Welcome to Feeding the Future, a new program that converses with educators, food professionals, caregivers, artists and musicians whose work relates to nourishing kids or in some way connecting them to food and its sources. The goal is to provide inspiration and information for feeding our next generation in a creative, rounded way and to emphasize the importance of engaging them in our abundant food culture. On the debut episode, host Orianne Cosentino is joined by Andy Szymanowicz of Sol Flower Farm, a diversified market farm and CSA, sustainably growing high quality vegetables and flowers. Tune in for a taste of what's to come on Feeding the Future

Today's Recipe: Spring Barley Risotto

(adapted from Fanny at Chez Panisse by Alice Waters)

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
a sprig of thyme
1 cup barley or short grained rice
1 pound asparagus, cooked and chopped into 1 inch lengths
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
2-3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (mint, chives, parsley or mix)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper
a handful or pea shoots, optional

Heat the broth in a small pot. Season it generously so it tastes a little salty and keep it hot on the stove top.

In a larger pot, melt the butter and oil together. Add the onions and thyme and saute gently 4-5 minutes, until soft and clear.

Add the barley and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often to incorporate with the onions and the butter.

Pour in about half of the hot stock or enough to cover the barley. Stir well and reduce the heat to a low simmer (it should be bubbling gently).

Cook uncovered, about 10 minutes until almost all the broth is absorbed by the grains.

Add in the rest of the stock and continue to simmer another 10 minutes until the barley is tender and a little soupiness remains.

Near the end of the cooking time, stir in the asparagus, peas, herbs and parmesan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Check for seasoning adding salt to taste.

Once cooked, finish with lemon.

Serve with some pea shoots on top (and extra evoo and cheese), if desired.

Viva Farms is a farm incubator for new and Latino farmers, but they also maintain a large production farm. Produce from the Viva farm and the incubator farms feeds into the Viva Farms "food hub" along with other local products, which is then distributed to a 1,200 member CSA and various wholesale accounts in the greater Seattle market. Chris oversees it all, helping to cultivate new farmers as a relatively young farmer himself. He has worked on farms and ecological preserves for over 10 years, farming in Montana, Ecuador, New Mexico and Washington. Chris is both a hardcore farmer and a teacher, managing production, interns, and a bilingual farm crew while troubleshooting in the field with new farmers. His experience and perspective would make for a great conversation about young farmers--particularly beginning Latino farmers! This program has been brought to you by Hearst Ranch.

"Most of the farmers in our program are Latinos that have grown up as farm workers, and now they have the chance to be farm owners." [8:00] -- Chris Elder on Greenhorn Radio

Thinking of coming to the No Farms No Food rally on March 13th, 2013? Learn to lobby with environmental lobbyist and consultant, Jeff Jones! HRN's Leah Eden and Erin Fairbanks call up Jeff to discuss lobbying strategies. Who should rally participants expect to meet, and how should one engage a senator or representative? Listen in to hear Jeff talk about the importance of participating in direct democratic actions, and why a diversity of voices need to be heard at Albany. If you're headed to the state capital on March 13th, check out this segment, and know what to expect when you arrive at the rally! Thanks to our sponsor, Hearst Ranch.

Tune in to part one of our podcast series for an overview of the rally and part two to learn about AFT's top three priorities for the rally.

"This is one way to be directly engaged in democracy, and there are a lot of people coming through Albany this time of year- especially because they're making decisions about the state budget." [4:15]

"If you can establish a human connection, you go a long way toward opening the channel of communication." [20:45]

-- Jeff Jones on No Farms, No Food Rally