We on the Ethicurean team may not always keep all these purposes in mind when we garden. In fact, probably most of us approach the garden with a mixture of the dread facing work that must be done and the hope of enjoying the peace of a little plot of earth that will produce good food with a seasoning of joy. But as we continue to prepare the garden beds and start sowing seeds, we’re doing something more. In the words of Pattie over at FoodShed Planet (where this year’s Victory Garden Drive got started), we’re declaring victory over our food supply — at a time when that food supply is looking more and more shaky.

As March draws to a close, I start counting the weeks until the farmers market returns. (Ten, thanks.)
After a long winter rounded out by a handful of late snowstorms, I’m really looking forward to the first local salad of mixed greens, the first fresh asparagus, and the chance to restock my garlic stash. […]

The flaws of industrial agriculture and the current backlash against it came into sharp focus a couple of weeks ago, following the death of former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, well-known for his exhortations to farmers to "Get big or get out" and to plant from "fence row to fence row." Between the success […]

We’ve just dug out from a mild winter storm here in northern Ohio (only a few inches of snow, but topped with a thick glaze of ice), and I’m finally able to see the ground emerge from that blanket of cold, frozen precipitation. The weather lately has fueled a number of dreams of sunny, tropical […]

I love pasta. There’s just no getting around that simple fact.
Others may avoid carbohydrates like the plague, but I find that a meal isn’t quite complete without something a little starchy to hold everything together. An old-fashioned trencherwoman, that’s me. And pasta ranks at the top of the list because it’s so easy to […]

The high-starch vegetables play an important role in our winter diets, giving us the extra nutrition and energy we northerners need to stay warm and well-fed when the snow flies. But you’d better believe that we’re counting down the days until the start of this year’s farmers market -– and the first fresh leafy greens and other spring vegetables!

I hadn’t given the global coffee trade a whole lot of thought before a DVD of the Oxfam America documentary “Black Gold” crossed my desk. Coffee is the second most actively traded commodity globally, and though there’s a great deal of money involved in the coffee trade, very little of that money ends up in the farmers’ pockets.

Though the New Year has arrived, making Christmas a distant memory, I’m still lingering over my holiday baking. Normally, having focused on cookies, I’d have wrapped everything up by now and given the last crumbs to hungry friends. This year, though, I spent more time baking bread than cookies, and I’ve only just finished.
Why […]

Nearly fifty years after editing “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” the book that launched Julia Child, Judith Jones (now senior editor and vice-president at Alfred A. Knopf) has written her own memoir: “The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food.” Having grown up in a family that served only staid, simple, British-influenced meals, she developed a passion for food and cooking that led her to France (and back) and, eventually, to editing a large number of ground-breaking cookbooks.

Why not try ditching those store-bought gifts in favor of sharing one of your favorite food traditions? Making a special treat allows you the chance to share a family recipe and a meaningful part of your personal history. Using your kitchen skills to create gifts is usually more economical as well, and it can also allow you to recycle empty bottles, jars, or tins as gift containers. Best of all, cooking up presents allows you to showcase some of your favorite local foods and to share the local bounty.

Since becoming a vegetarian, I’ve been more inclined to celebrate Thanksgiving according to its original intent: to give thanks for a successful harvest by eating the results of that harvest. I like to look to the garden or the farmers market and celebrate the rich bounty of vegetables available at this time of the year — as well as the stories behind them — to celebrate a 100-Mile Thanksgiving, at least in part.

When apple harvest time comes around, look for cider vinegar, too, and find new ways to incorporate it into your cooking.

How do you get kids interested in local food? School gardens provide one route to a child’s stomach, and a visit with Ed Bruske at the Children’s Studio School garden in DC offers more information on how gardening can fit into the school curriculum and community.

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When you come from a smaller city in a rural area and your main local-foods choices consist of a couple of upscale restaurants or your own home cooking (with produce from the farmers market, of course), sometimes you want to know what it’s like to have […]

I am not a wine connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, when it comes to wine, I can generally take it or leave it. I’ve nothing against it, mind you, and I’ve found that the right wine can often make a good meal even more blissful. But I can also leave a […]