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, later, Victory Gardens. Home […]

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.

Digest - Blogsnacks: Feminism and slow food, Hillary likes USDA name change, FoodMed reporting

I have made mention several times of my community garden plot, most recently when I made Sorrel Potato Soup from the first growth of sorrel, which is a perennial and returns to the plot each year. I also mentioned that the garden season had a very late start this year due to soil analysis results […]

By this time last year, I had already cleaned up my community garden plot and sowed my seeds, after laying down a few bags of organic manure bought from a farmer in the Eastern Townships.
Here is what my plot looked like the first week of May, 2006. You can see Noshette and my garden partner […]

Walking the talk: Reading “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan inspired us to start this blog. That’s nothing. It inspired a group of suburban moms and one dad in Davis, CA, to start raising their own cattle, pigs, and ducks. But after killing ducks once, they’re now going to outsource the slaughter. Davis Enterprise
City […]

“Fueling Iowa’s Future”: An informative new series launched today in preparation of the 2008 Iowa caucuses. A number of articles and graphics highlight the state’s opportunities — and the serious challenges — as Iowa attempts to become an alternative energy leader for the nation. Des Moines Register
Quebec to label GM food?: A new study commissioned […]

Growing food is an art: Amy Franceschini, a San Francisco graphic designer and visual artist, is trying to revive the victory gardens planted during World War II. San Francisco Chronicle
The man who gave us Thunderbird & Boone’s Farm: We were ignoring the news that nonagenarian wine mogul Ernest Gallo has died — until now. Jon […]

This past Sunday was the 7th Annual Seed Fair at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I guess I missed the first six editions so I was happy when my friend Marc asked me to join him for this one. I always save some seeds each year so I was glad to have the opportunity not only […]

In the spirit of cross-promotion, I just wanted to alert people that journalism student Jeremy Rue has been named the recipient of UC Berkeley’s annual Dorothea Lange photography fellowship, which happens to be administered by my office. Why is this Ethicurean related? Well, Rue has been recognized for his stunning color photos of the often-invisible […]

I’m reading so much news now, trying to help make the daily Digest as comprehensive as possible, that my blog reading has greatly suffered as a result. Fortunately, readers have been sending in links to great posts on other food-related blogs. Instead of lumping them in with the Digest, I’m thinking they should have their […]

My friend Kate gets the willies from creepy-crawly things. Of course, my friend Kate is also a landscape architect. I suppose there is a possibility that she became a landscape architect specifically to battle her demons, but in the end, they still give her the heebie-jeebies. When Kate heard that I was […]

California farmers have lost more than $1 billion in citrus, avocados, strawberries, spring vegetables, and artichokes, according to yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle. Once upon a time, I would have heard that news and not thought twice about it. There was always more citrus that could be flown in from around the world to keep me […]

The inexorable march of global warming has stopped for a bathroom break or something, because it’s damn cold here. OK, so it’s nothing like the blizzards I endured on the East Coast or the ones Denver did over Christmas, but it’s pretty frickin’ nippy for California.
Last night was the second night of record low temperatures, […]

San Francisco Chronicle: The sudden chill has California citrus growers staying up all night to protect their crops, but lemons may be a casualty of the cold.
Guardian (UK): Wow — tomatoes are flying in England’s food fight over whether organic agriculture is a “lifestyle” choice, no better than conventional. This satirical comment piece by farmer […]