Food

Activist Eaters

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Author
Tom Taylor
Midwest and Southeast Field Organizer for the Organic Consumers Association
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Being in the checkout line at the grocery store is not a passive event. Choosing the food you eat is the biggest political and the most far-reaching act that occurs daily in America.

Changes in Food Preparation

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Author
Sally Schakel
RD, LD
Publication Date: 
November 1, 2009
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Photo: Instructor Betty Bauer demonstrating use of built-in broiler-oven, Richfield High School, 1955. Norton & Peel/ MN Historical Society

Footnotes/Endnotes

References

"Fifty Years of Food and Culinary Change: A Reminiscence," by Joseph M. Carlin. NutritionToday 36(3): 182-186, 2001.

"Consumers Stay Loyal to Organic Food." Nick Hughes. Food Navigator-USA.com. September4, 2009.

"2008 Mini Fact Sheet Organic Industry Overview." Organic Trade Association.

"Organic Foods Are Now 'Mainstream,' Says USDA." Caroline Scott-Thomas. Food Navigator-USA.com. September14, 2009.

"Ready-prepared Ready-to-eat Nation." James E. Tillotson. Nutrition Today 37(1):36-38, 2002.

"Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures, Food Availability (Per Capita)Data System." U.S. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service. www.ers.usda.gov/data/foodconsumption.

Agriculture Fact Book 2001-2002. Chapter 2: Profiling Food Consumptionin America. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Farm Bill: Not Just for Farmers

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Author
BRAD REDLIN
Director, Agriculture Program, Izaak Walton League of America
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The entire area of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, totals nearly 2.3 billion acres. Land used for agricultural purposes constitutes a 52 percent majority of that total. That is reason enough why the federal Farm Bill, as much as any other single piece of legislation, has a direct impact on each of us. In determining how the majority of our land is managed, the Farm Bill further determines the predominate products and ultimate sustainability of our food system.

The Farm Bill-debated and re-authorized about every five

Footnotes/Endnotes

on the web!

USDA-Economic Research Service, Farm Bill issues,
ers.usda.gov/Features/FarmBill2007

USDA-Economic Research Service State Fact Sheets-Minnesota,
ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/MN.htm

USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service Minnesota Statistics, nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Minnesota/index.asp

Sustainable Agriculture Coalition,
sustainableagriculturecoalition.org 

READ UP!

The 2007 Farm Bill: Stewardship, Prosperity, and Fairness, by Izaak Walton League of America,
iwla.org/publications/agriculture
/Farm_Bill_2007_WEB.pdf

Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, by Daniel Imhoff, Watershed Media, 2007.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan, Penguin, 2006.

act locally!

Participate in Community Supported Agriculture,
landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html

The Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA),
misa.umn.edu/home.html

Participate in local working groups,
mn.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/lwg.html

Oily Food

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Author
STEVEN L. HOPP
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Nourishing Ourselves through Our Food Choices

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Author
SARA GROCHOWSKI
Do It Green! Minnesota
Since the 1970s, the increase of multi-national food companies has increased the size of not only farms but the overall food system. During this same time period, a slow and steady movement of small farms began selling a variety of products to local communities, building relationships, and changing purchasing habits. With these changes in our food systems, people's eating habits and grocery choices have also changed. A number of terms can now be used for describing our diets today-from locavore, to a low-carbon diet, to slow food, or local.

Living Simple III

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Author
ELLEN TELANDER
Winsted Organics Farm
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I call this year "I'm so glad I own a farm" year. We've all noticed the price increases of food and gas. I've been asking other farmers to learn the scoop. My buddy, Steve Nowak, an organic farmer that grows wheat and barley, says it's the first time in a long time that farmers are making some real cash and doing well. Most of the farmers that I've talked to are grain producers; most are making good money because they grow corn now, and corn prices have increased due to ethanol demand.
Footnotes/Endnotes
ON THE WEB!

"Go wild!"-wild foods becoming popular in Canada,
cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/05/15
/f-consumer-wildfood.html

Making Cider Vinegar at Home, OSU Extension,
ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5346.html

Read Up!

