One of Us?

Kathleen Merrigan is working hard to change federal agriculture policy from inside the USDA. By Marian Burros Until last spring, phrases like “sustainable agriculture,” “local food,” and “mobile slaughterhouses” were only whispered in the halls of the Department of Agriculture, the agency where industrial agriculture and biotechnology reigned supreme. Then Kathleen Merrigan—a 50-year-old assistant professor [...]

Unleashing Your Inner Winemaker

In the fields and cellars of wineries around Charlottesville, a local community college is training future winemakers, vineyard owners, and wine industry professionals. By Jennifer Conrad Seidel • Photos by Molly McDonald Peterson The wine industry in Virginia is growing. Even in 2009, when we were spending our grocery and entertainment dollars more carefully, the [...]

Vouchers for Veggies

Helping food stamp recipients shop at farmers markets near and far. By Marian Burros • Photo by Kristen Taylor With names like Boston Bounty Bucks, Fresh Checks, and Double Dollars, programs at a few farmers markets across the country—including some in the Capital foodshed—offer economically vulnerable people a deal they cannot refuse: as much as [...]

Rebel with a Cause: What We Can Learn from the Big Box Stores

I am an advocate for farmers markets and CSAs.But if we really want the masses to “buy local,” do we need to consider another model? By Joel Salatin Anyone who knows me knows I’m an ardent supporter of farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSA). Direct-marketing models linking farmers to buyers are as varied as [...]

Flavor Cafe: The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm

Beverly Morton Billand is the Capital foodshed’s ultimate, farm-to-table pioneer, and chef Christopher Edwards brings what she grows to the plate. By Walter Nicholls • Photographs by Molly McDonald Peterson In the late 1990s, organic farmer Beverly Morton Billand had what she calls “my crazy idea.” She took the otherwise farmers market–bound vegetables and herbs, [...]

Local, Handmade Sweets for Spring

Links to the websites shown in the gift guide can be found below.   ACKC, Washington, D.C. & Alexandria, VA (202) 387-2626 & (703) 635-7917 • www.thecocoagallery.com C-ville Candy Company, Charlottesville, VA (434) 962-4284 • www.cvillecandy.com Chocolate Cravings, Richmond, VA (804) 363-6873 • www.choccravings.com Chocolaterie Wanders, Manassas, VA (866) 792-6337 • www.chocolateriewanders.com Cocoa Mill, Lexington, [...]

Rebel with a Cause: Beware Those Sincere Conservation Easements

Designed to save farms and farmland, these easements drive farmers into extinction.

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