Local & Sustainable
Report says data confirms efficacy of organic farming; in 2010, despite recession, industry grew at 8 percent, and 97 percent planned to maintain or hike staffing in 2011
By Jennifer Pittman
Santa Cruz Sentinel 2011-09-20
As economic crisis continues, crop swaps grow in popularity; bartering for food builds resilient communities that can endure severe energy shortages, global warming
By Stacy Finz
San Francisco Chronicle 2011-09-04
Study, modeling suggest that up to half of Alzheimer's cases could be linked to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, physical inactivity, smoking, depression, low education
By Pam Belluck
The New York Times 2011-07-25
McDonald's to certify as sustainable the catch used for its 100 million fish sandwiches sold in Europe every year; Wal-Mart requiring similar certification for farmed fish
By David Jolly
The New York Times 2011-06-08
In search of wild salad, forager finds chickweed, mallow, prickly lettuce, shepherd's purse, sow thistle, Siberian elm, in downtown D.C.; illustrated "Edible Wild Plants" offers tips
By Nancy Shute
National Public Radio 2011-04-18
Farm bill thesis examines whether federal policy changes can help support local food systems; argues for diversity of producers, similarly diverse paradigms, strategies
By Kristen Loria
Cornell University; bioscienceresource.org 2011-03-01
PepsiCo's buy-local plan with Mexican corn farmers cuts company's transportation costs, and in community, stabilizes local crop prices and raises incomes, improving health, education
By Stephanie Strom
The New York Times 2011-02-21
Connecticut governor sees hope in agriculture, local products; upping such sales 4 percent would generate another $600 million a year for state farmers
By Ken Dixon
Connecticut Post 2011-01-16
Agrarian ideal of D.C. chef begins to take form at National Historic Trust property; nonprofit will train growers, teach children, scale up regional food by linking growers to customers
By Kristen Hinman
The Washington Post 2010-12-14
Vermont officials issue 10-year strategic plan for increasing economic development and creating jobs in food, farm sector and increasing access to healthy local foods
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund 2011-01-12
Opinion: It's time to reduce work hours and alter balance between time and cash, to trim dependence on formal market by "self-providing," including small-scale agriculture
By Juliet Schor
The Nation 2010-05-24
Opinion: New shift in food politics - eating invasive species - could include a world of possibilities - deer, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, skunks, rabbits, woodchucks
By James Gorman
The New York Times 2011-01-02
Europe's top chefs lead push for sustainable seafood as reports predict major commercial fish species will disappear by 2050 due to overfishing; eel wins over bluefin tuna, codfish
By Jeffrey T. Iverson
Time 2010-12-26
General Mills, looking to offset 4-5 percent increase in commodity prices, switches to rice source closer to its Rice Chex cereal plant to lower transportation costs
By Paul Ziobro
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2010-12-17
FoodWorks provides blueprint for every phase of NYC food system - from agricultural production, processing, distribution, consumption and post-consumption
The New York City Council 2010-11-22
U.S. map of altered continental divide, carbon and water footprint studies help green-leaning shoppers decide on whiskey, beer, French or California wine
By Kiera Butler
Mother Jones 2010-11-01
NYC role in food system is subject of report for City Council; Food Works' contributors have high hopes for environmental, economic, legislative and health goals
By Elizabeth A. Harris
The New York Times 2010-11-22
Opinion: To make bigger difference for environment than carpooling or installing solar panels, cut food waste; 40 percent of food produced in U.S. isn't consumed
By Jonathan Bloom
Los Angeles Times 2010-11-07
Certification, soil-building pushes costs of organic produce past those of industrially grown foods, but toxic chemicals aren't used, so they don't pollute air, water, soil
By Marshall Brain
The Seattle Times 2010-09-01
In Philadelphia, chef hones his agricultural skills through farm partnership
By Rick Nichols
The Philadelphia Inquirer 2010-07-29
Entrepreneur sees need to link farmers and their products to the chefs, grocers who want them, with tasty results served amongst the rows and on clothed tables
By Tammy La Gorce
The New York Times 2010-08-01
Impact of humans literally consuming Earth's finite resources of food, fuel, fiber, clean air, fresh water finally being noticed, UN reports in call for global action
By Juliette Jowit
The Guardian (UK) 2010-05-21
Recession drives urban agriculture; Will Allen, who farms at a former plant nursery in downtown Milwaukee, leads effort, building community with vegetables
Center for American Progress 2010-07-21
Citing hard work, service and healing, career fair for military vets encourages new life through sustainable farming, other food-related jobs
By Mary MacVean
Los Angeles Times 2010-07-08
New zoning codes could allow farms, community gardens in Baltimore to flourish - and make it easier for residents to sell produce in city
By Julie Scharper
The Baltimore Sun 2010-06-14
Mobile slaughterhouses begin to address needs of local small-scale livestock producers
By Lyndsey Layton
The Washington Post 2010-06-20
Sample plots, bits of wisdom for true gardeners, who appreciates vagaries of life and knows that things will go wrong - that gardens die and are reborn
By Dominique Browning
Wired magazine 2010-05-24
Though cheap food is pillar of economy, it is increasingly contested by groups citing its costs to society, environment, public health, animal welfare and gastronomy
By Michael Pollan
The New York Review of Books 2010-06-10
Organic fields of mostly wheat produce lower yields, raise biodiversity 12 percent, cause neighbors to use more weedkillers than those using synthetic fertilizers, study shows
By Chris Benfield
Yorkshire Post 2010-05-05
Farmers' markets, with their awkward locations, hours, need complementary services that connect fresh produce with those who crave it
By Russ Parsons
Los Angeles Times 2010-04-29
Trading world of CEOs for CSAs, farmers find satisfaction in sustainability; upcoming project is restaurant like a farm stand with a wine list
By Christine Muhlke
The New York Times 2010-04-19
For true taste of terroir at workshop, there's first a sniff of muddy water aroma, then a taste of produce grown in same dirt
By Tim Hayward
The Guardian (UK) 2010-03-30
White House expands edible garden for new growing season; winter harvest yielded almost 50 pounds of produce
By Anne Schroeder Mullins
Politico 2010-03-31
Third-generation Louisiana rice farmer switches to growing brown jasmine rice and takes on maverick status
By Christine Muhlke
The New York Times 0000-00-00
Opinion: Measure environmental impact per gallon of milk, rather than per cow, and miles per dozen eggs when calculating sustainability
By Karen Langhauser
Food Manufacturing 2010-03-29
Small-scale slaughterhouses ride wave of consumer demand for meat from local farms in reaction to food safety scares, inhumane treatment videos
By Samuel Fromartz
The Washington Post 2010-03-17
Essay: Nation's economic drivers - farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists, venture capitalists - know how monopolistic power is used against them, and what freedoms they require to hire fellow Americans
By Barry C. Lynn and Phillip Longman
Washington Monthly 2010-03-04
USDA, Justice Department say aim of hearings is survival of rural America, of developing policies to limit big firms' sway over food, crop prices
By Christopher Leonard
The Associated Press; Chicago Tribune 2010-03-12
Los Angeles uses stimulus money for new worker training program in management, maintenance of gardens using drought-tolerant plants, rainwater
By Susan Carpenter
Los Angeles Times 2010-03-09
Insurance firm offers its Ohio customers option to buy produce from artisan grower
By Robert Higgs
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 2009-05-11
Analysis: How 25-plus federal government agencies - beyond USDA, FDA - can support a healthier, more sustainable food system
By Maggie Gosselin
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy 2010-02-01
In Pennsylvania, sustainable agriculture conference focuses on farming's future
By Candy Williams
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 2010-02-02
With two fields, a few pigs, chickens and some community spirit, UK village works toward self-sufficiency
By John Carvel
The Guardian (UK) 2010-02-03
Torrential rains prove that much of needed water falls from sky - trick is catching it
By Susan Carpenter
Los Angeles Times 2010-01-23
Mirroring gardeners everywhere, Brooklyn Botanic Garden uses winter to prep new culinary garden
By Anne Marie Chaker
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2010-01-20
As environmentalists call for end to eating beef, vegetable-farming power couple begins to raise grass-fed version
By Lisa Abend
Time magazine 2010-01-20
Higher education comes of age with urban environment sustainability programs
By Henry Fountain
The New York Times 2009-12-29
10 ways to green our eating habits
By Leo Hickman
The Guardian (UK) 2009-12-31
Israel decries produce labels specifying origin of Israeli settlement or Palestine
By Valerie Elliott
The Times (UK) 2009-12-12
USDA eyes hoop houses as key to longer produce availability, nationwide
By Charles Abbott
Reuters 2009-12-16
Regional foodsheds can reverse obesity, MIT researchers say
By Peter Dizikes
MIT News 2009-11-10
Green cuisine ideas can get lost at high-volume restaurants
With business models built on sustainable food, hype can get ahead of execution. Even when intentions are good, is it possible for a high-volume restaurant to practice everything it preaches - and turn a profit and serve customers what they want? Small family farms don't have quantity or consistency of huge national suppliers, usually can't compete on price, even at height of growing season. Though diners say they want to 'eat green,' many want tomatoes on burgers in December.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2009-12-07
Food, beverage sector choices can lead sustainability, says expert
Food, beverage industry at forefront of sustainability because of its reliance on agricultural goods and the mostly small-scale farmers who produce them, food systems expert says. Retailers drive consumer demand and are powerful in setting terms for suppliers and choosing them but they don't have to substantially change operations. Food ingredients companies make specific choices about how to meet demands of companies, and can help provide long-term stability in community by choosing to invest in community.
By Jess Halliday
nutraingredients.com/Decision News Media 2009-11-20
Opinion: Divert Big Ag subsidies to community food infrastructure
PBS.org
Helping rebuild ecologically sane, accessible local-food economy proved extremely challenging for reporter-turned-farmer. Food industry consolidation shuttered community-scale processing facilities, created factories geared to large-scale farms. Explosion in size of operations means dirt-cheap, low-quality food that generates massive ecological, social problems. For sustainable food, feds must make smart, relatively low-cost investments beyond USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program. Reducing Big Ag subsidy payments and diverting the proceeds into local-food infrastructure is change we can believe in ... and savor.
By Tom Philpott
Newsweek.com 2009-11-11
Opinion: Avoid processed foods, factory-farmed meat to cut warming
Twenty percent of food system's energy use is farm-related; half of food's greenhouse impact linked to farms. The rest comes from processing, transportation, storage, retailing, food preparation. Prevailing method of producing meat - crowding animals in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons, cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them - cause substantial greenhouse emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides. Eaters can lower their global warming contribution by avoiding processed foods and those from industrialized farms; reducing food waste; and buying local and in season. And: Livestock's long shadow (click 'See also' for UN report).
By Nicolette Hahn Niman
The New York Times 2009-10-31
Opinion: Linking price of corn to school resources in Iowa
Most people in farm states really don't know a farmer, nor now how food reaches a grocery store. Neither do they realize economic links of farmers and non-farmers. Plunging price of corn - Iowa's largest crop - translates to projected budget deficit of 10 percent in state. Governor ordered 10 percent spending cut, which means fewer repairs, fewer services and reduced educational resources for every Iowan - farmer or not.
By Lan Samantha Chang
The New York Times 2009-10-25
Opinion: Time for hard look at behavior of dominant seed businesses
Agriculture is at frontier of technological progress; its innovations will largely determine whether and at what cost world will feed its growing population. No company should dominate such an essential business. Good place to probe potentially anticompetitive behavior is Monsanto, which is trying to block DuPont from adding its own genetic traits to Monsanto's Roundup Ready technology to produce soybeans that would be resistant to multiple pesticides. Monsanto genes, which resist Roundup weedkiller, present in 97 percent of soybean crops, 79 percent of corn.
The editors
The New York Times 2009-10-22
Linking local farmers to local schools, institutions
New website hopes to provide schools, restaurants, institutions one-stop shopping for fresh produce from many nearby farms at once. That means more local food on more plates - and expanded marketplace for farmers. Founders launched site (click 'See also') in San Francisco area last spring; owners plan to expand to seven other regions around country.
By Beth Hoffman
National Public Radio/Morning Edition 2009-09-28
Design contest winner would take produce to the people
Good magazine
In contest to redesign farmers' market to sell fresh, local produce to urban residents, winning designers found inspiration in culture of taco trucks, mobile libraries (click 'See also'). Their 'Farm on Wheels' called for hub market where farmers could sell their produce, fleet of electric trucks to take it to neighborhoods and sell it.
