Charlotte Local Food

New Local Food App for I-Phone

2009-03-25T10:45:00.003-04:00

Great new app for iphones out there. Check it out at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/in-season-food-app-for-locavores-iphones.php

Eat Seasonally!

2009-03-03T11:35:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder to myself and everyone else: in the dead of winter, when Spring still seems a long way off and fresh vegetables from our garden seem years away...eat seasonally, even when you can't eat locally.This means oranges, grapefruit, greens, asparagus. Not, watermelon, tomatoes, cantaloupes...You get the picture, eating seasonally, even if you can't eat locally, means you are being

the best feedback from my radio interview

2008-08-01T07:11:00.001-04:00

Spoke to my wife after the radio interview. Turns out our oldest got bored listening to dad on the radio...So he went outside to dig in the garden!Guess we're doing something right.

Death of a Bunny

2008-07-29T20:28:00.002-04:00

Okay, so this might have very little to do about local food...but I had to write about it anyway, and after all I decided, this is my blog. We buried a baby bunny today.This afternoon, Jackie (my 12 year old mutt dog) caught a baby bunny. My oldest son saw that it was still alive and came running to get me (I was starting dinner as usual at this time of day). I ran outside, commanded Jackie to

by 2030, 9 of 10 ...

2008-07-29T10:52:00.003-04:00

Americans will be overweight or obese. In just over 20 years. This latest news is from a report out of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Live on Charlotte Talks Thursday

2008-07-29T09:02:00.002-04:00

For those interested in such things, I'll be on the local NPR affiliate (WFAE, 90.7 FM) this Thursday morning at 9am (with a taped 9pm re-broadcast on the same station) with Dr. Margaret Houlihan. The show is Charlotte Talks and Meg and I will be talking about "Nature Deficit Disorder," why kids should be spending more time outside, and offering suggestions for parents/teachers to accomplish this

The solutions are going to be messy

2008-07-09T06:32:00.001-04:00

wsj this morning says that soaring food costs increased the number of hungry people by 122 million around the world. Though by how much is still under debate, most acknowledge that the biofuels industry/research shares at least some responsibity for this.My opinion is that this fact shouldn't preclude further research on biofuels as a net positive alternative to oil, but it may get worse before

Can't we cut the drive thru at the same time we cut our driving?

2008-05-21T13:40:00.002-04:00

Consumers cut driving but not diets: poll | Reuters :Nearly half of respondents to a Reuters/Zogby poll of likely voters in the presidential election later this year said they are driving less to compensate for record U.S. gasoline prices, which hit a record average of $3.80 per gallon on Tuesday according to travel club AAA.But only about 8 percent of the 1076 respondents in the national poll

Could GMOs save organics?

2008-04-23T09:23:00.003-04:00

Thought provoking post over at Breakthrough:Will GMOs save organics?As always reading the discussion in the comments after the post can be equally thought-provoking, especially at sites like Breakthrough

2008-04-23T08:36:00.001-04:00

Different type of post today -- from a key voice in this movement in the US.

The real battle among consumers ...

2008-04-22T10:31:00.003-04:00

The real battle among consumers is not between the conventional carrot and the organic carrot.; it's between the carrot and the Twinkie.The Birth of Blue, Adam Werbach

Spring

2008-04-06T19:21:00.002-04:00

It is so hard to believe that it is spring. This is a hard time of year for those of us who love our gardens. We are harvesting our lettuces, but still sitting on our hands so we don't plant other things too early. It is hard when the weather is 78 degrees and sunny not to plant. We all know we are supposed to wait until after April 15th, but it isn't always easy. We are almost there!

Treehugger's quote of the day

2007-11-02T08:18:00.000-04:00

From Colin Tudge: [The] food chain we have now is not designed to feed people.... it is designed to produce the maximum amount of cash in the shortest time. ... The global free market might be good for some things (perhaps we get better computers and warships that way) but for farming, and hence for humanity as a whole, it is disastrous. I've snipped a couple of teaser lines ... but the whole

Drought

2007-10-23T08:28:00.000-04:00

I now look back longingly at the late summer pictures of my garden. The hot, dry early fall we have had has wilted and browned everything, including my garden. We waited as long as possible hoping for rain before planting our fall garden, but it still didn't work. Our spinach, lettuce and swiss chard wilted literally right before our eyes. We hand watered our baby plants, but it didn't seem to

