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

Do you know where the apple you are biting into comes from? Is it sprayed with pesticides? Does it come from a box labeled "organically grown," and are you willing to pay a premium for it?

Chef Brian from Trellis, a restaurant in Kirkland, WA, knows exactly where the bulk of his ingredients come from. Why? Because he grows most of it himself. He planted and tends to a 10-acre farm, a place where farming and cooking practices seamlessly intertwine. Cooking through the seasons, cooking with what's at hand — Brian can inspire us home cooks in all these areas. More

Do you believe in the basic tenets of the Slow Food movement (good, clean, and fair food for everyone) but have been put off by the organization's pricey events and elitist reputation? Well, September is is a good time to revisit Slow Food USA as they launch two affordable campaigns: A pay-what-you-can membership drive and the $5 Challenge. Read on for details!
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In this past weekend's New York Times, Mark Bittman wrote an op-ed piece entitled "Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables" in which he argues that it's time to take a stand and tax sugary and overly processed foods to save the health of our country and generate billions of necessary tax dollars.
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The USDA announced a new food pyramid yesterday: the food plate. Instead of stacking food groups in a pyramid as the organization has done for years, they are now laying it all out on a plate. But besides the design change, a few items are missing. Are you into it? More

Last week we talked about the debate around genetically modified vegetables, but what about the food scientists are still trying to engineer: in vitro meat? Animal-rights groups welcome it, but some people wonder if the public can get over its aversion to lab-grown meat.

Can you see yourself ever eating it? More

Can you imagine forking over half your income for basic food with prices rising daily? That's the reality for some Venezuelans. Forbes reports that the poorest one-fourth of Venezuelans spend 45 percent of their income on food. More

If you've been following the genetically modified foods debate, it's no surprise that GMOs are popping up in places you'd least expect them. Without regulations requiring GMOs to be labeled as such, they are becoming more prevalently available, and without many of us even knowing. But would you expect to find this to be the case at Whole Foods? More

Rising food prices are a reality you've likely seen for yourself on supermarket shelves. But in the US, we're sheltered from many of the wildly swinging food prices and food shortages. More than political fodder for reelection campaigns, NPR suggests that food issues run much deeper and influence seemingly unrelated problems around the world. More