By Ariel Schwartz
Fast Company 2009-09-08
Texas drought adds challenge to duck hunting
National Park Service
Cooler August weather has drawn blue-winged teal into early migration, but ongoing drought in Texas means there's a shortage of water and forage to hold the ducks. Three-quarters of blue-wings shot in Texas fall in September season; 90 percent of September harvest is blue-wing. Current blue-wing population is 60 percent above long-term average, U.S. Fish & Wildlife count says. And: A meal of teal (click 'See also' for recipe).
By Ray Sasser
The Dallas Morning News 2009-09-02
Nonprofit groups link local produce supply with local demand
New nonprofits that aggregate and deliver local produce are popping up across U.S., could be missing link between supply of and demand for products grown nearby. Farmers appreciate delivery consolidation, ease of building relationships with bigger buyers. Among customers are elementary schools, independent grocers, restaurants. In Charlottesville, VA, negotiations are under way to sell to University of Virginia dining services, run by Aramark.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2009-08-26
As planet warms, two approaches to feeding growing population
How do we feed burgeoning population in face of climate change? Classical economists failed to forecast transformation from industrial revolution. Cheap fossil fuels unleashed greatest increase in food, personal wealth, and people ever, enabling population to increase sevenfold since days of T.R. Malthus, who noted that population increases geometrically, while agricultural production increases more slowly. Reprise of Norman Borlaug's green revolution - with synthetic fertilizers, biotech seeds, pesticides, irrigation, monoculture, is backed by big foundations, but its flaws are reliance on fossil fuels, legacy of tainted soil, depleted aquifers. Agroecology means halting sole focus on maximizing grain yields at any cost and considering environmental, social impacts of food production. Research on small-scale diverse farming methods shows ability to sequester carbon, hold moisture--two key advantages for farmers facing climate change.
By Joel K. Bourne Jr.
National Geographic Magazine 2009-06-01
Re-imagining Detroit's vacant lots as agrarian paradise
Detroit, with its 103,000 vacant lots, fertile soil, ample water, willing labor and desperation for decent food, can redefine urban economics. It can move away from factory-town model to economically diverse, self-sufficient, rural/urban community sustained by agriculture. All that's needed is political and community will. And: City may revise codes to allow for large-scale agriculture farms, commercial bee farms (click 'See also').
By Mark Dowie
Guernica 2009-08-01
Sardinistas plot 'thoughtful' plate fate for oily fish
Big Stock Photo
Culinary counterculture conspirators - a filmmaker, an environmentalist, a veteran commercial fisherman, a semi-retired entrepreneur and marine biologist - plot to reintroduce sardines to American palate. Fish have blessing of environmentalists and nutritionists, who praise high level of omega-3 fatty acids, low level of mercury (click 'See also'). Plus, more than 80 percent of Pacific sardine catch is used to feed bluefin tunas - but it takes seven pounds of sardines to produce one pound of tuna.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2009-06-03
Colleges, seeing need, add sustainability degrees, programs
While other students are in classrooms, about a dozen at Vermont's Green Mountain College are cutting hay, turning compost, gathering eggs as part of intensive course in sustainable agriculture. More than 80 schools now have hands-on and classroom-based farm programs, Rodale Institute says. And: Sustainability programs draw increasing numbers of students interested in green-collar jobs (click 'See also').
By Lisa Rathke
The Associated Press; USA Today 2009-07-09
For ranchers, mobile slaughterhouse cuts out feedlots
Shoppers' soaring interest in meat from free-roaming cattle, plus government grants helped give ranchers in remote California area momentum to get mobile slaughterhouse on the road. 'Mobile harvest unit,' a tractor-trailer outfitted with knives, meat hooks and a freezer based on similar unit in Washington state, employs three butchers and shares USDA inspector with nearby meat-packaging shop.
By Jacob Adelman
The Associated Press; The Washington Post 2009-07-20
Titans seek 50-year farm bill that grows food, local ecosystems
Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Fred Kirschenmann - heroes of urban agrarian constituency - visit D.C. to promote 50-year-farm bill, a proposal for gradual, systemic change in American farming. Plan asks for $50 million annually for plant breeding and genetics research, puts forward vision of agriculture that values yields, local ecosystems, healthy food, rural communities. And: Civilizations have destroyed themselves by destroying their farmland, they write (click 'See also').
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2009-07-22
Wal-Mart to label sustainability of every product
Wal-Mart developing fiendishly complex plan to measure, label sustainability (life cycle assessment) of its every product. Company's grand plan will require manufacturers to dig deep into supply chains, measure environmental impact, and compete on those terms for favorable treatment from retailer. Faculty at University of Arkansas, Arizona State University, Duke, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Michigan have been involved in planning sustainability index (click 'See also') led by Sustainability Consortium.
By Marc Gunther
Slate/The Big Money 2009-07-13
Opinion: Big business co-opting terms of local, sustainable food movement
Co-opting and re-defining of 'local' and 'sustainable' by big business confuses efforts to reform food system. One of biggest challenges in improving our food system is to reconnect consumers with where their food comes from, and it doesn't help when California supermarket labels Maine potatoes 'local.' And: Government allows produce to be labeled 'local' if it comes from within a 400-mile radius (click 'See also').
By Larry Yee
Ventura County Star 2009-07-12
Opinion: Hard-line organic advocates miss larger points
Flavor, seasonality, locality trump organic. Between pure organics and reckless use of chemicals is huge gray area where most farming is done. Ignore this and you ignore mission of supporting small farmers who grow wonderful food. In California, roughly 85 percent of farms are owned by individuals or families, 75 percent are smaller than 100 acres. Earthbound Farm, which grows organics, now cultivates more than 40,000 acres. And: Purity of USDA 'organic' label questioned (click 'See also').
By Russ Parsons
Los Angeles Times 2009-07-01
Urban homesteading with T. Boone Chickens, Fluffy Bottom
Kelley Newsome/Backyard Poultry
The Dominique hen is a steady, reliable layer - of brown eggs.
Raising backyard poultry is as chic as growing your own vegetables. It's part of back-to-the-land movement whose proponents want to save on grocery bills, take control of their food supply, reduce carbon footprint of industrial agriculture. Poultry is natural next step in sustainable back yard; chickens produce eggs, devour kitchen scraps, add manure to compost pile. But some town officials are...chicken. And: A poultry magazine (click 'See also').
By Adrian Higgins
The Washington Post 2009-05-14
Tussle over underpinnings of 'local' as conglomerates tout suppliers
As processed food companies take 'local,' make it their own in ads, original locavores, with ethic that values small scale, ecological, place-based, and relationship-based food systems, choke. On other side, people compare widening view to evolution of 'organic' as it grew from countercultural ideal to industry with nearly $25 billion in sales last year. And: Related debate about how to define 'sustainable farming' gathers force (click 'See also').
