Grist Magazine: Tom Philpott argues that organic farming needn’t be anti-technology, but that technology should advance to address the needs of small-scale local farming. One way to accomplish this would be to to divert some of the USDA’s $1.5 billion annual funding away from conventional-ag research. Sustainable-ag research receives a mere $14 million […]

I approach this book with skepticism
There is something off-putting about the first chapter title in Nina Planck’s book: “I Grow Up on Real Food, Lose My Way, and Come Home Again.”
I put down the book and check copies of Twain and Thoreau for an influence, hoping to disguise my aversion to the author’s style […]

E. I. Ho and I had a wonderful time visiting the Northwest last week. We went to Seattle and then took the train to Vancouver to visit some friends. Both locations were crazy rich with wonderful local food.
Not to be Mistress of the Obvious here, but rain really does good things for local harvest choices. […]

Growers and Grocers: Derrick Schneider reports on the negotiations, possible delays, and generally what’s at stake in the 2007 Farm Bill (which henceforth we’re referring to as the “Food Bill.”)
New York Times: Grass-fed beef producers are making great strides in flavor and tenderness by relearning what came naturally before the age of the feedlot.
The Guardian […]

Most people with any interest in food have heard of Alice Waters and how her restaurant Chez Panisse revolutionized American fine dining starting in the 1970s. But few — OK, at least not I — have thought much about how her time as a UC Berkeley student during the ’60s Free Speech Movement inspired the […]

NPR: A Massachusetts farmer has cut a maze honoring Julia Child into a cornfield. For the maze’s cut-out areas, the guy plans “a potato putting course, tomato trebuchet, potato cannons and anything else we can throw in.”

David Goforth, a horticulture and forestry agent, had a thought-provoking piece in last week’s Charlotte Observer, about two age-divided sets that he encounters a lot: the DDT Generation, “who doesn’t care how insects or diseases are controlled on the food they consume,” and the Silent Spring Generation, for whom “environmentalism is much like a religion.”
The […]

Gristmill: Fitting in with our ongoing obsession with how best to position the food movement, Grist blogger David Roberts suggests that instead of always discussing the U.S. food system in moral and environmental terms, we’d be more persuasive by emphasizing the sensory and savory. So far, readers are not buying it.
Christian Science Monitor: Brand-sensitive retailers […]

Last night, I came home from work to find my kitchen overrun by Ethicureans. Man of La Muncha was mixing cocktails for the crowd. Dairy Queen was here, as was Potato Non Grata. For the first time, we met Omniwhore, E-I-E-I Ho, Momniwhore, and Dadniwhore. The plan was to have pre-dinner drinks […]

As I slowly make my way through The Nation’s Sept. 11 food issue (apparently not hitting actual newsstands until Tuesday), an idea jumped out at me from Michael Pollan’s portion of the “One Thing to Do About Food” forum. It’s about framing, and I think it’s something we need to get straight.
His suggestion is that […]

Monterey Herald: Legislation backed by large Agribusinesses such as Monsanto passes the California Assembly by a vote of 46-19. Now the bill heads to the Senate for a vote next Thursday, August 31st, where it is expected to pass. Time for more Californians to call their state senators — and hurry.
Dallas Morning News: Forget “a […]

Philadelphia City Paper: A bite-by-bite cover story about 12 days on the 100-Mile diet. Also provides a great overview of how hard it is to establish more local food-route alternatives to our global food distribution system.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: The P-I takes a look at latest local restaurant trends and swipes at restaurants that use the sad […]

We’ve gotten a lot of lettuce in our CSA box during this last month, and the produce is not only plentiful but large. One head barely fit into our crisper. Salad can get dull after a while if one does not mix things up, so the Butter Bitch and I were happy to […]

Popular Science: An Austin-based firm will take the tastiest cut of beef from a cow and clone it, so everyone will get the same tasty cut. In Phase Two, the cow will come to your table and ask which cut you would like. (With apologies to Douglas Adams.)
NPR: Listen (or read along) as the […]

Last week I returned from six amazing days in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This particular visit was spent mostly indoors, however, because I was there to attend the annual Language of Spirit Conference, where we engaged in “dialogue exploring reality from Indigenous and Western science perspectives.”
On my last day in town, I really wanted to venture […]