sip wine, tap your toes and dance at Coelho Winery Spring Fling!

Show your support for Zenger Farm by eating at Portland’s favorite restaurants and shopping at your neighborhood nurseries, which will donate a percentage of their proceeds on select days.

Enjoy this unique opportunity to taste the wines of 50+ Oregon wineries, both large and small, at Willamette Valley Wineries first tasting in Seattle.

In its tenth year, the Farmer-Chef Connection continues to offer local food buyers and growers the opportunity to meet and partner with one another. Featuring speakers, workshops, networking and a knockout lunch, this conference is a one-of-a-kind local food community gathering.

Meet local pickle makers, chocolatiers, cookie bakers and other Portland food wizards and sample their latest delicious innovations.

Chocoholics young and old: Indulge for a long weekend in a chocolate dream. Throughout Ashland, you will find everything from wine and chocolate pairings to over-the-top chocolate meals to chocolate facials. (Yes, that’s right—that involves completely slathering your face in chocolate.)

In this month long course, Seattle Tilth and Oregon Tilth staff will teach the basic concepts of organic food gardening, including building healthy soil, garden planning and crop rotation, planting techniques, organic pest and disease control, water conservation, seed saving and more.

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Molecular biologist and co-founder of Seeds of Change, one of the world’s leading providers of organic seeds, Alan M. Kapuler Ph.D. will be speaking at PNCA on “Ecosanity: Ongoing Discoveries About Life.”

Oregon strawberries are featured in the Portland Public Schools. Parents, you can give critical support to the school district’s efforts to source local ingredients by sending your kids with lunch money on HOM days

Visit the Dennis 7 Dees SE Powell gardening center for a celebration of edible landscaping! They’re kicking off the gardening season with workshops throughout the day, vendors and information tables, kids activities and a sale on fresh shipment of bare-root fruit trees, berry bushes, rhubarb and asparagus.

The Year of the Tiger begins on February 14. For two weeks, visit the Portland Chinese Garden to experience lion dances, puppet shows, martial arts and many other demonstrations sharing the rich culture and history of Chinese New Year.

Learn about wintertime pruning and how to support the mason bee population in your home garden from expert gardeners.

We received this thoughtful letter from an Edible Portland reader and wanted to share it with you. We love receiving letters to the editor. If you have thoughts to share, don’t hesitate to write us.
We invite your contributions to this discussion.
Dear Editor:
The article about the standoff between fishermen and …
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Fall in love with the flavors and practices of local artisan roasters and chocolatiers.

Shop at Food Front Co-op in January 2010 and you will have the opportunity to donate money to Ecotrust’s Farm to School program. Every little bit enables one more good local bite.

The holidays are the perfect time to explore Oregon Wine Country. This year, there are two great events to participate in over the next two weekends. Enjoy!

New Zenger Farm calendars feature the farm’s 40 laying hens – from chicks to mature ladies.

On Dec. 16, Dr. Sheri Speede, a champion for orphaned and abused chimpanzees, will share stories of her work at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center.

Purchase tickets now for the October 8 benefit dinner with Edible Portland at Southpark Seafood Grill & Wine Bar.

This feature-length documentary details the local food movement and the people who have brought it to life. Sunday’s screening benefits Eat Think Grow.

The first eastside festival of culinary arts involves an evening of delicious bites and tempting cocktails. Proceeds benefit Ecotrust’s Farm to School program.

Get lost this fall in one of the many corn mazes in the Portland area!

In celebration of Organically Grown in Oregon Week (Sept 14-20), we bring you three short stories featuring Oregon’s organic pioneers. September’s pioneer is Jack Gray of Winter Green Farm.

Meet Oregon albacore fishermen and support Edible Portland at a 5-course seafood dinner at Southpark Seafood Grill & Wine Bar.

Find resources on how to purchase Oregon albacore and can your own.

There are many claims being made about the benefits of buying local food — on the economy, our health and the environment. David Lively picked through the bin of local food claims and examined each.

Share your thoughts on the magazine by taking our 2nd annual survey. You’ll also have a chance to win many delicious prizes!

On Labor Day, bring your neighborhood picnic to the Time-Based Art Festival. With a flurry of planting, harvesting, and cooking, Slow Food Portland will take over the Washington High School lawn to stage a sprawling picnic.

A free and open-to-the-public celebration of fermented food and drink. Bring kraut, try kraut. Bring miso, try miso. Come for fermented food and drink skill sharing, recipe sharing, tasting and more.

On Wednesday, August 26, three Whole Foods Market locations will donate 5% of net sales to Ecotrust’s Farm to School program.

Join Edible Portland and the “poet of farming” at Powell’s on Burnside. David Mas Masumoto will be reading from his newest book, Wisdom of the Last Farmer.

Owner of Polyface, Inc. to speak to the importance of the plant-animal symbiosis to heal the landscape. Proceeds benefit the Hollywood Farmers’ Market.

A new Diary of a Young Farmer post by Zoë Bradbury. Zoë shares what she’s been up to in her second year farming in southern Oregon — like plowing for the first time with her two horses.

The Best of Oregon Food & Wine Festival showcases the very best of Oregon’s culinary culture — world class wineries and culinary artisans.

Attend Food, Inc. on Tuesday, June 23 at 7 pm at Cinema 21 and $2 of your ticket price will be donated to Slow Food!

Opening Day features 10 new vendors, including Gabriel’s Bakery and Lilikoi (Southeast Asian prepared foods), the Healthy Rewards program (a food stamp match program), and several great events.

Watch fishermen as they reel in black cod, experience the beauty of the reefs surrounding Port Orford, and hear what one small Oregon fishing community is doing to strengthen their industry and the environment.

Portland’s Jewish connection to sustainable agriculture, Tuv Ha’Aretz invites you to welcome summer at their first-ever community event at Sauvie Island Organics.