Lincoln Theatre to Remain Open
• October 13, 2011

Unlike the words Langston Hughes once used in his poem “Lincoln Theatre,” the movies won’t end.

For the past 24 months the Lincoln Theatre has struggled with financial sustainability and still does. Yet it will not be closing, but is in a state of dire financial struggle. At the press conference held Thursday afternoon, it was confirmed that the theatre is in need of operating funds from the District to keep the doors open past the end of the calendar year.

However, the theatre may not be getting the city funding that it needs and has scheduled a meeting with the mayor to resolve these issues.

Rick Lee, a board member of the U Street Foundation Board which operates the theatre, explained the frustration the theatre is going through.

“We found out that there is $89 million to be [divided] up across the city [for operation funding], and we’re not going to be getting any of it,” said Lee.

According to the board, the mayor has not responded to the request they put forth and the theatre must continue its struggle to maintain sustainability in the constant economic crisis affecting them.

Cynthia Robinson, another board member, stressed how important the resources they get later on in the year are. “In order for a public theatre owned by the District to operate effectively, it must have committed resources to support the operations,” Robinson said.

Robinson detailed how they have been getting the money in the past, saying that they receive their own revenue, rentals, fundraising and finally District funding for operations.

“Most of the money we get is going to go straight to keeping the doors open,” said Robinson. However, there is a staff that must be provided for and also monthly payments to be added in.

The average annual budget for the theatre is $1.7 million and their general monthly operating expenses come out to $60,000 per month. The cash on hand for them as of now is $50,000.

These problems could impact the theatre in different and drastic ways including: the ability to leave the doors open until the end of the year, the power to stage some shows and the inability to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Lincoln Theatre.

Council member Jim Graham of Ward 1 made an appearance at the conference and gave his assurance that the theatre will continue with its doors open. “We are hopeful that once we meet with the mayor, we can discuss a new system and new governance of reconsideration of these [funding] issues. That way we can assure the people that this theatre will continue to function,” Graham said.
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Georgetown Waterfront Park, Years in the Making, Opens
• October 7, 2011

The completed transformation of Georgetown’s land along the Potomac River was celebrated with an official National Park Service ceremony Sept. 13 at Wisconsin Avenue and K Street. Friends and volunteers came together to salute the completion of Georgetown Waterfront Park and to honor former Sen. Charles Percy (R-Ill.), the park’s most influential advocate and longtime 34th Street resident, who is gravely ill.

The $24-million, 9.5-acre park was a project of the National Park Service, the Friends of Georgetown Waterfront Park and the District of Columbia government. The park was designed by Wallace Roberts & Todd of Philadelphia and completes 225 miles of parkland along the Potomac River’s shoreline, stretching from Mount Vernon, Va., north to Cumberland, Md. It is the largest park to be created in D.C. since Constitution Gardens was completed on the National Mall in 1976. Construction began in 2006.

Once the land of old Georgetown’s wharves and factories, the riverside had deteriorated into parking lots and empty land. In 1985, the District of Columbia transferred the waterfront land to the National Park Service. In the late 1990s, the Georgetown Waterfront Commission made the final, long push for completion, bringing together volunteers, residents, the rowing community, local leaders and the National Park Service as it highlighted the Potomac’s signature sport: rowing.

The park features pathways, granite artwork that tells the story of Georgetown as a port, a labyrinth, a bio-engineered river edge along with the newest and most popular attractions: a pergola, fountain and river stairs.

At the ceremony, Rock Creek Park Superintendent Tara Morrison greeted the crowd as it faced the Potomac, Roosevelt Island and the Kennedy Center and boats, helicopters and airplanes passed by.

“This is a grand day,” announced Robert vom Eigen, president of the Friends of Georgetown Waterfront Park, who thanked all those working for years to change unused industrial lots into parkland, now part of the Park Service.

