EatDrink Politics • Feb. 15, 2013
This week I’ve been writing about the National Restaurant Association (the other NRA) and why we should careabout food workers, in part to bring attention to the new book Behind the Kitchen Door by labor advocate Saru Jayaraman. Today I want to offer practical resources for how to help improve the lives of the 20 million food workers who help us put food on our own tables every day.
Continue reading “Fighting the Other NRA – Resources to Support Food Workers”
The Boston Globe • Jan. 29, 2013
For Americans, particularly in the cold months, dinnertime mostly means home and hearth. It also means convenience and comfort.
In 2013 we are making family dinner more often than we dine out, a trend that took root before the recession. Mostly, we’re cooking with and eating a narrow range of foods — and relying, to some extent, on prepared, frozen, and canned items to feed our families quickly and economically. “It’s very boring. That’s the sad truth,” says Harry Balzer, chief food industry analyst for the NPD Group, a national market research company. “For the most part, we’re looking for what’s the easiest way out of this, what’s the cheapest way out of this.” Continue reading “Thanks for the shout-out! @BostonGlobe On the family menu: What’s familiar”
OK, weird: It did not compute that keynoting @ExpoWest would mean being the cover of their program. whoa! 
Civil Eats • Dec. 27, 2012
The Diversified Farming Systems Center at UC Berkeley is a new initiative gathering students and faculty from across campus to study agriculture and food systems. How can the way we grow, process, transport, and distribute our food be made more equitable and more sustainable? Continue reading “Best Food and Agriculture Books of 2012”
Annarbor.com • Nov. 12, 2012
America is undergoing a food awakening. From celebrity chefs and the popular Food Network to farmers market, the good food movement, organic farming, and the growing population of foodies, Americans are eating, preparing, thinking and talking about good food like never before. But not everyone gets a seat at the table. Continue reading “Food for thought: Do poor people prefer junk food?”
Whole Living • Oct. 15, 2012
They’re growing kale in abandoned lots, feeding hungry schoolkids, looking out for our laborers, and teaching us why cooking matters. In short, they’re changing our food world for the better. We toast them all.
Civil Eats • Sept. 7, 2012
Just a few years ago there were but a smattering of “networks that allow regional growers to collaborate on marketing and distribution,” as Grist writer Claire Thompson observed, “networks that include a broad range of operations, from multi-farm CSAs to Craigslist-like virtual markets where buyers and producers can connect.” Continue reading “All Praise the Civics of Food Hubs”
CQ Researcher • Aug. 10, 2012
When investigative journalist Tracie McMillan spent a year working in the U.S. food system — cutting garlic in California fields, cleaning produce at Walmart and garnishing plates at a chain restaurant — she learned a hard truth: Healthy meals were barely affordable on wages of $8 per hour or less. Nutritious choices like fresh fruit and vegetables often were more expensive or less convenient than cheap processed op- tions. And the working-class areas where McMillan lived had fewer grocery stores than did affluent suburbs.
“We’re facing a dire public health problem related to poor diet,” she writes in her 2012 book, The American Way of Eating. “Is it really in America’s best interest to maintain a food system where eating well requires one to either be rich or to drive a total of thirty miles?”
Get the full report here.
Wicked Local Watertown • May 19, 2012
You have likely heard many arguments against a Wal-Mart moving into Watertown – its effect on traffic, crime, property values and the flavor of our neighborhoods. And perhaps you’ve read about how Wal-Mart won’t really net Watertown much revenue – far less than originally imagined – and may even cost us money in the long run by boarding up local businesses and making our town less inviting for new investors and homeowners. Continue reading “Letter: Walmart: How cheap is cheap?”
NorthJersey.com • July 15, 2012
Not words I would associate with … Applebee’s.
But like other chains, Applebee’s is putting its own spin on the latest food trends. Red Robin slathers burgers with “premium aiolis,” Burger King’s got a bacon sundae, and you may remember those Korean tacos I tried at TGI Friday’s. Continue reading “Ung: ‘Seasonal’ and ‘fresh’ as marketing terms”
