Why Did the Haitian Earthquake Become a Food Crisis?
Why did the Haitian earthquake become a food crisis? I spent the last nine days in Haiti working with refugees in Haiti and personally trying to better understand the answer to this question.
Why did the Haitian earthquake become a food crisis? I spent the last nine days in Haiti working with refugees in Haiti and personally trying to better understand the answer to this question.
Monday, December 28, 2009
I have compiled what I think are the best visualizations I’ve seen on the organic industry and its trends. This was prompted by reader comments from a Justin Manor, who was interested in learning the origins of the fire hose of packaged soy and gluten products from which he feeds.
Monday, December 21, 2009
All the world’s rooibos tea is produced in a small, red-earth area in western South Africa. The Khoi San Bushmen have been harvesting and drinking rooibos for tens of thousands of years. Two indigenous cooperatives continue that tradition. Yet their survival, and the survival of their uniquely superior product, is under threat.
Monday, December 14, 2009
GoodEater.org recently decided to test the value of bringing people from organizations such as Slow Food, Unilever, and UBS together in an offline dinner entitled “The Future of Food”, cheffed by our own Kenji Alt.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Food battles are coming to a head this season. Last night I attended the panel talk “Can ‘Big Food’ Embrace Sustainable Agriculture”, featuring senior representation from Monsanto, General Mills, Dean Foods, Deutsche Bank, the Rainforest Alliance, and Slow Food. This was one of only several great debates held just this week on the food system, including clashes on ethical farms vs. vegetarianism, and on food stamps vs. nutrition standards for the poor.
Monday, November 30, 2009
A recent study found that US per capita food waste has increased by about 50% since 1974. We now waste over 1400 calories per person per day in America, enough to feed 200 million people. Meanwhile, we have an obesity epidemic, the USDA reports that one-in-seven Americans went hungry last year, and the New York Times just released a major piece on the soaring use of food stamps. What the heck is going on?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Here’s the dilemma: I live in Boston, and despite the fact that high quality, grass-fed local beef is readily available, it’s simply too inconsistent and too lean to make a decent burger out of. Even local short ribs have barely any marbling.
Tony Maws has figured out how to do it.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
What happens when the ideal of rural poverty alleviation meets the harsh sands of Pakistan, and the reality of earning an ROI? In this GoodEater interview, Joel Montgomery, an Alabamian, Yale-grad Acumen Fellow, tells the story of helping to build an drip-irrigation social enterprise in one of the driest agricultural countries in the world.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Pete Lowy and Jenn Hashley met at UC Santa Cruz’s Center For Agroecology’s Sustainable Food System’s horticultural apprenticeship program, and soon after moved to Verrill Farms in Concord, where Pete is the assistant farm manager. Today, we help them slaughter their chickens.
Monday, October 26, 2009
“A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius,” says Michael Pollan in this recent story from Reuters, in which he calculates the carbon footprint of a Big Mac
Unfortunately, it’s not true. Follow the link above for the real numbers.

Packaged foods strike back, again. Check your pantry for the following 101 items that are being recalled by the FDA for salmonella in a massive recall. The source is hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) paste and powder – used for added flavoring in dips and snacks. The ingredient originated at Basic Food Flavors, Inc., in Las Vegas, Nev. Guess that’s what happens when you gamble with your food supply?
The makers of King Corn will be debuting their sequel, Big River, in Manhattan on March 15th at 6PM. The film literally explores the downstream impact of corn farming in the Midwest. There will be a panel talk with the filmmakers and other guests at the event. Click the link above for details.
Backyard pizza madman – a former subject of our Pizza-Oven Lifestyles series – Paul Gianonne (aka Paulie Gee) is opening his own joint in Green Point. Slice reports that he recently signed the lease for the former Paloma space at 60 Greenpoint Avenue.
Good luck Paulie! We’ll be there rooting for you opening night!
Monday, February 22, 2010
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