Organic Food

I’m a firm believer in the power of the marketplace, that every dollar we spend on food is a binary vote: either FOR an agriculture system that makes our bodies, our communities, and our environment healthier, or AGAINST it.

A few alarming statistics:

Award winner Tracy Singleton from the Birchwood Cafe and Danny Schwartzman from Common RootsLast night's Common Roots event combined many of my favorite things: delicious local, seasonal fare; presentations from some of the Twin Cities most forward thinking food experts; and the chance to connect with old and new friends in our community who share a commitment to good food that comes directly from the farmer.

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winner, Marie Pidde! We hope you had fun.

The weather in the Twin Cities today is forecasted to be sunny and warm. Fine. Spend your morning outside doing whatever it is you're compelled to do on a beautiful Sunday in April, but save the afternoon for us: your friends at Simple, Good and Tasty.

We're going to be at the Eden Prairie Community Center for the Eat Local Eden Prairie Fair and we'd love to see you. We'll be doing a coloring contest for the kids, selling Local Food Lover cards to the grown-ups, and extolling the virtues of local food to anyone who stops by. And in case you need an additional incentive to spend an hour or two indoors with us, we're giving away two tickets to see Anthony Bourdain when he comes to the Minneapolis this Friday.

On the day his restaurant St. Boni Bistro opened in a converted auto body shop, Bob Dobihal knew right away that something was up across the street – or, more precisely, being torn up. “They started the rock crusher, removing the rails and ties,” he said, recalling the activity along the old railbed nearby. “We figured something was going to happen.” That something was the start of construction transforming a portion of the former Great Northern Railway line into the Dakota Rail Regional Trail, a 13-mile paved pedestrian and bike path between Wayzata and St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, the bistro’s namesake locale.

Common Roots Cafe in Minneapolis has made a big impression in a short time. A business committed to knowing its farmers and connecting with the larger community, Common Roots had a big 2009, starting a community garden, creating 8 new full-time living wage jobs, and making 88% of its purchases from local, organic, or fair-trade sources.

I'm sure I've never looked forward to a doctor visit. Maybe it's because I've never hit my ideal weight (or my doctors' ideal weight for me), so I expect a talking to each time I go. Maybe it's because I passed out one time when I gave blood in high school, and the idea of my doctor's office taking blood is too close to the idea of giving blood for comfort. More likely, I've never looked forward to going to the doctor because nobody looks forward to going to the doctor. What's to look forward to?

There’s nothing typical about Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables, located in Rushford Vilage, Minnesota.

Namedropping Michael Pollan isn't likely to bring you much insider food cred these days. If you think about good, real, local, organic, sustainable, fresh, tasty, whole food - heck, if you've watched "Oprah" lately - then you've probably already heard the name Michael Pollan more times just this week than you can count. When "The Omnivore's Dilemma" was published in 2006, many of us were just starting to think about the amount of corn we were consuming.

There's something irresistible about Equal Exchange organic chocolate. Maybe it's the fact that the company supports fair-trade practices and small growers. Maybe it's the knowledge that it's all organic. But frankly, I'm guessing it has as lot to do with the taste. Each variety I've tried has been all that I've hoped for - a delicious experience at a fair price. So given what we know about large-scale chocolate production, this year I'm considering giving my Valentine something we can both feel great about. Here are a few gift ideas from the folks at Equal Exchange: