I love the farmers' market. All of them. I love that the farm hands bring whatever is best from the fields not too far from my home, even if 'what's best' is not very good this week. There is an honesty to that, an education in that, which makes the good stuff even better. I like tasting my finds, thinking about how they came to be... and turning them into something fit for a plate. This site is about sights, smells and especially Taste, but if you're hankering for food politicsplease visitFood Democracy Now.
Local Meat Traveling Far to the Slaughter Interesting article in yesterday's NYT about the lack of slaughterhouses and the increased demand for local meat. More...How Do You like Your Meat? Dumb or Healthy?An op-ed in today's NYT has my blood boiling. Adam Shriver, a doctoral student at Washington University, suggests the way to solve the problems at factory farms is to genetically engineer livestock not to feel pain. Then we can continue torturing them guilt free! This "solution" addresses none of the human health problems associated with treating livestock so poorly. More...Going Hungry on Snow Days and Everyday2/10/10One in eight Americans sought emergency food assistance last year. And the problem was even worse in the Big Apple. More...Vitamin Hype2/2/10Finally! A balanced article by Tara Parker-Pope. More...A Modern Ark: Safety in Diversity1/6/10A frozen Noah's ark is being created on a 45-acre estate in Newport, RI.While organizations such as Slow Food USA and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy are helping to keep rare breeds alive by, well, keeping them alive, Swiss Village Farm Foundation (SVF) is conserving heritage livestock breeds by freezing their semen and embryos. More...Why Popeye Popped Spinach, Not Pills: Vitamin Supplements Can be Bad for You12/31/09A research group in Tel Aviv has finished one of the most comprehensive studies of Vitamin E supplementation, which analyzed all other prominent studies on the subject and considered data from over 300,000 people in the US, Europe and Isreal. They found that, on average, popping Vitamin E pills may negatively impact quality of life. There are tastier and safer options at the farmers' market. More...Freedom Trail Fruits12/30/09Imagine a pilgrimage of ham hocks, smoked turkey wings and fresh black-eyed peas winding up the country, traveling from the South to the cities of the North as if re-enacting the covert operations of the Freedom Trail. This is exactly what has been going on for generations, according to the NYT. More...Inside Out Apple Pie12/23/09Here’s an easy and delicious way to have that holiday treat we’re all craving. More...
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Thou Shalt Not Kill12/22/09"I don't eat living things," says a beige-dressed woman at a holiday party."Me neither," I agree. "I like them to be killed first."More...Brussels Sprout Slaw12/16/09By popular request, here's my new go-to holiday recipe for brussels sprouts (which, I maintain, are the absolute cutest of the cabbage family. Don't they look like green sleigh bells?) In addition to its flavor profile which compliments many traditional holiday centerpieces, the dish also gets a star for its convenience factor. You can prepare the majority of it in advance, it travels well and it doesn't require any space in the oven! More...Ugly Roots Make Yummy Soups12/11/09One of my favorite vegetables this time of year is celery root, also known as celeriac. Despite its name, this hearty veg is not the root of celery. More...City Council Speaker Sees Great Things for City Food System12/7/09Describing Mayor Bloomberg's initiatives, such as serving free breakfast in schools and 'banning' trans fats, as important first steps but ultimately "piecemeal", City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn is about to release a new plan for the entire food system (production, transportation, sales) of New York City. More..Grass Dinner or Shot in the Neck? Using Drugs to Fight E. coli12/4/09In typical American fashion, Big Agriculture is trying to solve a bad habit with yet another bad habit. Like overdosing on aspirin to continue one's extended drinking binge, the U.S. Agriculture Department is now testing a drug to lessen E. coli outbreaks. More...Recipe Chain: Purple Kale with Cream and Bacon11/24/09Unlike a hilarious game of telephone, the following recipe has been passed along unadulterated and retaining its original yumminess. More...Pumpkin Patch Pasta11/17/09The gifts of Pumpkin Project Day keep on giving. More...Farmers and Eaters Robbed by Rain11/15/09Quote of the Day“We were just a couple of frogs short of a Bible story... It was surreal. It just kept raining and raining and raining.”-- Patrick Horan, a local farmer, on the year's poor growing season that is now coming to a close. More...The Grandchildren of Giraffes: Passing Down the Toxins in Our Food11/10/09Nicholas Kristof has joined the bandwagon against BPAs (synthetic estrogen found in hard plastics, cans, etc. ) and he has done a good job summing up the studies that have been flooding recent science journals. He brushes past the most interesting part though. More...Eggplant, Addictive?11/6/09In the process of making "ravioli" with this dwindling ingredient, I discovered a few of its deep, dark and surprising secrets. More...Hold the Music: Bands Drove Away Farmers' Market Shoppers11/5/09A study analyzing the rapid increase of farmers' markets in Indiana (222 percent between 1994 and 2004) was released from Purdue University yesterday. The researchers looked at what factors increased a market's popularity. More...Mushrooms: "Grey is a Color, Too!"11/4/09With frequent reports reminding us to eat our colors, mushrooms are often under appreciated for the nutritional powerhouses they are. More...Ginger and Chorizo-Infusion in Minutes "Splat"10/23/09Last weekend, there was a festive clam bake at the farmers’ market at Carrol Park. People were swarming around, slurping broth from shells, as they considered multi-hued potatoes, maple syrup and bunches of rainbow kale. They inspired me to finally buy a “splat bag” – a mixture of mussels and clams – from the fishmonger and lug it home. More...Molasses-Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread10/21/09The first pumpkin recipe of the season! (Well, if you don't count toasted pumpkin seeds and mashed pumpkin with butter.) Pumpkin and molasses compliment each other beautifully, especially in baked goods. This bread turned out fluffy and moist in texture but dense and dark in flavor. The olive oil lets the molasses and pumpkin shine, without weighing them down. More...Pumpkin Project Day10/19/09I love October. You have the end of the summer’s harvest and the first of the winter vegetables all at the same time. But even amidst all this plenty, October would not be October without Pumpkins. I am not talking Jack o’Lanterns. More...Tomato Cryonics10/16/09Tomatoes are on their way out for the year. But they are still plentiful in the market, so now is the time to stock up. More...Joyless Pursuit of Perfection10/9/09There was a very pretty opinion piece in the NYT this week by Timothy Egan. It covers his trip during harvest time to lush and fertile Yakima Valley in Washington State, and dovetails on the recent story about the dancer paralyzed after eating an E. Coli tainted burger. More...Summer's Last (Edible) Flowers9/30/09Sadly, we may only have one more week of squash blossoms. These palm-length orange flowers have a subtly perfumed taste that adds a unique dimension to any dish. If you find some, buy as many as you think you can eat in a week! More...Cabbage Buds from a Tree9/28/09<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
Rumored to come from Brussels, but bearing no resemblance to sprouts, Brussels sprouts are making their first appearances in the market — although I had trouble locating them at first. I was scanning the stands for heaps of perfect dollhouse-sized cabbages when my eye caught on a large straight stalk almost 2 feet long. The stalk was wrapped with Brussels sprouts like a string of bulbous lights on a Christmas tree.
More...Are Farmers' Markets the New Starbucks?9/18/09In a new book due out next month, Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks (University of California Press, October 2009), historian Bryant Simon explores the unmet needs Starbucks came to fill in American culture. “At its peak,” the press release reads, “Starbucks thrived by giving Americans what they thought they wanted, which wasn’t coffee. It was predictability, class standing, a sense of community, more natural and authentic products, and a sense of themselves as caring and more benevolent individuals.” That last sentence, minus predictability (I always find myself surprised at our greenmarket), might as well be describing a farmers’ market. More...When Peaches aren't Peachy9/14/09I’ll admit I have been underwhelmed by this year’s peaches. (The nectarines and plums, on the other hand, are incredible right now.) Maybe I’ve just had bad luck, but letting summer close without having had my fill of furry chin-dripping fruit did not seem like an option. So, I bought a four-pound bag, all of which were too hard and ornery to bother eating raw, and cajoled and tickled them until they succumbed -- finally offering smiles, good humor and yes, juicy goodness. In other words, I made a pie. More...Kohlrabi Krunch9/12/09It looks like an alien from outer space. All the more reason to invite it into the kitchen! Kohlrabi, a favorite in Indian cuisine (especially in the North), is yet another member of the cabbage family (like kale and broccoli) but has a delicate sweetness all its own. More...Big Food = Big Tobacco9/10/09Michael Pollan's has an excellent Op-Ed in today's NYT about the health care system, explaining that the "Western diet" is the elephant in the room when it comes to this debate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat 'preventable chronic diseases,'" he writes. Most of which are caused by poor diet and many of the others by cigarettes. More...
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They are beautiful globes, decorating the farmers’ market like ornaments come six months early. They are red, green, yellow, orange, even purple and dark brown. Some are striped, warped, twisted or just generally playful. No matter their particular quirks, they are delicious and will be in their prime starting this Saturday. More...
"Wwoofing" Around8/4/09 <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->
I met a young man at the Brooklyn Food Coalition kick-off meeting (an outgrowth of the Brooklyn Food Conference) who told me he was “woofing.” When I came to understand he did not spend his working hours practicing canine tricks, I realized he was verb-izing an acronym. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. More...
<font class="size10 BookmanOldStyle10"> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </font>Planning a Berry Christmas7/21/09I was too preoccupied with munching, make that devouring, strawberries and cherries over the last several weeks to do what I ought've. Each bite required a puckered chomp, a kiss that was rewarded by plump flesh dripping with such sweet-tart berry juice, I forgot all thought of tomorrow and ate for today. More...Reaching Ripeness7/16/09Too much fun. Roger Cohen today riffed on the NYT's recent article about calorie restriction and longevity which I covered last week. Here's my favorite line: "As Edgar notes in King Lear, 'Ripeness is all.' You don’t get to ripeness by eating apple peel for breakfast." More...Pesticides and Brain Damage7/14/09Several pesticides, used on soil and/or major crops, are potent neuro-toxins and have been linked with diseases such as Parkinson's for a long time. A study appearing in the July issue of Archives of Neurology has just linked the two with even greater specificity. More...Pumping Healthy Animals with Meds May Be Making Us Ill7/13/09... and Obama's to the rescue! More...Calorie Restriction = Fountain of Youth? Don't Believe the Hype7/10/09Some biologists are currently in love with this idea that restricting calories, by about 30 percent, will prolong life. They have found correlations of such in spiders, rodents and, most recently, rhesus monkeys. While I agree eating too much can cause extra wear and tear on your body, I doubt the long-term, real-life (as opposed to lab life) benefits of the CR movement. More...Low-fat "Cheese"6/25/09This press release is too funny not to share: “Developing a Low-Sodium, Low-Fat Cheese That Tastes Good Is Still a Challenge.” What do ya know? The real question is why try? More...Spring Chickens have Sprung!6/24/09I have been obsessed with the pastured warm-weather eggs for over a month. It’s time for the next natural step. The chickens! They are tasting so much yummier than last winter. They taste the way chicken is supposed to taste. More...Food, Inc.6/16/09Caught the documentary Food, Inc. at the Film Forum on Saturday. With all the graphic depictions of CAFOs, slaughterhouses and tons of flesh in mid-grind, the image that haunts me is the family of four subsisting primarily on fast food due to time and budget restraints. More... Pollan on the Silver Screen6/12/09Omnivore’s Dilemma makes the big screen. In a sense. Michael Pollan is a major contributor to the new documentary Food, Inc. More...Tired of Working for The Man6/11/09Here is the promised profile of Ms. Severine, the documentarian I interviewed previously. Severine epitomizes just one of the many types of people inspiring, and inspired by, the locavore movement. Other people I am planning to profile – with my obvious focus on their attraction to farmers’ markets – include a sociologist, an urban farm volunteer, an ecologist, a school teacher, a compost teacher, a cattle farmer, an anthropologist, a professional gardener, a ‘seed saver’ and, of course, a couple chefs. Stay tuned. More...Committing to a Market6/8/09When I first started this blog, my goal was to visit every farmers’ market in the city. All 49 of them. I have been to ten so far – not bad as many are just now opening. But as my infatuation grows deeper, I am realizing my approach was mistaken. More...Ease Cow Indigestion and Save the Planet6/5/09Apparently when cows eat closer to what they have evolved to eat (as opposed to cheap corn), they stop contributing as much to global warming. More...Can Food be Too Clean?6/3/09What to do with rampant food scares leading everyone to want pristine, carefully coddled food, such as this movement in Japan to grow produce in laboratory-esque environments – no dirt, no bugs, low struggle and most likely low taste and low health benefits? Safe, yes. But so is WonderBread. More...Strawberry Sun Salad6/1/09After I found this list of