The vast majority of the holiday birds lovingly prepared and graciously devoured last Thursday were what I call “butterball-type” turkeys.  These are the frozen birds sold by the millions at a Wal-Mart near you for a …

Anyone who spent time in Texas this summer knows that this year’s weather has been extreme.  Texas summers can be brutal even in a normal year, but this year the heat just never let up.  It …

One of the most exciting recent developments in community building, farming and sustainability is the explosion of locally grown food and farmers markets across the country.  The local food movement is powerful because it influences so …

Lately I’ve been thinking about food, but not because I’m hungry. I’m interested in how best to raise it — for a family, for a community, and for society. There is little doubt that conventional farming …

Two of the most prominent aspects of human nature are the survival instinct and the impulse to make life a little easier (i.e. less labor intensive, less time consuming, or more efficient). Tracking the great arc …