Section » Fruits and vegetables
Victory Garden update: Finally, everyone’s eating something
Lately we've seen a bumper crop of articles extolling the virtues of gardening. Sure, it's a great way to reduce your food costs at a time when those prices are experiencing rapid growth spurts. But it's more than that: gardens can be environmentally
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The slippery slope of banana disasters
Did you know your great-grandparents grew up peeling an entirely different kind of banana than we do now? They ate the Gros Michel banana, a variety that everyone apparently liked much better than today's ubiquitous
The banana situation in Montreal
While trying to base my entire diet on food that is grown, raised, and produced close to where I live in Montreal, there are a few items that I have decided simply to eat regardless of their source. At the top of that
Safeway’s unintentional commentary on modern tomatoes
Safeway is running ads declaring that their tomatoes are "robust,"
Local food promoted as economic development tool
It's one of the ironies of our food system that here in Kansas, one of the largest agriculture states in the union, we don't have a whole lot of local food. It doesn't have to be that way. What's more, a turnaround in that situation is a good economic development plan. That was the message that two sustainable
Victory Garden update: Getting in a few good digs
Memorial Day weekend, though mostly seen as the first taste of summer vacation, also gives us time to reflect on the meaning of patriotism. For those of us who garden, it offers a little of both, especially now that more and more people are viewing their Victory Gardens as a way to save our
Perfect pinch: Saving pennies by cleaning out the pantry
A little over a year ago, many of us took on the Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge and found ways to minimize our food spending for one week.
Saving the songbirds (and ourselves)
Today's New York Times featured an op-ed by Bridget Stutchbury, a biology professor at the University of Toronto and author of Silence
Sow what? Planning and starting our Victory Gardens
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 climes
We’re plotting… our Victory Gardens!
During both World War I and II, the American government mandated that its citizens ration food in order to feed the troops overseas. In order to supplement their rations of meat, oil, sugar, and other precious foods, the American people followed the government's call to plant War Gardens (in WWI) and,
Dancing with the starches
While the winter weather hems and haws, trying to decide whether to leave us alone or slam us with snow and ice, the gardens and the fields here in northern Ohio make it pointedly clear that if you're looking for fresh produce, you'd better be prepared to look long and hard. Most grocers won't have an
Do pineapples belong in a snowstorm?
Montreal enjoyed several days of warm weather last week, which melted almost all of the snow that had fallen over the last two weeks, and there was a lot of it. Just as I was beginning to enjoy walking to work in my hiking boots, mother nature dropped another big snowfall on us and I had to switch back
State of local food not bad in this Plains city
Kei, a commenter on my blog, recently asked about what kind of produce is available these days in Kansas. A San Franciscan, she was surprised by the dearth of produce she found recently in New York compared with her home. Although I gave her a brief
No harm, no fowl: Vegetarian Thanksgiving favorites
No other holiday seems to hold such firm sway over the hearts -- and stomachs -- of Americans as Thanksgiving. Between an enormous feast shared with family (or friends), an entire day of television devoted to parades and football games, a dash of fervent patriotism, and three more days off for leftovers
Digest – Blogs: Let’s scrap the Farm Bill, winter marketing, the golden age of apples
Just plow it under: Annie Myers reports on an event at NYU, “The Farm Bill 2007," with Marion Nestle, Dan Barber, Christina Grace, and the absent yet omnipresent omnivores-dilemma-in-chief — and makes an awesomely radical suggestion. "Maybe we should consider "scrapping the
