Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama announced a nationwide recipe contest for kids ages 8 to 12. The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge will choose 56 winners—one from each state and territory—who will attend a gala Kids' "State Dinner," hosted by Mrs. Obama at the White House in August. More

What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?

This intriguing contemplation is one of three questions asked in Slow Money's statement of principles. The other two (what if there were a new generation of companies that gave away 50% of their profits and what if there were 50% more organic matter in our soil 50 years from now?) are equally compelling. What is Slow Money and what does it have to do with your food? More

A modern dairy farm is incredibly productive. Fulper Farms in West Amwell Township, New Jersey, own 135 cows, which produce over 8,000 pounds of milk. But if you think that sounds like a lucrative business, think again: More

In a somewhat surreal showing of food politics-meets-international politics, the live tweeting of Brooklyn's Park Slope Food Co-Op this past Tuesday resulted in an "epic" rundown, as The Awl put it, of bizarre one liners, offering a taste of the high-spirited (and some would say high-minded) views of its passionate, and politically-motivated, members. More

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