Blog

Pastureland Butter is Key Ingredient in Scotch Shortbread

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 6:11pm by Amy Thielen -

Most of the buzz about grass-fed cows focuses on their lean and flavorful meat. But what about their milk?

Making butter and cheese from the milk of grass-fed cows is a lot like making a varietal wine. This is not the plonk composed of a crushed mixture of grapes from a bunch of different vineyards. No, grass-fed milk offers terroir, a sense of place, and the courage to actually taste like something.

An Open Letter to Our Children: We're Sorry About School Lunch

Posted in Family & Home, Health, News & Views on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 7:41am by lee -

I recently had the chance to sit down with a handful of sixth graders at Sanford Middle School in Minneapolis. The students had been complaining that the lunches they were being served tasted bad and made them feel sick, and their teacher asked me to come answer questions, provide context, and make suggestions.

For an hour, these thoughtful students and I discussed healthy food choices, growing a garden, being pressed for time (a 12 year old girl told me she didn't have time to put an apple in her backpack in the morning), eating on a budget, and how to affect change. I've been thinking about the discussion ever since.

Do Honeybees Fly South for the Winter?

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 11:19pm by Debbie Morrison -

As a 20-year marketing professional living in the Twin Cities, going to the grocery store used to be all business. I had my list of items to get, but I also made it a habit to take note of product packaging, shelf placement, and displays before heading to the checkout.

In 2000, that all changed when my husband and I bought a 172-acre farm and moved 70 miles north to Mora, Minnesota. Here, we established our certified organic farm where we grow apples, plums, and veggies; and we produce maple syrup each spring. I have also joined the incredibly fascinating world of beekeeping.

Minnesota Foodshare Needs Your Help

Posted in News & Views, Out & About on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 7:57am by Rhena Tantisunthorn -

It’s March. We're roasting the last of the butternut squash. We're down to the last few tomatoes we canned last summer. The frozen corn and blueberry supplies are dwindling. But our pantry shelves are not the only ones running low.

Organic Milk Actually Becomes Organic

Posted in Farms & Gardens, News & Views, Out & About on Sat, 03/06/2010 - 12:26am by Angelique Chao -

Lots of buzz at last week’s Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) conference surrounded a rather astonishing development in the organic world: the U.S. Department of Agriculture had finally done something, well, good.

After five years of debate, on February 17, the USDA had amended the standards for organic milk to reflect what most consumers thought “organic” meant in the first place. So now (or at least by June 2011, when the amended standards take effect for all suppliers) when people buy milk labeled “organic,” they’ll be getting what they paid for.

Locavore Beer Lovers Have Much to Like About Minnesota Brew

Posted in Farms & Gardens, Out & About on Thu, 03/04/2010 - 11:15pm by Kris McDowell -

What in the wide world of "adult" beverages is your drink of choice? Mine, without a doubt, is craft beer. But it wasn't always that way. The "me" of 15 years ago wouldn’t have been familiar with the term "craft" beer, and my palate probably wasn’t quite ready for it. However, shortly after I moved to Minnesota, I was invited to take the path less traveled, to experience something beyond the mass produced product I had been accustomed to. This is no flat expressway; instead it is a meandering trail that offers discoveries around every turn, invites you to find something you didn’t even know you were looking for, and begs you to appreciate the craftsmanship that's gone into the glass that you're holding.

"Fork the Fire" Brings Twin Cities Restaurants Together to Support One of Their Own

Posted in Out & About on Wed, 03/03/2010 - 11:39pm by lee -

From the Fork the Fire website:

There’s nothing like the power of food to bring everyone together. That’s why over 80 restaurants will rise up in force to help Heidi’s and Blackbird - two Twin City restaurants that lost everything recently during a tragic fire in south Minneapolis.

Locavore's Dilemma: Can We Eat Local and Still Enjoy Global Food Traditions?

Posted in News & Views, Out & About on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 11:12pm by Tracey Paska -

The benefits of eating local cannot be understated: fresher and more flavorful products, economic support for local small-scale farmers and producers, less harmful environmental impacts and better appreciation for the delicious bounty to be found closer to home. But for many food lovers, embracing this philosophy comes with a trade-off.

Call it the Locavore’s Dilemma – how can one reconcile an earnest desire to eat local with the enjoyment of certain foods whose best examples are imported from great distances? Must we resign ourselves to giving up authentic Italian prosciutto or France’s renowned fromages, in effect abstaining from some of Europe’s finest culinary traditions, in the name of conscientious consumption?