“No one would have loved more to be here front row and center,” said WETA president and CEO Sharon Percy Rockefeller of her father, Sen. Percy, whose picture is on a park plaque. Revealing that he is ill at Sibley Hospital, Rockefeller choked up as she said, “He would be thrilled to see this magnificent setting. It is his fondest and last best work.”

On behalf of the District, Ward 2 councilman Jack Evans thanked the three most responsible for the final push to get the park done: Ann Satterthwaite, Robert vom Eigen and Grace Bateman.

Paraphrasing Frederick Douglass’s thoughts on visitors to the nation’s capital, Robert Stanton of the Park Service said, “When they visit Washington, D.C., they would be at home. For those who visit Georgetown Waterfront Park, they will be home as well.”

Afterwards, hometown architects Hugh Jacobsen and Arthur Cotton Moore, sitting together at the House of Sweden reception for the park after the ceremony, approved of the new work. Pleased to see parkland and businesses side by side, Moore joked, “Hugh and I are going down those steps [at the river] tomorrow in our swimming suits.”

Sculptor John Dreyfuss, also trained as an architect, summed up Georgetown’s newest creation: “It is a triumph.”

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DC: Racism Redefined?
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By Deklan

One of the oldest and most defended characterizations of human nature is our innate desire to be hateful for no reason. Racism has been woven into the fabric of our culture, of our upbringing, and has long worked its way into our daily lives. And while racism still rules in smaller cities and communities throughout this great country, in larger, more culturally diverse cities like D.C., the nature of our diversity disproves the beliefs that racism is founded on. Right?

Admittedly, D.C. has long been a city where racial lines run deep enough to tear the city into pieces. But racism, by definition, is the belief that there are differences in people based on race and skin color. The fact that there are so many colors, so many cultures, and so many characters in D.C. makes it impossible to be racist. Sure, you can hate a group of people based on the color of their skin, but the only thing you can prove that they have in common is the color of their skin, and even that isn’t the same from person to person.

Which brings up racism’s brother and sister: prejudice and stereotyping. Prejudice takes racism to a new level, allowing an opportunity to hate someone for whatever reason you can come up with: sexual orientation, obesity, homelessness, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. And our prejudices are often based on stereotypes that we inherit and develop through environmental situations, first-hand experiences, TV and social influences.

As a culture, prejudices and stereotypes will always exist. Attributing them to other people is part of our human need to make sense of the world around us. But it doesn’t have to be negative. George Carlin said about racism that it isn’t the words we use that are bad, “it’s the racist who’s using it that you ought to be concerned about.”

That being said, is it possible to make prejudices and stereotypes funny? For example, when you see an Asian person parallel park, do you watch to see if they can do it on the first try? Are you ever shocked when your North African cab driver doesn’t drive like he’s being shot at? Or have you ever said “Hola” to a Latino person and they reply “Hey, how ya doin’?” in plain English? What about a white man who rushes past a crowd to get to the door first, only to hold it for everyone else?

On another level, D.C. has generally two types of residents: those who live here because they live here, and those who live here because they work here. Still, it often seems like everyone here is on his or her own mission. But with D.C.’s high rent, high gas, high cost of living and horrible traffic problems, who has time to hate, really? Granted there are some nice paying jobs in this city, but seriously . . . most of us are working two jobs (or more) just to pay rent and buy food. Then again, the stress from that can cause anyone to lash out I suppose. Even then, our frustrations and aggression need not be taken out on others.

As Washingtonians, we should be working to set an example to the rest of the world on how cities can function. D.C. has the ability to break stereotypes based on color and ethnicity and race. This city teaches us that we’re all different in ways that should be celebrated instead of degraded. D.C. gives us an opportunity not to judge a book by its cover, a person by his or her skin color, or cultures by the people who represent them—because just when you think you’ve got it figured out, someone will come along and prove you wrong.

Deklan is a writer & photographer living in D.C. by way of the BP oil spill.

