Blog

Will "Corn Sugar" Sweeten Sales of HFCS? And Will a Soda Tax Sour Them?

Posted in News & Views on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 7:00am by Shari Danielson -

The story hit the mainstream media a couple of weeks ago. The Corn Refiners' Association (CRA) asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permission to use the term "corn sugar," rather than the much maligned "high fructose corn syrup" (HFCS) on food labels.

Your CSA Box: Curing End-of-Season Fatigue

Posted in Family & Home, Recipes on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 7:00am by Kristin Boldon -

When I opened my most recent CSA (community supported agriculture) box, an adapted version of the old Sesame Street song went through my head:

Each of these things is not like the others
Each of these things just doesn't belong...

Here's what I got: turnips, radishes (both with their greens), spinach, broccoli, garlic, squash, lettuce mix, a few raggedy tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, potatoes (just a few this week, not like last time), and onions.

As I stared at my vegetables, and they stared back at me, I felt dread creeping in. Would I have to make separate dishes for all these ingredients? Calm down, I told myself. Take a few deep breaths. Walk away.

Celebrate Oktoberfest With The Kids, Local Food, and Flat Earth Beer at the Black Dog Cafe on October 24

Posted in Out & About on Thu, 10/07/2010 - 7:00am by lee -

Finally -- an Oktoberfest celebration that the whole family can enjoy! For our October local food event, Simple, Good, and Tasty is partnering with our friends at the Black Dog Cafe and Flat Earth Brewing Company in St. Paul to bring you delicious local foods and brews. Yes, we'll have beer, and yes, it will be a family friendly event. Just like the Super Bowl. Or Thanksgiving.

Madison Celebrates Local and Sustainable Food on the Square

Posted in Out & About on Wed, 10/06/2010 - 7:00am by Katy Radtke -

There isn’t much more I would rather do on a crisp, fall day in Madison than visit the Downtown Farmer’s Market. With a sea of proud Madisonites dressed in badger gear foraging for the week’s local food offerings, chocolate-faced kids enjoying their morning treats, and the sun shining strong, I couldn’t help but spend hours meandering the market last week. However, I had more on my “to-do” list than shop for my fill of seasonal veg on that Saturday. It was REAP’s annual Food for Thought Festival on the Square, one of the best fall food events for passionate locavores, if you ask me.

Why You Should Eat Local Food (Even if You Don’t Care About Food Miles)

Posted in News & Views on Tue, 10/05/2010 - 7:00am by Leslie Kruempel -

A little over a month ago, an op-ed in the New York Times got the online locavore community all worked up. Stephen Budiansky’s “Math Lessons for Locavores” contended that many of the commonly-spouted arguments for eating local are misleading or downright bogus.

It's a Tie! These Resolutions Share a Year of Free Milk!

Posted in Out & About on Mon, 10/04/2010 - 7:00am by lee -

UPDATE: Organic Valley has agreed to give BOTH OF OUR WINNERS A FULL YEAR OF FREE MILK, rather than having them share the prize. Thanks Organic Valley, you rock!

* * * * *

Thank you, friends, for your good food resolutions, and for promising to do a better job for your kids when it comes to food this school year. After tallying nearly 500 votes from people all over the country, two of the nearly 50 promises we received from parents, teachers, and school administrators committed to getting our kids healthier clearly stood out from the pack. That's why Sadie Sponsler, RD and Andrea Zehnder will share our grand prize. Here are both of their resolutions, one last time:

Sticky Fun Yields Honey to Die For (At Least if You're a Bee)

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Fri, 10/01/2010 - 7:00am by Debbie Morrison -

The sugar house is stacked high with honey super boxes full of ripe frames of honey. The hardest step in harvesting honey is behind me, so now the sticky fun begins.

Each frame of honey is comprised of an intricate network of honeycomb with each individual cell is filled with honey and the entire frame is sealed with a wax coating. So how does the beautiful block of wax-covered honey get into a jar?

Tonight's Simple Good and Tasty Book Club: Closing the Food Gap

Posted in Book Club, Books & Media on Thu, 09/30/2010 - 7:00am by Tracy Morgan -

Continuing our bookclub this month, we'll be diving into the gap. The food gap, that is. September’s Simple, Good and Tasty book club pick. Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty, by author Mark Winne addresses a vast array of political, social and economic issues around food.