By Kim Severson
The New York TImes 2009-05-13
Database links farms, businesses in South Carolina
MarketMaker
South Carolina joins a dozen states with its S.C. MarketMaker (click 'See also'), an online database that connects businesses along the food supply chain, from farmers and fishermen to distributors, retailers and restaurants. Effort will help put food of local farmers/producers on residents' plates.
The Associated Press; The State (Columbia, S.C.) 2009-04-29
First Lady, USDA head praise produce during garden planting
As Congress reviews funding for school lunch program, Michelle Obama, Tom Vilsack of USDA, elementary students, chefs plant 25 varieties of heirloom seeds and seedlings including kale, rhubarb, arugula, lettuce, spinach and Savoy cabbage in White House garden. USDA head tells pupils they need daily access to fresh foods.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2009-04-09
States urge schools to use stimulus for farm-to-school equipment
As interest grows in farm-to-school programs, Michigan, Wisconsin educators pounce on stimulus grants as chance to buy equipment to prep fresh fruits, vegetables. Both states will alert schools; Wisconsin will post list of types of equipment to consider, set up review panel that includes advocates experienced in farm-to-school programs and experts in fresh-food service equipment. And: Improving meal quality to meet dietary guidelines among goals of stimulus (click 'See aso').
By Diane Conners
Great Lakes Bulletin News Service 2009-03-19
Opinion: For health, fewer animal products trumps organics
'Organic' doesn't guarantee food safety, nutrition, low carbon footprint. Personal, environmental health will improve with shift in eating habits away from animal products and processed foods to plant products and 'real' food. Americans would reduce the amount of land, water, chemicals used to produce food; incidence of diet-related diseases; greenhouse gases from industrial meat production.
By Mark Bittman
The New York Times 2009-03-21
Opinion: Cut hunger risk with more farmers, home gardens, awareness
Jews farm because Judaism is an agrarian religion, but thousands of years have taught Jewish farmers that solution to hard times was passport. World climate, energy crisis can't be escaped by moving, and one in nine people in U.S. need food stamps. Best way to reduce hunger is more farmers, victory gardens everywhere, heightened awareness of importance of food. And: Farming, cooking aren't such radical ideas, says columnist (click 'See also').
By Sharon Astyk
The Dallas Morning News 2009-02-06
Farmers' markets go year-round with demand for fresh food
Farmers' markets, once small and seasonal, now bigger and year-round in response to growing demand nationwide for locally grown, locally produced foods. They also lure those who want to eat fresh food. Expect fluctuating hours, and beets, winter squash, potatoes, onions, kale, cabbage, and parsnips - sold by the farmers who grew them.
By Amy Farnsworth
The Christian Science Monitor 2009-03-04
Cutting expenses by growing a garden
To grow a garden, think like a seed, and make sure that little plants have water, nutrients, drainage and sunlight. Savings on food bill will grow as well: One tomato plant, for $3.50, can grow 20 pounds of fruit. Organic mixed greens are $2.79 a seed packet. One-half gram of arugula seeds costs 55 cents, enough for a crop that matures in 40 days and returns each spring. And: Shopping for seeds by catalog (click 'See also').
By Jane Kay
San Francisco Chronicle 2009-02-27
Opinion: Replanting White House garden no small potatoes
Peter Sellers as Chance the gardener in Jerzy Kosinski's 'Being There.
Just as Chance the gardener inspires country in 'Being There,' so did Eleanor Roosevelt's planting of Victory Garden. Barack Obama could show similar wisdom by replanting edible garden on White House lawn. We grew $2,200 of produce in our modest garden last summer; more than 50 million American households with similar yards could be making homegrown savings of their own.
By Roger Doiron
Chicago Tribune 2009-03-01
UN advice on averting 'environmental food crisis'
Inefficiency wastes half the food produced globally; one-third of grains fed to animals, which worsens poverty, environmental degradation, UN says. Double yields from organic farming a bright spot. Top tips: Regulate food prices, feed poor; back biofuels that don't compete with food, water; feed animals food waste and grains to humans; support small-scale farmers, resilient ecoagriculture; reduce wars, corruption and improve trade, infrastructure; limit global warming; publicize links between population, ecosystem.
Environment News Service 2009-02-17
On a pig farm, it's dung to dollars with biogas
In gleeful straw-to-gold move, Nebraska farmer funnels methane emissions from pig manure to generator, and power company writes him checks. But biogas energy has high start-up costs, and needs federal incentives. Other emissions-lowering practices: improving grassland diversity, spreading fertilizer more precisely and tweaking animal food. And: EPA's methane capture program for farms (click 'See also').
By Scott Canon
The Kansas City Star 2009-02-07
Beef, whether grass-fed or grain-fed, burdens climate
Eat less grain-fed and grass-fed beef to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say. Grass-fed cattle have 50 percent higher carbon footprint than grain-fed counterparts, says researcher. Causes: Higher volumes of feed; highly managed, fertilized pastures; high grass-trampling rate. But another expert (click 'See also') says feedlot beef requires twice as much fossil fuel energy to produce as grass-fed beef.
By Janet Raloff
Science News 2009-02-15
Food to fuel, plans UK supermarket chain
Sainsbury's will turn unsold food into electricity. Food waste - 42 tons weekly - from 28 Scottish stores now, all sites by summer, will become biofuel. Goal: Zero landfill use by end of year. One ton food waste will power 500 homes, save three tons CO2. And: Thirty percent of U.S. food wasted (click 'See also').
BBC News 2009-01-21
Make meat special-occasion food, Germans told
Germans, among highest meat consumers in Europe, urged to eat meat only on special occasions to help planet; farm lobby, politicians balk. Government estimates that, kilo-for-kilo, compared to bread, emissions from poultry farming are more than four times as high; pork is six times as high, and beef and lamb are 16 times as high. Clearing of tropical forest for feed-crop cultivation also adds emissions.
By Kate Connolly
The Guardian (UK) 2009-01-23
Hospital meals in UK will go greener
To set public example, meat-free menus, more fresh produce, less bottled water and less dairy will be promoted in UK hospitals to cut global warming emissions. Without effective action now, millions will experience hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as climate changes, report warns. And: Reducing meat, junk food in diet means healthier body and planet, says Mark Bittman in new book (click 'See also').
