Terra Madre

Terra Madre is an international network of food producers, cooks, educators and students from 150 countries who are united by a common goal of global sustainability in food. The "food communities" of Terra Madre come together biennially to share innovative solutions and time-honored traditions for keeping small-scale agriculture and sustainable food production alive and well.

The fourth edition of the Terra Madre conference was held October 21-25, 2010. The fifth edition will be held in the fall of 2012.

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/bringing_terra_madre_home/

Open Source Grabeland

Open source Grabeland is a collaborative, open-source project connected to two plots of land owned by the artists in Nevada and former East Germany. Though radically different culturally and topographically, neither site has access to a convenient natural or artificial water source. By instigating open source Grabeland in both communities simultaneously the artists are setting up a collaborative system for writing a visual code, which will be compiled through social websites such as blogs, wikis, youtube and facebook. When the rising tide lifts all boats, this evolving virtual source of knowledge and the location of a viable source of water will be converted into lines of universally applicable code.

http://creative-capital.org/projects/view/312

This American Life

I was thinking about the different ways in which the market functions and different types of markets for that matter. So far it seems like we have narrowed down markets into 3 categories: the locally produced farmers market, the global grocery market, and the more hard to pin down markets which fall somewhere between this meaning the wholesale markets which supply chains and restaurants with fresh produce. It just so happens that today I was listening to some old back episodes of This American Life and ran across one that deals with people who basically work at night and sleep during the day. One section was specifically on the market in I think Brooklyn. Both buyers and sellers were interviewed revealing the ways the market functioned. I found it interesting and am wondering if we can find a similar place in San Francisco for a project. This is just the start of my research and is somewhat happenstance, but someone may find it helpful in the long run.

 http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1328