9/11: A Once and Future Unity
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The crisp, blue Tuesday morning of Sept. 11, 2001, was deadline day for the Georgetowner newspaper. As editor-in-chief at the time I was wondering which feature should become the cover story and considered them all less than compelling. I mused: I wish something more interesting would come along to cover. Be careful what you wish for, I know now too well. Leaving home early for the office, I had not seen the morning TV news and did not know what I had just happened at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. At the office I saw and heard the hellish news of deaths that has never really gone away. Some staffers were trying to finish work on the issue, while others were out viewing the smoke of the Pentagon and hearing helicopters and fighter jets above. Most just felt stunned and unbelieving.

Publisher Sonya Bernhardt was arranging advertising page positions, and editor David Roffman stared at his computer, still typing, recalling that huge mass of smoke he saw when coming over Key Bridge. We, the stunned and unbelieving, did not know quite what else to do. I shook my head and went outside. After high noon, I wandered toward Halcyon House which has a panorama of the Potomac and where you can see the Pentagon over in Arlington. Smoke still puffed into the azure sky. I looked down on M Street nearby, where the flag was flying in Francis Scott Key Park. This Star-Spangled Banner was flying as defiantly as its original had 187 years earlier in the face of a foreign menace. As neighbors John Dreyfuss and Chris Murray looked from the railing with me, I held up the camera and took the cover shot for the week. Hell of a way to make deadline.

Weeks and months after 9/11, the Georgetowner wrote headlines like “Terrorism Hits Home” and “A New Age Begins.” Sincere, fresh respect for firefighters, police officers and other first responders erupted, even as the anthrax threat spread. We were in a new world together. Everyone pitched in with a unity of stories on local and business news, interviews, commentary and advice. Experts, such as former national security advisor Robert McFarlane and historian Fred Hubig, gave their take on our newfound world of terrorism. Along with others, contributors like Dorree Lynn (Jack Evans and Bill Starrels included) and photographers Patrick Ryan and Neshan Naltchayan were on the scene – and still are. Still others have departed, like longtime editor and publisher David Roffman who has retired to the Gulf Coast and former associate publisher Victoria Michael, who runs a thriving public relations business. (I left the newspaper for public relations and editorial consulting but still write for it as an editor, too.)

Ten years ago, those singular evil acts welded an inseparability for all of us here, in the city and nation and, perhaps, through the world. Lives have been lost, then and since, as have new lives arrived to validate new hope. We know exactly where we were then – hearts ache for those who died – and since, what shall we say? That such a unity fades like the smoke we saw?

Today, in our historic neighborhood and nation’s capital, the Georgetown Media Group boasts young, smart writers, editors, designers and marketers – interns, too. Through all the changes, its publisher Sonya Bernhardt never stops working for improvement along with another who has never stopped: stalwart writer Gary Tischler, whose words have their own soulful unity. These two exemplify perseverance.

If September 11 is to become a day united by purposeful service, we know something about that. Just remember to wish carefully.

Memory and Witness in a Post-9/11 World
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Like witnesses at a traffic accident, everybody remembers that singular, defining day differently yet, at the same time, everyone has similar recollections of that morning in their memories and dreams.
Hard to imagine the thoughts, feelings and memories of those at ground zero and beyond in New York or the people on those doomed planes, flying into buildings, crashing into the green earth, ripping into the Pentagon. We have stories about the events, the people who survived them, those in proximity or close by in shock.

An amazing number of people recall the quality of the morning just before the first plane struck—an incredibly blue sky, here in Washington and there in New York.
All the memories will come back throughout this week and on Sunday when the memorial in New York is dedicated—there will be concerts, the sound of taps, exhibitions, commemorations, marches, and the names of the victims inscribed, recited, going out into the air of whatever weathered day there will be.

I remember a woman who was huddled around a television monitor at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington as one of the towers collapsed in a cloud of improbable dust. There was a collective gasp from the group around the monitor, people were holding their hands to their mouths, or rubbing their heads tilted backward. The woman, who was here for a medical convention was thin and stood ramrod still and said, to no one in particular, “I woke upon in one world this morning, and I’m going to home to a completely different, changed world tonight.”

It was one of the more prophetic, accurate statements—no doubt, thought, felt and said by others all over the world in some form or another—of the day. And here we are, ten years later, and the wounds still bleed, the shocks still come, the understanding not very much enlarged, our casualty list tripled, the danger still there, the war, undeclared but also unending. We—and the rest of the world—remain in harm’s way, vulnerable to the plots, schemes, and attacks of terrorism, terrorists, terror itself, states which support terrorism and terrorist organizations not yet named. They are not Allah’s children, nor the heart and soul of Islam, but rather they come from the most hateful, desperate and fanatic corners and perversions of faith.

We live in a different, still-drastically-changing world. In the aftermath of 9/11, we launched an attack, with the full sympathy of the world, on al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, declared a victory in a war that was just beginning, then proceeded, with much, much less clarity and certainty to invade Iraq. The outcome was muddy: Saddam Hussein was captured and eventually executed; al Qaeda led a bloody insurgency against American soldiers which was eventually quelled at considerable cost, including the public standing of President Bush. Thousands died including, at last count, 4,442 American troops. We are still fighting in Afghanistan, against both al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban, and at latest count, 1,584 Americans have been killed there.

After years of non-stop efforts, our forces, specifically an elite Navy Seal team, tracked down and killed Osama Bin Laden, the reviled, elusive mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks this year, sparking a soundtrack of celebration, but not much change.

What we have seen are attempted bombings, the massacre in Fort Hood and terrorist acts in London and Spain, India and Indonesia. We’ve seen continued bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan where the roads are lined with IEDs. We have seen entirely too many of our brave warriors coming home, wearing the very latest prosthetics. They are a part of our landscape, our memorial services, and the services for the honored dead.

We have a whole new government department—Homeland Security—we have a new airport security system which takes every ounce of pleasure out of flying and has been accompanied by controversy, argument and politics.

I think we woke up on 9/l2 with the realization that the world was not a safe place, that we as a people were hated by another group of people who characterized us in ways we did not recognize and could not understand to the point that they envisioned the plan they executed. We mourned, we dealt with anthrax, and I remember a young girl across the street from our house sitting by herself with a lit candle one evening.

If you go to the website for the New York memorial, you can call up the dead, the voices of their loved ones, the details of their lives, the faces in their photographs. We individualize our tragedies in this country, even one as large, as devastating as 9/11, savor every face and time lost on earth, as a kind of act of love. It is something the perpetrators of the acts of atrocity that day—the men with the knives and box cutters and screaming commands on the planes—could not do, they rid themselves completely of imagination and empathy and did what they did gripped by a sick, sad vision that they would be rewarded in paradise.

Sunday, their victims will rise up again as ghosts of their lives, the dead of 9/11, still alive, and bringing with them the memories of a lost world.

Jack Evans Report
• October 5, 2011

It is with great disappointment that I report to you that the D.C. Council voted last week to raise our income tax for the first time in 30 years. Last week, at our first meeting after the summer recess, Phil Mendelson and Mary Cheh led an effort to raise the income tax rate from 8.5 percent to 8.95 percent on incomes over $350,000. Cheh and Mendelson were joined by Councilmembers Jim Graham, Harry Thomas, Tommy Wells, Yvette Alexander and Michael Brown in passing the measure, giving the District the fifth highest income tax rate in the country. I have been opposed to the idea to increase the income tax rate ever since it was first proposed by Mayor Vincent Gray earlier this year. It was simply not necessary in light of the hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue already identified by the District’s chief financial officer this year.

Notwithstanding the facts, proponents argued that the income tax increase was necessary to undo the ill-advised municipal bond tax – in fact, this was a false choice – an amendment I offered would have obviated the need for both new tax proposals due to the most recent $89 million in projected new revenue. My amendment failed, 7-6, however, after the seventh and deciding vote was cast by Mary Cheh to raise the income tax.

