Shopping at the farmers market gives consumers a chance to talk to farmers about their products, see how a farm changes across the seasons, and gain a better understanding of the challenge of farming. It’s a big improvement over a sterile grocery store where the origins of fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat are unclear, […]

The latest news & regarding SOLE-food issues, farming, policy, etc. that we think Ethicurean readers will want to know about.

Insightful and informative features we think Ethicurean readers will enjoy.

The most important commentary regarding SOLE-food issues (and their opposites), farming, policy, etc. that we think Ethicurean readers will want to know about.

A big thanks to all who came by and visited with the chickens and bought eggs yesterday — I think it went very well. In hindsight, I’m just really glad the rain waited til today, as that would have been a big drag.

[Updated on 9/22 to include positive sentiments from farmers about farmers markets]
Just as I was thinking that the Bay Area is enjoying a golden age of farmers markets, with a multitude of farmers markets bringing fresh, local food directly from the farm to the consumer, reality drops in: farmers markets can be an inefficient […]

Tomorrow is Park(ing) Day in San Francisco, and Phil Ferrato and I are taking over a space in South of Market usually reserved for a car and turning it in to an urban-chicken habitat, complete with two lovely Gold-Laced Wyandotte hens and an Eglu.

Some breaking news: Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns is resigning. "After careful thought and difficult deliberation, I am writing to inform you that I have decided to pursue a new opportunity to serve this great Nation," said the letter that went out to media. Why would he leave in the middle of the Food and […]

Which Bay Area company with a young, hip-yet-geeky staff has made a point of serving local, organically grown food since 1997? Nope, not Google.

A roundup of news about farming and rural areas.

Delighted by her love of cheese, Anthony and his wife Kelli, who makes the cheese from the raw cow and goat milk produced on their farm, invited the Cheese Baby to the Estrella Family Creamery cave christening, held Saturday night…. Samuel OK’d our request after warning us not to let the buck pee on us. We limited our visit to the mama goats and their kids, which must be bottle fed, guessing by how enthusiastically they greeted us. We returned to the party and found Anthony among friends in the garden…. Kelli said a few words of thanks before the family’s pastor offered a blessing, and then Chef Roy Breimann of the Salish Lodge conducted the christening, opening the champagne with a saber and a blessing of his own, which he credited to Napoleon: “in good times you deserve it, and in bad you need it.”… These ceremonies were succeeded by a remarkable feast, including roast veal, spit-roasted baby goat, grilled salmon, mussels, heirloom potatoes, farro salad with root vegetables, and of course a selection of Estrella cheeses, the cheese table having been moved from the garden to the light-string- and candle-lit supper tents by tractor…. We thus finished our meal with two Estrella creamery products that we can’t buy at the farmers’ market: whipped cream, which isn’t available because the cream usually goes into the cheese, and butter, which isn’t available because it’s illegal to sell unpasteurized butter in the state of Washington.

A round-up of the most important news & commentary regarding SOLE- and anti-SOLE food issues, farming, policy, etc. that we think Ethicurean readers will want to know about.

A round-up of the most important commentary regarding SOLE- and anti-SOLE food issues, farming, policy, etc. that we think Ethicurean readers will want to know about.

A round-up of insightful and informative features we think Ethicurean readers will enjoy.

A round-up of insightful and informative blog posts we think Ethicurean readers will enjoy.