Abundantly Wild: Collecting and Cooking Wild Edibles of the Upper Midwest, by Teresa Marrone, Adventure Publications, 2004.

Head to Head: a Lettuce Comparison

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Author
ELI EFFINGER-WEINTRAUB
Do It Green! Minnesota
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Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day than a crisp, cool salad. Before you toss up that salad, consider where the lettuce and other fruits and vegetables on your summer plates come from. If it's like most conventional produce in this country, it comes from an average of 1,500 miles away. 39% of our fruits and 12% of our vegetables traveled from another country.1 Is the lettuce in that salad good for the environment? We compare three heads of lettuce: one grown conventionally in California (where more than half of
Footnotes/Endnotes

References:

http://looncommons.org/2008/01/11
/racking-up-the-food-miles/

http://www.lifeintheusa.com/food
/vegetables.htm

http://attra.ncat.org/downloads
/water_quality/irrigation.pdf

http://www.sare.org/publications/energy
/energy.pdf

http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff
/ppp/food_mil.pdf

Eating Low: Back to Basics

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Author
JENNY BREEN
Local Chef / Educator
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." So begins Micheal Pollan's recent manifesto, In Defense of Food. It sounds ridiculously simple, and actually, it is. But, we have reached a place and time in our culture where we need to re-learn these simple actions that were once just a way of life. Our food system has become very complex, and we as consumers need to be thoughtful and intentional about our food choices--that is, if we really care about our health and the health of the planet.

Given the impact of our food choices on our own health and that

Footnotes/Endnotes

on the web!

Search for "The Cheeseburger Footprint" at
brightcove.tv

Center for Science,
cspinet.org

The Daily Green,
thedailygreen.com

READ UP!

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollan, Penguin Press HC, 2008.

act locally!

Minneapolis farmer's markets
mplsfarmersmarket.com

Minnesota farmer's market association, mfma.org

Eating Green to $ave Green

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Author
MELINDA FEUCHT
Do It Green! Minnesota
As food costs soar and people become more conscious about their food decisions, it's time to rethink the way we shop for food. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, advises, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." This can be applied to budget reasons as well as health reasons. ‘Eat food'-buy real oatmeal in bulk rather than processed hot or cold cereals. ‘Not too much'-obviously less food (conventional or organic) in your cart means a smaller bill and
Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Twin Cities Food Co-ops,
twincitiesfood.coop

National Co-op Directory, coopdirectory.org

Eating Green on a Budget Resources, thebudgetecoist.com,
sustainablebudget.com

Read Up!

What to Eat, by Marion Nestle, North Point Press, 2007.

The Organic Food Handbook, by Ken Roseboro, Basic Health Publications, 2007.

Backyard Chickens

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Author
Britt Carlson
Homestead Chicken Farmer
Publication Date: 
November 1, 2008
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In 2005, my neighbor ordered twelve small, light brown and blue chicken eggs from an online auction. Each day she and her son diligently turned the eggs, with as much care as a mother hen. After 21 days, the chicks hatched from the bantam-sized eggs. The mother and son were able to keep six of the chicks, but needed to find a home for the others. At the time, I knew little about chickens, but I was up for the new hobby when they asked.

I had to do several things to prepare for my chicks.

Resources
On the Web!: 
Raising Backyard Chickens
Choose a breed (search for "chicken chart")
Twin Cities Information
Read Up!: 
Hen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance: Reflections on Keeping Chickens, by M. Gordon, The Lyons Press, 2004.
Keep Chickens!: Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces, by B. Kilarski, Storey Publishing, 2003.
Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide, by R. Luttman & G. Luttman, Rodale Press, 1976.
Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock, by J. Rossier, The Lyons Press, 2002.
Act Locally!: 
Organic Chicken Feed:
Stillwater Farm Store
401 South Main St.
Stillwater, MN, 651-439-6143
Coop supplies: ReUse Center
2801 21st Ave. S, Suite 180
Minneapolis, MN
612-724-2608
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