Rice by Design

   Yesterday, I went to the Jiashan market for the second time since being in Shanghai. Since it was cold and rainy there weren't many people out taking advantage of the great products available here. My previous market visit was on October 8th where I was so excited to find Bragg's apple cider vinegar and where I first started my yogurt delivery. This time Trisha, Shawn and I bought fresh hot sausages (made the day before) and ate homemade chutneys on it, purchased some fresh local Shanghai cheese and met a group of young Europeans that are trying to educate Chinese farmers about sustainable farming practices.  They were selling rice from their first harvest and since this seemed like such a great cause I bought a LB of rice from them.

   The group calls themselves Design Harvests, you can read more about them here. The group is working with farmers on Chongming Island which is about 45 mins northeast from Shanghai and teaching them to harvest rice w/o chemical fertilizers. It's really cool to know that I am eating rice that was grown so close to the city that I currently live in. Rice is one food that I will never find local in Portland.

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