Another justification presented by those who want to gratuitously raise income taxes is that it will make the income tax more progressive. In response to that point, I asked that we consider lowering the income tax rate for lower income taxpayers, which would make the income tax rate structure more progressive without stifling economic growth.

In the same way the recent irresponsible brinksmanship in Congress undermined the confidence of voters around the country, not to mention the bond rating agencies, the disingenuous debate over the District’s finances will shake the confidence of District taxpayers who see their bills increase without justification. The District has also suffered an adverse action on its bond credit rating – while this was due to issues relating to federal government spending cuts, it could possibly have been avoided if the District had more money in its savings account.

I am very concerned as we go forward about the attitude of the Mayor and the majority of the Council with respect to our finances. The city must live with the revenue we have, and we need to bring the exponential growth in government spending back under control.

As fall approaches, there is much to do, and I look forward to facing the many challenges before us.

Weekend Roundup September 29,2011
• October 4, 2011

Rebirth of the Cool

September 30th, 2011 at 06:00-9:00 PM| Event Website

Rebirth of the Cool represents a new incarnation of Kehinde Wiley’s popular annual fish fry from Art Basel Miami Beach. Both extravagant and casually hip, it offers guests the opportunity to experience the city and the artistic subculture in a way that Wiley describes as “a truer example of my lived life.” The event’s title refers to Birth of the Cool, an exhibition of works by Barkley Hendricks, an artist in 30 Americans, and is symbolic of the exciting programming coming up at the Corcoran.

If you haven’t already, buy tickets by clicking Here includes BBQ and two drinks.

The Initiative for Russian Culture-Film, Jazzmen

September 30th, 2011 at 06:00 PM | fedyashi@american.edu | Tel: (202) 885-6381 | Event Website

The founding of the Initiative for Russian Culture (IRC) invites you to come see the award winning and popular Russian film, Jazzmen (1983). The film is based on a music student, Konstantin, who gets expelled due to his love for jazz, which at the time was considered to be frowned upon in Soviet Union 1920’s. The student seeks two street musicians to form a band and together they attempt to make a mark on the Russian music scene. Director Karen Shaknazarov set this film during a time when, despite its widespread popularity, jazz was to be frowned upon as a debased form of capitalist art. The movie showcases great Russian jazz tunes as the band tries to prove that jazz music is a revolutionary and popular form of art.

To start the evening cocktails and a buffet will be served and the screening of the film will follow along with a discussion and Q and A. Afterward, Russian coffee and deserts will be served and Igor Bril will close the event with a live performance. Valet parking will be available and the attire will be business. There will be media availability starting at 5:45 PM and media credentials will be required.

Address

The Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building

10 First Street, SE Washington, DC

Art Code: Artworks by Edurne Esponda

September 30th, 2011 at 06:00 PM | gallery@callowayart.com | Tel: 202-965-4601 | Event Website

Susan Calloway Fine Arts is pleased to present ArtCode, a show by Edurne Esponda, which displays the artists’ colorful, playful, and thought provoking oeuvre. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Edurne Esponda has traveled the world as both an artist and fashion designer. Her latest work, ArtCode will be on view at Susan Calloway Fine Arts from September 30 through October 29, 2011. An opening reception will be held on September 30 from 6PM-8PM.

Address

Susan Calloway Fine Arts

Book Hill, Georgetown

1643 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20007

Wine in the Water Park

September 30th, 2011 at 07:00 PM | Free Admission | Event Website

Wine in the Water Park brings the mood-setting, ambient music of DJ Adrian Loving, wine and beer carefully selected by the Washington Wine Academy, and free snacks from Jaleo to the Crystal City Water Park (across from 1750 Crystal Drive). Taking place every Friday in September (September 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th) from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the event gives residents, office workers, and visitors a great place to unwind after the work week.

