I could be accused of being too picky. I briefly met a vendor who struck me as sincere in her contention that the product she lovingly creates by hand truly qualifies as ‘sustainable food.’ Full of ‘natural’ sugar (instead of high fructose corn syrup), milk and flour from local farms, the ‘artisan’ ice cream sandwich […]
Slow Food Nation – A Replicable Model for Raising Awareness?
This past weekend saw San Francisco host the inaugural Slow Food Nation, a four-day celebration of producers, farmers and food, and the tenets of Slow Food International, that all food should be good, clean and fair. Over 60,000 people attended, including an estimated 50,000 at the Civic Center Plaza. In addition to the open-air food […]
Do Eco-labels Help or Hurt?
“USDA Organic” and “Marine Stewardship Council-certified” are the two most prominent “eco-labels” that ensure a measure of environmental responsibility consumers can count on for agricultural and wild seafood products, respectively. Developed by third parties with significant input from thoughtful advisors, these labels provide a certain hedge against spurious claims of environmental responsibility that cuts through […]
Is Tilapia Dangerous?
A study published in July by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine showed that tests on farm-raised tilapia showed "very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acid." The article, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, caught national attention due to […]
Sustainability Deeply Rooted in the Heartland
In my July 17th post Georgia Goes Green I noted that sustainability isn’t just a "west coast thing" and pointed to the great student-run farm at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Seems I’m not the only one who has noticed that St. Olaf College is a pretty special place. Brian Voerding recently posted When […]
Slower Food, on a national scale
Last Wednesday I was a panelist in a discussion at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club with Kevin Lunny, owner of Drakes Bay Oyster Company, and Jessica Prentice, who coined the term ‘locavore’ and operates the Three Stone Hearth Kitchen. Our event was part of a series leading up to Slow Food Nation, the Labor Day weekend […]
The Locavores Inspire a Nationwide Movement
As much as the Eat Local Challenge (our annual celebration challenging our chefs to make one meal completely of local ingredients) has become ingrained in our culture, it was not an original idea when we began the event in 2005. We were inspired by a group of women in San Francisco who called themselves the […]
A Visit to San Francisco’s Victory Garden
Planted in the middle of San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza (right in front of the City Hall building), Slow Food Nation’s Victory Garden is quite an impressive site. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect to be underwhelmed. I had been following the progress of this project on Slow Food Nation’s blog and Bon Appetit […]
Is Climate Change Impacting the US Food System or Vice Versa?
The USDA is studying the impact of climate change on the US food system. How about looking at how the US food system is impacting climate change? We’ve gathered a fair amount of science on the connection between food and climate change but much of the research is based in Europe. It’s time for the […]
Field Trips
I’m not sure I remember what my office looks like, but I’ve had excellent reasons to stay away this week. I visited a tomato farm 35 miles north of LA that shook my definition of “local tomato.” (Yes, I felt the earthquake, but that’s not the shaking I mean.) In addition to organic heirlooms densely […]