sustainable food

Alice Waters of Chez Panisse was featured on 60 Minutes this week. Not just for "the Prius driving, latte-sipping upper crust," Alice Waters feels that good, local food should be for everyone. Good food is not a privilege, Waters says, it's a right. "The way that we're eating," she says, "is making us sick...

Thanks to Hidden Stream Farm's mailing letter, I just got wind of Tour de Farm, which is the new way I'm thinking of organizing my summer.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a post about buying food that's local to Ireland. Found a great post from the Value Ireland website, quoting Irish Minister for State Tony Killeen. Here's a quote from Value Ireland:

“I would ask consumers to purchase local this year in solidarity with domestic producers who like everyone else have felt the effects of the economic recession,” stated the Minister of State.

CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) provide opportunities for people to eat locally, the get the kinds of foods you would normally find at local farmers markets, and to take part in the agricultural process. Most CSAs require some sort of ongoing commitment, such as a monthly fee in exchange for a weekly box of locally grown vegetables. Depending on where you live, the weekly box may include a wide assortment of mostly-root vegetables (kale, cabbage, squash, turnips in Minnesota, for example) or of anything else grown on a particular farm, in a particular climate. Many CSAs encourage their members to work at the farm for a day or more, to better understand the farming process and to get closer to local, sustainable food. Some require it. When I tell friends that I recently joined the Harmony Valley Farm CSA, they often start asking questions. Why did I join it? Am I concerned about the cost?

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune recently ran a story about how more people are eating local food and joining CSAs. It's a good article that speaks to increased awareness on the part of Twin Cities eaters. This year, there are more than 40 CSAs serving the Twin Cities (30% more than last year), and the folks at Health Partners are embarking on a study to see if local, sustainable foods might reduce health care costs down the line. Here's a quote from the article:

Great article from the NY Times about how renowned chef Alice Waters (founder of Chez Panisse and local food advocate) is improving the food at the American Academy in Rome by incorporating - what else? - local, regional, sustainable choices.

The Birchwood Cafe, located at 3311 East 25th Street in Minneapolis (612.722.4474), serves terrific food that is local, sustainable, organic, and fair-trade. It's got a terrific neighborhood feel, a solid wine list, an amazing breakfast, and the best vegetarian Juicy Lucy well, ever. The many people who sing the Birchwood's praises include an amazing number of regulars, including my friend, Photographer Chris Bohnhoff.

Brasa, a self-described "premium rotisserie" in Northeast Minneapolis (just down the block from the Red Stag Supper Club), serves only three meats:

The move towards sustainable food has not been lost on the city of Minneapolis. The City of Minneapolis Sustainable Food Initiative website lists these benefits associated with eating local, sustainable food:

A recent post on Organic Food Now entitled "How Much Poison Do You Want to Eat" provides a bunch of great information related to eating organic food, including whether it's really better for you or not and which foods are most chemical free. It's a discussion that has remained relevant for years, and has recently become even more heated due to the recent peanut butter recall that miraculously impacted several organic food companies (which had been buying non-organic peanuts, apparently).