By Juliette Jowit
The Guardian (UK) 2009-01-26
Simple art of starting seeds for summer gardens
animalvegetablemiracle.com
With food prices rising, seed sales rise too. Successful seed starting requires only a strong - and adjustable - light source and a table for holding trays in a warm spot. A cold frame - easily made with bricks and an old window protects new seedlings before transplanting time. And: Plans for making cold frames, hotbeds (click 'See also').
By Adrian Higgins
The Washington Post 2009-01-01
Italians asked to forgo pineapple, buy local
New York Daily News
Panettone is a traditional Italian holiday bread.
Italy's agriculture minister asks Italians to choose among the 4,500 foods of Italian origin - sausage-like zampone, cotechino or panettone, oranges, apples, kiwi - this holiday and to skip the items that travel 2,500 kilometers to market. Coffee, he says, is exception. And: panettone recipe (click 'See also').
By Colleen Barry
The Associated Press; International Herald Tribune 2008-12-18
Food system change means return to traditional values, author says
Practical, personal food reforms begin with understanding that food is central to economy, society, and our lives, says Eric Schlosser, co-producer of documentary, 'Food, Inc.' 'Changing the food system can be a real pleasure....Eating well is a joy. So is working with others, and restoring a sense of community.' Other tips: Shop locally, seasonally. Don't invest in companies that harm animals, workers, or land.
By Karla Cook
Princeton Alumni Weekly 2008-11-19
Opinion: Fishing for sustainable dinner
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The mackerel population is abundant, though a mercury advisory has been issued for King and Spanish varieties.
Now that we have caught large portion of all the fish in the sea and we're feeding fish to animals, not people, we have two choices. Either allow overfished species to return to sustainable levels while we broaden our appetites to include mackerel, sardines, anchovies and herring (click 'See also'), or face future of industrially farmed, flavor-deficient fish and accompanying environmental degradation.
By Mark Bittman
The New York Times 2008-11-16
Bid to protect cod, anchovy, whiting, other over-fished species
UN/FAO
Citing urgent need to retain viable fishing industry, European Commission proposes drastic cuts in fishing limits and ban on several others to let populations recover from overfishing. But EU governments regularly ignore pleas from EU and scientists to limit fishing. And: Anchovy populations now unstable, UK group says (click 'See also').
By Jessica Aldred (and agencies)
The Guardian (UK) 2008-11-10
Opinion: Supporting the oceans' food chain
By feeding small fish to farmed fish, pigs and poultry, humans are out-eating the aquatic species that depend on those forage fish for existence - and threatening foundation of oceanic life. We must encourage less meat-based eating habits as true sign of affluence, and support sustainable agriculture in developing world. And: These small, tasty fish could feed people, says researcher (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-11-10
Food waste, sewage will power Flint's bus fleet
Sweden town's power production from restaurant waste, slaughterhouse waste and sewage inspires town in Rust Belt to try similar plan for bus fuel. Michigan's governor, whose grandfather was Swedish, learned about alternative fuel technology from diplomat who grew up in Flint.
By Kari Lydersen
The Washington Post 2008-11-02
In Italy, an investment in green future
Umbrian vineyard, olive community reduces carbon footprint with cars, golf carts, bikes using batteries powered by center that stores solar-sourced electricity for up to three days. Farm owners also have invested in fleet of mini-tractors that use non-food biofuels and planted 10,000 trees as carbon sink.
By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News 2008-10-18
Supermarket overhaul, urban farming needed, says panel
New UK food ethics report calls for radical reform of supermarket industry and backs UN plea to reduce meat consumption in favor of produce. It also encourages urban food production, local processing and use of public money to encourage more sustainable food and production.
By Juliette Jowit
The Guardian (UK) 2008-10-08
Growing Slow Food beyond lingering over good meals
Growing Slow Food means expanding notion of pleasure to include good work of those who could shift reliance on industrial, mass-market food system to sustainable, ecological one, proponents say. Pushing global outlook and advocacy for exploited agricultural workers should be next, says activist. Movement's progress shown with organic produce now at Wal-Mart, and buy-local requirement at Chipotle Mexican Grills.
By Bobby White
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2008-09-02
Beyond spiritual discipline, is kosher/halal green?
Keeping kosher or halal can reduce or increase carbon footprint, depending on replacements for pork (mid-range emissions) and shrimp (energy-intensive, environmentally damaging). Good substitutes: produce, chicken, herring, wild salmon. And: Poultry industries have worked since 2005 to persuade EPA to ease reporting requirements of ammonia emissions from their vast manure lagoons (click 'See also').
By Emily Gertz
Scientific American 2008-09-25
Food miles number doesn't tell the whole story
Media's embrace of 1,500 - a not-quite-right number of food miles from farm to plate - is quick way to explain complex subject, but shows that oversimplifying has its pitfalls. New Zealand lamb may be better than grain-fed local, but to combat global warming, best solution is to eat less meat. Bottom line: It matters what you buy and where you buy it.
By Jane Black
Slate 2008-09-17
UK shoppers say cost, choice beat sustainability
Cost, quality and healthiness trump sustainability for all but 10 percent in UK survey. Additionally, large number of respondents preferred choice of fruit/vegetables year 'round despite extra food miles, as well as a wide variety of fish regardless of stock levels. Two-fifths surveyed were unable to define sustainability.
By Jane Byrne
nutraingredients.com 2008-09-15
Restoring the ground beneath us to fight hunger, civil unrest
From high-tech, expensive Italian efforts to digging a hole and filling it with manure, efforts to restore soil are widespread - and working. Payoff fights hunger, attacks water scarcity and could reduce global warming (click 'See also'). Restoring soil is solution to political stability, environmental quality. Political, economic institutions treat soil like dirt.
By Charles C. Mann
National Geographic Magazine 2008-09-01
Farmers' markets rise on ambience, food safety worries
Karla Cook/thefoodtimes
Perceived health benefits, ambience and food safety concerns turn shoppers from supermarkets to farmers' markets. 'Salmonella scares are good for business,' says Massachusetts vegetable farmer. Governor lauds markets for raising awareness of both agricultural diversity and need to preserve open space.
By Robert Knox
The Boston Globe 2008-08-28
Balancing food miles with farming practices
Environmental impact of growing foods far from where they're sold can be low enough to outweigh negative impact of transporting foods long distance, depending on farming practice efficiency, local conditions. With a potato, 45 percent of its energy demand until it's eaten, comes from transportation, and then, how it's cooked.