Address

Crystal City Water Park (across from 1750 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA)

Bowen McCauley Dance at Dance Place

October 1st, 2011 at 02:00 AM | $22 General Admission $17 Members, Seniors, Teachers and Artists

$10 College Students $8 Children (1 | ricki@bmdc.org | Tel: 703-910-5175 | Event Website

Lucy Bowen McCauley, named by Washingtonian as among those “who have helped transform Washington into one of the nation’s liveliest centers for the performing arts,” brings her eclectic musical taste, creative artistic partnerships, and her company of “rising stars” to Dance Place. Audience favorite, Lucy’s Playlist, brings ’80s pop and rock tunes to life with an amped up performance. The energy is infectious!

Address

Dance Place

3225 8th Street NE

Washington, DC 20017

DC Walk for the Animals benefiting the Washington Humane Society

October 15th, 2011 at 10:00 AM | $15-20 | events@washhumane.org | Tel: 202-683-1822 | Event Website

DC Walk for the Animals (Benefiting the Washington Humane Society)

WHEN: Saturday, October 15, 2011

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

WHERE: Marie Reed Learning Center

2200 Champlain St. NW

Washington, DC 20009

CONTACT INFO: events@washhumane.org

202-683-1822

ADMISSION: $20 for adults, $15 for children ages 3-12, Free for children under age 3

Address

2200 Champlain St. NW

Washington, DC 20009

11th Annual Norton Wine and Bluegrass Festival

October 1st, 2011 at 10:00 AM | Admission is $20 per person at the door, $15 in advance |

kkinne@chrysaliswine.com | Tel: (540) 687-8222 ext. 206 | Event Website

Home to the world’s single largest planting of Norton, the Chrysalis Vineyards is hosting the 11th Annual Norton Wine and Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Celebrate Norton, The Real American Grape!® with tastings of America’s authentic premium wine – indigenous to Virginia. Listen to live bluegrass music, hop on a hayride and shop the food and craft vendors. A variety of Norton blends will be available including Mariposa, Estate Bottled Norton, Chrysalis’ ultra premium Locksley Reserve Norton and more. For more information and details, visit www.ChrysalisWine.com.

Address

23876 Champe Ford Road

Middleburg, Virginia 20117

Shop to Support Washington Empowered Against Violence
• October 3, 2011

As you pay low prices for your favorite end-of-season pieces and some upcoming season looks at the District Samples Sale, you help Washington Empowered Against Violence.

Sept. 26, M Street will fill up with bargain hunters as DSS arranges its semi-annual charity event. DSS features over 20 top designer clothing and shoe boutiques, according to DistrictSampleSale.com. They also entice Georgetown shoppers with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from participating restaurants. At this event, designer pieces are sold at liquidation-level prices. Though you can often find good prices at online retailers, “what is unique about the DSS is the experience that we offer. People can actually try on the clothes and interact with the boutique owners…” said DSS co-founder Jayne Sandman in a news release, as quoted in the Georgetown Patch.

DSS is an all-volunteer organization, and 100 percent of its profits go to charity. This fall’s charity event will benefit WEAVE, an organization that works to eliminate partner abuse and gender-based violence through holistic service and empowerment. It offers legal representation, counseling and case management among other services, according to WeaveInCorp.com, which also states that its empowerment model emphasizes the clients’ ownership of their own cases.

WEAVE recently changed its name from “Women Empowered Against Violence” to “Washington Empowered Against Violence” in an effort to eliminate any possible barriers between genders, according to WeaveInCorp.com. Also, there are no income restrictions on clients, making its services available to more people. The organization was founded in 1996 and will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year, which makes this the perfect time “for DSS to select us as their charity,” said executive director for WEAVE, Jeni Gamble, to the Georgetown Patch. She furthers explains that this event might benefit between 50 and 200 victims, depending on the turnout they get.

Tickets for the event are available at DistrictSampleSale.com.

Pie Sisters Coming to M Street’s Regency Row at Key Bridge
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Well, my little cupcakes, make some room. Pie Sisters – a.k.a. O’B.Sweet – will open its much-anticipated first store at 3423 M St. in early November.

