Topics > Farms and Food
Feature
The Linkery Learns From Its Mistakes, and Changes a Bit of the World in the Process
Scott Ballum | January 14, 2010
The Linkery in San Diego’s North Park is one of the hottest, if not the most recommended, farm-to-table, high caliber restaurant around. But if owner Jay Porter were in the same position now as he was in 2004, he certainly wouldn’t open a restaurant again.
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A Personal Tour Guide to Independent San Diego
Scott Ballum | January 10, 2010
Sometimes it feels like you just lucked out and cold-called the right guy. I just came back from lunch with Nate Benedetto, the founder and publisher of San Diego's Urbanist Guide, and I can't imagine a better person to know as I slowly settle myself into a longish stint on the West Coast. Since the Professor got a job teaching out here, I've been bouncing back and forth to Brooklyn, which means I've just had little tastes of what the city has to offer.
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Madecasse Chocolate: a Sweeter Startup for International Aid
Scott Ballum | December 21, 2009
Every startup, one way or another, is born when someone with a vision sees an opportunity for innovation and economic sustainability where others haven’t. What makes the founders of Madécasse unique is that these visions of prosperity had nothing to do with with themselves and everything to do with a island nation that was exporting its resources without reaping its fullest benefits.
Resource
Brooklyn Food Coalition
| November 17, 2009
The Brooklyn Food Coalition is a grassroots partnership of individuals and groups who strive to give an effective voice to all those who live in or serve Brooklyn and wish to achieve a just and sustainable system for tasty, healthy, and affordable food.
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Meet the Farmer! Bring your bikes!
Scott Ballum | November 11, 2009
This past Saturday night, I was lucky enough to be a part of an amazing community event in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego. Though their businesses approach social and environmental issues in very different ways, five unique endeavors came together for one really fun night, each contributing in their own ways and engaging with their community.
Feature
Sea to Table, a Family's Direct Line from Sustainable Fisheries
Scott Ballum | November 3, 2009
Chefs in St. Louis like him because they can serve fresh Mahi-Mahi just 24 hours out of the water. A single-boat fisherman in the Bering Sea likes him because he now has a national market and increased revenue. FedEx likes him because they have a contract to use gel ice and time/temperature indicators to deliver perishable goods from Tobago to restaurants all over the United States. He’s also a proactive member of the newly-formed Common Spaces cooperative workspace in Brooklyn, quick with a beer run or pizza order.
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An Early Bird Report from New Amsterdam Market
Maggie Feuchter | November 3, 2009
There’s not much that will get me out of bed before 7 AM other than food, or more specifically, a market. Growing up in San Francisco, from the age of 10 onwards, I would religiously get up in the wee Saturday hours to drive down with my mom and neighbor to snag a prime parking spot and the best stuff that the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market had to offer. Besides that, and maybe some early morning plane flights, I wouldn’t be caught dead waking up before the break of day, especially on the weekends.
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The Organic Progression, Stemming From the Counter
Scott Ballum | October 30, 2009
I first encountered Counter, the East Village organic vegetarian bar and bistro, while tracing back my food habits and options during my year of consuming conciously.  One of my favorite vendors at the Union Square Greenmarket, serving up the wraps and turnovers I'd been lunching on for months (and exclusively once the project started) pointed me towards the kitchen in which his goods were prepared—and I dropped in to follow the chain back.
Feature
FilmSprout: Growing Documentary Film Audiences From the Bottom Up
Scott Ballum | October 15, 2009
To fully understand what Caitlin Boyle does for a living, you first have to understand that the dominant distribution model for independent documentary films is broken.
Feature
Just Tap It: Turning Off Our Bottled Water Dependency By Offering a Better Way
Scott Ballum | September 27, 2009
Kylie Harper is not a bull-horns, marches, and rallies kind of activist. Not that she has any qualms about organizing her team to hit the streets to take down major corporations, she just does it with a soft voice - and aims for a soft underbelly. When we met up in the cafe of the Housing Works Used Bookstore in Soho, her first words were a softly amazed "I've got to sign this place up."