By Natasha Loder
Conservation Magazine 2008-07-01
Sprouting success in school gardens
Garden-to-Kitchen program teaches elementary schoolchildren - and adults - to plant and harvest vegetables, but it's also helping needy Oregon families save money on their grocery bills. Success may help program expand to more schools and communities, says founder.
By Jillian Daley
Statesman Journal (OR) (may require purchase) 2008-07-31
Food bank moves into farming business
Stephan Hard/Times Argus
The Kingsbury Farm runs along Route 100 and has Mad River frontage.
After nine-month rollercoaster ride and high community interest, Vermont Foodbank gets into the farming business with planned purchase of scenic 20-acre farm. Property will teach links between agriculture, food systems and hunger - and will allow group to stock state's pantries with fresh produce. And: In Virginia, volunteers grow produce, then donate it. (click 'See also').
By Mel Huff
Times Argus (VT) 2008-07-30
Opinion: Revenge of gardening nerds
Karla Cook/thefoodtimes
Cool hobby of gardening teaches children skills that help them succeed.
Vegetable gardening has become wild and dangerous, a radical way to rebel against authority and subvert the dominant industrial-food paradigm, says longtime gardener, once the dweebiest of dorks who grew tomatoes outside his dorm room. Young people are flocking to the garden. We'll tend our veggies while we wait to see if our hobby is passing fad or lasting effort to diversify our food system. Click 'See also' for more columns.
By John Hershey
San Francisco Chronicle 2008-07-26
Next stop, broccoli aisle?
Chicago Transit considers adding L stops in or near grocery stores, or even restaurants, to tap into commuters' need for dinner ingredients. Adding such commercial development could reap an extra $100 million over the next five years.
By Robert Manor
Chicago Tribune 2008-07-17
Grocers ride sustainability wave on seafood products
As customers demand environmentally friendly foods, grocers respond. Most comprehensive guidelines are at Whole Foods. They include prohibitions on preservatives, antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals, as well as farming in wetlands and mangroves. They limit amount of wild fish in farmed fish food.
By Ylan Q. Mui
The Washington Post 2008-07-16
Demand for local food in Illinois may exceed supply
Illinois task force works toward eat-local policy, but biggest obstacle may be farmers who mostly grow corn, soybeans. State imports more than 90 percent of its food. One Iowa county mandated in 2006 that county-run departments buy only food grown and processed within 100 miles.
By Gerry Smith
Chicago Tribune 2008-07-06
CSA members buy the farm for fresh produce
Growing number of shoppers hire personal farmers - in reverse kind of sharecropping. Some weed, harvest and water; most see investment as either bargain or green sense. States with most Community Supported Agriculture efforts include New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.
By Susan Saulny
The New York Times 2008-07-10
Sustainability stake alongside academia in Rome
Rome Sustainable Food Project at American Academy creates enthusiasm for delicious, natural, responsibly grown menu that elevates food to the level of art, architecture, history, and literature. Formal gardens now host patches of herbs, lettuces, and vegetables. Next year: An outdoor eating area, with working kitchen, pizza oven, and dining tables under the trees.
By Sharri Whiting De Masi
Food Arts 2007-10-01
Americans go local, small farms thrive and retail giants adjust
American tastes shift to fresh, vine-ripened foods grown nearby, reshaping the business of growing and supplying food, with even big retailers devoting shelf space to local produce. The movement has already revived small farms. And: Farmers find their niche (click 'See also').
By Pallavi Gogoi
Business Week 2008-05-20
Whole Foods and organic produce from China
Several China-grown produce items are marketed as organic and USDA-approved at Whole Foods Market, but inspection and quality control in China - and at the border - don't match U.S. organic-certified standards. Environmental scientist says shoppers should ask how grocer can be sure that standards are met; Whole Foods says shoppers can choose domestic alternatives. For internal document obtained by WJLA that lists country of origin of many items, click 'See also.'
By Roberta Baskin
WJLA 2008-05-21
DC nonprofit goes local
Culinary training school and soup kitchen in DC buys produce seconds from regional farmers for 50 percent to 70 percent less than those of wholesalers. Added benefit is building community - and a shepherd's pie with real mashed potatoes. The program, a pilot, is under way at a dozen college campuses.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2008-05-24
Opinion: Garden for homeland security
Food again is vital to our national security. We don't want a repeat of food riots that occurred during the Civil War, the Panic of 1893, and the Great Depression. As it did in World War I, government should allocate funds to promote national school, home and community gardening. Back then, Uncle Sam said, "Garden!" and millions of Americans picked up their hoes.
By Daniel J. Desmond and Rose Hayden-Smith
Ventura County Star 2008-05-04
Looking for local
Skyrocketing food, fuel prices push make local foods more competitive with agribusiness prices, pushing demand ahead of supply. Connecticut struggles to match willing farmers to vacant land. Locavores cite superior taste, fewer miles to market, a knowledge of the farmer and his practices, and the sense of community that buying local creates.
By Mark Peters
The Hartford Courant 2008-05-04
Oasis in the drought
Kathy Lohr/NPR
4,000 acres of wetlands filter water for Clayton County, Ga.
As drought worsens in Georgia, one town is awash in drinking water after creating a Mother Nature-aided system of ponds and wetlands that filter wastewater and return it to reservoirs. A benefit: A nature preserve and the (very) loud singing of frogs on sultry nights. For tips on creating a lush landscape with harvested rainwater at home, click 'See also.'
By Kathy Lohr
National Public Radio 2008-05-01
Opinion: Green thinking, garden action
Karla Cook/thefoodtimes
Growing mint in a backyard garden means one less purchase at the supermarket.
The climate-change crisis, caused by our everyday choices, is upon us. We can tell ourselves stories to justify doing nothing; waiting for politicians or technology to solve the problem suggests we're not serious. But planting a garden reduces our sense of dependence. It's solar technology, it's nutritious, it's delicious, it's practically carbon-free, it reduces trash, it burns calories, it builds community and it sets a standard.
By Michael Pollan
The New York Times 2008-04-20
Luxury, recycled
High-end kitchen recycler persuades renovating homeowners to donate their high-end, barely used kitchens by talking up environmental benefits of recycling, making the process simple and fast, and making it a tax write-off. He sells the kitchens at a fraction of their original cost, but buyers learn they need a patient contractor for retrofitting.
