Getting our food from the farm to the consumer - the "supply chain" - is certainly not as simple as it was in the past. Once upon a time, the consumer, his/her family, and the local community WERE the growers and a supply chain didn't exist.  

Transportation from the field and barn to the kitchen was a matter of feet or yards, not miles. What once was a simple connection with one or two stops along the way, has become a spaghetti-like tangle of connections, links, and cross-links to get fresh fruits and vegetables to your plate.

Somehow in our delusion, we imagine the farmer pulling his or her truck up behind the supermarket and unloading baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables or sides of beef and pork into the open arms of the retailer and his staff. And, frankly, the bigger the supermarket, the more likely there will be signs, photos, and even wall-sized murals showing farmers and ranchers smiling as they offer their vegetables and fruit or stand with an arm around the neck of a sleek beef cow.  

Well, folks, I hate to tell you, it ain't so. Learn more about local and regional food systems and how Charlie's Produce, a Puget Sound regional produce and fresh food distributor, is keeping local growers and buyers connected. Time to hear the real story! 

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.

It's a new year, and with that often comes... food and lifestyle resolutions. Well, January is almost over, are you haunted yet by the words "I should..."?  

Ina Denburg, our Healthy Living columnist, has compiled a short list of her top food and health tips for 2013's winter season. Regardless of whether your food and lifestyle relationship is "should-ridden" or easeful, her advice will help you take care of yourself in ways that are effective and kind. They can also help to dissolve the shadow that "shoulds" may cast upon your goals.

We hope you find some good guidance with these simple tips. Here's to a healthy winter for us all!

Shhhh... Don't tell!  

Kate Hilmer, our HealthyEating on a Budget contributor, has been having an affair - with unpopular produce! What about those unloved and ignored veggies that sit to the back of the cooler in the produce section? Not wanting them to be lonely, Kate has decided to cook and bake her way through those less well known produce items. This week it's Jerusalem artichokes.

Jerusalem artichokes look a lot like ginger, are not even closely related to the artichoke or Jerusalem, and are native to North America. They're also called sunchokes, which makes a bit more sense considering the plant is a species of sunflower. Try them and see: Unpopular Produce, Episode 4.

The Ecology of Agroecosystems, John Vandermeer

Agroecology is the science of applying ecological concepts and principles to the design, development, and management of sustainable agricultural systems. The Ecology of Agroecosystems highlights a collection of alternative agricultural methodologies and philosophies and provides an interdisciplinary approach that bridges the sociopolitical and historical context of agriculture.

Biodiversity in Agriculture, Edited by Paul Gepts

Bringing together research from a range of fields including anthropology, archaeology, ecology, economics, entomology, ethnobiology, genetics, and geography, Biodiversity in Agriculture addresses key questions relating to agriculture.