Organic Food

Are you thinking ahead to spring? I know it’s hard to fathom in the midst of our deep freeze, but spring really IS just around the corner. Sadly, spring is when my allergies rear their ugly mugs and turn the otherwise lovely experience of new life blooming into a major sneeze-fest. Whether you've got allergies or you’re just looking for a way to clear your home of allergens, toxins, and other not-so-pleasant environmental hazards, here are some ideas that may help. (Don’t forget to check out our previous articles on detoxing your kitchen and your bath and laundry.)

I’m thinking a lot about food systems these days. Fundamentally, there seems to be collective agreement that ours is broken (unless you happen to work for Monsanto or Smithfield), so I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how we might fix it. (Jill Richardson’s excellent “Recipe for America” has a few ideas too - that and her La Vida Locavore blog are well worth reading.)

Specifically, I’ve been thinking about food systems that are:

A huge thank you to our family, friends, farmers, neighbors - and the terrific folks at Brasa - for making Simple, Good, and Tasty's January 2010 local food dinner one of the best yet. From the time we sat down to the time we left 3 hours later, the nearly 100-strong crowd was fed a menu of - well, nearly everything on the menu. Here's what was served:

Who out there is undertaking a January detox this year? I know I am, for the 4th time in about 2 ½ years. Somewhere in our collective consciousness, the detox has become a fairly commonplace practice, giving our bodies a clean slate on which to scribe the new year. But what about the rest of your surroundings? I don’t know about you, but once I start this ritualistic stripping away of toxic baddies and enriching my diet with all of this fabulously healthy local and organic food, I wonder what else around here needs to be buffed up. A detox for the home? You know, that sounds pretty sensible. But where on earth to start?

Are you a talented writer with a passion for local food? Spend your time hanging out with local food chefs, organic food organizations, fair trade coffee makers, co-ops, and/or farmers markets? Read books by Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman in your spare time? Anxiously await the next film from the folks who brought us "King Corn" and "Big River"? Have you been admiring this site from afar?

If so, we've got an opportunity for you!

Photo Credit: Kate NG SommersPerhaps you shop at the local coops and look for that label on all of your purchases. But with a limited budget, maybe you’ve wondered what makes the most sense to buy organic. As a nutritionist working with people to improve the quality of their diet, I get asked this question a lot. So here are six suggestions for prioritizing your spending to maximize your dollars and your health.

Alice Waters Photo Courtesy of Chezpanisse.comHere's a terrific opportunity to eat magically delicious local, organic food, prepared by some of the world's greatest chefs in support of a great cause. If only I had $500 and lived in Washington D.C.! But maybe you do? Check out the recent press release I received from the good folks at Chez Panisse:

Photo of James Norton by Becca Dilley

Safe-food advocate and attorney,
Bill Marler, in his Seattle law office.
                       

We were down to very slim pickings when this week's Harmony Valley farmshare arrived (now that we've hit the cold months, the box comes just once every two weeks). I had been excited about it for days, especially as it became increasingly clear that we didn't have enough carrots to last the week.