From roasted seeds and homemade pesto to soup stock and compost, there’s more to a pumpkin than the jack-o’-lantern. Every autumn, kitchens across America become temporary pumpkin-carving stations. Newspapers cover the table, someone searches for a sharp knife, and before long there is a large orange pumpkin with its top removed and a bowl overflowing…
Why doesn’t beef always show its country of origin? See how Congress, lobbying, and trade disputes changed the food-label information shoppers receive.
From country-road farm stands to suburban porch bakeries, there’s a world of neighborhood food producers waiting to be discovered. “We’re not replacing social media. We’re putting the spotlight on the dark corners seldom seen.” Before the Sun Comes Up Long before the sun rises, while most neighborhoods are still quiet and families are sleeping, small…
Better Together — Celebrating the People Who Grow, Make, and Share Our Food As another year draws toward its close, families across America are beginning to think about holiday meals, treasured traditions, and gathering around the table. For many of us, those memories begin in the kitchen. The smell of fresh bread, a pie cooling…
Saving the Season Before It’s Gone Knowing where our food comes from — and carrying the harvest forward The peak produce season is nearing its end, and another year seems to be moving far too quickly toward winter. Farmers market tables that only weeks ago overflowed with tomatoes, peppers, peaches, beans and summer squash are…
The Forgotten Fruit Trees That Once Fed Rural America Drive the back roads of the South long enough and you begin to notice something curious. Hidden among thickets of blackberry vines, beneath towering pecan trees, or standing alone beside the remains of an old chimney, there are fruit trees that seem oddly out of place….
The Story of the Sweet Potato Who Knew a Sweet Potato Had This Much of a Story? Growing up, there was a bit of wisdom about sweet potatoes that I heard from the old-timers: wait until the first frost because it makes the sweet potatoes sweeter. We usually did. Nobody stood in the garden explaining…
How One Remarkable Squash Traveled Across Continents and Became a Southern Tradition Few vegetables suffer from an identity crisis quite like the mirliton, vegetable pear, and chayote; they are all the same and delicious. Depending on where you live, you may know it as a mirliton, vegetable pear, chayote squash, christophene, chocho, chow chow, or…
The Invaders in Your Backyard How Foreign Plants Are Quietly Transforming America’s Landscapes, Forests, Farms, and Property Values When most Americans hear the term “invasive species,” they picture insects. They think about termites eating homes, beetles destroying trees, or crop pests damaging agriculture. Those threats are certainly real, but some of the most successful invaders…
The War for the Hive Why the Future of America’s Food Supply Depends on Tiny Insects Facing Enormous Threats For thousands of years, honey has fascinated humanity. Long before modern refrigeration, long before preservatives, and long before industrial agriculture transformed the way food is produced, people valued honey as both a food and a treasure….
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