County Fare

The Future of Food: Muy Importante!

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 | Food Activism, Health, Minnesota, Organizations | No Comments

The Future of Food, a film by Deborah Coons Garcia and Lily Films, is an important look into the state of our current food supply. People sometimes ask me why I have taken the stand that locally produced agriculture is important. My replies are always shallow because I can’t sit down with them for the hours it takes to explain the depth of the issue. This film is an excellent resource for knowledge and does a great job of stringing together the pieces of the puzzle that are often hidden from us.

Visit the web site

Tags: film, food, future, Health

P is for Peach

Monday, November 3rd, 2008 | Food Writing | No Comments

Once I had the opportunity to eat a peach. This experience was the inspiration for exercise one chapter one.

Have you ever eaten a peach? And, I don’t mean any orange wedge that slops out of a can and hits the bottom of a bowl with a dull phwap like a wet sock. I mean an honest to goodness fuzzy ball of light orange that deepens to crimson as you turn it in your hand…intoxicated by the sweet smell of magnified Sol. By the time the soft fuzz brushes your lips the aroma is firing nearly every synapse of interconnected gray matter. The bite. Thick ripe juices flow over your tongue and down your cheek. The sweetness of life sends a shock wave from your mouth to your brain which in turn ricochets its report to every last cell. Your eyes roll and close. Surely, an involuntary reaction to this toe curling delight.

Tags: creative, food, Food Writing, peach

Brussel Sprouts mark the end of our CSA season

Sunday, October 26th, 2008 | Food Activism, Minnesota, Organizations | No Comments

October 26 is our last Community Supported Agricultural Delivery from the Women’s Environmental Institute in North Branch, MN.

For the past 19 weeks we have been shareholder in WEI with our dividend being picked up in a bushel box of produce at our local grocer every Sunday. All in all this has been a wonderful experience. Fresh sustainably farmed fruits and veggies from our neighbors has provided us with a steady supply of sustenance. Knowing that this food has been grown without the use of Johnny-come-lately chemical agriculture has helped to put our mind at ease about our food supply. And, last but not least, without our neighbors help we would never have known what brussel sprouts looked like while still on the stalk. Thanks WEI

If you would like to know more about WEI visit their web address: WEI

Search for Community Supported Agriculture near you: Local Harvest

Tags: CSA, farming, food, local, wei

Evidence keeps mounting against vegetable oils

Thursday, September 18th, 2008 | Food Activism, Health | No Comments

With all the conflicting information about nutrition available today how do we find what really is good for us? If we do some digging we can go back to studies done in the past that haven’t exactly gotten the attention they deserve. Natural News addresses the debate over oils and fats in their article “The Great Fat Debate – Why Virgin Coconut Oil Is Best” Give it a read. It’s much shorter than the Oiling of America article I cited in a previous post and does a good job of explaining some key concepts.

Natural News

Thanks to Tony one of County Fare’s new contributers for bringing this article to our attention.

Tags: fat, food, Health, nutrition, oils

Snail in the Park

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 | Food Activism, Minnesota | No Comments

Title: Snail in the Park
Location: Shepherd’s Way Farms
Description: Slow Food Minnesota’s First-of-Autumn Potluck
Sunday, September 21, 2 p.m., Shepherd’s Way Farms
8626 160th Street East, Nerstrand, MN

Tour this beautiful farm, enjoy a Slow potluck and hear Jodi Ohlsen Read and Steven Read talk about their life as shepherds and cheesemakers. Beverages and grilled lamb will be provided. Please bring a dish to share. Shepherd’s Way Farm is near Northfield, MN, less than an hour’s drive from the Twin Cities.
Reservations are required. $5 for members, $10 for non-members. Children ages 2 to 12, half price (2 and younger, free). You may reserve online using your credit card or PayPal account at slowfoodmn.org/events

Questions? (612) 362-9210.
Directions to Shepherd’s Way from Minneapolis:
1. 35 W South to Hwy. 19 East to Northfield. 2. Hwy 19 East (left) to Northfield. 3. Turn Right on Hwy. 3 (stoplight by Kwik Trip/Walgreens).
4. Left at next stoplight, Hwy. 246. 5. Follow Hwy. 246 as it turns right at next stop sign. 6. Follow Hwy. 246 past Middle School. 7. Right on County Road 30 (top of hill, sign also says Valley Grove). 8. Left at first stop sign. 9. Right at second stop sign (still County Road 30 but also called Ibson Street). 10. Follow winding Co. Rd. 30/Ibson to stop sign at top of hill. 11. Go Straight – now called only Ibson Street. 12. Follow Ibson as it turns sharply right, becoming 160th St E. 13. Farm is first on right. We will gather at the cheese shop/office, a small white building across from end of barn.

Start Time: 02:00
Date: 2008-09-21

Tags: convivia, events, food, slow

Slow Food on Campus

Thursday, September 11th, 2008 | Food Activism, Organizations | No Comments

Here’s a great blog I just found when I was renewing my student membership to Slow Food. Here’s who they say they are:

“Slow Food on Campus is a network of Campus Convivia, chapters of Slow Food USA run by college and university students across the country. These Campus Convivia are the living, breathing, working arm of Slow Food USA in the college community. By promoting food and food justice issues and by engaging their fellow students in the pleasures of the table and the garden, Campus Convivia aim to promote a slower, more just, and more harmonious rhythm of life on our nation’s college campuses.”

I am especially excited to see this movement spreading amongst university and college campuses. After all the future of our nation has often been molded in such places.

Slow Food On Campus

Tags: campus, convivia, food, slow

Photo

Friday, August 15th, 2008 | County Fare Site | No Comments

Tags: CSA, food, photo