Local Food | Grist

Bring It On

Ask Umbra on her hotness, corporate gift baskets, and more 7
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago One question at a time wasn't enough for our dear Umbra Fisk, who debuts a multi-question column this week with advice on taking climate action, greening corporate gift baskets, and recycling receipts.
TRAY CHIC

Ask Umbra’s video advice on making lunch matter 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Common wisdom tells us there’s no free lunch. But you can have a guilt-free lunch, thanks to Umbra Fisk’s recipe for midday munchers everywhere. You won’t have to swallow your pride -- you can eat well, save money, and help this juicy planet we call home.
Ask Umbra’s video advice on making lunch matter 8
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
No, Impact, Man

No Impact Man talks about making an impact 3
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago A conversation with Colin Beavan on life after the No Impact year and why everyone should be nicer to him.
A foot in both camps

Quick thoughts on the USDA’s ‘Know Your Farmer’ program 14
Posted 2 months ago
After getting more details about the USDA's new "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" program, I'm both encouraged and skeptical. It's a great start, but the government's farm programs are still overwhelmingly tilted in favor of Big Ag.
Spare change for local food

USDA’s $65 million drop in the bucket 0
Posted 2 months ago
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is so fired up about local food economies that it's coughing up $65 million for a new program called "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food."
Think Fast

Your greenest Ramadan 1
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The Islamic month of fasting and feasting is not just a religious observance -- it's a chance to make a real and meaningful planetary impact.
It Could Be Verse

Climate-news poem: Cash for cukes edition 0
Posted 3 months ago
Could the White House farm stand be an important tool in the climate fight?
Notable quotable

Wendell Berry on the promise of GMOs to ‘feed the world’ 2
Posted 4 months ago
In many powerful circles, genetically modified crops are hailed as the only technology that can "feed the world" in an era of population growth and climate change. Hogwash, says Wendell Berry.
Notable quotable

Michael Pollan on the affordability of good, local, organic food 2
Posted 4 months ago
"I don't think our goal should be to make all food in America as cheap as cheap food is now. ... If the goal is cheap food, we're going to hurt our farmers, we're going to hurt the environment, we're going to hurt the public health. The goal should be to give people the money so they can afford to buy good food. ..."
Food safety: How local can you go? 2
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Consumers, farmers, and manufacturers alike all appear to be for a food safety bill, so the question is not whether a bill will be approved, but whether it will make our food safer.
Farm tech

Can the Internet help small farms act big? 1
Posted 6 months ago
The best fest? Yest.

Free local cheese, a win-win-win 0
Posted 6 months ago
Seattle's Pike Place Market, a sample-lover’s paradise on any day, played host to more than 200 artisanal cheesemakers last weekend.
Local yokels

Big Food’s ‘local’ push: what’s it really about? 4
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
What were those wacky marketers over at Lay's really trying to say when they declared their chips "local"? Most likely, something about recent food-safety scares.
Bread winners

Against the grain of industrial agriculture, truly local bread stages a comeback 1
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Most bread sold in the United States relies on pre-fab flour from a few varieties of wheat grown on large Midwestern fields. But a new wave of bakers is seeking out old grain varieties and grinding their own. April McGreger spells out why that's good for our taste buds and the food system alike--and delivers a delicious recipe for quick bread from heirloom grain flour.
With These Savings, I Thee Wed

Say “I do” to a green wedding on a budget 4
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
Is it possible to have an ecofriendly "I do" on a budget? Here are some tips for tying the knot without tying up all your resources.
Myth: Using less energy = sacrifice 8
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
Mention "reducing demand" to Average Jane American and she'll assume you mean conservation: turning off lights, drying clothes on a clothesline, riding a bike to work, wearing a sweater when it's cold inside. And when she thinks conservation, she'll generally think, ugh, there go the dirty hippies telling me to feel guilty and be miserable again.

Both these associations are bogus.
More farmers, less market

Farmers markets need rules if we want them to help the food system 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
Daniel Duane in Mother Jones warns you about farmers markets becoming "farmers markets":
Why isn’t ‘organic pesticide’ an oxymoron? 8
Posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago
14 Green Couples

Read about six couples who turned their eco-love into an eco-venture ... 15
Posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago