Ellen Mitchell: An all Alabama diet, is it even possible?

Mobile Press Register (via al.com)

"In an attempt to explore Alabama produced food and the people that supply it, Mobile-based business reporter Ellen Mitchell will eat only food that is grown, raised or caught in Alabama for five days. 

On the first day of her project, she visits Oak Hill Tree Farm in Grand Bay and talks to owner Brian Keller about his hydroponic lettuce, the trend of eating local and the struggle to find a variety of Alabama produce this time of year.

The haul for the day includes cucumber, zucchini, squash and of course, lettuce."

Click here to see the article online and read the subsequent days challenges. 

Eating Rules

One of our customers and friends (Thanks Paul!) shared a blog with us that we enjoyed so much we had to share. Called "Eating Rules," it is informative, entertaining, and the photography is beautiful to boot! I especially enjoyed their post, "10 reasons to keep backyard chickens"... as if you needed a reason! But take a look anyway and you will be convinced.

Click here to read "10 Reasons to keep backyard Chickens" at Eating Rules.

I was also impressed by their "October Unprocessed Challenge." Blogger Andrew Wilder decided to go an entire month back in 2009 without eating any processed foods, and says of the experience:

It was revelatory. My expectations and sense of taste were re-calibrated. I started to identify individual ingredients in the foods I ate. I didn’t crave those salty snacks. I found myself often in the kitchen, excited to see what I could cook next. Above all, I simply felt better.

Gathering friends and supporters along the way, the Unprocessed October Challenge has grown each year to have participants from all across the country. I only wish we had found out about this sooner! What an exciting and worthy challenge. Perhaps the Windmill needs to sponsor a similar unprocessed challenge???

Click here to read the story and sign up to participate!

Local Produce with Alescia Forland of Loxley Farm Market

We recently interviewed Alescia Forland, owner of Loxley Farm Market, about everything having to do with local produce. Unfortunately the sound quality is terrible- you can hear the questions but barely the answers. We plan to re-record asap, but for now, crank up the volume and have a listen. We learned so much about why local is ALWASY best!

Breaking Out of Guacamole to Become a Produce Star

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER, Wall Street Journal,  September 19, 2012

When the waitress at the Perkins restaurant said they were out of avocados, Nicole Breedlove walked out, got one from her car and sliced it up at the table herself.

"I was getting the salad for the avocado," says the 43-year-old Silver Spring, Md., mother, who was on a road trip with her family. "It's the substance of the meal."

The avocado is experiencing a sharp rise in sales in grocery stores and casual restaurants. Anne Marie Chaker on Lunch Break looks at how the industry got behind this rise and why consumers are responding and embracing the idea of "the healthy fat." 

Not long ago, avocados were beloved in Super Bowl guacamole but seldom encountered the rest of the year. Now, the fruits are having a mass-market breakthrough, as supermarket sales surge and restaurant chains spread them and slice them on sandwiches and salads.

In consumers' minds, the avocado has been transformed from exotic "fatty food" to everyday source of "heart-healthy" fats. "We fought the health message for years and years. A fat was a fat was a fat," says Mike Browne, marketing committee chairman for the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association, a Fallston, Md., marketing group. Now, he says, "the stars have aligned."