Author: GoodFood World

Sneak Peek at Whole Foods New Store

Whole Foods Market® is opening a new Seattle-area market in Lynnwood on March 15, and we got a peek behind the curtain at the controlled chaos going on before the grand opening. We arrived early for a tour of the new facility and dodged between trucks belonging to landscapers, electricians, and vendors. Inside we saw what looked like a laptop-armed battalion frantically tapping away at their keyboards and small groups of trainees in the check out lanes listening closely to their instructors.

Time to Think Gardens – Get Those Cool Season Starts!

It’s the middle of March and time to get your seeds in – and for those of us lucky enough to live in milder climates, time to get those cool season plant starts! Buying starts and seeds from local growers and at local sales ensures that you get plants that are climate-appropriate. Get planting!

The Organic Food Handbook by Ken Roseboro

More and more people are eating organic food because they want a healthier and safer alternative to “conventional” food. They want food produced without toxic pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and genetic engineering. They want food that sustains both human health and the environment. The Organic Food Handbook written by Ken Roseboro examines this important trend and provides a concise, simple guide to buying and eating organic food.

True Example of the End of Crop Diversity: The Great Irish Potato Famine

The Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s is a perfect example of how monocropping can lead to disaster. Lack of genetic variation in Irish potatoes was a major contributor to the severity of the famine, allowing potato blight to decimate Irish potato crops. The blight resulted in the starvation of almost one of every eight people in Ireland during a three-year period. But the greatest shortcoming of monocrops may lie in the compromised quality of those foods, and the long-term effect that has on your health.

Voices From the Farm: Cider Making, An Amish Remedy, Drilling a New Well, Flock Talk

We had an early fall, with first frosts on September 12. Lisa and I covered the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, watermelons and cantaloupes with plastic tarps so we were still harvesting them in October, otherwise they would have been long gone. Our young orchard produced a huge apple crop that fall and my sister, Merle, also had a bumper crop. We decided we should make apple juice and can it for winter enjoyment.

The American Way of Eating by Tracie McMillan

What if you can’t afford nine-dollar tomatoes? That was the question award-winning journalist Tracie McMillan couldn’t escape as she watched the debate about America’s meals unfold, one that urges us to pay food’s true cost—which is to say, pay more. So in 2009 McMillan embarked on a groundbreaking undercover journey to see what it takes to eat well in America. For nearly a year, she worked, ate, and lived alongside the working poor to examine how Americans eat when price matters.

Back to the Earth – A Reading List from the GoodFood World Library

There is a new wave of interest in good food, food you can trust, and food production on all scales. The literature of food and farming go back a long way, and there is a rich literature of food production just beginning to be explored. Here is a selection of books from the GoodFood World library touching on the heart and soul of farming for your late winter reading.