Bakers and businesswomen Alli, Cat and Erin Blakely, who hail from Great Falls, Va., and are parishioners of St. John’s Church on O Street, are known for their pies for weddings and social and charitable events. They and their baking talents, a lifelong family affair, have been pitched as a “reality” show on a cable network. The sisters said they chose the site because of its closeness to Georgetown University and its visibility – you can’t miss it turning off Key Bridge from Virginia – and that “the location is not too small and not too big.”

“Their product is irresistible,” said Richard Levy, the new shop’s landlord and managing principal of the Levy Group, a real estate investment and property management company, which runs Regency Row on M Street at Key Bridge. “These three very energetic sisters convinced me. They have a lot of business savvy.”

Construction of the pie shop is underway, and it is expected to open before Thanksgiving, according to Levy. Another new business, a small eatery, is planned for next door.

As for that cable show, Erin Blakely said, “We put that on hold. It’s still possible. We want to get the store open.”

The sisters sell pies in three sizes, the hand-held “cuppie,” seven-inch and nine-inch, and flavors include apple caramel crunch, pecan, key lime and banana, coconut or chocolate cream. They will also be offering gluten-free pies for the first time. The big pie can cost up to $35, but return the glass plate for $5 off next purchase – which appears inevitable. Georgetown surely has a sweet tooth.

“The manager at Revolution Cycles is psyched,” Levy said. “She loves pies.”

Visit PieSisters.com for more information.

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American Farmland Trust Kicks off Dine out for Farms Week
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In the midst of a society that is dominated by mass consumption and synthetic food substances, one D.C. organization is speaking up for organic food and the protection of the American farmlands that produce it.

Founded in 1980, the American Farmland Trust is a D.C.-based organization dedicated to protecting farmlands across America from destruction caused by urban development. On Wednesday, the AFT kicked off their second annual Dine Out for Farms week, which will take place Oct. 16 through 22. Various restaurants in the D.C. area and throughout the U.S. will participate in the event by informing customers about the importance of farms in providing them with the food they eat, and by donating to the AFT.

On hand at the kick off event, which took place at the Founding Farmers restaurant, was Mike Isabella, celebrity chef and owner of Graffiato, a participating restaurant in this year’s event.

“Working with local farmers supports their business and the economy, hopefully making it more affordable for more Americans to eat locally sourced, fresh and healthy food,” Isabella said in a press release.

AFT President Jon Scholl encourages restaurants to support local farms and cook their food with local ingredients.

“The restaurant community’s support of local farms is crucial, given that the Mid-Atlantic States have been losing more than 200 acres of farmland a day to sprawling development,” Scholl said in a press release. “Between 1982 and 2007, that totaled about 2 million acres, or an area bigger than the entire state of Delaware.”

Also on hand at the kick off was Bev Eggleston, owner of EcoFriendly Foods, a Virginia-based network of buyers and growers that supports family farms and small businesses. According to Eggleston, a lack of farmland leads to a lack of farmers, which makes it more difficult to buy locally.

“Ninety percent of the farmers I knew when I moved back to Virginia in 1990 are no longer farming,” Eggleston said. I’m working with ten percent of the original farmers.”

According to Chef Isabella, buying local is not just an issue of being green, it’s an issue of quality as well.

“The more we help the farmers out, the better product we get at the table,” Isabella said. If the product is local and seasonal, the flavor is there.”

During Dine out for Farms week, participating restaurant owners will promote local farmers by serving special dishes, donating a percentage of sales or making straight donations to AFT. Isabella believes the best way to show customers the benefit of fresh food is not through rhetoric, but through the food itself.

“My way of teaching them is by evolving my menu,” Isabella said, “and not just being at the table explaining to them why, but them tasting it and understanding. I think that’s the best way for me to do it.”

In addition to Graffiato and Founding Farmers, other D.C. restaurants participating during the week include America Eats Tavern, Café Milano and Pinkberry. For a complete list of participating restaurants, go to FarmLand.org/Dineout.