All entries by this author
Good living on the land
I’d be terrible at farming. Getting up close and a little too personal – hello, lambing season anyone? – with nature. But I love to hear stories of farmers bucking the system and reaping the rewards. Take George and Kate Heathcote. The publicity shots from the British reality TV show, A Farm Life, for which they agreed to be guinea pigs might make them look like an old-fashioned cliche, More →
Oprah dumps diet dramas
Oprah Winfrey has finally woken up to the fact that diets simply don’t work. Or if they do appear to work – as in the case when she famously lost a wheelbarrow load of fat on a stupid liquid protein diet – they are not sustainable. After years of well-documented fluctuations in size, More →
All I want for Christmas
When money is tight, Christmas seems to loom like an all-devouring beast. Expectations are high. Gifts for everyone. Even if you start from a low base of $10 a person or only buy for the children, most families are heading well into the hundreds of dollars before too long. It\’s hard to see a way out of it cheaply. More →
Fresh approach to cooking
Not sure how to make the switch to organic? This is a wonderful place to start. Jesse Ziff Cool is a passionate advocate for organic, sustainable food. But she doesn\’t beat you over the head with it. She\’s a cook, a mother and a very down-to-earth soul (in more ways than one). More →
Back to basics with Jamie Oliver
People seem to either love or hate Jamie Oliver. Personally, I can’t understand why anyone who cares about food would fall into the latter category. Sure, his laddie patter might irk some, but the guy is passionate about getting us to eat smarter and better, no matter our budget or cooking skills. And he doesn’t simply preach at us from some high-falutin “chefdom” More →
Five steps to a truly merry Christmas
Tis the season to be sil-ly, fa la la la la, la la, la, la. Okay, it’s not quite the lyrics to Deck the Halls, but Christmas does seem to promote largesse in more ways than one. Not only do we go overboard with the credit cards, we seem to think it’s a given that we must dish up more food than nubile nymphs at a Roman feast. More →
Chinese put trust in organic
While Chinese authorities have moved to assure citizens that their food is now free of melamine, a chemical that caused the death of four infants and poisoned more than 50,000 others earlier this year, many locals aren’t taking any chances. The scandal erupted after it was found that infant formula milk had been contaminated with More →
Playing it Cool
“Choose your poisons well.” They aren’t words you’d expect from the mouth of an organic food devotee but restaurateur Jesse Ziff Cool is no stick-in-the-mud. She wants people to eat the best they can most of the time, but a little indulgence every now and then is just fine by her. More →
Don’t pass on poison
It’s startling what comes out of the mouths of some health professionals. A lecturer recently visiting Iowa City spoke of the importance of a healthy diet in preventing illness. Preston Maring, a doctor with 38 years of medical wisdom under his belt, prescribes healthy, organic eating for his patients, arguing that treating illness is the past. “Preventing illness is the future of health care,” he said. So far, so good. More →
Crisis slows organic growth
The financial crisis has hit the organic sector, with growth slowing in the past few months as Americans cut back on discretionary spending. The market has enjoyed double digit growth of up to 20 percent a year for several years, but research released in the wake of the country’s economic meltdown shows a significant drop. While it was still on the up, More →
