GoodFood World

Good food is everybody's business!

It's just about Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and there are holidays to be honored, celebrated, and enjoyed. And at GoodFood World, we are adding something new - we're also celebrating Earth and Ocean!

It takes courage, perseverance, and tenacity to provide all of us with good healthy food! Farming and ranching is hard work. Long hours caring for animals, planting and tilling the soil, and harvesting meat and produce can take a toll on a body, young or old. Just as hard or harder is sailing the north Pacific Ocean in good weather and bad, pulling in lines and nets for hours and hours of cold wet labor. And the ocean is never at rest; at times high seas and cold water can make captaining a boat and handling lines and nets fearsome.  

We say, "Good food is everybody's business," because we believe as consumers it IS our business; we are "voting" with our dollars for the best food in the markets. We are also supporting the production and harvesting systems that are most respectful of the land and the sea, the animals and the plants, and the farmers, farm workers, and food workers that deliver it to us.  

This holiday season say thanks, send a prayer, offer a blessing - however you choose - to help keep our connections to good food strong.

In the coming year, GoodFood World will be providing even more information to help you identify, locate, purchase, and prepare the very best food for you and your family. Here's a sneak preview of what you can expect for the coming year:

• Pricing comparisons
• Ingredient analysis
• Sources - online and on the street
• Recipes, recommendations, and substitutions
• Tools and apps

We wish you and yours the very best for this holiday season and health and prosperity for 2015!  

Gail and Ken 

Farming in the 21st Century

Over the last 150 years farming has changed from an animal-powered (and human-powered) occupation to a high-tech, high-energy business. And as fewer and fewer men - and occasionally women - choose to take it up, the age of today's farmer has slowly inched up until it approaches "retirement" age.

There are, however, young people coming to farming with unique training and education. Jennifer Agraves and Louis Sukovaty were just such young people when they tabled their engineering careers in their mid-thirties to take over Louis' family farm, Crown S Ranch.  

Today, Jennifer and Louis combine traditional low-tech methods of animal husbandry with high-tech, solar-powered solutions. Read about it in this newly released e-book:

• A New Generation of Farmers
• Engineering an Organic Farm: "It isn't easy!"
• Organic Farming: Better For the Environment
• Meet Your Meat
• Small Farmers Need Small Slaughterhouses
• Delivery Dilemmas
• Selling From a Small Scale Integrated Livestock Farm

It's a fascinating story. Enjoy it! Get your copy of the e-book here.

Saving Our Seafood

If you live on the East Coast, West Coast, or Gulf Coast or even the Great Lakes, chances are you're still able to get some fish caught wild in your coastal waters or freshwater inland "seas." 

However if you've looked closely at the fish in your local supermarket - regardless of where you live - chances are you'll find your fish originates from just about anywhere else in the world.

The fishery eco-system includes the ocean, the atmosphere, the surrounding landscape, the fish and the food they eat, the fishermen who harvest them, the handlers who process the fish, the retailers who sell them, the chefs who cook them, and the consumers who eat them. Fish and fisheries are intimately connected to their ecosystems and the environment, and therefore are best managed holistically. Read To Save Our Wild and Native Seafood, We Have to Eat It.

Representing Earth and Ocean are Erick Haakenson, Jubilee Biodynamic Farm, and Pete Knutson, Loki Fish Company. These two men - long time friends - tell us how their passion gives them hope for small farmers, small boat fishermen, and good food.

Watch Erick Haakenson, Farmer 

Erick Haakenson, Jubilee Farm, Carnation WA, talks about the next generation of organic farmers coming of age and taking their place in the history of agriculture. 

An active farm for nearly 25 years, Jubilee Biodynamic Farm is home to one of the largest and oldest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in the state. Jubilee is an intensively managed, diversified farm comprised of 14 acres of fruits, vegetables, and grains and around 35 acres devoted to beef cattle, chickens, and ducks.  

Watch Pete Knutson, Small Boat Fisherman 

Pete Knutson, owner of Loki Fish Company, discusses his path to becoming a direct-marketing fisherman. 

Loki Fish markets fresh, frozen, and smoked salmon, caught in Alaskan and Puget Sound waters. Learn more about Loki Fish here.

There are more videos at GoodFood World and more coming every week.

Read American Catch, Paul Greenberg

In American Catch, award-winning author Paul Greenberg tells the surprising story of why Americans stopped eating from their own waters.

In 2005, the United States imported five billion pounds of seafood, nearly double what we imported twenty years earlier. Bizarrely, during that same period, our seafood exports quadrupled. 

American Catch examines New York oysters, Gulf shrimp, and Alaskan salmon to reveal how it came to be that 91% of the seafood Americans eat is foreign.

There are more books at GoodFood World and the list is constantly growing.

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house,

the pots and pans were flying...

From the writers at GoodFood World, we offer a few ideas to get you through the hectic holiday season. From breakfast to dinner, and who could forget dessert?  

Breakfast: Pumpkin Granola 

From Kate McLean, our Good Food on a Budget correspondent: It's almost like eating pumpkin pie for breakfast.

Make it with fresh pureed pumpkin, and if you have some of that on hand I envy you. If however you have some canned on hand, you should try making this granola. It has a good dose of honey and a little molasses, but no sugar. It's also got some nuts, seeds, and flax. Give it ago and feel free to add stuff like flaked coconut, dried fruit, or different nuts and seeds.

Dinner: Standing Rib Roast in Red Wine Sauce 

While a rib roast may seem like a real luxury, it is simple to prepare and goes a long way! Start - always! - with meat from a pastured animal fed only on grass.

There are some who will tell you it's not possible to get a nicely marbled piece of meat from a cow that eats only grass; we show you that's not the case! This roast clearly has the fat required of a rib roast.

Sides: Squashed!  

Ina Denburg, our Healthy Eating contributor, offers ideas on how to prepare delicata, butternut, acorn, and Burgess buttercup squashes and pumpkin!

Ina says: Squash is so versatile! They're delicious baked, roasted, mashed, stuffed, pureed, spiced, or eaten simply naked; enjoyed as soup, main course, side dish, dessert, or even breakfast.

Dessert: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Kate also offers this recipe, and she says: I use whole wheat for our everyday bread (good for sandwiches and toast) but the wheat pastry flour isn't meant for yeasted breads - I use it in cookies, brownies, and quick breads.

I was so pleasantly surprised by these cookies! Because the best chocolate chip cookies are, in my opinion, soft and chewy even after they're completely cooled and even the day after that, if you keep them in a bag or closed container.

Publishing an online magazine, particularly one dedicated to deep research and careful coverage - the "long read" - takes a team. It takes writers, editors, and committed readers like you. We are counting on you to be our partners to help keep good food on our tables and grocery shelves so we can all eat better and be healthy!

As part of our team, your contribution of $100, $50, $25, or more, will keep GoodFood World online and on the road, working one-on-one with creative, dedicated, and tireless good food producers so they can succeed and thrive, and we never lose our connection with the sources of our food!  

We Need Your Help!

Whether you consider it an investment, a donation, or a contribution,  

please make it here.

Seeking Referrals and Recommendations

At Nickel Resources (publisher of GoodFood World) we offer consulting services to small businesses in the office, in the plant, and in the field. It's our job to keep small business IN business!  

Do you know anyone who is thinking about a start up or who needs a helping hand along the way? We greatly appreciate your referrals and recommendations. Send them on here.