Every five years, farmers and politicians get together for two knock-down, drag-out rumbles: the Farm Bill and Child Nutrition Reauthorization. The Farm Bill is in our rear-view mirrors. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization fight is just beginning. Continue reading
The Fascinating Life of Bees in 10 Stunning Images
Maurice Maeterlinck knew what he was talking about when it came to bees. In his 1901 book The Life of the Bee, the Nobel Prize-winning author praised them as universal exemplars of accomplishment: “No living creature, not even man, has achieved, in the centre of his sphere, what the bee has achieved in her own; … Continue reading
4 Last-Minute Holiday Gifts that Support the Local Food Movement
Amazon boxes get held up? Delivered gift not living up to the online preview? Last minute mall rush got you down? Here are four sweet holiday presents you can purchase and receive right now from the comfort of your own home, while supporting the local food movement. Membership to the Freshest Club in Town – … Continue reading
A Place to ‘Grow Together’
When most people see 4.7 acres of Southern California land off a major freeway, they see dollar signs. Lots of them. Elizabeth Vaughan isn’t most people. Instead of selling the plot of land she co-owns with her siblings for the millions offered by developers, Elizabeth Vaughan plans to buck the landless, listless Generation Y trend … Continue reading
‘Speed Dating’ Connects Farmers and Schools
On a recent Friday outside San Diego, California, 26 farmers and eight food distributors set up tables at a local ranch. Representatives from dozens of area school districts (plus a few folks from universities, hospitals, restaurants, grocers, senior centers, and preschools) shuffled from booth to booth, tasting growers’ products, shaking hands, and hashing out potential … Continue reading
Will People Read About Farms?
You’ve got the message already–eating is an inherently political act. Is it organic? Local? Free-range? Independently owned and operated or beholden to Big Ag? How about pesticides, preservatives, additives, and gluten? Every food decision we make says something about our budgets, our tastes, and the kind of world we want to live in. The days of … Continue reading