By Christine Haughney
The New York Times 2008-04-10
Going green with fast food
Green fast-food chains offer convenience, but many are models for food quality, employee goodwill and environmental sensitivity. 'There's no point in creating a profitable business if it contributes to climate change,' says London restaurateur. In U.S., restaurant industry is biggest employer after government and largest retail consumer of electricity; 20 percent of litter is fast-food packaging.
By Mary Desmond Pinkowish
Ode 2008-04-01
UN says we need a revolution
UN group calls for revolution in world agriculture, a return to ecologically sensitive farming techniques, and a reduction in distance between farm and fork. Current production has created unequal benefits and at high social and environmental cost; farming is responsible for more than one-third of world's most degraded land, study by 400 experts shows.
By Nick Miles
BBC News 2008-04-15
Lobbing tomatoes
Restaurateur, grocery owner square off over plans to add farmers' market to restaurant parking lot in New Jersey shore town. At stake: tomatoes, peaches, corn, community involvement, free trade, convenience and environmentally friendly health, as well as a food purveyor that is the hub of summer food shopping and features a renovated deli case.
By Amy S. Rosenberg
The Inquirer (PA) 2008-04-06
Back to basics
USDA
Feed corn, a federally subsidized crop, powers the nation's industrial food system.
As prices for fossil-fueled, federally-subsidized grain-driven grocery items and their packaging and transportation go up, there are relative bargains in the produce aisle. Michael Pollan and other food thinkers happily contemplate quality over quantity, imagining tiny, expensive Cokes, and a mass return to local fruits and vegetables, and to milk and meat from animals that are pasture-raised.
By Kim Severson
The New York Times 2008-04-02
A new food model
Stephanie Gross/The Washington Post
Joel Salatin, left, of Polyface Farms, and Phil Petrilli, of Chipotle.
Driven by concerns for food safety and fuel costs, as well as consumer demand for fresh, local food, Chipotle, other chains and food service providers launch buy-local experiments.The programs spur overhaul of operations and philosophy and foster new partnerships and cost-sharing with farmers.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2008-03-25
Farm-to-school that works?
USDA seeks information on successes in farm-to-school initiatives, as well as barriers or difficulties to such programs for report it owes Congress. Director cites cooperative purchasing, local foods advocates and nutrition education as components of success; distribution and transportation as inhibitors.
By Cynthia A. Long
USDA Food and Nutrition Service 2008-03-07
Farming Silicon Valley
The Fruit Guys
The Fruit Guys workers deliver mostly local fruit to corporate and institutional clients in San Francisco, Arizona and Nevada. Philadelphia is next.
In Silicon Valley, the same high-tech economy that expelled farmers and fruit tree orchards and verdant farms in favor of housing developments, shopping malls and office parks is throwing remaining growers a lifeline. Companies are demanding local, seasonal food to serve in their corporate cafeterias, and that is restoring agriculture to the valley and giving farmers a lucrative market they never had.
By Stett Holbrook
Metro Silicon Valley/Metroactive 2007-10-24
Opinion: Illicit eggplant?
Karla Cook/thefoodtimes
Despite demand for local foods, government punishes farmers who usually grow subsidized corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton if they plant fruits and vegetables instead. Those farmers must forfeit their subsidy, are fined the market value of the illicit crop and run the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for subsidies. Local and regional fruit and vegetable production will languish anywhere this program has influence.
By Jack Hedin
The New York Times 2008-03-01
This cheese stands alone
Williams-Sonoma
Parmesan comes only from Italy's Parma, EU court rules, and Germany is left holding its own nameless version of the dry, crumbly cheese. But it's Italy's job to report to German authorities any violations, court says. Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are the two most imitated Italian products in the world. Decision followed similar ruling on feta cheese: It's Greek, not Danish.
By Mark Tran and news services
The Guardian (UK) 2008-02-26
Bridging the grocery gap
Small grocers see opportunity after learning that 12 Chicago neighborhoods lose about $250 million in local sales because there are no nearby grocery stores. One couple, after beginning six-month 'nextOne' coaching program from the Chicago Urban League, has hired a manager and plans to open a second inner-city store.
By Francine Knowles
Chicago Sun-Times 2008-02-24
Opinion: In the (reusable) bag
Chris Jordan
Plastic Bags, 2007. Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the U.S. every five seconds. (Partial zoom.)
Giving up bottled water was easy - a chance to cloak cheapness in environmental virtue. Abandoning plastic bags is an inconvenience that means changing the hearts and minds of others. First, we must remember to bring our own bags, then there's the disbelief and disgust of cashiers as the lines lengthen behind us at the supermarket.
By Jane Black
The Washington Post 2008-02-06
Feeding the future
Planning group, citing food/agriculture sector's $1 trillion contribution to national economy and employment of 17 percent of labor force, strengthens links of traditional planning with community/regional food planning. New guide supports residents' health, local and regional economy, the environment, equitable and just food system, and sustenance of diverse traditional food cultures.
American Planning Association 2007-05-11
Future farmers?
After raising grass-fed cattle, Georgia farmer finds obstacles to slaughter and processing. So he is completing the link by building a Temple Grandin-designed slaughterhouse on lands his family has farmed for four generations. He hopes to entice his three daughters to stick with the land.
By Elizabeth Lee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2008-01-21
Funding farming
Gates Foundation awards $306 million to agricultural projects in Africa and developing world, nearly doubling its investment. Money will aid coffee, rice, irrigation work and soil health, mostly on small-scale farms run by women; coordinator pledges continued focus on soil and people.
By Robert A. Guth
The Wall Street Journal 2008-01-25
Return of the specialist
Bart Nagel/Edible San Francisco
The Texas Longhorn in terrazzo at Avedano’s meat market.
As trio of women finds niche at butcher shop that was once a neighborhood institution, they learn nuances of a vanishing skill from previous proprietor. Parade of eager customers finds labels - grass fed, organic, free-range - reflecting the new old-fashioned way.
By Bonnie Azab Powell
Edible San Francisco 2007-12-27
Money and logistics
Though farm-to-school programs exist in 10,800 schools in 34 states, it's still difficult to get local food onto children's plates. Five-part series examines challenges and successes of nutritious-delicious effort in Washington state, from difficulties of adding organics to school lunches, to hospitals that offer staff and patients locally grown produce.
By Jennifer Langston
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) 2007-10-15
Eating haiku
Michael Pollan's seeming simple advice on how to eat leads others to minimalist poetry. Here's one from an editor: "Twelve-course tasting menu. Ego on a plate. The Michelin man." And this, from a chef: "Offal meats. Taste great. Eat more. Less waste."