the top things to buy organic, I zeroed in on strawberries and started craving them – probably because my subconscious knew it was too early to find them in the farmers market. But this weekend, I finally found true ruby treasure, the first local pick of the season, arriving in Park Slope from southern New Jersey. I wondered the market until I had the main ingredients for this salad. More...Kitchen Orphans and Kryptonite5/31/09In my head, I am working on a book entitled Kitchen Orphans. The book is not about parents, or the absence there of, during meals or within the kitchen... It is our food that has been orphaned. More...Round-up of NYT Mornings5/29/09Despite its scandals, I am pretty committed to the New York Times. We have coffee together almost every morning and our conversations range from trite to serious, disturbing or inspiring. We rarely squabble, although if we do it is most likely Tuesday, when the often ill-reported health page comes out. Lately, I’ve been adoring their coverage of food trends… Here are my favorite NYT stories of the week.Eat this, conservation movement!5/27/09The options available to the average hunter-gather apparently put the Cheesecake Factory’s treatise to shame. After examining fine details in the teeth of our ancestors, anthropologists recently adjusted their reading of the early menu available to humankind. In contrast to the caveman diets preached by fad gurus – with their focus on a few weeds and rare surpluses of fruit and meat – what actually made early man’s table so healthy was the broad range of foods. More...Top Ten (Eleven?) Foods to Buy Organic5/24/09The price of organic food has been getting a lot of press recently, from sustainability conferences to mainstream publications such as the Atlantic, Cooking Light and Gourmet. The messages all spiral around two central questions. More...Forget Asparagus. The Real Treat of the Season is Ready5/22/09Asparagus, ramps and peppercress may have a short season. But spring is about the rebirth of life. What says that better than an egg? And yes, eggs do have a season. More...The Pied Piper of Local Farmers5/20/09 I've become fascinated about the psychology behind the local food movement. What is being tapped here? What need is being fulfilled? Seconds after I met young agrarian and documentarian Severine von Tscharner Fleming (who thankfully prefers to go just by her first name), I knew she epitomizes one aspect of the movement. More...College Food Circle5/18/09Go K-State! Coeds there are planning on eating their own waste products this fall. More...Why I am Not a Locavore5/14/09First, I will admit, roughly 80% of my diet comes from local farms and I have significant respect for the movement. But I still bristle when I referred to as a locavore.It is often said that most fad diets are about going without – usually some food group (meat, starch…) or some nutrient (fat, cholesterol, carb…). Similarly, most food movements are essentially about going without – a certain group of people. It is separating one’s self, defining one’s self against society, usually by subtly declaring “I am better/holier/healthier than thou” because my diet is vegan, low-fat, low-maintenance or can fit into really tiny carbon heels. More...Locavores Bemoan Their Own Success5/13/09An article in the NYT today reports, big food manufacturers, such as FritoLay, are beginning to ‘co-opt’ the locavore food movement. They suddenly have the gall to, say, make Florida’s potato chips from Florida’s potatoes.Many locavores are ready to throw pitchforks at them. I don't get it. More...Born Again Greens5/11/09All the winter greens have been sprayed by the fountain of youth. They are showing up in the market sporting tender curves and babysoft complexions. Beware, however, of their apparent innocence. More...Chef Chops5/7/09All week I have been watching meals be made by amateurs, who were trying to copy the movements of a food pro. (Think kindergarteners imitating a prima ballerina.) However, during the intensive class at the Institute for Culinary Education, I think I ended up learning more from my fellow students than I did from the very knowledgeable teacher. More... CAFO Source of Flu Pandemic5/3/09Raj Patel confirmed this theory yesterday at the Brooklyn Food Conference. More..Leave Our Friend, The Steak, Alone4/30/09The NYT is giving beef the shaft agan, with an article entitled The Price of Eating Red Meat. More...Pig Revenge4/29/09Does torturing our food supply result in human disease? We know it does in cows. How 'bout pigs? More...Green Decapitation4/28/09At the Carroll Gardens Sunday greenmarket, I stumbled upon an intimidating head of lettuce. It came with a neck! And, if you count the pot, shoulders! More...Urban