Author: GoodFood World

Let Us Render: Using the Fat from Local Pork

The idea of using the fat from locally sourced meat animals is new to me, as it would be to others who have grown up buying shrink-wrapped meats. Even buying from a local farm doesn’t mean you’ll see the whole animal, so when the butcher who processed our last hog asked, “Do you want the fat?” I said yes before thinking about it.

Dinner With Lisa

Visiting Allium Restaurant on Orcas Island is much like having dinner at Lisa Nakamura’s house. The restaurant is small – seating about 35 – and there are just two in the kitchen: Lisa and Anna Harlow. Chef Nakamura launched Allium in 2010, and the world noticed! Ms. Nakamura generously answered questions for GoodFood World, and here are a few insights into her philosophies, business practices, and management style.

Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (New Edition) by Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan’s Food Rules began with his hunch that the wisdom of our grandparents might have more helpful things to say about how to eat well than the recommendations of science or industry or government. The result was a slim volume of food wisdom that has forever changed how we think about food. The new rules underscore the central teaching of the original Food Rules, which is that eating doesn’t have to be so complicated, and food is as much about pleasure and communion as it is about nutrition and health.

When the Label Says ARTISAN, What Does It Mean?

It would seem there is no bigger name in the food world today than “artisan.” Take a walk down any food aisle in the grocery store and you encounter it virtually everywhere: there it is on packaged goods in produce, snacks, frozen food and even the beverage section. These days, the word – which used to mean hand-crafted – is showing up on just about anything edible.

Confession: I Was a Big Food Executive

Bruce Bradley, a former food marketer at companies like General Mills, Pillsbury, and Nabisco, comes across as a sane, level-headed man who has been bamboozled by the industry in which he worked for more than 15 years. Bradley writes like a new convert; he’s seen the truth and he’s mad as hell about what’s been going on.

Cascading Effects: A Seattle Urban Farmer and the 2011 Season

Christina Hahs is a sprite with a direct stare. Even at the age of 27 she is not one of the youngest farmers in the City of Seattle. In the egalitarian context of urban agriculture it would be wrong to describe her with any other superlative or enumerator but she is, on her own, guiding a group known as the Harvest Collective. It has not been an easy year, however.