By Bruce Cole
Edible San Francisco 2007-12-14
Ethical shrimp
When shopping for prawns, labels aren't provided. Customers are left to determine whether they're northern coldwater prawns from sustainable sources, or those caught by trawling, with other fish - sometimes up to 10 percent - caught, then discarded, in passing.
By Sheila Keating
The Times (UK) 2008-01-05
Local, delivered
Michigan entrepreneur, linking need of farmers to desire of chefs and other eaters, bets on enduring demand for locally available food. His new business, Cherry Capital Food, delivers produce from 60 farmers to schools, resorts, restaurants and grocery stores within a 100-mile radius.
By Peter Payette
Interlochen Public Radio/NPR 2008-01-04
Worker bees
Maryland prison adds beehives to its property in effort to better pollinate crops on its 18-acre inmate-worked farm, and last year's watermelons, cantaloupes, and squash benefited, officials believe. Future benefit will be honey, which would be served to inmates and sold.
By James Diehl
The Daily Times (MD) 2008-01-02
Opinion: Hunting for approval
Literature of localism omits hunters, the original locavores, who manage and harvest a sustainable, healthful food supply from the lands we love. Maintaining the ability to cull semi-rural and suburban deer herds, which annually injure 29,000 people in deer-vehicle collisions, and infect 13,000 Americans with Lyme disease, is just one of our challenges.
By Steven Rinella
The New York Times 2007-12-14
Fishing for balance
Cooperative fishing, modeled on New Zealand and Australia, plus that for Pacific halibut, Alaskan crab, and East Coast clams in U.S., would yield more and leave more fish in the sea, study says. In the scenario, each fisherman would own a share of the harvest. But international waters fishing is compared to Wild West, where law isn't necessarily followed.
By Jeff Barnard
The Associated Press; The Washington Post 2007-12-07
Driving problem
Calculating the benefits of organic versus local is nuanced, but researchers say that when we drive to the store and then toss leftovers in the garbage, it's the worst of all, and the pairing contributes up to a quarter of greenhouse gases associated with food. The answer? Walk. Compost.
By Andrew Martin
The New York Times 2007-12-09
Eating well
Serving a side of environmental education alongside the sustainable main course, chef at Washington, D.C. restaurant is one of growing breed of restaurateurs who consider future bounty, and not only what's best at the market today.
By Marc Gunther
Fortune magazine 2007-12-03
Going organic
Small group of women farmers in Guyana pledge to adopt organic methods for their crops of cassava, eddoes (a variety of taro), peanuts, ginger, plantains and coconut, saying they will leave behind synthetic fertilizers and old "slash-and-burn" methods.
By Miranda La Rose
Stabroek News (Guyana) 2007-11-26
Voting for local
Excepting the occasional craving (Froot Loops as a midnight snack), the elegance and sustainability of keeping a neighbor farmer in business and him helping to feed us makes more sense than gambling on faceless producers who stamp organic on a package thousands of miles from our homes.
By John Cloud
Time magazine 2007-03-02
Life cycle
Small farm adds moisture, turning and time to tons of Massachusetts' food and yard waste, creating tons of black gold in form of rich, organic and local topsoil, compost and fertilizer - exactly what landscapers, gardeners and farmers need.
By David Brown
TheBostonChannel.com 2007-11-27
Slow fans
Longtime farmer couple in Tennessee go organic, raise chickens, sell eggs, raise llamas, sell honey, garden year 'round, and now have started cooking classes to encourage converts to the Slow Food movement. They enlisted the help of local chefs, two of whom credit their grandmothers for igniting their passion for food.
By Melanie Tucker
The Daily Tiimes (TN) 2007-11-28
Saving the future
As farmers increasingly specialize in one or two crops, aging European gardeners become accidental guardians of biodiversity and flavor. Preservation is crucial because old seeds can be bred into mainstream food crops as climate changes and population grows, but new generation is eschewing agrarian lifestyle, and seeds are being lost.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
The New York Times 2007-11-27
Simple chilling
Pot-in-pot innovation, which uses wet sand and evaporation as a cooling system, has become widely used in Africa, where refrigerators and electricity are costly and scarce. Its creator, a Nigerian teacher, has been honored by Rolex for improving human knowledge and well-being.
By Jill Moss
Voice of America 2007-11-25
Drinking local
With rich timing, seventh-generation distiller, just the first to do it legally, finds a market for locally made vodka using cast-off parts from an old food processing factory and a coil for bottling that once was part of a cow-milking apparatus. There are about 100 such micro-distilleries across the country.
By Susan Saulny
The New York Times 2007-11-25
Opinion: Park it
Eating local makes sense when the farmers' market is joyously abundant, but subsisting on root vegetables all winter is best as a well-told story. The best way to cut fossil fuel use is not to skip the Chilean grapes, but to avoid accidents and congestion by walking to the market.
By Tim Harford
Forbes.com 2007-11-15
Past palate
Linking her "delicious revolution" to connecting with family and friends, nurturing health and the land, and teaching children how to choose, chef and author Alice Waters speaks on nutrition, physical activity and obesity at Atlanta's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By Elizabeth Lee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2007-11-13
Growing green
As large farms and companies acquire organic label, small farmers believe they must choose between the principles of healthy eating and environmental stewardship or federally sanctioned organic certification. One farmer, faced with choice, changed "organic" to "ornery."
By Matt King
Times Herald-Record (NY) 2007-11-11
Buy here
Vermont, long a proponent of growing your own and eating it too, contemplates prison-yard gardens and supplying Statehouse cafeteria as ways to boost the state's use of locally available food.
By Nancy Remsen
Burlington Free Press (VT) 2007-11-08
Edible chic
Upper crust's eternal quest for distinction, expressed through edibles that others can't afford (sugar and tea in the Middle Ages) has moved from flavor-enhanced "superfoods" to "organic" but, with Wal-Mart now selling organics, "local" is both political and consumer movement. Which will prevail?
By John Feffer
Alphabet City Food Anthology; Foreign Policy in Focus 2007-10-16
Sushi prerequisite
As colleges evolve into new view of students as customers, cafeterias begin buying locally, thinking sustainably and replacing mystery meat with offerings like pesto-crusted pork loin and oven-roasted beef with black-pepper demiglace; at Bowdoin, if the food tastes like Mom makes, that's because it's Mom's recipe.
By Bonny Wolf
National Public Radio 2007-10-01