“Literally everyone on the planet eats. If you want to get to know your neighbor, grow some food with them.” That is the distilled version of Ann Fleener’s philosophy as the Director of Freedom Farms & Greenhouse, which is a branch of the local non-profit Restore OKC. “Restore OKC started about three years ago out…
edible stories
By Lucas Dunn
Freedom Farms & Greenhouse
By Anne Dropick
Connecticut Hops
Ancient heritage is made modern. Most people think of hops as a bittering and aromatic ingredient in beer, but its original use was probably as a healing and preservative agent. Various sources document written evidence of hops for medicinal and other purposes at least by Roman times: Pliny the Elder (23-79 O.C.E.) describes hops as…
By Joy Manning
Rethinking Hunger: Why Feeding Those in Need Must Focus on Nutrition
Most North Americans are technically “food secure”, having access to enough calories to avoid hunger thanks to government programs, food banks and hunger relief organizations. But the fight against hunger demands more. It’s time to shift our focus to “nutrition security”—so all people have access to the kind of diet that promotes good health and…
By Sarah Hagaman and Jill Melton
Counting Sheep
One Tennessee farm is bringing lamb into the mainstream. Farmers Elaine and Howard Dustin are animal people. That much is clear immediately as we meet them at their farm, Belfair Farms in Lawrenceburg, 90 minutes south of Nashville. Along with their 138 sheep, they have 10 dogs, 50 chickens, and eight horses. Having grown up…
Providence Farm Collective Wins 2023 Edible Communities Sustainability Award
New York-based Providence Farm Collective is the recipient of the 2023 Sustainability Award, a recognition given by Edible Communities to a person or group for their sustainability efforts and resulting community impacts. Each year, the publishers of Edible Communities, a network of over 75 hyper local food and drink publications in the United States and…
Sequoia Sake: Two-Generations of Women Ferment Innovation
Of the three female craft sake brewers in the U.S., two of them are the mother-daughter team at Sequoia Sake brewing the more than 2,000-year-old national drink of Japan in San Francisco with locally grown organic rice. This story and video are a co-production of Edible Communities and Civil Eats. Craft sake making—both in Japan…