The Back 40

A recent article, by William R. Wootton, linked below, argues that too many American colleges, especially liberal arts institutions, which typically advocate for issues like sustainability, environmentalism, and social justice, often turn to large corporate agribusiness to handle their food service. In fact 50-60% of college food service is handled by large corporations and three [...]

In 2009, Texas A&M student Brady Grimes, established Howdy! Farm at the university. In its four short years of existence, the farm has grown into a gem of the campus community, educating those on and off of the farm.  According to its website, Howdy! Farm was “started as a student led initiative that seeks to promote local [...]

Farmers and brewers working together. What could be better? The Flying Dog brewery in Maryland recently bought over 100 pounds of hops from seven local farmers and invited them to help brew a new batch of the brewery’s Harvest Ale. Although the brewery can’t buy all of its ingredients locally, Flying Dog sees its Harvest [...]

As we’ve mentioned often on this site, the “farm-to-table” and “locavore” movements are thriving in many communities across the nation. This article articulates just how well these movements are doing. For instance, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) research found that there are more than 7,800 weekly farmers markets operating across the nation. This figure [...]

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs have traditionally been just about providing farm fresh fruits and vegetables to their members. However, as this article states, the “locavore” movement has inspired some CSAs to now offer other products such as coffee, mushrooms, meat, soap, cheese, honey, bread and wine. Some even offer events on the farm that [...]

Tom Arrandale writes that an increasing number of farmers are taking advantage of the “locavore” movement by directly connecting with consumers through participating in farmers markets and contracting with neighborhood groceries and restaurants. In response, state and local governments are developing regional food policies that help improve citizens’ eating habits and keep local farmers in [...]