Our Garden - Late Summer

2007-09-10T07:42:00.000-04:00

This has been such a hot, dry summer that I am amazed at how well our garden actually did. We lost our squash this past week to silvery mildew (I think that is what it is called) but to be quite honest, it wasn't much of a loss, in fact, I think I celebrated quietly...I am just so done with squash! Our tomato plants are still in full production mode, although the plants leaves have lost much

Reason #486

2007-09-06T15:16:00.000-04:00

to move your family to a more local and more natural diet.Certain artificial food colorings and other additives can worsen hyperactive behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, British researchers reported on Wednesday.Tests on more than 300 children showed significant differences in their behavior when they drank fruit drinks spiked with a mixture of food colorings and preservatives, Jim Stevenson and

The Eat-Local Backlash

2007-09-04T11:38:00.000-04:00

This is worth reading, from beginning to end. The folks at Grist are so good ...What often arises in the food-miles debate, I think, is a false dichotomy: local vs. long distance. But the most attractive model might be a regional one. ...Take North Carolina, where I live and help run a farm. ...

They'll thank you eventually

2007-08-23T07:33:00.000-04:00

More veggies? Your kids will thank you ... eventually.Though your child may scowl at the broccoli you pile onto his plate, keep it coming. According to a new Finnish study, kids really do follow their parents' advice on healthy eating, even when you aren't there to nag them.

Local Food Month Summary

2007-08-20T07:34:00.000-04:00

Well, it is August now and we officially wound up our local food month a couple of weeks ago. I learned a lot during this month and it was fun, but also a lot of work. We hope to continue eating locally as much as possible and integrating many of our practices into our everyday lives. Some of these things are:Buying all produce (with a few minor exceptions like lemons for bread) from local

Judging Food By Its Cover

2007-08-07T10:14:00.000-04:00

Does this scare the hell out of anyone else?MONDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Most 3- and 5-year-olds who taste-tested a variety of foods said they preferred the ones in the McDonald's wrapper -- even though the foods were exactly the same, a new study finds.The study suggests that, like adults, young children are highly influenced by branding, experts say. "This study demonstrates simply and

The localvore's dilemma

2007-07-30T10:51:00.000-04:00

The Boston Globe tackles the issue of local food, and whether local really is better for the environment. The short answer is, Yes. But that affirmative comes with a big caveat -- and a caveat some proponents don't stress enough. Michael Pollan states it clearly in the article:Local means local in season. In places like Charlotte, it means not only summers of fresh tomatoes, green beans, and

My Kids and Local Food

2007-07-30T08:12:00.000-04:00

My kids are pretty good eaters on average. I say on average because one of them (my oldest) will usually try anything, my middle one eats about once every two weeks (at which time he will try about anything) and my smallest eats only exactly what she wants, when she wants. This probably sounds very familiar to you, so you probably understand why when I started this local food month, I was

Stuffed Baked Squash

2007-07-29T16:25:00.000-04:00

This recipe can be made with only one of the following types of vegetables or if you have all of them, it makes a colorful display!1 eggplant1 yellow zucchini (Poplar Ridge Farms)1 green zucchini (our own garden)1 yellow squash (our own garden)1 patty pan squash (Poplar Ridge Farms)1 medium yellow onion (Poplar Ridge Farms)6 cloves of garlic (Poplar Ridge Farms)1 lb. chorizo sausage (Weatherbury

Second Week Menus

2007-07-29T12:05:00.000-04:00

The second week of eating locally was delicious and I even got to go out for a meal! Lunches remained grilled cheese or turkey sandwiches or leftovers complimented by some of Beverly McLaughlin's (at the County Market) delicious Gazpacho! I am missing some of my other lunch items (namely Beverly's chickpea salad, chips and pretzels), but have been doing okay other than that. Breakfasts have

From the source?

2007-07-27T10:08:00.001-04:00

I've had several folks tell me that their favorite bottled water is Aquafina. Fine.As a family, we've actually stopped purchasing bottled water, as a result of various epiphanies had by E, me or both of us together. And this latest Reuters news story only gives reinforcement to our newish habit of filling reusable Nalgene water bottles (mine shows my support for WNCW, the best music station in