Growers and Grocers

Mike Dunne of the Sacramento Bee recently profiled Suzanne Ashworth of Del Rio Botanical, a farm that grows multicolored heirloom winter squashes, including Stout Sopomas, Guatemalan Blues and Rampicantes twisting.  If you have never heard of these varieties, you are not alone. 
Dunne recognizes that many consider them to be “novelty foods.”  However, these squash varieties are “often better adapted […]

Thanksgiving is heading at us fast, and it’s time to talk turkey.  Although Butterball Turkeys are good, if you have your eye on free range, organic or other options, here’s a few to get you started.
Diestel Turkey Ranch.  They offer free-range organic turkeys that are:

Range grown and raised longer: Diestel turkeys enjoy the freedom of […]

In 2005, sales of organic food in the US nearly topped $14 billion, and it shows no signs of stopping now.  In an effort to get their kids off to the right start from the beginning, more and more parents are going organic when feeding their babies. 
Mandi Kelly, Marketing Coordinator for Wild Oats says that one of […]

In order to help inform consumers about the healthiness of food on supermarket shelves, a New England supermarket developed a 0-to-3 star nutritional rating system for foods. According to Political Gateway, the rating system “flunks most of the foods consumers think are good for them.” A spokesperson for the supermarket said: “This is a good, […]

The November 3rd 2006 issue of the journal Science reported that in as early as 2048, we could be facing the loss of seafood due to overfishing and pollution. Environmental stresses, including global warming and destruction of habitat, add to the challenges faced by marine animals in survival.
“We really see the […]

Just a few programming notes on what has been going on behind the scenes of the Well Fed Network lately. We have been working very hard on a redesign of the entire network, and it should be going live today or tomorrow. We’re all excited about it, and can’t wait to show […]

California is doing its best to take over the cheese market. The AP reports that with its abundant supply of milk and the nationwide demand for cheese, California could soon pass Wisconsin “to become the nation’s top cheese producer.”
In last year alone, California cheese producers created over 2.14 billion pounds of […]

Elections are right around the corner in the United States, and candidates in agricultural regions have used their Farm Bill plans to woo voters. This set of legislators will be the ones who make or break next year’s new Farm Bill, and rural communities want to know what to expect from their representatives. While the […]

For many of us who spend our lives eating, thinking and writing about food, issues such as sustainable farming, organic growers, artisan cheese, and seasonal ingredients are common terms in our vernacular. We argue about freshness and the values of many of these ‘alternative’ methods versus large commercial growers. Yet, there is little doubt that […]

As a medical researcher and certified healthcare consultant, the last thing I used to think about when someone said genetics was food.  Dealing with rare disorders my entire life, having been born with one, I associated genetics with blood sampling and medical testing.  Times have changed, foods have changed and now […]