Three months have passed since my last update on Local Roots Market in Wooster, Ohio. Back then, were on the cusp of opening at last. What's happened in the meantime? A lot. Following the close of the Downtown Farmers Market at the end of October, Local Roots Market opened as an indoor farmers market on November 7 with a roomful of tables for local produce and baked goods as well as individual freezers for producers' meats. Customers kept the market humming with enthusiasm and good energy as they visited with farmers and bought their weekly supplies of food. Each week we had more people express interest in becoming members, and each week we found more producers setting up shop. Our film series in November brought out a number of new faces, people we hadn't yet seen in the market but who seemed very interested in learning more about local foods as well as about
A simple little iPhone app launched a few days ago that demystifies the ingredient lists of processed food. Called "Don't Eat That" (link to App Store), it's a database of information on more than 1,500 food additives and ingredients, broken out into red-lettered lists for those that are believed to be carcinogenic or unhealthy for children; are known allergens; and/or are likely to be derived from genetically modified organisms. The database is self-contained: you don't need to have
The potential for disaster surrounds us every day. The aftershocks of the earthquake in Haiti may seem too big for many Americans to grasp, but we too should have a plan for possible local emergencies such as severe storms that wipe out our power supply for days, earthquakes, long-term illness, or unforeseen personal economic crises. Because when something catastrophic does occur, food security becomes critical: how can you keep yourself and your family from going hungry when hard times
When government officials hear the words "backyard livestock," they tend to worry about disease outbreaks and sanitation crises. And for good reason, as improperly managed animals — including dogs and cats — can be the source of all sorts of public health problems. When it comes to asthma, however, recent science is hinting that early childhood exposure to domestic animals can actually protect against the chronic condition, so well-cared-for backyard animals like chickens or miniature goats could actually have an additional, unexpected benefit. I learned
A monkfish (Wikimedia Commons) In the January 2010 issue of Food & Wine magazine, former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni visits top-rated Le Bernardin (3 stars from Michelin, 4 stars from the New York Times) and acts like an ass to the sommelier as he eats his multicourse meal*. If you're into restaurant drama, or food and drink pairings, you'll probably find the article delightful. For me, it elicited only ho-hum
As winter approaches, even the most knowledgeable of local-foods-loving shoppers have wondered what fresh produce they will find over the winter months, and the opening of a year-round market here in Wooster has only increased the frequency of that musing. Happily, I can point to a handful of our producer members who are likely to have greens and other vegetables coming from their high tunnels or hoop houses, taking a page from Eliot Coleman, the all-season farmer from Maine and author of the new book "The
When you think about eating endangered species, you might imagine going to Chinatown to some secret restaurant — or to the ones operated by shadowy mobsters like in the 1990 comedy "The Freshman," with Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando. But if you order tuna in your neighborhood sushi restaurant, you too could be chewing the wrong thing — specifically, southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii), a species classified as critically endangered by the 3 comments • Read more »
When the subject of Monterey, California, comes up, most people think of two things: the magnificent scenery and the peerless aquarium. I think of a third: sardines. Two days after Thanksgiving, I took a day trip to Monterey to see the dramatic coastline and experience some of city's connection with sardines firsthand. I skipped the aquarium on this visit, instead taking a quick walk along Cannery Row and visiting the Monterey Maritime Museum in search of information about the history of Monterey sardines.
This is part 2 of a series on aquaculture, inspired by a recent article published by an international team of researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (See PNAS 106 (36), 15103–15110, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0905235106. Summaries available from Stanford University and Environmental Research Web.) My first Ethicurean post, "New research
Ever since the idea of going locavore, or eating local on 100-mile diets, tiptoed into the mainstream a couple of years ago, more people have chosen to support their local farmers markets and to eat fresh food in season. The old chorus continues, however: "What can a locavore eat in the winter?" Well, quite a lot, really. Sharon Astyk tells you how in "Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage & Preservation." A former academic turned writer, subsistence farmer, activist,
By Rebecca Thistlewaite My husband Jim and I have been farming intently for about five years now, at TLC Ranch near Santa Cruz. Our business has grown by an astonishing 3,500% in 5 years — ridiculous, I know! — but somehow we have yet to see a net profit at the end of the year. Although we feed thousands of people with our exceptionally flavored, "clean" meat and eggs — full of Omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated lineolic acids, vitamins, and loads of iron — we don’t have enough money to ever fathom taking a few days off for the holidays, let alone buying some of our own farmland. We struggle to pay our employees an honest, livable wage
Sheave ho! Of the top three grains produced in the U.S., only No. 3 wheat (after corn and soybeans) is not overwhelmingly dominated by genetically modified varieties. In fact, you won’t find GM wheat in the United States at all. Henry
Moan on the range: Multiple speakers at the Kansas Livestock Association convention recently addressed public relations injuries to the livestock industry, thanks to animal welfare groups and others. The good news is
Ad news bears: Three years ago, a group of large food and beverage companies launched a voluntary initiative to change their advertising during TV programs favored by children. They were supposed to advertise more healthy foods and drinks, and fewer nutritionally
A sampler of dispatches from the street-food universe. What this got to do with Ethicureanism? Well, unlike most fast food, good street food is made from fresh, real ingredients by independent sole proprietors. And it fascinates us because it's like the
The flavor of fairness: When a recent UC Santa Cruz study asked grocery shoppers on California's Central Coast to rank their concerns about the food system, respondents prioritized animal welfare above the treatment of human workers on the farms. This
Iron stomachs: True/Slant Matthew Greenberg takes on the Food Network again, exploring
Toxins tell tuna's tale: The Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) population is split into two groups, with the 45 degree meridian acting as a rough dividing line. Some fish swim across the line to feed or spawn, and scientists and fishery managers
Plowing up zoning restrictions: As urban farming grows, so do conflicts between city zoning laws and farmers. The Kansas City, Mo., City Council is looking to ease some restrictions, while other cities in the area stand firm. The issues — involving
Good soil deed about to be uprooted: Millions of acres of environmentally sensitive lands are being pushed out of the federal Conservation Reserve Program and, most likely, back into production. The program was created to stabilize commodity prices while
Stop bugging me: As many as 25% of the American farmers growing genetically engineered corn are no longer complying with federal rules intended to maintain the resistance of the crops to damage from insects, according to a Center for Science in the Public
Ready, set, grow!: A new report released today by UrbanFood.org, with support from the HOPE Collaborative and City Slicker Farms, has identified 1,200 acres of vacant and underutilized public land in Oakland, California, that could potentially be used
Ignore the man behind the curtain: Reporters Rick Montgomery and Alan Bavley examine the “marriages of convenience” between unhealthy food producers and organizations aimed at promoting health, such as the newly announced alliance between Coca Cola
These are frothy days for the debate over access to unpasteurized milk. Business-reporter-turned-raw-milk-blogger David Gumpert has a new book out, "The
"Freedom and Unity" for sustainable meat!: Kudos to reporter Kathryn Flagg and the Addison Independent for their two-part series on slaughterhouses in Vermont. Part II looks at the growing market for local meats, the challenges facing small meat producers,
All about Eve: Moving piece by sustainable meat's power couple on why they cried when they found the daughter of one of their favorite cows unexpectedly dead. "After all, this cow was being raised for meat. How could we feel a genuine attachment for her?"
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