Growers and Grocers

Let me begin with full disclosure - I have never had foie gras. According to Wikipedia, foie gras is French for “fat liver” and “is the fattened liver of a duck or goose that has been overfed. Along with truffles, foie gras is one of the greatest delicacies in French cuisine—it is very rich […]

I had a bit of trouble obtaining a copy of Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket, by Brian Halweil. First, I checked my local library. Then I checked the local Barnes & Noble, who drove off all of the independent booksellers in my hometown a while ago. Then the not-so-local Borders. Finally, I […]

When I was in high school, it was the Laundromat. For some kids it was the mall as well. Or the pool hall. For those in my mother’s generation it was the pizza joint. Teens have forever had an evolving sense of where they belonged and translated that into hangout spots like this. In truth, […]

On 18 August 2006, Mike Johanns, US Secretary of Agriculture, announced that genetically modified (GM) rice that has not been approved for human consumption has leaked into the U.S. food supply. He said:
”The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been notified by Bayer CropScience that the company has […]

I’ll be the first to admit it, we were spoiled. In the town of Port Jefferson, about a 15 minute ride from my home I could buy freshly made truffles, caramels, toffee and other handmade confections anytime I wanted from Sans Souci Gourmet Confections. My family and I stopped at this shop for […]

Any fruit that can be blended in a Starbucks drink and can be used to flavor body lotion has to be a hit, right? The pomegranate is the newest fruit to find fame in consumer products. According to Jane Porter of the Hartford Courant, the pomegranate is both versatile and trendy: “In the […]

Jeff Barnard of the Associated Press reports that Oregon and California salmon fishermen have seen declining numbers of fish in recent years. Scott Boley, a skipper of a salmon troller, a partner in Fishermen Direct Seafood and a member of the federal panel that selects the fishing season for ocean salmon, returned from three […]

Have you ever seen a whole, fresh peeled coconut (instead of the packaged shreds)? How about mini-iceberg lettuce? Purple or orange cauliflower? Well, if you haven’t, you may be seeing them in your produce department soon. According to the Sacramento Bee’s Michael Marks, these products are on their way. They […]

Philippine tuna exporters appeal to the government to help persuade Japan to lift its 9-year ban on smoked tuna products.
Japan’s Department of Health and Welfare barred shipments of filter-smoked tuna and tilapia products from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand citing that the smoking process to preserve freshness posed a health hazard to Japanese consumers. Philippine […]

My local Safeway recently rolled out a new product line called O Organics. Safeway offers the following description of the products:
Taste food the way it should be with O ORGANICS.TM An extraordinary line of organic food from cereals to pastas and everything in between. Every O ORGANICS item is certified organically grown and processed […]