Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 32

 weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• What the Pork Fairy might get as a tattoo, on the cover of Lucky Peach food journal.

• "Driven by a growing awareness that the only thing local in most “local” beers is the water, microbrewers all over the country have begun using regional hops, fruits and honey. Now, many are taking the next logical step and snapping up local grains." Malters Bring Terroir to the Beer Bottle: Mr. Stanley (profiled in the article) "hopes the malt revival can stem the tide of hop-heavy pale ales, enabling craft brewers to focus on malt’s sweet, rich character and, in turn, open up a new kind of terroir for American craft brewers to explore."

• Terroir aside, the future of farming may be up in the air. Microbiologist Dickson Despommier talks about the concept of skyscraper farming. (audio clip) With increasing problems of soil pollution in China especially, many people worldwide may have no other choice.

• June 11 was World Day Against Child Labor. Consider The Children in Our Fields and The food movement’s final frontier: Taking care of workers

• Put you money in bottles? French funds turn to wine as safe-haven investments. "Numerous studies have shown that great wines have, since 1950, consistently outperformed financial markets."

• AgLocal wants you to have meat from small-scale farms, accessible by smartphone. KC-based Startup Takes Aim at Meat Distribution Paradigm

• It's Pastured Poulty Week in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia with over 30 chefs serving pastured birds to introduce them to the public. Chefs explain, that means new education for both customers and staff: “A few years ago we were able to get a very small supply from a gentleman in South Georgia, and when we would serve it, people would say things like it, ‘It’s too flavorful’ — which was funny to me, because, you know, this is what chicken actually tastes like. It made us realize that,  if we were going to change people’s minds about the product, we would have to do it with some education attached.”

• The Guardian asks: Should we be eating more goat? "When goats are bred for dairy farming, the billies are killed at birth. Why not rear them free-range for meat instead? Says one farmer: "The idea of treating my billies as a waste product doesn't sit comfortably."

• For those who want to eat less meat, or none at all, there may be better options in the future. Twitter cofounders Evan Williams and Biz Stone are investing in a vegan meat company called Beyond Meat.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 25

a weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• Hey there, Comrade Farmer, the Pork Fairy, courtesy of Soviet propaganda.

• SloPig takes the drama of heritage pork to the screen with a silent movie — heroes, villains, pigs and a damsel in distress.

• It's Farm Bill time, and time to get active. The Senate is proposing a 50% cut to the most important young farmer training program in the nation. Put in your two cents.

• Why we should love natural wines, and what all the fuss against them is about: "The real problem is the new popularity of natural wines. As long as they were fringe, they posed no threat. Now they are driving a growing market sector..."

• What artists have known for centuries, now even business magazines are getting in on: "New psychological research shows that mild intoxication can actually boost creative problem solving." Cheers!

• One for our giant step forward into the past — in 1915 there was a four acre school garden in the Bronx.

• Taco USA, NPR's On Point took a look at the evolution of Mexican food in America.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 19

a weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

• Food and art cross-pollinate on the site Feasting on Art (image from site above). Read more in this Saveur profile.

• The moving target that is sustainable seafood, and how chefs should make sourcing decisions got more attention in the Boston Globe. "The public perception of chefs is that we operate in some sort of sphere that only has to do with idea and ideologies.  We have a lot of practical considerations."

• Could southern Appalachia become a new world truffle capital? "The next few years are the moment of truth for the burgeoning industry,"says Tom Michaels, owner of Tennessee Truffle.

• Chefs differ in their enthusiasm for Yelp and making everyone a critic. Sometimes it's not half bad: "It used to be that if you got a bad review in the New York Times, you had to close. It was like the theater. There was only one guy who decided everything. There are so many more people reviewing everything today. Nowadays, if you get a bad review in the Times, you can still make it.”

• Kids can now play a host of new farm-centric games on the computer, but they're more Big Ag than CSA.

• For grown-up students who want to get series about farming, college extension programs are offering more for small plot and urban farmers.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 5

a weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

 

• That favorite cartoon family The Simpsons takes a foodie adventure on Sunday as Marge turns food blogger. "This was like a love letter to foodie culture," says Executive Producer Matt Selman.

• Your computer could learn to make beer: New cyborg yeast can be controlled by computer. Apparently, this could help with future biofuel production.

• Are cookbooks obsolete? asks the New York Times. Of apps over paper: “You can’t hear the onions sizzling in the pan, or how to move your knife through a salmon fillet, or see how to put your pasta machine back together in a book.”

• Reading, Writing and Roasting as cooking comes to the classroom. "Teachers and principals are seeing how the classroom cooking experience helps support critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills."

• Need money to open your restaurant? Get creative as restaurants turn to crowd-sourcing for funding. “Beyond the money...it connected us to the community, got our name out — and engendered good will.”

• Urban Homesteading is growing in popularity, and controversy in Oakland, California and elsewhere as more people want to raise animals for food.

Friday Faves — notes from the new gastroconomy, No. 2

a weekly round-up of our favorite finds from the front lines of food

• Paper or plastic? Kick your habit with the Plastic State of Mind (video, above).

•  Drool over the 10 greatest sandwiches your computer has ever seen.  And if you're still hungry, there's more Scanwiches.

• Food education hits the road as Jamie Oliver's big rig kitchen hits LA.

• Your money or your cheese: apparently, cheese is the most stolen food on the planet.
  

• Can Yelp help independent restaurants? Engaged diners are helping their neighborhood favorites and cutting into the marketing edge of the chains.