All those New Year's resolutions (lose weight, be healthier, etc.) can be rolled up into one: Eat good food!

Bet you thought that you would have to eliminate meat? Nope, if you choose to have meat as part of your diet, just eat a reasonable amount and make sure it has been raised responsibly and fed an appropriate diet. "Meatless Mondays," flexitarian, vegetarian - it all works when you serve good food.

Happy organic grass-fed cattle!

While imagining that the beef they will be eating came from a cow living a happy-go-lucky life, frolicking on lush green pastures until a gentle and painless end, the average American does NOT want to meet their dinner while it is still standing.

Louis Sukovaty, Crown S Ranch

However, the idea that you could if you wanted, or at least you could meet the farmer who raised your dinner, is not so far-fetched.

In one of the early episodes of Portlandia, Carrie and Fred discuss in detail the origin of the chicken they are offered for dinner. Colin (the prospective entré) has a bound CV to document his birthplace.

While a book that weighs more than the chicken in question makes for good satire, how DO we learn more about the origins and sources of the meat on our plates? Colin may have had references, but very few of the animals slaughtered for your dinner get such recognition.

Read Meat Your Meat where we talk about why pastured and grass-fed meat is good for the animals and good for you. You can shake hands with beef growers and meet your meat; it's good to know your farmer!

There's more, keep reading! Get a cup of coffee and join us at GoodFood World, where we get to the source by talking to the people who produce, process, and deliver good food.

Salal (Gaultheria Shallon), a native shade-tolerant shrub that produces little hairy berries, has a long affiliation with Puget Sound First Peoples as a source of food, medicine, lore, and much more.

Sadly, while the salal plant has long been part of the culture of Coast Salish peoples, the arrival of settlers led to the exploitation of the land, forests, and workers.

Four University of Washington students in Professor Devon Peña's ethnoecology class give us the past and present of salal as food, medicine, and culture. And recipes for Salal Berry Ice Cream Sandwiches and Salal Berry Jam! Read the whole story here.

The world does not need yet another "Hey-Guys-Farming-Is-So-Much-Fun-Let-Me-Teach-You-How-To-Be-A-Farmer" book or another "Here-Are-A-Bunch-Of-Successful-Farmers-You-Can-Do-It-Too" book, thank you very much!  

Behind a cover that resembles so many other "So-You-Want-To-Be-A-Farmer" books, Rebecca Thistlethwaite, has put together a carefully thought out course for entrepreneurs of any age who want to start a business called a "Farm."

Food Lovers' Guide to Montana, Seabring Davis 

No one has ever called Montana a gourmet food destination. However we've discovered through several "drive abouts" in the state that some really nice people are raising some darned good food. Most of it you have to make yourself, though...