Oven BBQ4/27/09In honor of the record highs for this time of year, we had an Urban BBQ yesterday. (You know, when you pretend you have outdoor space inside a city apartment.) Just after one p.m., a heavily marbled brisket... More...Cooking, the Way to Man’s… Brain?4/24/09The theory that primordial Iron Chefs led to the evolution of humanity proved itself in a pan on my stove earlier this week. More...Princes in Need of Peas4/23/09Anthropologists use the ways people obtain food to understand features of personality, writes Meredith Small, herself an anthropologist. To be a hunter gatherer, for example... More...Organic vs. Local4/22/09What's better for the earth: eating locally or eating organically? A professor from the University of Chicago, Pamela Martin, is leading a year-long course study to find out. More...Underground Dining: Brooklyn Edible Social Club4/20/09While grabbing cheese from Cato Corner (try the Vivace, it has notes of wood-smoked bacon), to fill out a lovely picnic in Prospect Park, I also picked up a tip about an underground dining club. More...5 Market Weekend4/19/09It’s time! Markets are sprouting up all over the city. Who cares if the schedule says they will open in June. Produce doesn’t follow the calendar to the letter, so why should the farmers. More...Tuesday Sprouts4/16/09Today, a few farmer stands sprouted at Borough Hall. More...On Being a Cultivore4/15/09This blog is not about choosing organic. Or eating locally. Or even about eating healthy. (Have you tried your local bacon?!?!?!) More...Big ol’ Head of Cabbage4/14/09I love ingredients from the market that last for weeks and weeks. More...Turkey Sausage4/13/09I mentioned Di Paola’s turkey sausage before, but I haven’t yet really put him to work. More...Jousting with the Dollar: Organic vs. Conventional Farms4/8/09“Can organic cropping systems be as profitable as conventional systems?” So asked a recently published study. More...Ronnybrook Follow-up4/7/09It's the ice cream. More...Ronnybrook4/5/09Ronnybrook Farm Dairy has been serving NY for more than sixty years. But is their product worth buying? More...Hippie or just Hungry?4/3/09I don't really consider myself crunchy. More...First Milk Off Winner4/1/09I promised, months ago, to have a Milk Off. More...Upper West Side I3/30/09Battled the mist, and ignored the intermittent rain, Sunday to find one of the Upper West Side's many greenmarkets. More...Why "HungryNibbler"?3/29/09Because this blog is about what happens before we eat. More...Cooking Brain Drain3/27/09A reason for avoiding process foods, when possible, that has nothing to do with cancer, campaigns or carbon footprints: More...Parsley's Second Act3/25/09My kitchen’s most perishable item is my most demanding boss. More...From Phish to Farm?3/24/09Stories about farm hipsters keep popping up. Are these just a few starry eyed hippies, with good PR skills, born in the wrong decade? Or is this a full-fledged movement? More...Flower Children - They're what's for dinner3/23/09I love the over-sized smile of a sunflower just as much as the next gal, but... More...Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden on White House Lawn!3/20/09I wonder what that terroir is like! More...Slow Food Mother3/18/09Alice Waters just wants everyone to cook like she does. Okay? More...Nice to Meet You3/17/09Discovering a new ingredient at a farmer’s market is like meeting a potential new friend at a party. More...Back to Our Salad Days3/16/09Salads have become so familiar, almost obligatory, that their potential pleasure is often forgotten. Perhaps it will help to remember that doctors used to warn against them. More...Double Market Day3/15/09Ventured over to Fort Greene in Brooklyn yesterday and – after circling three quarters of the park, losing hope and cursing the official schedule – found a dozen tents selling produce, turkey, an array of meats... More...You, Too, Can be Fertilizer3/10/09Yes you can! More...Egg Fortune-Telling and The Fertile Crescent3/6/09As we ate lunch, I asked a colleague what foods are grown nearby. He became obviously offended, as if I had called his country Hicksville. More...Missing the Forbidden3/5/09I’ve been in Iraq only a few days and already I am craving the most heavenly of animals, which this whole region, sadly, never puts to tongue. Yes, I am talking PIG. More...Green Purses: When Veggies get Rich3/4/09A few days ago, I found myself with a need to kill time and hunger pangs in the dimly-lit outer section of the Istanbul airport. More...The Uncomfortable Truth about CookingThere is something about cooking none of us want to acknowledge. All we really do when we slice and dice, simmer or brown, even marinate is, essentially, speed up decay. Why do we do this? More...