SPONSORED Restaurants were not part of my childhood. My family invariably ate at home. This was fairly common in the 1940s and 1950s in the Midwest. One consequence was that we did not eat “other people’s foods,” that is, the food of other ethnic groups. The most exotic things I ate, in my 1950s childhood,…
edible stories
By Benjamin A. Wurgaft and Merry I. White
Nem on the Menu: An Excerpt from “Ways of Eating: Exploring Food Through History and Culture”
In the Age of Megadrought, is Agave the Crop of the Future in the American West?
As many farmers in drought-prone regions are re-thinking what they grow, it’s agave that has captured recent interest and momentum with its promise of drought resilience and a path into the potentially lucrative world of spirits. This story was produced in partnership with Civil Eats. Photo (above) courtesy of Craig Reynolds. Raul “Reppo” Chavez surveys…
By Elena Seeley
In Labels We Trust: How Food Certification Labels Can Help Consumers Make Better Choices
Can food certification labels, seals and standards help eaters make better choices? We think they can. But there are hundreds of different labels and claims that can appear on food packaging—and the challenge is knowing which of them can be trusted. This story was produced in partnership with Food Tank. Story by Elena Seeley, Food…
By Emily Payne and Danielle Nierenberg
Is Plastic Waste the Cost of Eating?
While many plastics are recyclable, they still end up in landfills, oceans and ultimately, in our bodies. With less than 9% of plastic waste being recycled—and packaging comprising the largest percent of plastic waste—businesses and entrepreneurs are rethinking how to package food. This story was produced in partnership with Food Tank.Story by Emily Payne, Food…
Women for the Land: A Program by American Farmland Trust Seeks to Help Women Agrarians Succeed
SPONSORED LeTicia Marshall has always been drawn to the soil. As a child, she helped with chores on her grandparents’ farm in Kentucky, feeding the pigs, picking strawberries and sidestepping cow patties along the way. The deep connection she has to the land was seeded at an early age and has since germinated into something she…
By Amanda Rae
Blue Squash and Seaweed
Foods that got us thinking at the 2022 Edible Institute in Denver. Weeks later, I can’t stop thinking about the blue pumpkin. Alex Zeidner of Folks Farm & Seed in Fort Collins, Colorado, carried the gourd — a Stella Blue Kabocha squash, actually — on stage during the Colorado Foodways panel at the 2022 Edible…