After the Super Committee's failed process last fall, Congress faces a new critical deadline: they must take action on the current farm bill before its expiration on September 30, 2012 or risk reverting to the 1949 farm law - the fallback law for the farm bill. More

When is DIY too much? Have you ever set out to make or grow it from scratch, only to be shocked at the time and expense? Say no more to Kevin Connolly who just planted his first lemon tree. The first four he harvested averaged a cost of $155 each. Have you ever miscalculated the cost of DIY? More

When the Occupy Wall Street movement was born last September in Zucotti Park, just one and a half miles from my apartment in New York City, I started noticing some striking images on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and so one day at lunch I walked down there.

It wasn't so much the now ubiquitous handmade signs protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, and corruption that drew me in, it was the everyday slices of life. People were living there. To a food writer, that triggers another thought: they are cooking and eating there, too. So I began to document these protest picnics, notebook and iPhone in hand. More

Several years ago, we posted Dan Barber's amazing TED talk about how he witnessed a more humane way to produce the delicious but controversial fatted goose liver called foie gras. The talk is classic Dan Barber, full of self-deprecating humor and his clearly passionate relationship to food. After his discovery of this more humane method, which eschews gavage, or force feeding, Barber (sort of) vows to never serve conventional foie gras in his restaurants again.

Barber is the chef and co-owner of the well-known Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York which is a part of an organic, sustainably run working farm. Can he duplicate this method on his farm and once again serve this favorite ingredient? More

The week before Thanksgiving is probably a busy one at your local farmers' market. People descend in droves to gather their ingredients for the big day: potatoes, fresh cranberries, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, fresh herbs. The farmers respond appropriately by harvesting big, hiring extra booth workers and hauling everything to the market site.

So what happens when it rains and people stay away?
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Have you noticed prices at your farmers market going up slowly yet steadily? Are you wondering why? More

Up until recently, I naively believed that slavery was a thing of the past, something that was wiped off the face of the planet some time in the last century. Then I started hearing about the tomato pickers in Florida that were virtually slaves, earning pennies a day and chained to their beds at night. I was shocked and appalled when I read this report and vowed to not participate in this by not buying food and other items created by slavery. Which of course is much easier said then done, as it's not always possible to trace the 'slavery footprint' of many items.

Now the non-profit organization Call & Response has developed a way to help us make better choices by determining our slavery footprint with an online survey and phone app.
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Eating Halloween candy isn't the guiltless childhood pleasure it once was. Did you know the chocolate industry supports the child slave trade in Africa? Although the major chocolate companies have been pushing off their pledge to change this practice, there is a way you can help spread the word about this important issue. More

This fall the School of Journalism at UC Berkeley is offering a 13-week course called Edible Education: The Rise and Future of the Food Movement. It's purpose is to provide a forum to explore the many aspects and challenges that the so-called food movement is facing as it works to change and reform our industrial food system. Developed by well-known writer and UCB professor Michael Pollan and People's Grocery's (Oakland, CA) Executive Director Nikki Henderson, the course is structured around several impressive guest lectures that are being held on the UCB campus. The lectures are also open to the public and are being made available (for free!) on video. More

When you hear the word "artisan," what do you think of? Chances are, you think of small food producers using good, often-local ingredients. But is this always the case? More